Aspects of Mathematics Education in Some Third World Universities Author(s): M. E. A. Eltom Source: Educational Studies in Mathematics, Vol.

17, No. 2 (May, 1986), pp. 165-191 Published by: Springer Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3482534 . Accessed: 01/09/2011 10:27
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M. E. A. EL TOM

ASPECTS

OF

MATHEMATICS WORLD

EDUCATION

IN

SOME

THIRD

UNIVERSITIES*

ABSTRACT. Information on principal aspects of the present state of mathematics education in 18 third world universities is presented. The principal tool used in collecting the information was a questionnaire which was widely distributed. Analysis of the information reveals important variations and similarities in the programs and structures of responding institutions. Some weaknesses are identified.

1. INTRODUCTION

Concern with the problem of developing mathematics in third world countries (TWCs) and awareness of the leading role of these countries' university mathematics departments in tackling the problem leads one to reflect on the goals of teaching mathematics at university level. It is generally agreed that one of these goals is to serve the societies which support the institutions in question, and in the case of TWCs, I have argued elsewhere (El Tom, 1980, 1984) that university mathematics departments in most countries of the region should adopt the utilitarian goal as the principal one for teaching mathematics. Acceptance of this position means that mathematicians and mathematics departments must be seen, at least by elites, to be contributing effectively to the solution of major societal problems. A proper assessment of the extent to which they are performing this role requires, in the first place, adequate knowledge of the actual mathematics teaching-learning situation in universities. It also requires a knowledge of the nature of links that are forged between a particular mathematics department and other (scientific, industrial, educational, commercial, etc.) institutions in society at large. Some detailed information on several aspects of both requirements is presented in the paper. The analysis of the presented information (identification of similarities and differences and dominant factors which seem to shape activities) runs into certain methodological difficulties. An obvious first difficulty is the wide political, economic, social and cultural differences between the various countries. A standard way of handling this difficulty is to categorize countries according to a specific indicator (e.g., cultural). Even then the difficulty is not satisfactorily resolved. For, if one considers the specific
*This is an extended version of a paper presented to the Symposium on the State of Physics and Mathematics in Africa, held at ICTP, Trieste, Italy, 8-13 October, 1984. Educational Studies in Mathematics 17 (1986) 165-191. Q 1986 by D. Reidel Publishing Company.

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example of two Latin American countries such as Brazil and Peru then, given the great differences between their higher educational systems, it is apparent that one is unlikely to gain much insight into the type of issues considered here by placing them in one category. Another difficulty has to do with countries having a large number of universities. For, unless one is prepared to sift through enormous amounts of data, it would not be feasible to make meaningful comparisons between such countries, on the one hand, and others with a few universities, on the other. In order to avoid such difficulties, two groups of countries have been excluded from the present study. First, those countries possessing a rather extensive higher educational system such as Brazil and India. Secondly, countries whose higher educational systems are at present relatively insufficiently developed such as Guinea Bissau and Oman. The information presented in the paper was obtained using a questionnaire which was designed and despatched in April 1984 to at least one mathematics department in 70 TWCs. Only 18 responses were received. This obviously sets an important limitation on the scope of the study. Nonetheless, I believe that the nature of the responding departments is such that it would be reasonable to consider them representative of a much larger group of departments. Some general features of the questionnaire and the responding institutions are given in the next section. In Section 3, information on various facets of the curriculum is presented. Information on postgraduate studies and employment opportunities for mathematics graduates is given in Section 4 and 5, respectively. Partial data on academic staff and information on services performed by departments to local institutions is presented in Section 6. Section 7 summarises the main findings.

2. GENERAL AND

FEATURES RESPONDING

OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE INSTITUTIONS

The questionnaire consisted of ten sections comprising a total of 34 questions. Below are given the headings of the sections and the number of questions in each. (Those interested in further details may obtain a copy of the questionnaire by writing to the author.) A. General information (4) B. Curricula and degree structures (6) C. Staff (4) D. Undergraduate students (3) E. Postgraduate students (9)

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F. G. H. I.

