By Isaac Salima:
Times Higher Education (THE), a British magazine that focuses on higher education, has, in its inaugural 2023 sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings, rated Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) as the best performing university in the country.
The ranking indicates that the institution of higher learning, which opened its doors in 2014, has excelled in research, teaching and societal impacts.
According to a statement that THE has released, Must is 29th in sub-Saharan Africa.
The statement says the rankings are aimed at gauging universities’ capabilities in addressing challenges that the region has been facing.
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“We use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three vital areas: teaching, research and societal impact. The data includes results from the first sub-Saharan Africa student survey, which gathered the opinions of more than 20,000 students,” the statement reads.
It adds that the development work for the ranking was undertaken in consultation with university leaders across sub- Saharan Africa in a project initiated by a consortium of African and international higher education organisations and companies included Botho, Maverick and Mycos.
“The project was led by Ashesi University in Ghana, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. THE independently managed all data collection and calculations.
“This first edition ranks 88 universities across 20 countries. An additional 33 institutions are listed because they provided data but did not meet our eligibility criteria to receive a rank,” the statement reads.
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Must Vice Chancellor Address Malata described the news as exciting and encouraging.
“We are just nine years old and we started from scratch. This is a big achievement considering that we have colleagues on the market that are much older than we are.
“Even at regional level, those that have been ranked ahead of us have been around much longer. Our challenge going forward is to maintain our high standards and improve on our service delivery in all aspects,” Malata said.
