Promoting partnerships in quality assurance: the cross-border challenge World Bank Learning Seminar Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (Sevres June 2006) Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic (UNESCO) Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin (OECD)

2 Key message Stronger partnerships in quality assurance are necessary because of: –Growing mobility of students, professional and people –Growing mobility of educational programmes and institutions –Diversification of provision in higher education –Need for developing countries to develop their capacity in higher education

3 Outline Capacity building through cross-border higher education and its challenges Implications for quality assurance of the (UNESCO/OECD) Guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education Other UNESCO capacity building instruments Appendix: Latest data on cross-border student mobility

4 Capacity building requires tertiary education Human capital leads to growth –Productivity –Innovation –Health It takes human capital to train human capital –Tertiary education is important for primary and secondary education Monitoring and evaluation are essential to capacity building and require highly trained people The rapid expansion of higher education poses quality issues Gross Participation Rates in tertiary education (2001) Source : Unesco Institute for Statistics

5 Building capacity (in tertiary education) through cross-border education Expand access to tertiary education rapidly by supplementing domestic provision Increase the variety and relevance of tertiary education Improve the quality of tertiary education through spillovers and participation in international networks of knowledge

6 Capacity building

7 Challenges of cross-border higher education Student mobility Cost of studying abroad Recognition of degrees and qualification Brain drain Inequity Programme & Institution mobility Low quality provision No quality impact on local system Cultural relevance Stability of the system

8 Cross-border higher education presents new challenges for quality assurance Higher education systems are often opaque viewed from abroad, which leaves room for disreputable providers Student, academic and professional mobility induces a strong demand for recognition of foreign degrees and qualifications Quality of cross-border education is a major concern for: –Importers of higher education (student protection) –Exporters of higher education (reputation)

Unaccredited and rogue providers are a real problem

10 (UNESCO/OECD) Guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education They are an EDUCATIONAL response to maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks of cross- border higher education

11 Principles of the Guidelines respect capacity building principles Voluntary and non-binding Mutual trust and respect among countries Recognition of importance of international collaboration Recognition of national authority and of the diversity of systems Not a standard-setting instrument

12 Main (underlying) message The quality of cross-border higher education is a shared responsibility between importing and exporting countries –Quality assurance should cover cross-border education in all its forms (student, academic, programme and institution mobility) –Stakeholders should collaborate internationally to enhance the transparency about the quality of HE and about HE systems –Cross-border delivery should have the same quality as home delivery

13 Main implications for quality assurance Quality assurance and Recognition –have a comprehensive quality assurance system, internal or external –have fair mechanisms for recognition of qualifications Transparency and accessibility of information –be transparent about what you do and make the relevant information accessible internationally Collaboration –Strengthen your collaboration with other stakeholders nationally, regionally and internationally

14 Guidelines and capacity building The guidelines are independent on the arrangements of cross-border higher education (commercial, aid, partnerships) They leave freedom to countries to scan locally and globally, and then reinvent locally They take into account human, social and cultural needs (and not only economic ones)

15 Other UNESCO capacity building tools in this area Regional conventions International Information Tool on Recognised Higher Education Institutions Distance education course: Methodological and organisational options in external QA systems (UNESCO-IIEP) (Anglophone Africa 2006) UNESCO Tool-kit on the setting up of regulatory frameworks for Cross Border Education in cooperation with the APQNet (Asia and the Pacific Convention) On-Line Course for Credential Evaluation – (Mediterranean Convention)

16 Table showing the development of the regional conventions on the recognition of qualifications in the different regions of the world. Region Secretariat Adopted Number of parties Last ratificatio n Last meetingPlanned meeting AfricaUNESCO Dakar Arusha Dakar, 2003Dakar, July 2006 ArabUNESCO Beirut Paris Beirut, March Asia & Pacific UNESCO Bangkok Bangkok Kunming, May 2005 Seoul, 2007 LACIESALC Caracas Mexico City San Salvador April 2006 Caracas, October 2006 MEDUNESCO Paris Nice Split, June 2005 Egypt, 2007 EuropeCEPES Bucharest & Council of Europe Lisbon Strasbourg June UNESCO Regional conventions on the recognition of qualifications

17 International Information Tool on Recognised Higher Education Institutions Aim: Increase transparency & facilitate students’ informed decision-making The information tool would: –be hosted by UNESCO –include a comprehensive list of all higher education institutions recognized by a competent national authority –be free of charge, easy to access, simple, user friendly, provided online and searchable Pilot: 8-12 countries from different regions and economic development (Dec – July 2007)

18 Thank you!

19 International mobility of students About 2.5 million foreign students in the world in 2004, 85% of whom in the OECD area The majority (61%) of foreign students within the OECD area come from non-OECD countries Student mobility has nearly tripled since 1980 and has increased by 50% since 1998

20 25 top destination countries for foreign students in absolute terms (2004) Source: UIS 70%

21 25 top receiving countries in relative terms (2004) Source: UIS

22 25 top countries of origin of foreign students (2004) Source: UIS

23 Outbound mobility (%) (2004) Source: UIS Domestic students abroad expressed as a percentage of the country’s tertiary enrolments

24 Internal regional mobility (2004) Source: UIS Share of international students studying abroad in their region of origin

25 Distribution of all foreign students across regions (2004) Source: UIS

26 45% 54% 26% 82% 30% 48% 40% 79% Europe 13% 46% 5% 29% 4% 10% 4% Asia-Pacific 100%33% From WORLD 1%28% From Oceania 30%13% From Europe 41% From Asia 4%48% From S. America 6%50% From N. America 12%17% From Africa OECD North America OECD receiving countries in Origin of foreign students in the OECD area (2003) Source: OECD

27 International mobility of programmes and institutions Educational programme and institution mobility is still limited in scale but grows rapidly, especially in the Asia-Pacific region –33% of all international students enrolled in Australian institutions studied from their country in 2004 (against 24% in 1996 and 37% in 2001) –Singapore: more undergraduate students accessed a foreign programme from Singapore than studied abroad in 2000 –China: 9-fold increase in foreign programmes between 1995 and 2003