Resources (1) Links with society (3) International links (4) Comments/Remarks.

Responses to the questionnaire were received from only 18 mathematics institutions. Some general information on respondents is given in Tables I, II, and III. Certain interesting features may be deduced from these Tables. First, however, let us note that there are important differences in the educational systems of the responding institutions' countries. For economic, political and/or historical reasons they are all influenced to a more or less
TABLE I General features of responding institutions (1983/84) Year of establishment No. of institutions in country with similar functions Further remarks

Mathematics Department,a University of: Abidjan/Ivory Coast 1960 0 Information in the questionnaire is given for both the dept. of mathematics and the institute de Recherches Mathematiques. This is the oldest, largest, most prestigious department and the only one which runs a postgraduate program. The largest in Nigeria in terms of student enrolment. One of the most prestigious departments. The oldest, largest and most prestigious department in Egypt. The oldest, largest and most prestigious department The oldest department in Ghana. The oldest, largest and most prestigious department.

Addis Ababa/Ethiopia

1961

Ahmadu Bello/Nigeria Assiut/Egypt Ateneo de Manila/ Philippines Bujumbura/Central Africa Cairo/Egypt

1962 1957 1952 1968 1925

n.a.b

13 10 0 20

Costa Rica Dar es Salaam/Tanzania Ghana Habana/Cuba Ife/Nigeria

1954 1965 1948 1962 1962

1 0 3 3 27

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M.E.A.ELTOM

TABLE I - (continued) Year of establishment No. of institutions in country with similar functions. Further remarks

Mathematics Department,*a University of: Khartoum/Sudan 1978 1 Prior to 1976, the year in which three mathematics units were pooled in a 'School of Mathematical Sciences', the B.Sc. mathematics degree was awarded by the Faculty of Science, established in 1947. The other dept, belongs to the University of Cairo, Khartoum Branch, Khartoum. The oldest, largest and most prestigious department. The oldest, largest and most prestigious department. The largest and most prestigious department.

Malaya/Malaysia Nairobi/Kenya Philippines South Pacific/Fiji Yaounde/Cameroon

a

1959 1960 1910 1969 1964

5 2 3 0 0

Here and throughout the paper the word 'department' designates an organizational unit responsible for teaching mathematics to undergraduates and/or postgraduates in a university. b Not available.

degree by corresponding Western systems. For instance, Abidjan, Bujumbura and Yaounde belong to a French tradition; Ahmadu Bello, Dar es Salam, Ghana, Ife, Khartoum, Malaya and Nairobi belong to a British one; Addis Ababa is known to have been established under American influence; Ateneo de Manila, Costa Rica and Philippines show important traces of the American system; and, finally Assiut and Cairo are difficult to place within any single Western tradition of higher education. These influences will become clearer in later sections. Table I shows that some institutions (the Egyptian, Nigerian and Filipino ones) are situated in countries with a relatively larger number of universities, whereas the remaining institutions are either the only ones in the country (Abidjan, Bujumbura, Dar es Salam, South Pacific, Yaounde) or else part of a relatively small system (Addis Ababa, Costa Rica, Ghana, Habana, Khartoum, Nairobi).

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TABLE II No. of first year students enrolled for a bachelor/licence degree in the department 1980/81 Mathematics Department, University of: Abidjan Addis Ababa Ahmadu Bello Assiut Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairoa Costa Rica Dar es Salaam Ghana Habanab Ife Khartoum' Malaya Nairobi Philippinesb South Pacific Yaounde 100 136 85 n.a. 22 8 100 130 50 60 400 25 75 160 274 30 100 150 95 100 n.a. 24 10 100 135 50 60 400 47 25 118 180 222 40 100 200 159 90 n.a. 27 12 100 128 40 60 400 17 20 93 160 437 40 100 280 140 80 100 23 14 100 135 25 n.a. 400 25 40 122 150 530 50 100 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84

Numbers given include (about 30-50) students who would follow study courses in physics as from their second year in university. 'Although the questionnaire asks explicitly for the number of first year students admitted to read for an undergraduate degree offered in the department, it is possible that the numbers given here include those who take mathematics as a minor or ancillary subject. cFaculty of Science students reading for a combined degree (such as maths-physics) are not included.

