CHEA
International Commission
Washington D.C., 27 January
2011
UNESCO and Quality Assurance:
Progress and Issues
Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić
Chief,
Section for Higher Education
UNESCO

Qian Tang
Irina Bokova

Section for Higher Education
Division of Basic to Higher
Learning

To help Member States and their institutions widen access to quality higher education through diverse modes of provision adapted to local development needs.

A RTICLE 26 (1)
‘Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.’

HIGHER EDUCATION:
THE PROGRAMME
… nearly as old as the Organization
A resolution adopted by UNESCO’s 2 nd
General Conference in Mexico (1947) explicitly identified higher education as one of its six areas of work of work under the heading ‘Work with Universities”

1998 WCHE
 The first World Conference on
Higher Education ever organized by UNESCO
 Numbers matter! Over 180
Member States; 130 ministers responsible for higher education; some 4,200 participants in all representing all higher education stakeholders
 Objective: to lay down the fundamental principles for the indepth reform of higher education systems world wide

2009 World Conference on Higher Education
Paris - July 2009

The World Conference on Higher Education
Paris - July 2009
Theme:

Egypt
India
France
China

Philip Altbach Lidia Brito Mala Singh
Hebe Vessuri J.R.de la Fuente Alice Dautry

F INAL R EPORT AND C ONFERENCE
C OMMUNIQUÉ
Documents published in hard and soft copy, in English, French,
Spanish, Arabic,
Chinese, Russian and
Portuguese for a wide dissemination among key higher education stakeholders

D OMINANT G LOBAL T REND :
M ASSIFICATION
 Globally, age participation rates have grown from 19% in 2000 to 26% in 2007
 OECD estimates 50 % – 60 % participation rates are necessary with a view to development
 Low income countries: 5% in 2000 to 7% in 2007
 150.6 million tertiary students globally in 2007, an increase of
53% since 2000
***Inability to meet growing demand in developing countries***

T ERTIARY E NROLMENT R ATES
UNESCO Institute of Statistics

E NROLMENT PROJECTIONS

Equity, Efficiency, Quality
BUT
What was new?
 The Economic Crisis: Doing More with less
 Universities in search of revenue: ignoring access and equity, but (a paradox?)…
 Social engagement – more intense today

 Crossborder – often empty shells
 Diversification: but vocational and professional??
 Rankings – risky!; will European rankings make a difference?
Do not trust League tables!
 Academic Profession – students no longer interested (Nigeria)
 Changing institutions/changing mindsets...
 Does less money mean more innovation?

 The European Higher Education and Research areas must be open to the world
(EU Modernisation Agenda for Universities)
 The world is becoming smaller as the economic crisis hits both developed and developing countries.
Austerity forces HEIs to do more with less
 To do more with less:
- be more innovative
- embrace the new dynamics

Judith Eaton
“…quality assurance – and especially the internationalization of quality assurance – was one of the most striking new developments since UNESCO held its previous World
Conference on Higher Education in 1998.”
Inside Accreditation

UNESCO

‘[Pursue]… capacity-building for quality assurance in higher education in developing countries’
MEMBER STATES

‘Put in place and strengthen appropriate quality assurance systems and regulatory frameworks with the involvement of all stakeholders’
2009 World Conference on Higher Education Communiqué
GIQAC

GLOBAL OUTREACH THROUGH:


UNESCO Global Forum on QA, Accreditation and the
Recognition of Qualification (2002; 2004; 2007)
UNESCO’s 6 recognition conventions
 UNESCO-World Bank Global Initiative GIQAC

It takes a community…
T HE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE of GIQAC is to improve and expand worldwide capacity for quality assurance (QA) in higher education in developing and transition countries.

GIQAC FY2010
Implementing
Networks
International Network for
Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education
(INQAAHE)
African Association of
Universities (AAU) in cooperation with the African
Quality Assurance Network
(AfriQAN)
Arab Network for Quality
Assurance in Higher
Education (ANQAHE)
Asia-Pacific Quality Network
(APQN)
Caribbean Area Network for
Quality Assurance in
Tertiary Education
(CANQATE)
La Red Iberoamericana para la Acreditación de la Calidad en la Educación Superior
(RIACES)

CHIEVEMENTS
‘The GIQAC grant has accelerated the growth of quality assurance agencies in various countries and developed leaders who serve as champions for QA in their own agencies. From an initial membership of 47 agencies and institutions in 2007, APQN now has 72 members in various categories. The grant has also paved the way towards greater cooperation and mutual understanding across a diverse and populous region.’
— Concepción Pijano, President, APQN

GIQAC A CHIEVEMENTS
In 2010, GIQAC made an impact at the national level in
 43 countries in Africa,
 11 countries in the Arab States,
 27 countries in Asia and the Pacific,
 33 countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean and
 31 countries in Europe and North America.

