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National and Regional Developments in Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa: East African Experiences and Lessons
Mayunga H.H. Nkunya
Executive SecretaryInter-University Council for East Africa
(Institution of the East African Community)
Keynote Presentation at the 7th International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa held on 22nd – 25th September
2015 in Abuja, Nigeria
Presentation Overview
o Coordination of the development of Higher Education Systems in the East African Community by IUCEA
o Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: The Context
o Higher Education Harmonization Drivers
o East Africa’s Higher Education Harmonization Functional Tools
o Regional Quality Assurance Operational Instruments
o East African Qualifications Framework for Higher Education
o Alignment of EAQFHE with the Arusha (Addis) Convention
o Operational Factors Guiding Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa
Inter-University Council For East Africa (IUCEA)
An institution of the East African Community (EAC) responsible for coordinating the development of higher education and research, whose roles include:
o Advising the Community on higher education matters
o Facilitating networking among higher education institutions in the EAC Partner States, and with external institutions
o Facilitating maintenance of quality standards and harmonization of higher education systems for promoting regional integration
Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: The Context
Establishment of a common frame of reference facilitating comparability, compatibility and mutual recognition of higher education and training systems and the qualifications attained among the East African Community countries for promoting free movement of students and labour
Higher Education Harmonization in East Africa …
Driven by the coming into force in July 2010 of the Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market by easing mobility of learners and labour across Partner State borders and transforming the EAC region into a common higher education area
East Africa’s Higher Education Harmonization Functional Tools
Functional Tool 1:
Regional Quality Assurance System
Developed to promote comparability of education systems and enhancing quality education and maintaining international standards in higher education in East Africa.
East Africa’s Higher Education Harmonization Functional Tools …
Functional Tool 2:
East African Qualifications Framework for Higher Education
Generic instrument onto which the national qualifications frameworks of the EAC countries are anchored for the purpose of promoting comparability, compatibility and synchronization of education and training systems, and as a platform to facilitate mutual recognition of the qualifications attained
East Africa’s Quality Assurance System:Operationalization Instrument (1)
Principles and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in East Africa
o A common frame of reference guiding higher education institutions and national commissions/councils for higher/university education in developing and practicing a common quality assurance culture, in line with the regional aspirations for a harmonized higher education system, and international developments in quality assurance
o Already Adopted by the National Commissions/Councils for Higher/University Education in the EAC Countries
East Africa’s Quality Assurance System:Operationalization Instrument (2)
Quality Assurance Handbook of Assessment Instruments published in Four volumes and already being used across East Africa:
Volume 1: Guidelines for Self-Assessment at Programme Level
Volume 2: Guidelines for External assessment at Programme Level
Volume 3: Guidelines for Self-Assessment at Institutional Level
Volume 4: The Implementation of a Quality Assurance System
Volume 5: Practices and Management of External Quality Assurance in East Africa – Already developed but not yet published
East Africa’s Quality Assurance System:Operationalization Instrument (3)
Benchmarks for academic programmes
Providing references against which learning outcomes can be measured with respect to a particular specification of programme characteristics and indicative standards across the East African Community countries
East Africa’s Quality Assurance System:Operationalization Instrument (3) …
Purpose of Programme Benchmarks
o Guide higher education institutions in curriculum design
o Enable National Higher Education Regulatory Agencies to assess the
quality of the academic programmes based on regional standards
o Promote harmonization of academic programme in the region
o Enhance staff and student mobility across the region
o Guide the labour market in determining the quality of graduates
o Enhance regionalization of the labor market as one of the goals
achievable from operationalization of the Protocol for the Establishment
of the East African Community Common Market
East Africa’s Quality Assurance System:Operationalization Instrument (4)
East African Higher Education Quality Assurance Network
o A Network of quality assurance practitioners in East Africa promoting capacity building and sharing of quality assurance practices in the region
o The network holds an annual forum every year in order to exchange experiences on quality assurance practices in their institutions (Higher Education Institutions and National Commissions and Councils for Higher/university Education in the EAC Partner States), and international practices.
o The Annual Forum is also used as a platform for training of the quality assurance practitioners on global trends in quality assurance and higher education management dynamics
East African Qualifications Framework for Higher Education
o Generic higher education harmonization instrument for the East African Partner States, onto which the Partner States’ national qualifications frameworks are anchored for the purpose of harmonization and synchronization of education and training systems, and harmonization of the qualifications attained in the East African Community.
o Instrument for the development and classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria for levels of learning and skills achieved by a learner, regardless of the mode of learning.
o Intended to ensure effective comparability of qualifications and credit audit and accumulation across national education and training systems, and facilitates recognition of the qualifications within and outside the country and the regional.
Alignment of EAQFHE with the Arusha (Addis) Convention
The East African Qualifications Framework for Higher education relates to
the operationalization of the principles of the Revised Arusha Convention
(Addis Convention) with respect to:
o Strengthening and promoting inter-regional and international co-
operation on recognition of qualifications
o Defining and establishing effective quality assurance and accreditation
mechanisms at the national, regional and continental levels
o Facilitating the exchange and greater mobility of students, teachers and
researchers in the continent and the diaspora, by recognition of
qualifications delivered by other Parties in order to pursue higher
education
o Contributing to the harmonization of certificates and qualifications,
taking into account the current global trends aiming at generalizing the
bachelor-master-doctorate degree structure
Operational Factors Guiding Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa(a) National and institutional systems as the building blocks(b) Common conceptual understanding of the harmonization goals and
tools(c) System acceptability and ownership at:
(i) Higher Education Institutional level(ii) National levels (Commissions/Councils for higher/university
education up to government levels)(iii) Sub-regional (EAC) level
(d) Non-prescriptiveness: Institutionalization of the system through “speaking the same language but in different ways that accommodate national/institutional diversities”, hence promoting creativity and competitiveness
(e) Internationalization in order to facilitate international recognition and legitimacy
(f) Sustainability factors (quality culture, human resources, including networking, technical expertise, financial (!!!)
Thank you for your attention
© Inter-University Council for East Africa, Kampala, Uganda, May 2015