The same table also shows that they vary in age from 6 (Khartoum) to 74 years (Philippines). Table II shows that the institutions vary in the size of their undergraduate student population. Finally, in the section on resources, departments were asked to indicate according to a 5-point scale (very poor-excellent) the degree of availability of undergraduate and postgraduate texts, periodicals, computing facilities, travel and research funds and audio-visual aids. A summary of the responses is given in Table III. In general. however, most departments seem to have a satisfactory situation as regards both undergraduate and postgraduate texts and computing facilities; and, not unexpectedly, to be poor in travel and research funds. This feature is obviously relevant to the issues concerning external aid.

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TABLE III Availability of Resources/Materials (1983/84) Unsatisfactory Mathematics Department, University of: Abidjan x The department has a very good stock of undergraduate texts but is poor in periodicals, travel and research funds. x x x x x x x Satisfactory Very good Remarks

Addis Ababa Ahmadu Bello Assiut Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairo Costa Rica Dar es Salaam

Ghana Habana

x x

Poor in everything except travel and research funds and postgraduate texts. Very good in computing facilities. Poor in everything except undergraduate texts. x x Very poor in audiovisual aids. Very good stock of both under- and postgraduate texts. Very good computing facilities and stock of undergraduate texts. Excellent stock of undergraduate texts. Only department with a very good stock of audio-visual aids.

Ife Khartoum Malaya x

Nairobi

Philippines South Pacific Yaounde

x x x

In closing this section, I would like to point out that the variations between departments noted above cut across each other. Moreover, we shall see later that they further vary in their functions. For instance, whereas in the university of Ghana there are separate departments for mathematics,

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statistics and computer science, in the university of Khartoum the three disciplines come under a single administrative unit. Another instance is that of the responsibility for teaching mathematics to future teachers of mathematics and to engineering students (see Section 3 below).
3. ASPECTS OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM

In this section, I shall present and discuss information on degrees offered, syllabi and assessment procedures for undergraduate studies. 3.1. Nature of Degrees Offered Table IV below shows the subjects in which courses of study leading to a bachelor/licence degree may be followed in the departments listed in Section 1 above. Several features of the table are worthy of comment: (i) Until recently, many universities offered combined degrees in which the non-mathematics subject would typically be physics or chemistry. Now; however, more universities are offering combined degrees in which statistics (10) and computer science (9) are typical second subjects. (iil The number of universities offering a maths with education degree (8) suggests that several universities are responsible for teaching mathematics to future secondary school mathematics teachers. Indeed, 15 of the respondents affirmed, in the questionnaire, that this is the case. The three exceptions are the universities of Cairo, Habana and Yaounde. In the case of Cairo university this responsibility is carried out by an independent mathematics department in the Faculty of Education, which is typical of the Egyptian system of higher education. (iii) The only departments in which one-subject specialized degrees in mathematics may be followed are those in Abidjan (2), Bujumbura (2), Costa Rica (l), Philippines (1), Habana (2) and Yaounde (1) universities. Note that the first two and the last one are francophone. (iv) The universities of Ghana, Dar es Salaam, Malaya and South Pacific are the only ones which allow social sciences subjects to be combined with mathematics. Similarly, only Abidjan, Assiut, Malaya and South Pacific universities admit biology as a second subject. The universities of Khartoum and Philippines are unique in offering a one-subject degree in computer science. (v) The number of degrees offered varies from I (Ateneo de Manila) to 10 (Abidjan). The information given in Tables II and IV shows that the number of students/degree offered in 1983/84 varies from about 177 (Philippines) to 2 (Bujumbura).

