Transcript Presentation: African Quality Assurance and
African Union Commission
Workshop on Establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency for Higher Education in Africa 10 – 11 April 2013, Addis Ababa
The Overall Landscape of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Africa
Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae Senior Education Expert Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology African Union Commission
African Union Commission
What do we mean by Quality Assurance?
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Quality Assurance is a systematic, structured and continuous attention to quality
The purpose of a QA system is to ensure that educational activities are of high quality and are developing toward further improvements Quality Assurance is internal and external
Internal QA
Policies and mechanisms implemented by an institution to ensure its own quality
External QA
Actions of an external body
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Link between Quality Assurance and Accreditation 3
Accreditation is one part of External QA
Accreditation is a useful mechanism for assuring quality of HEIs as a formal recognition of the fulfillment of agreed standards by external body
Accreditation comprise a multi-step process - Self-evaluation submitted by the Institution undergoing accreditation - External assessment by independent experts - Accreditation decision by an authorized body
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Link between Quality Assurance and Accreditation 4
Both Accreditation and QA processes are important for improving Quality in African HEIs
Effective Accreditation processes depends upon how well HEIs manage their internal QA systems Quality Assurance
Accreditation
Improvement Quality Control
The development of African Quality Assurance Framework is a reinforcement for a Continental Accreditation Mechanism
African Union Commission
Why the need for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Africa?
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Demand for efficiency and competitiveness
Increasing Mobility, Globalization and the Cross – Border Recognition of Qualifications
Rising private interests in higher education
The Challenge of the New Modes of Delivery
Expansion in Enrolments
Demand for Quality and Relevance of Education
The Challenge of Brain Drain
Retention
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Challenges to the Quality of Higher Education in Africa 6
High increase in enrollment
Inadequate facilities and infrastructures
Shortage of qualified staff and heavy workloads
Outdated teaching methods, rely on lectures
Weakening of research and publishing activities
Mismatch between graduate output & employment
Low level of quality management system and limited capacity of governance & leadership
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Challenges to the Quality of Higher Education in Africa 7
Many countries are yet to establish regulatory agencies for QA and Accreditation
In some countries, quality monitoring and accreditation is employed only in Private HEIs
Many HEIs are facing challenges that are affecting their quality – Enrolment expansion
Problems of comparability (credit transfer)
Many initiatives in promoting QA in Africa but they are disparate & uncoordinated, with little collaboration among regions & key organisations
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Quality Assurance in African Higher Education Institutions 8
Use of external examiners, self-evaluation and academic audits are among good QA processes in African HEIs
Although many institutions claim to pay attention to quality issues, only few actually have in place dedicated units that can monitor performance and advise management on a regular basis
QA needs be part of institution’s strategic plan
5 institutional evaluations were conducted within Europe-Africa Quality Connect project
African Union Commission QA and Accreditation at National Levels
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Only 21 countries have established structured national QA mechanisms, the majority having been established within the last 10 years
Botswana, Burundi, Cameroun, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe
Activities differ, ranging from simple licensing of institutions to program accreditation
African Union Commission QA and Accreditation at National Levels
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Many of the QA Agencies lack the capacity needed to implement their mandates effectively
capacity building is crucial
National QA agencies also lack trained staff and capacity for implementing evaluation process
Several countries changed their laws to make accreditation of public institutions mandatory as it has been limited only to private institutions
Accreditation for selected programs is carried out by the professional bodies in some countries
African Union Commission QA and Accreditation at National Levels
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There is convergence in methodology across countries
institutional audits, institutional accreditation, and program accreditation
The standards being applied by national QA agencies are input-based with little attention being paid to process, outputs and outcomes
Mainly to ensure minimum input standards are being met (physical facilities, learning resources, adequacy of teaching staff, and curriculum)
Lack of experience in monitoring Open Distance Learning and Cross Boarder Higher Education
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Regional Collaborations in Quality Assurance 12
The need for regional collaboration in QA is progressively being recognized
CAMES is carrying out several activities to support QA development in 19 Francophone countries (Accreditation, LMD Reform)
The Association of Arab Universities (AArU) sets up QA & Accreditation Council (QAAC) to assist its members institutions in QA
The Arab Network for QA in HE (ANQAHE) is established to assist in creation of QA agencies & develop standards
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Regional Collaborations in Quality Assurance 13
Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) embarks on promoting QA systems in public & private HEIs in 5 East African countries
The SADC Regional Qualification Framework include guidelines which set minimum standards for quality assurance in the SADC region
The Higher Education Quality Management Initiative for Southern Africa (HEQMISA) supports the development of QA and promotes regional cooperation with universities in the SADC region
SARUA
African Union Commission African Quality Assurance Framework
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The Goal is to catalyse improvement in quality in higher education in Africa
Africa to be under one umbrella in QA in higher education in terms of minimum standards
Situation analysis of quality assurance practices in different countries and sub-regions in Africa
Establish regional benchmarks and minimum standards
Develop African QA framework
African Union Commission
African QA Peer Review Mechanism
To share experiences on structures, functions, management, legal frameworks
To highlight strengths and weaknesses of quality assurance agencies for the purpose of early remediation of deficiencies
To identify best practices in quality assurance that can be modelled continental wide 15
To promote partnerships and collaboration among quality assurance agencies in Africa
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QA Initiatives at Continental Level
The Association of African Universities (AAU) has initiated several QA activities
African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) was constituted in 2009 to foster collaboration and linkages among QA bodies within Africa
Standards and quality assurance mechanisms for ODL are developed by ACDE-QAAA 16
The AU Commission initiated the establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency for HE
African Union Commission
AU Policy Framework Second Decade of Education for Africa 17
Gender and culture
Education management information systems
Teacher development
Higher education
Technical-vocational education & training
Curriculum development, and teaching & learning materials
Quality management
Early Childhood Development
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Mandate
Spearheading the development & harmonization of education policies and programmes on the continent, towards achievement of the AU vision of prosperity, peace and integration
Contributing to development of revitalized, quality, relevant, harmonized education systems through intra African networking 18
Facilitate the contribution of education and research to African renaissance & empowerment of its people to generate Africa-led solutions
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Political Decisions
Decisions of AU Summits of Heads of States and Governments (2 nd Decade of Education 2006-15)
Recommendations from Conference of Ministers of Education of African Union (COMEDAF) 19
The AU Executive Council decision of January 2012 on the establishment of the PAU requested the AUC to develop an African Accreditation Agency for higher education in collaboration with relevant stakeholders
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Link with the Pan African University
The establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency is vital to guarantee high quality of education provision in the Pan African University and to ensure its international recognition
One major requirement for the PAU is ensuring excellence through internal quality assurance mechanisms and external accreditation 20
But institutions that form the PAU are located in several different countries. Currently, there is no continental mechanism for accreditation
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African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM) 21
In its endeavor to contribute to QA, the AUC spearheaded the development of AQRM
The AQRM was developed through extensive dialogue with the African HE community
It was adopted by the COMEDAF III in 2007
Pilot Self-Rating of AQRM was conducted in 2010 and 32 institutions from 11 countries participated
Full-scale of AQRM will be implemented
African HEIs should take ownership of AQRM and use it as one means for quality improvement
African Union Commission Concluding Remarks
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African countries and universities need to work to improve the quality of their educational programs and to establish coherent systems of equivalence and accreditation
Continental Mechanism
From diversity to harmonisation while maintaining institutional and national identities and autonomy
Ensuring quality of higher education is crucial to promote African integration through mutual recognition of qualifications and mobility of students and academics THANK YOU