L OOKING A HEAD :
C HALLENGES
 GIQAC FY2011
 ENQA – ECA countries
 Future Sustainability: Beyond DGF
 The next 3 years
 Action plan

Judith Eaton

F OLLOW UP TO 2009 WCHE: N EW
D YNAMICS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
 Open Educational resources OERs
 University rankings and accountability
 Private higher education (including forprofit) and
 Cross-border higher education: what next

UNESCO
Paris, 5 – 8 July 2009
COMMUNIQUE
(8 July 2009)
ODL approaches and ICTs present opportunities to widen access to quality education, particularly when Open
Educational Resources are readily shared by many countries and higher education institutions

Imperative to ensure that all – developed and developing countries - are enabled to contribute to OERs…

UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning
Taking the Open Educational Resources (OER) beyond the OER Community: Policy and
Capacity

 Ensure greater support for the use of OER created and used both in developing and developed countries by educational decision makers
(governmental and institutional)
 Enhance capacity of educational practitioners in developing countries to create and use OER.

 OERs will not be able to help countries reach their educational goals unless awareness of the potential can be rapidly expanded beyond the communities of interest that they have already attracted
 Mainstreaming OER will contribute to the quality of learning materials

 Development of an OER Dossier
 3 Online Forums
 4 Capacity-Building workshops
 1 Policy Forum

UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning
Policy Guidelines on OERs

UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

BRITAIN’S TOP NINE UNIVERSITIES
Quality Rankings of Teaching
1
2 based on all subject assessments 1995-2004
(Sunday Times University Guide 2004)
CAMBRIDGE
LOUGHBOROUGH
96%
95%
6
7
8
9
3= LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS 88%
3= YORK
5 THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
88%
87%
OXFORD
IMPERIAL COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
ESSEX
86%
82%
77%
77%

U NESCO GLOBAL FORUM ON
UNIVERSITY RANKINGS AND OTHER
ACCOUNTABILITY TOOLS
P ARIS , 16-17 M AY 2011
Goals:


Healthy debate on Rankings and other accountability tools
Increased understanding of the impact of rankings



Improved convergences between rankings and other accountability tools
Improved communication between the higher education community and the public, particularly governments, funding bodies, and potential students
Access to reliable and transparent information

RIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION



Private HE: fastest growing sub-sector - 30% global HE enrolment


Japan, South Korea: 80%
Latin America – 50%
Governance: relationship between government and
PHEIs
QA: key tool for demandabsorbing private sector
GLOBAL DEBATE ON PHE
INCLUDING FOR-
PROFIT

Higher Education Institutions

W EB P ORTAL ON HEI S : C OUNTRY I NFORMATION
1.
Institutions recognized by competent authorities
2.
Higher education programmes recognized by competent authorities
3.
Information for students planning to study in the country
4.
Information on the higher education system
5.
Foreign credential assessment and recognition
6.
Information on financial assistance opportunities
7.
Cross-border higher education
8.
National Information Centre
9.
Other information sources
10. Definition of key terms

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C URRENT P ARTICIPATING C OUNTRIES
F EBRUARY 2010
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Belarus
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Cuba
Croatia
Egypt
Ireland
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Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Mexico
Malaysia
Namibia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Paraguay
• Saudi Arabia
• Sweden
• Thailand
• Trinidad and
Tobago
• United Kingdom
• United States of
America

C OUNTRIES BEING PROCESSED
D ECEMBER 2010
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Austria
Chile
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Estonia
Guyana
India
Indonesia
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Iran
Kazakhstan
Panama
St Vincent and the
Grenadines
Switzerland
Uruguay
Uzbekistan

Guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education
UNESCO and OECD
Implementation Survey and analysis

LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ACADEMIC MOBILITY:
CONVENTIONS (December 1, 2009)
Region
Africa
Arab
Asia & the Pacific
LAC
MED
Europe
Secretariat Adopted Number of parties
UNESCO
Dakar
Arusha
1981
22
SIDS /
UCSIS
Seychelles and
Holy See
Last ratification
2008
Last meeting
Addis
Ababa,
Sept 2009
UNESCO
Beirut
UNESCO
Bangkok
Paris
1978
Bangkok
1983
14
21
None 1991
2008
Beirut,
March
2006
Manila,
May 2009
IESALC
Caracas
UNESCO
Paris
UNESCO &
Council of
Europe
Mexico
1974
Nice 1976
Lisbon
1997
19
12
47
Maldives and
Holy See
Cuba,
Suriname, and
Holy See
Malta and
Holy See
Malta and
Holy See
2007
2007
2010
Caracas,
October
2006
Split, 2005
Sevres,
June 2010

Asia and Pacific Convention on Degree Recognition
Revised text:
Diplomatic Conference 25-26
November 2011, Tokyo,
UNESCO & MEXT
A WORKSHOP ON THE WEB
PORTAL WILL BE ORGANIZED

F LAGSHIPS PROJECTS 2012 – 2013
 Diversified and innovative providers and modes of higher education delivery for expanding equitable access: private higher education, cross-border providers, ODL and OERs;
 Strengthened use of quality assurance systems and other accountability tools to promote quality and relevance of sustainable higher education systems
 Assistance to the creation of an African Higher Education and Research Area

political discourse academic debate

s.uvalic-trumbic@unesco.org