172

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As for the duration of undergraduate courses, the degrees offered in the universities of Abidjan, Ahmadu Bello, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Ghana, Nairobi, South Pacific and Yaounde last for 3 years. Those offered in Addis Ababa, Assiut, Ateneo de Manala, Cairo, Costa Rica, Ife and Philippines last for 4 years. In Habana the duration is 5 years. In the case of Khartoum university, the duration is 4 years for a general degree and 5 years for an honours degree. Khartoum and Malaya universities also appear to be unique (even amongst anglophone universities) in using the general/honours classification of their degrees (a British tradition) to indicate significant differences in the content of study courses (see also El Tom (1980), Section 3.1).

3.2. Courses of the UndergraduateProgram The questionnaire contained a list of 46 topics, and departments were asked to indicate the levels (lst-5th year) during which aspects of the listed topics are offered as part of their respective undergraduate programs. (Additions of further topics is allowed for in the questionnaire.) The list of topics is given in an Appendix below. The results are given in Table V below. Numbers 1--46 in columns indicate the topics as they appear in the Appendix and the n-th row (1 An < 5), for each department, indicates the level (n-th year) at which some aspect of a particular topic is offered. Table V exhibits several interesting features: (i) In most universities, the first two years are largely spent in covering basic material: calculus, analysis and algebra. Much of this material is, of course, a prerequisite for courses covered in subsequent years. The university of Costa Rica seems to be an exception. (ii) There are interesting variations in the treatment of geometry (18). In four departments (Abidjan, Assiut, Bujumbura and Cairo) geometry courses are offered in both first and second year; in four other cases (Habana, Ife, Khartoum and Nairobi) they are only offered in the first year; in South Pacific and Yaounde only in the final year; and in five cases (Ahmadu Bello, Ateneo de Manala, Costa Rica, Dar es Salaam and Ghana) no geometry courses are offered at all. In Addis Ababa courses are offered in the first and third years. In Malaya they are offered in the last two years; and in Philippines in the first and final years. (iii) In 13 departments functional analysis (8) is offered in the final year as a culmination of a calculus-analysis sequence given in earlier years. The five exceptions are Addis Ababa, Ateneo de Manila and Costa Rica

174

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universities, where it appears nowhere in the program; and Bujumbura and Habana universities, where it is offered in third year. In the case of Bujumbura no further analysis courses are offered in the final year. (iv) Only eight departments (Assiut, Bujumbura, Cairo, Costa Rica, Ife, Khartoum, Malaya and Nairobi) offer any (traditional) applied mathematics courses (26-37) in the first year; and only three (Bujumbura, Ghana and Nairobi) offer a variety of such courses in the second year. No applied mathematics courses are offered in the departments at Ateneo de Manila, Philippines, South Pacific and Yaounde. Two other departments which do not appear to emphasize applied mathematics are the ones at Abidjan and Habana. Excepting these last 6 departments, all other departments offer several applied mathematics courses in their final year. (v) The strongest sequence on differential equations (24, 25) is offered in the departments at Ghana, Dar es Salaam, Malaya and Nairobi. 5 departments (at Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Costa Rica, Ife and Yaounde) offer no courses on partial differential equations (25). (vi) There is a quasi-uniformity amongst departments in their treatment of algebra (12--16).For most of them, the typical sequence is: linear algebra -- group theory-- rings and modules-- field theory (12--3-14-15). The only exceptions to this are the departments at Ateneo de Manila, Costa Rica, Dar es Salaam, and South Pacific universities. (vii) Important differences also exist between departments in their treatment of probability (11) statistics (38) and operations research (39). Except for the departments at Ahmadu Bello, Ghana, Ife, Malaya, Nairobi and South Pacific no department introduces any of these topics in the first year. In the case of the departments at Abidjan, Assiut, Ateneo de Manila, Cairo and Yaounde, no statistics courses are offered before the third year. No operations research courses are offered in the departments at Addis Ababa, Cairo and Ghana. Moreover, the department at Cairo offers no courses on probability; and at Addis Ababa, the department introduces probability courses in the third year as an elective. These remarks need to be read in conjunction with the information shown in Table IV above concerning the degree in Maths with statistics. (viii) Most departments offer their undergraduate students courses on numerical analysis (42) and computers (43). However, in three cases (Abidjan, Ateneo de Manila and Yaounde) no numerical analysis courses are offered (c.f. entry in Table IV against Maths with Computer Science). Moreover, it appears that the strongest offerings in these topics are given by the departments at Ahmadu Bello, Bujumbura, Ghana, Habana, Ife, Khartoum, Malaya and South Pacific universities. It is interesting to note

