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Harmonization of Education Systems in East Africa

Dr. Cosam Chawanga Joseph

Inter-University Council for East Africa(Institution of the East African Community)

A Presentation at IQA Workshop 28-29 May, North Cyprus

Presentation Overview

o Profile of the Inter-University Council For East Africa (IUCEA)

o Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: The Context

o Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: Operational Factors

o Achievements

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:

oAdvising the EAC Partner States on higher education matters

oFacilitating networking among higher education institutions in the EAC Partner States, and with external institutions

oFacilitating maintenance of quality standards and harmonization of higher education systems for promoting regional integration

oProviding support for the development of higher education systems and research

In undertaking its roles IUCEA works in close collaboration with the national commissions/councils for university/higher education in the EAC Partner States: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

INTEGRATİON AGENDA OF THE EAC(COMMON MARKET PROTOCOL ARTİCLE 11)

Free Movement of people, Labour and

Service, which requires

- Mutual Recognition of Academic and

Professional Qualifications

-Promotion of cross-border education

Interregional cooperation in quality assurance:

Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: The Context

Establishment of a common frame of reference to facilitate comparability, compatibility and mutual recognition of higher education and training systems and the qualifications attained among the East African Community (EAC) Partner States, for promoting free movement of students and labour in the Community, and hence the Community to operate as a common higher education area

HARMONİZATİON OF THE EAST AFRİCAN HİGHER EDUCATİON

• Harmonization does not mean that every university or all countries in the region to use a unified or standardized education system.

• Harmonization means that basic quality assurance concepts are equivalent based on shared views on quality, criteria, standards and practices.

• Basic quality assurance benchmarks are mainstreamed and adopted by universities and countries in their systems.

i.e. SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE IN THE REGION

Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: The Context

The Frame of Reference for Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa is based on:

(a) Regional Quality Assurance System guided by:

(i) A policy framework: Principles and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in East Africa

(ii) Regional quality assurance instruments: Contained in the Handbook of Quality Assurance in Higher Education: “Road Map to Quality”, published in four volumes covering internal quality assurance at programme level, external quality assurance at programme level, institutional quality assurance, and implementation of a quality assurance system

(iii) Benchmarks for academic programmes

(b) East African Qualifications Framework for Higher Education as a human resources development tool guiding the higher education and training systems

Harmonization of Higher Education in East Africa: Operational Factors(a) National and institutional systems as the building blocks

(b) Common conceptual understanding

(c) System acceptability and ownership at:

(i) Higher Education Institutional level

(ii) National levels (Commissions/Councils up to government levels)

(iii) Sub-regional (EAC) level

(d) Non-prescriptive frame of reference: Institutionalization of the system through “speaking the same language but in different ways that accommodate national/institutional diversities

(e) (e) Internationalization for its international legitimacy

(f) Sustainability

(i) Quality Culture

(ii) Human resources

(iii) Technical expertise

(iv) Financial

Harmonization of Higher Education at regional/sub-regional levels: Operational FactorsQuality Assurance is not the end by itself, but is is just the means towards achieving quality

(a) Deployment in national systems for:

(i) Accreditation

(ii) Institutional audits

(iii) Academic audits

(iv) Qualifications

(b) How would these systems are set up at the sub-regional level

(i) Mutual recognition approach

(ii) Sub-regional accreditation of the national systems

(iii) Sub-regional peer review

(iv) Sub-regional/Regional Accreditation Register (s)

Challenges of establishing a Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework

o Lack or inadequacy of national level quality assurance and accreditation systems in some countries

o Disparity in standards and quality assurance practices among national accrediting bodies

o Lack of accreditations systems for cross-border and ODeL delivery modes at national and sub-regional levels

o Dynamics and diversity of higher education provision systems and providers, including cross-border education and institutional systems, etc.

o Disparity in national education policies and philosophy, which are important determinants of the development of education and training systems

o Lack of national qualifications framework(s) in most countries, and at sub-regional level

Thank you for your attention

© Inter-University Council for East Africa, Kampala, Uganda, May 2015