2020 CHEA International Quality Group Annual Meeting 29-30 January 2020, Washington DC Higher Education, Quality Assurance and Growing Regionalization Trends Regional and Continental Quality Assurance Initiatives: An African Perspective Goolam Mohamedbhai Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mauritius Former Secretary-General, Association of African Universities
Why Poor Quality of HE in Africa? Institutional massification – far greater student enrolment than carrying capacity of institutions Decreasing quality of output from secondary schools Increase in funds to public HEIs not commensurate with enrolment Shortage of faculty, especially well-qualified ones Poor research output Lack of relevance of programmes – poor linkages with productive sector and community Large number of private & CBHE institutions – many of dubious quality Poor governance & efficiency in management of HEIs
Evidence of Poor Quality Overcrowded lecture rooms, crumbling infrastructure, lack of labs & equipment Large drop-out and failure rates in degree courses Poorly trained graduates, e.g. 2014 survey of employers in 5 East African countries found 51- 62% of graduates ‘half - baked’ Increasing unemployment of graduates, e.g. 2011 survey of 1,000 graduates in South Africa showed 30% of them unemployed Non-accreditation of programs, e.g. in 2010 NUC of Nigeria withdrew accreditation of academic depts. in over 20 Nigerian universities – lack of infrastructure and academic staff Non-recognition of professional quals e.g. in 2011 Engg Reg Board of Kenya refused recognition of engg degrees from 3 leading public universities
Agenda for Improving Quality Control student enrolment & ensure success Generate alternate sources of funding – cost-sharing Upgrade qualifications of existing academic staff – both in research (PhD) & Teaching & Learning (Pedagogical Training) Undertake more postgraduate training & research, especially in S&T Have greater linkages with productive sectors & improve employability of students Improve governance & efficiency in management of HEIs Wider use of ICT in T&L, research, administration, data collection & analysis, etc. Promote Quality Assurance within institutions (IQA) and externally by creating QA agencies (EQA) Promote regional collaboration for sharing experiences/resources
National QA Initiatives End 20 th century several HEIs e.g. U of Mauritius , St Mary’s Uni College, Ethiopia, U of Dar es Salaam, introduced QA at institutional level through collaboration with European universities c. 2001: South Africa’s Council for Higher Education was first to introduce national QA processes through its HEQC In several of African countries a QA unit/section under the Commission or Council for HE undertakes this function (Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana); in some countries Quality is assured by the Ministry responsible for HE A few countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania) have set up specific QA agencies for Accreditation and/or Evaluation processes in HEIs However, just over half of 48 SSA countries have dedicated national QA agencies & most of them face challenges in EQA Most HEIs have not been able to set up effective IQA system
Regional & Continental Africa (1/2)
Regional & Continental Africa (2/2) AFRICAN UNION (AU) - Continent Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of African Union: Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) - North Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – West East African Community (EAC) – East Southern African Development Community (SADC) – South Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) – Centre Linguistic Groupings Arabic, English, French & Portuguese
Regional QA Initiatives (1/2) 2003: HEQMISA, an initiative started in 2002 to promote QA in Southern African HEIs with support from GIZ(GTZ); assistance provided to Malawi, Namibia, etc. Not much progress made 2005-2014: IUCEA with support from DAAD & HRK embarked on promoting QA systems in public & private HEIs in 5 East African countries: • Handbook (4 Vols) produced • Establishment of East African HE QA Network (EAQAN) in 2012 2006: CAMES (African & Malagasy Council for Higher Education) starts QA of programs in HEIs in its 19 Francophone member states 2007: Arab Network for QA in HE (ANQAHE) created to support QA agencies in the region. Works closely with Association of Arab Universities
Regional QA Initiatives (2/2) 2013: DAAD and several African partner organisations, launched EWAQAS (Enhancing West African QA Structures) in West & Central Africa: • Francophone countries: training courses in EQA & IQA; RAQUES - Alumni Network created • Anglophone countries: training for IQA; WAAQAN - Alumni Network created 2014: Launch of Southern African QA Network (SAQAN) of national QA agencies & HEIs in SADC region. 4 th SAQAN conference held in Lesotho in Oct. 2018 DAAD, IIEP/UNESCO & SAQAN to run blended learning courses on EQA for QA agencies in SADC region in 2019 & 2020
Continental QA Initiatives (1/3) 2006: ICQAHEA launched as African QA Forum, supported by UNESCO, AUC, AAU, GUNI, ADEA, etc. Meets every year; 11 th Conference in Oct. 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria 2009: AfriQAN formally launched and hosted by AAU, for capacity building of national QA agencies & HEIs. Initially supported by WB & UNESCO. Activities limited by lack of funds 2010: African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM) for rating HEIs launched by AUC; uses self-assessment against set standards + external evaluation; complements internal & external QA process; some 50+ HEIs continent-wide assessed by 2017 2015: HAQAA (Harmonization of African QA & Accreditation) launched by AU with EU funding & support from several African & European organisations under Joint Africa-EU Strategy. HAQAA to contribute towards creation of Pan African QA & Accreditation Framework (PAQAF)
Continental Tools under PAQAF (3/3) 1. African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ASG-QA ): • Developed through collaboration between AU and EU and several African & European organizations & associations between 2017 and 2018 under the HAQAA Initiative • An overriding set of S&G that provide a baseline for development of good QA systems & practices in HE in Africa • Provides S&G for EQA, IQA & IQA of QA agencies • Available in English, French, Arabic & Portuguese • Pending endorsement by the African Union 2. Continental Qualifications Framework – Pending development. Needs input from Regional QFs – not developed yet in all regions 3. African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM)
Continental Tools under PAQAF (3/3) 4. Addis Convention for Recognition of Qualifications – a revision of the Arusha Convention, developed, pending legal approval and ratification by many African states. 5. African Credit Accumulation and Transfer System – proposal initiated by the TUNING Africa initiative, pending further development. 6. Continental Register for QA agencies and quality assured higher education institutions - pending development Ultimately, it is proposed to create a Continental Accreditation Agency for oversight & implementation of above tools
Challenges & Way Forward (1/2) Over past 2 decades, significant progress made in addressing QA in HE, regional cooperation playing an important role Two essentially independent approaches being used: • Bottom up at regional level • Top down at continental level Harmonization of the 2 approaches must be ensured At HEI level, major handicaps are inadequate capacity for internal reviews, too heavy teaching & administrative load of academic staff & lack of funds National QA agencies also lack trained staff, capacity for evaluation of HEIs, and funds Private HE, especially for-profit, growing rapidly – difficult to use traditional EQA approach for all private HEIs. They need special attention
Challenges & Way Forward (2/2) Lack of experience in Africa in applying Evaluation process to ODL and CBHE – again increasing rapidly and have their own specificity [Use of OECD Guidelines for Quality Provision in CBHE] Very little work done on QA of graduate programs, in particular doctoral. PhD graduates increasing rapidly and require attention. CHE of South Africa started EQA for PhDs in 2019 – needs to be followed up Sustainability of most QA Networks is difficult because of lack of funds – funding through membership fees grossly insufficient; yet they have an important role to play The ASG-QA is a valuable tool and should be fully utilised (adapted if necessary) by HEIs and QA agencies HAQAA initiative comes at an opportune time to coordinate and harmonise QA activities and ensure ownership by African countries, associations, agencies and institutions
THANK YOU
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