The Overall Landscape of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Africa Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae

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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 WoldetensaeSenior Education Expert

Department of Human Resources, Science and TechnologyAfrican Union Commission

African Union Commission

What do we mean by Quality Assurance?

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 Assuranceand Accreditation

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 Assuranceand Accreditation

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 ImprovementAccreditation Quality Control

The development of African Quality Assurance Framework is a reinforcement for a Continental Accreditation Mechanism

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Why the need for Quality Assuranceand Accreditation in Africa?

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

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

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 AfricanHigher Education Institutions

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

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QA and Accreditation at National Levels

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

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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

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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

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


Regional Collaborations in Quality Assurance

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

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African Quality Assurance Framework

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

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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

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

The AU Commission initiated the establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency for HE

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AU Policy Framework Second Decade of Education for Africa

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

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 (2nd Decade of Education 2006-15)

Recommendations from Conference of Ministers of Education of African Union (COMEDAF)

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

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)

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

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Concluding Remarks

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

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The Overall Landscape of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Africa Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae

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