ANQ
An interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed international academic journal dedicated to expanding knowledge democracy, structural curriculum transformations, and developmental partnerships concerning the African continent.
Editorial
Editorial: Why "African Nexus Quarterly"?
İbrahim Hakan Karataş
African Nexus Quarterly introduces an Africa-centered editorial lens hosted in Türkiye and oriented to the continent’s priorities. It argues for a scholarly platform that helps correct asymmetries in how knowledge about Africa is produced, validated, indexed, and circulated.
Research Articles
Bridging the gaps: enhancing teachers' proficiency in marking and feedback practices for Uganda's competency-based curriculum
Charles Kyasanku; Rose Costa Nakawuki
Uganda's Competency-Based Curriculum aims to equip learners with 21st-century skills through learner-centred teaching, formative assessments, and criterion-referenced evaluation. This qualitative multiple-case study examines teachers' proficiency in marking and feedback practices in two public lower secondary schools in Mpigi District, revealing systemic gaps in marking methods, rubric use, feedback quality, training, resources, and class size.
Women's participation in peace and security efforts in East Africa: challenges and opportunities
Busuulwa Huthaifah Abdallah; Charlotte Karungi Mafumbo; Harriet Ariko Akiror
This paper examines progress and gaps in women’s participation in political leadership and security sector integration across East African Community partner states. Drawing on National Action Plans, regional action plans, and key informant interviews, it argues for a more intentional and coordinated regional approach to gender-responsive security sector reform and inclusive governance.
Symbolic inclusion or structural institutionalisation? indigenous knowledge systems and curriculum reform in Tanzanian Higher Education
Janeth Kilasi; Irene Etumaro
This qualitative case study investigates the integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems within the curriculum of St. Augustine University of Tanzania. Guided by the Quintuple Helix Model, it distinguishes between symbolic inclusion and structural institutionalisation, arguing that meaningful decolonisation requires systemic curriculum redesign rather than discretionary incorporation.
Institutional commitment vs. capacity: comprehensive internationalisation practices at Istanbul Medeniyet University
İbrahim Hakan Karataş
This study investigates how İstanbul Medeniyet University interprets and implements internationalisation strategies in alignment with national policy and global trends. Using institutional self-assessment documents, a comprehensive internationalisation rubric, and interviews with senior academic leaders, it finds strong strategic commitment but limited operational coherence in curriculum integration, faculty engagement, and mobility support.
Transformative learning among the Batwa: effects of an integrated literacy, numeracy, and civic education intervention in South-West Uganda
Charles Kyasanku, Edwardi Kansiime, Alfred Buluma
Uganda's Batwa Indigenous community has faced severe marginalisation since being forcibly displaced from their ancestral forests in the early 1990s, when Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks were established. This displacement deepened poverty, discrimination, and inequality, drastically limiting education; pre-intervention child enrollment was around 10%, with adult literacy far below national averages. This study evaluates a community-based intervention combining functional adult literacy, civic education, and transformative teaching methods, grounded in Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory. Conducted in Kisoro and Rubanda Districts, the programme sought to shift perspectives among Batwa adults and host communities, promote gender-inclusive education, and build community resilience. Using a mixed-methods, pre-and post-intervention design, researchers gathered data through focus groups, interviews, observation, and baseline/endline assessments. Results showed significant gains: adult literacy rose from 34.5% to 70%, and civic knowledge improved sharply, with understanding of civic institutions increasing from 15% to 70%. Dialogue-based sessions addressing patriarchal norms also produced measurable gender equity progress. However, numeracy improvements were modest, indicating a need for more contextually relevant mathematics teaching. The findings support culturally responsive, integrated interventions for addressing overlapping exclusion barriers and recommend embedding similar approaches into national education policy prioritising community ownership, collaboration across stakeholders, and sustained funding to break cycles of intergenerational marginalisation.