Post on 21-Jun-2020
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 MohamedbhaiFormer 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 20th 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. 4th
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; 11th
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