178

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here that none of the departments at Ghana, Ife Malaya or South Pacific universities offer a degree in maths with computer science (see Table IV above). The information in Table V does not of course reveal the extent to which students actually use a computer. In Section 2 above some information on availability of computing facilities is given. (ix) As for mathematical education (46), except for the departments at Addis Ababa and Ife universities, both of which provide a sustained treatment of aspects of the discipline, it is either not introduced at all (Ahmadu Bello, Assiut, Ateneo de Manila, Cairo, Costa Rica, Dar es Salaam, Ghana, Habana, Malaya, Nairobi, South Pacific, Yaounde), or appears to be treated incidentally (Abidjan, Bujumbura, Khartoum, Philippines). Again compare the relevant entry in Table IV above. It is interesting to note at this point that the departments at Bujumbura and Ife universities are unique in offering courses on both the history and philosophy of mathematics (3 and 4). At Khartoum university a project on history of mathematics is offered as an elective for fifth year students. History of mathematics is also offered for final year students at both Habana and Philippines universities, and for third year students at Malaya university. (x) My final observations concern discrete mathematics (17), mathematical modelling (40) and biomathematics (41). These topics have only recently been included in undergraduate programs on an international scale. The departments at Ahmadu Bello, Habana, Ife and Philippines universities offer courses in all three topics. The departments at Costa Rica offers courses in both modelling and biomathematics in second year. The programs at both Cairo and Khartoum universities include courses on discrete mathematics in the fourth year, and in the latter university students are introduced to modelling in the fifth year. Also students at Nairobi are introduced to modelling in their final year. The department at Bujumbura university offers courses on modelling in both the third and fourth years. The department at Malaya offers discrete mathematics in the last two years. The remaining eight departments do not introduce their undergraduate students to any of the three topics. 3.3. Assessment Procedures The following five methods of assessing students' academic achievement were listed in the questionnaire. (a) Oral examinations. (b) N-hour written paper at the end of an academic session (or semester).

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(c) Open book examinations. (d) Continuous assessment. (e) Projects and/or essays. Departments were asked to indicate the extent to which they used each of these methods at the undergraduate level according to the following scale: 0. Never used. 1. Used with a few courses. 2. Used with many courses. 3. Used with most courses. 4. Used with all courses. A summary of the responses is presented in Table VI below. The following conclusions may be drawn from it.

TABLE VI Methods used to assess undergraduate students' academic achievement Method of assessmenta Oral (a) Traditional (b) Open book (c) Continuous assessment (d) Projects and/or essays (e)

Mathematics Department, University of: Abidjan Addis Ababa Ahmadu Bello Assiut Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairo Costa Rica Dar es Salam Ghana Habana Ife Khartoum Malaya Nairobi Philippines South Pacific Yaounde
a b

x x x x x x x x
b b

x x x x

x x
x

b x

x x x x x x

x x x x x x

Used with all courses but only in final year. Used with many courses.

