African Union Perspectives 8th International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa Windhoek, Namibia (19 – 23 September 2016) African Union Perspectives in Enhancing Quality and Accelerating Harmonisation Presented by Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae Senior Education Expert African Union Commission 1

Preamble Vision of African Union  To build integrated Africa (demands harmonised education system) Assembly/AU/Decl.6(XXV) Committed to establish harmonised mechanism to ensure comparable higher education in Africa EX.CL/Dec.894(XXVII) Requested setting-up of mechanisms for harmonisation and quality assurance processes Continental Education Strategy recognises the importance of harmonisation and quality assurance

African Union Strategy for Harmonisation – Major Goals Bridge the gap between disparate educational systems in Africa Provide an integrating platform to develop regional harmonization initiatives that cohere into a continental process of harmonization Advance joint curriculum development and institutional partnerships among African Universities to ensure global competitiveness Facilitate the recognition of qualifications and promote Intra-Africa academic mobility Promote the development of harmonised quality assurance mechanisms

HARMONISATION QUALITY ASSURANCE AU Harmonisation and Quality Assurance Initiatives HARMONISATION Recognition of Qualifications Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Joint Curriculum TUNING ADDIS CONVENTION QUALITY ASSURANCE AQRM PAQAF HAQAA INITIATIVE

Addis Convention “Addis Convention” is the revised and updated version of the 1981 “Arusha Convention” Addis Convention REVISED CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION OF STUDIES, CERTIFICATES, DIPLOMAS, DEGREES AND OTHER ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICAN STATES Addis Convention is currently not operational due to the lack of ten countries having ratified. 16 African countries signed, no ratification yet Informal Working Group is established to start preparing for the formal implementation

Addis Convention AUC is working jointly with UNESCO to facilitate the ratification of Addis Convention Qualifications issued by an accredited HEI of a Party shall be recognized in the receiving Party  The process for recognition of qualifications requires QA and accreditation mechanisms There is need to set up QA agencies & information centers to implement the Addis Convention Each Party shall ensure that adequate and clear information on its education system is provided

Addis Convention Requirements for Implementation Setting up National Quality Assurance Authority  To carry out periodic evaluations of higher education institutions and programmes Setting up a National Information Centre  To disseminate information on institutions and programmes status of recognition

Intra-Africa Academic Mobility It involves mobility of students and academic staff among selected Networks of African Universities The academic mobility scheme is managed by EC Executive Agency in collaboration with the AUC The scheme promotes credit transfer and recognition of degrees between participating HEIs A new call for Intra-Africa Mobility Scheme is launched with deadline of 15 June 2016 Currently, 72 universities are involved in academic mobility from 34 African countries

72 Universities from 34 countries are implementing academic mobility

Tuning/Harmonisation Initiative Tuning is a methodology to develop curricula by identifying learning outcomes and competences The Tuning Africa project is implemented jointly by the EC and the AUC The Tuning initiative involves 105 HEIs from 41 African Countries in eight subject areas The Tuning approach complements the African Harmonization Strategy  Bottom-up initiative Tuning creates the basis for developing an African Credit Transfer System (Student workload survey)

- PAQAF - Pan African QA and Accreditation Framework PAQAF  guide implementation of continental QA and accreditation mechanisms PAQAF was validated by national/regional QA agencies, endorsed by Ministers of Education and adopted by AU Assembly at 2016 January Summit The development of PAQAF helps to establish harmonized QA practices in the continent It facilitates the establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency (AU Exec. Council decision)

- PAQAF - Pan African QA and Accreditation Framework Instruments Continental Qualifications Framework Addis Convention Continental Standards and Guidelines for QA African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM) African Credit Accumulation and Transfer System Continental Register for QA agencies and quality assured higher education institutions Implementing Agency A Pan-African QA and Accreditation Agency

HAQAA Initiative HAQAA  Harmonisation of African Higher Education, Quality Assurance and Accreditation The HAQAA initiative aims to support PAQAF in the context of Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, and will be implemented from 2016 – 2019 Implementing Consortium AAU, EUA, DAAD, ENQA, University of Barcelona The HAQAA Initiative has an Advisory Board of key African regional stakeholder organisations The European Commission and the African Union form the key management steering group 

THANK YOU Concluding Remarks The AU Strategy for harmonization incorporates a strong focus on establishing effective quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms The Africa Union emphasize the importance of coordinate efforts of key stakeholders in implementing the harmonization strategy  The HAQAA initiative is instrumental to advance the development of a harmonized quality assurance practices in the continent and to advance the implementation of PAQAF THANK YOU