ATAFOM University International has been described as an institution that integrates into the very life of Africa and any other region it finds itself. It does this by identifying and addressing the challenge of skills training for people in the continent and other host communities.
Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and former Vice President of Zambia, Prof. Dr. Nevers S. Mumba has disclosed this in a recent interview where he observes that in the absence of skilled manpower, Africa will be a continent that does not move forward.
What makes this opportunity presented by ATAFOM University very exciting is that, unlike other universities, ATAFOM promises jobs to its students. “All the students we recruit, we will ensure that they have a better future. We are the only university that is promising that. We have been working on that for some time now and we think we have a system that will not let any of our graduates get stranded in life”.
We are going to make sure that they are incorporated into work so that they can use the education that they have gotten at ATAFOM University.”
The Dean of Political Science explains that his faculty and all the other faculties will be actively involved in this philosophy as he reveals what his faculty will achieve.
“First of all, I just want to repeat the fact that the goodness about the school of Political Science that will be starting soon (we are targeting the first Semester of 2023) is that it will be inclined to understanding and making researches on African politics. There are a lot of books written about American politics and governance but very little has been researched on how African politics operate. ATAFOM is going to offer political science that relates to who we are, the way we think, and the way our culture builds us because a foreign system imposed on Africa will never work. It has to be a system that is domesticated to who we are and what our values are”, he adds.
The political leader also expressed his unwavering commitment to the project thus: “As the Dean of the School of Politics and Political Science, I am going to make sure that the programme answers the question of international development, public policy, public administration, and global governance; we shall handle economic theories, political communication, law, and public policy and international security. So, we shall offer several programmes in the school of political science and I am sure that this is going to be one of the most exciting schools at ATAFOM.
“Through our school of Political Science and as Dean, I will endeavor to download the understanding of African politics. I have been Vice President before, I am still in politics now, and I have run for President three times; so I do understand what really matters politically on the African continent and I think I would want to share that with young emerging political leaders. I would make sure that we come up with a curriculum that really dovetails itself into Africa, not to carry a western and eastern agenda – just Africa,” he emphasizes.
Prof. Dr. Mumba also laments how other university systems and curricula do not address the needs of their students and holds that the philosophy of ATAFOM University is incongruent with this pattern of education.
“The philosophy is ‘Education for Integration’. The word integration means that you get the education, you get knowledge and now you have to integrate it into your culture in your community so that it relates to where you are and interprets your own local challenges. You know, sometimes you go and get an education from someplace that does not connect with the needs that surround you in your own country. There are so many universities where they teach you all about England, European history or America because that is where they are coming from.
“ATAFOM wishes to address this matter; to help in domesticating the knowledge that we get so that it can serve us in our community and nations in terms of how we view life to ensure that we improve and grow our capacity to be able to handle the development that is coming to the African countries”, Prof. Dr. Mumba reiterates.
According to him, there is robust IT support that facilitates this ideology since it is an online university. “We got a second-to-none IT backup that helps our students to get the very best out of online education. We got technical people that are able to work, not only with the staff but also with the students to ensure that they are not left behind in this technology. So we are ready to face the world and to offer the world the education that we want to offer the world.”
In terms of how teachers and students are adapting to the online learning platform, the former Vice President has this to say: “I think it is a learning experience and a learning curve for all of us. Every day we are exposed to new things and how to do them better online. Remember, this hasn’t been our (Africans) way of doing education all along, but it is becoming the best way to do it. So far, it has been teaching me that I have more to learn but also it is giving me the opportunity to reach so many people in a short time globally by using this process.
Although the university will be based in Bangui, Central African Republic, Prof. Dr. Mumba believes the benefit of ATAFOM University cuts across Africa and the globe entirely. He says, “I think that Africa will benefit a lot but this does not mean it is a university just for Africans. It is a university for every global citizen who wishes to become part of this great institution and we will deal with the histories of different parts of the world in interpreting our philosophy”.
While encouraging African students to seize the opportunity to learn meaningful knowledge from ATAFOM University International, the Dean of Political Science envisages the school to be strategic to the African continent.
“I think that in the next five years, I see it as a go-to university, especially for African students. I would like to see ATAFOM become a very useful university to answer local questions. This means we are internationally interpreting education to answer questions of individual countries, especially African challenges such as conflicts”, he concluded.
ATAFOM University is currently receiving admission for the Academic Year 2022/2023. Go to the official website for more at: https://atafom.university/