Six universities that are members of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) were among the 17 top ranked universities in Africa, according to the latest 2018 QS World Universities Rankings.
“We are pleased to note that six RUFORUM member universities were ranked among the top 17 African Universities according to the recently released 2018 QS World Universities Rankings,” RUFORUM says in the latest press release accessed by Eagle Online.
According to the rankings, the six RUFORUM member universities including Makerere University were among the top 18 African universities that made the list of 1000 top universities worldwide in 2017 and have maintained the prominence in 2018.
The University of Nairobi and University of KwaZulu-Natal improved rankings from last year whereas Stellenbosch University dropped from the 2nd to 4th position.
However, Stellenbosch University still leads the RUFORUM Network of 85 member universities followed by Cairo University and University of Pretoria which retained their positions of 5th and 6th, respectively, while the University of KwaZulu-Natal moved a position higher to 9th, as Makerere University retained its 13th position.
According to the press release, only 18 and 17 African universities were ranked in 2017 and 2018, respectively. University of Cape Town continues to dominate the top position in Africa.
The 2018 QS report lists the world’s top 959 universities and is based on metrics such as: Academic reputation, Employer reputation, Faculty/Staff ratio, citation per faculty, International Faculty ratio and International Student Ratio. Below is a table for the comparison of rankings of RUFORUM member Universities for the top 18 in Africa for 2017 and 2018.
“University ranking, though controversial, remains the common means of informing the public where they should get the ‘best’ education. To this end, RUFORUM strives to build capacity of its member universities to deliver quality education through cutting edge research and Innovation, and academic mobility,” says the press release.
With increasing pressure from university stakeholders and beneficiaries for universities to demonstrate value for money invested in higher education, universities are consistently striving to do their best to visibly show their relevance to the public.
RUFORUM, whose mandate is to oversee graduate training and networks of specialization in the countries and universities where it works, has its head offices at Makerere University.