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(i) Most departments make frequent use of continuous assessment. The exceptions are the departments at the universities of Assiut, Bujumbura, Cairo and Malaya. Moreover, departments at Addis Ababa, Ateneo de Manila and Philippines which are known to be influenced by the American system rely almost exclusively on continuous assessment. (ii) The traditional method of assessment (method b) is frequently used by most departments. The exceptions in this case are Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Ateneo de Manila and Bujumbura universities. (iii) Six departments (Ahmadu Bello, Dar es Salaam, Ife, Khartoum and Nairobi) appear to rely almost exclusively on a combination of the traditional and continuous assessment methods (b and d). (iv) The only departments which make frequent use of oral examinations (method a) are the francophone ones: Abidjan, Bujumbura and Yaounde. (v) Methods (c) and (e) are hardly ever used by any department. The exceptions are the departments at Assiut and Ghana universities, which make some use of method (c) and the department at Habana university where the same method is used as a principal tool of assessment.

4. ASPECTS

OF POSTGRADUATE

STUDIES

The vitality of any academic institution is clearly indicated by the size and quality of its postgraduate program. Some information on the size of these programs is given in Table VII below; and in Table VIII information on areas in which work at the doctoral level is being carried out is given. Unfortunately, however, I have no information to present on the qualitative aspect of these programs. Table VII shows that most departments have a (numerically) weak postgraduate program and, moreover, most departments are still strongly dependent on institutions in industrialized countries for developing their staff. The departments at Assiut and Habana universities have by far the (numerically) strongest program. The table further shows that the diploma, and masters degree by research only, appear to be out of fashion. Regarding the diploma, the only exceptions are the departments at Khartoum and Habana universities; the figure for Habana is worth noting. Table VIII indicates that as far as staff development is concerned, seven departments (Abidjan, Ahmadu Bello, Ateneo de Manila, Bujumbura, Cairo, Costa Rica and Ghana) emphasize pure and applied mathematics. Dar es Salaam, Habana, Khartoum and South Pacific, however, seem to be moving into non-traditional areas. If the areas of study of locally-registered doctorate students in departments with three or more students is examined, Table

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VIII clearly shows that the emphasis is on pure mathematics. Indeed, the proportions of those students working in areas of pure mathematics, (traditional) applied mathematics and in other areas, are about 582,, 62'/ and 36?%s, respectively. One might expect such students to become staff members of other universities or institutes of higher education upon completion of their studies. Another useful indicator of the vitality of an academic institution is the extent of organized extra-curricular activities such as seminars and conferences held there. In Table IX below, information relevant to this indicator is given. The table suggests that there is in general little scientific interaction between departments and the surrounding local environment. On average one local and four foreign speakers gave talks in each department during 1983/84. The departments at Cairo and Habana seem to be

TABLE IX Magnitude of scientifically advanced extra-curricular activities organized by departments (1983/84) Seminars/week Visitors invited to give talks Local visitors Mathematics Department, University of: Abidjan Addis Ababa Ahmadu Bello Assiut Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairo Costa Rica Dar es Salaam Ghana Habana Ife Khartoum Malaya Nairobi Philippines South Pacific Yaounde >1 1 1 (1/month) (Bi-weekly) I 1 >1 (Bi-weekly) (1/month) (Bi-weekly) 1 1 (I/month) 1 (1/month) (1/month) >1 0 0 Several 1 1 0 5 0 2 0 5 4 0 0 2 3 0 0 6 2 0 1 2 4 12 3 1 0 10 3 0 l 0 3 l 4 5 l 0 3
Oa b

Foreign visitors

Scientific conferences during 1979/80 1983/84

1
4 7 1 8 5 2

a Two are planned for 1985. bThis was a symposium extending over one year.

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more active than others. It is rather surprising to note that the department at Assiut, which has one of the two largest postgraduate programs, appears to be the least active (as defined in the context of Table IX).
5. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

