REGIONAL COOPERATION IN TERTIARY EDUCATION IN MENA Nina Arnhold Senior Education Specialist Education Global Practice Bologna Policy Forum Yerevan 14 May 2015

Structure of the Presentation 1.Talking about MENA… 2.The state of higher education in MENA 3.An ‘Arab Higher Education Space’? 4.Regional cooperation – some examples a.Quality assurance - ANQAHE b.World Bank governance and QA program c.Other examples

Talking about MENA… (I)

Talking about MENA… (II)

The state of higher education in MENA (I) Massive expansion like in other regions. Over the last decade: Increase in enrollment by factor 2.5 Female enrollment rates (Tunisia 62.3% female students in 2012/13) Number of HEIs doubled Percentage of private institutions 35%; sub-regional importance of branch institutions Mixed picture employment outcomes Reform options – view to the US; view to Europe Quality assurance arrangements – different options Financing: ‘public systems’ vs. ‘private systems’ – and not much innovation in terms of mechanisms University autonomy – still under discussion… (differences between countries) Source: Savic, n.d. ; BEPP, MoHESR 2013; El Hassan, 2013 and authors

The state of higher education in MENA (I) Employment outcomes - example Tunisia Source: TN Labor Force Survey 2010/11, World Bank staff calculations

An “Arab Higher Education Space”? A common language but… Mobility within the region, inter-regional migration Arab regional conferences in 1998, 2009 Interest by institutional actors, e.g. ISESCO Bologna as a reference system but also other reference systems Well functioning teams of ‘Bologna experts’ in some countries Systematic, medium term support would be needed

Regional cooperation: examples (I) Arab Network for Quality Assurance Agencies (ANQAHE ) Established in June 2007 Independent, nongovernmental and non for profit organization Includes 10 QAAs as full members and 5 QA Centres as associated members from 15 countries out of the 22 Arab Countries Exchange of information and dissemination of good practice Developed standards for external QA in the region Source: Nadia Badrawi, Ankara, 06 May 2015; ANQAHE website

Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA A partnership between the World Bank and the Center for Mediterranean Integration covering: -Analytical work -“Breaking even or breaking through. Reaching financial sustainability…”, “Internationalization of higher education in MENA. Policy issues associated with skills formation and mobility”, n.d. -“Benchmarking governance as a tool for promoting change”, Benchmarking – 100 universities in 7 (now 8) MENA countries -Community of practice

University Governance Screening Card – Dimensions Outlook Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA

2013/142014/15ff Pre- 2013/14 Consultations Knowledge products Dissemination Ongoing consultations with relevant stakeholders and partners Regional event: Formation of 100-university network, Rabat, Dec Consultations with University Network: Development of Action Plans at institutional level Regional Event on Governance and Quality Assurance, Tunis June 2014 Creation of a University Governance and Quality Community of Practice Regional (MENA) Meeting: 2015 Inter-regional Meeting: 2016 Tested university governance benchmarking tool, endorsed by Arab League Governance Action Plans of individual universities University Governance Screening Card. Version 2.0 Online Benchmarking Tool First round of benchmarking exercise - documenting status quo ENHANCED CAPACITY Second round of benchmarking exercise with larger number of countries/institutions Active 100+ universities network – committed to benchmarking exercise and exchange of good practice Improved higher education governance in MENA countries (and beyond) – evidenced through benchmarking results Activi- ties Outputs Results ‘Benchmarking Governance”’, other knowledge products Dissemination of ‘Benchmarking Governance’ Report, Sept ‘Lessons learned in implementing Action Plans for Governance and Quality’ Dissemination Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA

Regional cooperation: examples (III) Supporting transparency Source: U-Multirank (information provided by U-Multirank team) U-Multirank: EC supported, multidimensional ranking Participating MENA institutions: total 33 Egypt 5 Iran 15 Jordan 1 Lebanon 2 Morocco 2 Palestine 1 Saudi Arabia 5 Tunisia 1 UAE 1

Regional cooperation: examples (IV) Tuning MEDA (Middle East North Africa) “Tuning has developed into a process to (re-)design, develop, implement, evaluate and enhance quality first, second and third cycle degree programmes.” Coordinating institution: University of Deusto, ES Dec – Nov Subject areas included in the project: law, nursing, architecture, tourism Earlier Tuning project included medicine in North Africa Source:

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