African Union Commission
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
1
Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae
Senior Education Expert
Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology
African 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
2

Internal QA  Policies and mechanisms
implemented by an institution to
ensure its own quality

External QA  Actions of an external body
African Union Commission
Link between Quality Assurance
and 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
3
- Accreditation decision by an authorized body
African Union Commission
Link between Quality Assurance
and 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  Improvement
Accreditation  Quality Control

4
The development of African Quality Assurance
Framework is a reinforcement for a Continental
Accreditation Mechanism
African Union Commission
Why the need for Quality Assurance
and Accreditation in Africa?
5

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
African Union Commission
Challenges to the Quality of
Higher Education in Africa
6

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Outdated teaching methods, rely on lectures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
African Union Commission
Challenges to the Quality of
Higher Education in Africa
7

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
African Union Commission
Quality Assurance in African
Higher Education Institutions
8

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
African Union Commission
QA and Accreditation at
National Levels
9

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
African Union Commission
QA and Accreditation at
National Levels
10

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
African Union Commission
QA and Accreditation at
National Levels
11

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
African Union Commission
Regional Collaborations in
Quality Assurance
12

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
African Union Commission
Regional Collaborations in
Quality Assurance
13

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
African Union Commission
African Quality Assurance
Framework
14

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
African Union Commission
African QA Peer Review Mechanism
15

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
African Union Commission
QA Initiatives at Continental Level
16

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
African Union Commission
AU Policy Framework
Second Decade of Education for Africa

Gender and culture


Education
management
information systems
Technical-vocational
education & training

Curriculum
development, and
teaching & learning
materials

Quality management

Early Childhood
Development


17
Teacher
development
Higher education
African Union Commission
Mandate
18

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
African Union Commission
Political Decisions
19

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
African Union Commission
Link with the Pan African University
20

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
African Union Commission
African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM)
21

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
African Union Commission
Concluding Remarks
22

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