In this section I shall look at employment opportunities for mathematics graduates of the 18 respondents to the questionnaire and try to relate the data to relevant aspects of curricula on the one hand, and to the degree of popularity of mathematical sciences, on the other. In an earlier paper (El Tom (1980), p. 434) I discussed the functions which third world mathematicians can usefully perform in their respective societies and concluded that: "Third-world countries need mathematicians primarily to teach mathematics; to help in the various stages of social and economic planning processes and in the area of computer applications." This conclusion seems to be largely confirmed by the information in Table X. In the questionnaire, departments were asked to indicate the five largest employers of their graduates. Only seven departments were able to indicate more than three distinct employers. It is obvious from the table that apart from schools and the civil service there are few employment opportunities for mathematicians. Given the low level of technological and scientific development in the third world, it is not surprising that industry and research (outside universities) offer practically no jobs for mathematicians. Since a good many mathematicians end up as school teachers, it should be asked whether they are adequately prepared for this job. Table V and remark (ix) in Section 3 above strongly suggest that in the majority of cases undergraduate training is hardly adequate for a teaching job. Of course it is possible that in certain cases the graduates in question undergo a limited period of pre-service teacher training and in this way the inadequacy of their initial training is partly compensated for. Even so, the inadequacy of their initial training still stands. In view of the low status of the teaching profession in most third world countries and the limited job market for mathematicians outside teaching, one would expect mathematical studies to be unpopular in these countries. Table XI below gives an indication of the extent to which this is true or not. Departments were asked to indicate whether, for first year students, a degree in a mathematical discipline is a first choice for most, many, a few students or a last resort for may. It appears that outside Cameroon, Egypt, Fiji, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, studies in mathematical sciences are not popular.

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TABLE XI The degree of popularity of studies in mathematical sciences amongst first year students First choice for Most Mathematics Department, University of: Abidjan Addis Ababa Ahmadu Bello Assiut Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairo Costa Rica Dar es Salaam Ghana Habana Ife Khartoum Malaya Nairobi Philippines South Pacific
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TABLE XII No. and specializations of indigenous academic staff Full-time academic staff Total Indigenous staff holding a Ph.D. No. Mathematics Department, University of: Addis Ababa Ateneo de Manila Bujumbura Cairo 25 8 n.a. 36 5 3 0 36 Analysis (2), Algebra (1), Model theory (1), Probability (1). Geometry (1), Combinatorics (1), O.R. (1). Mechanics and theoretical Physics (10), Logic (4), Algebra (5), Analysis (7), Topology (3), Differential geometry (2), Statistics (3), Numerical analysis (2). Analysis (1), Fluid mechanics (1), Oceanography (1). Probability and statistics (4), Fluid mechanics (5), Topology (2), Algebra (2), Differential equations (1), Numerical analysis (2), Computer science (1). Topology (1), Analysis (2), Differential equations (1), Mathematical statistics (2), Fluid mechanics (1). Algebra (2), Analysis (1), Mathematical statistics (1), Topology (1), Numerical analysis (2). Analysis (1), Differential equations (1), Algebra (1), Differential geometry (1), Computer science (2). Field of specialization

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institutions starting with total dependence. Table XII shows that most departments are in an early stage of their development. Departments at Cairo and Khartoum universities are the only two exceptions. The case of the department at Philippines university is rather interesting. For although it is one of the oldest universities in the third world, only 13% of its large staff are Filipinos. The dependence of a department on expatriate staff may cause important instabilities (due to their short period of residence) in its academic programmes. In particular, for stable postgraduate studies one would expect a department to emphasize those disciplines in which its indigenous staff are specialized (compare the relevant entries in Tables VIII and XII).

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6.2. Links with Society Society's appreciation of and support for the mathematical sciences is very much a function of the type and strength of links between university mathematics experiments and society. In the questionnaire departments were asked to indicate whether they have engaged during the past five years in any of the following activities: (a) Inservice teacher training. (b) Writing syllabi for schools. (c) Preparing materials for schools. (d) Research/consultancy work for public or private institutions. The responses of the various departments are shown in Table XIII below. The table reveals that all departments, except those at Assiut and Khartoum universities, have had during the past five years important links with their respective ministries of education. In contrast, only seven departments have had, during the same period, productive links with other local institutions. These latter links appear to be strongest in the cases of departments at Habana and Malaysia universities. It is possible that the main reason for this weakness is the non-existence in the relevant departments, of critical masses of indigenous specialists in disciplines such as operations research, modelling and discrete mathematics which are essential for the mathematical treatment of real world problems. (Compare remarks (vii) and (x) in Section 3.2 and Table XII).
7. SUMMARY

