National Agenda for the Transformation of Higher Education: Dr. Abdourahmane Diouf Details the Main Plans

On Monday, December 16, the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI), Dr. Abdourahmane Diouf, presented the 2025 Finance Bill to the Finance and Budget Control Committee. This meeting provided an opportunity to unveil the National Agenda for the Transformation of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (ANTESRI) and discuss the current challenges facing Senegalese universities.

Launch of the ANTESRI Agenda: A New Era for Higher Education

On the instructions of President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, Minister Diouf announced the imminent launch of ANTESRI. This inclusive agenda aims to actively involve academics and other stakeholders to align the priorities of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (ESRI) with the eight economic clusters of the Senegal 2050 vision.

"ANTESRI will provide an opportunity to evaluate past reforms and propose concrete solutions to improve the quality of teaching, university governance, research, innovation, digital technology and artificial intelligence," the minister stressed.

Reforms and Challenges of Higher Education in Senegal

Minister Diouf also addressed the challenges facing the higher education sector:

• Universalization of access to higher education.
• Quality assurance of programs and curricula.
• Development of research and innovation to boost the economy.

To meet these challenges, the MESRI plans to:

• Finalize ongoing university projects.
• Implement new reforms for quality training.
• Adopt a roadmap to stabilize the academic year.
• Improve the guidance of new graduates.
• Exploiting data from the first Senegalese satellite.

2025 Budget: An Increase for Higher Education

The budget allocated to the MESRI for 2025 amounts to 308,535,571,734 FCFA, an increase of 5,103,756,505 FCFA compared to 2024. This increase of 1.65 % in relative value will make it possible to finance the following priority actions:

• Program 1 “Higher Education”: 161,358,941,600 FCFA.
• Program 2 “University Social Works”: 140,004,338,487 FCFA.
• Program 3 “Steering, Management and Administrative Coordination”: 7,172,291,647 FCFA.

Find all our articles on our blog