The information presented in the previous sections gives some ideas about the actual situation of mathematics education in several third world universities. Given the variations, noted in Section 2, in the mathematics departments considered, it is not unreasonable to assume that they are representative of mathematics departments in many third world countries. It is known that mathematics is young in most third world countries. This is confirmed by Table I which shows that most of the departments of mathematics considered are barely 30 years old. The same table shows that, with two exceptions, such departments are small in number - 1-3 departments in each country. Moreover, each of the departments in the table enjoys a characteristic (age, prestige, size) which confers upon it a leading role in the development of mathematics in its own country. For a discussion of the nature of this role see El Tom (1984). The information in Tables III and XIII indicates that the resources (both material and human) available for departments to meet their responsiblities

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are not adequate. Thus if one measures the availability of material resources by the mean for each department in Table III, then it turns out that 13 departments have an unsatisfactory situation (mean less than 2). As for human resources, Table XIII shows that most departments are heavily dependent on expatriate staff members. Clearly, this poses problems for the development and implementation of a coherent programme for the promotion of the discipline. Except for the department at Ateneo de Manila, departments offer several single and combined bachelor degrees. Of the combined degrees, mathematics with physics seems to be the most popular one (Table IV). However, students who follow these degree courses are, in the majority of cases, not strongly motivated (Table XI). Of course, this is related to the social status of mathematicians and to the limited job market for them (Table X). Finally, if one looks at the content of undergraduate programmes (Table V), areas of study of Ph.D. students (Table VIII) and fields of specializations of indigenous staff (Table XII), then it is evident that most departments emphasize pure and (traditional) applied mathematics. In particular, modern trends in applications of mathematics and mathematical education are not adequately represented. This is despite the fact that the future careers of their graduates (most of whom end up in teaching (Table X) and the possible contribution of mathematics to the solution of developmental problems demand that these areas be adequately emphasized in the training of both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'm glad to acknowledge the cooperation of those colleagues and heads of departments who took the trouble of filling in and returning a rather lengthy questionnaire.

APPENDIX

The questionnaire contained the following list of topics which may be offered at various of the undergraduate program:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Set Theory Logic History of Maths Philosophy of Maths Calculus Real Analysis Complex Analysis 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Partial Differential Equations Mechanics Fluid Mechanics Elasticity/Plasticity Electromagnetic Theory Themodynamics Relativity

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8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

Functional Analysis Approximation Theory Measure Theory Probability Linear Algebra Group Theory Rings and Modules Field Theory Lattice Theory Discrete Maths Geometry General Topology Algebraic Topology Differential Topology Differential Geometry Number Theory Ordinary Differential Equations

32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

Quantum Theory Statistical Mechanics Space Science Mathematical Physics Astronomy Oceanography Statistics Systems Analysis/Operations Research Mathematical Modelling Biomathematics Numerical Analysis Computer Science Control Theory Optimization Mathematical Education Others (Please name them)

REFERENCES D'Ambrosio, U.: 1979, 'Overall goals and objectives for mathematical education', in New Trends iM Mathematics Teaching, Vol. IV, Unesco, Chapter IX, pp. 180-198. El rom, M. E. A. (ed.): 1979, Developing Mathematics in Thirdi Wor-ldCountries, NorthHolland. El Tom, M. E. A.: 1980, 'Remarks on structures of university mathematics institutions in third world countries', International Journal of Mathematical and Educational Science and Technology,11, 433-446. El rom, M. E. A.: 1984, The Role of Third World University Mathematics Institutions in? Promoting Mathematics, paper presented at the 5th ICME, Adelaide, Australia, 24-30 August, 1984.

School of Mathematical Sciences.

University, of Khartoum,

P.O. Box 321, Sudan K1hartoum,