1. International cooperation in recognition and quality assurance What can be learned from higher education ? By Michaela Martin

2. Structure of this presentation  Global trends in higher education  New forms of mobility  Quality assurance as a global movement  International cooperation in QA  Bologna process as model for regional cooperation

3. 1.Global trends in higher education  Increasing student numbers  Diversification of higher education provision  Privatisation  Growing levels of international mobility Of students Of programmes Of institutions

4. Growth of tertiary students worldwide since 1991

5. Mobility of students 1975 to 2004 Source: UNESCO, 2006

6. Privatization  Public provision does not meet demand  Asia : some countries more than 80 % of enrolments in private sector  Africa : private provision is expanding rapidly  Private higher education market ($300 billion world wide on current expenditure alone (IFC)  Growth of cross-border higher education

7. New forms of mobility (1)  Programme mobility Joint study programmes Franchized programmes Double degree Articulation Validation

8. New forms of mobility (2)  Institutional Branch campuses Independent institutions Acquisition/mergers Affiliation/networks Virtual university

9. The consequence is :  more complex and diversified higher education systems  loss of control of public authorities over parts of the HE system  more potential for academic fraud  credential evaluation more complex  increasing need for international collaboration in recognition and quality assurance

10. Within this context ….  Some 70 countries worldwide have put in place external quality assurance mechanisms  They respond to domestic concerns needs while trying to establish international comparability  Major concern also with strengthening internal quality assurance mechanisms

11. EQA covers different realities  Quality audit  Quality assessment  Accreditation  Concepts are loosely used by agencies in reality  Accreditation is becoming the most common mechanism of EQA

12. Justification for accreditation  Maintain required standards  Guarantee qualifications awarded  Mechanism for quality enhancement  Readability of higher education provision  Portability of credentials (nat/int)

13. Convergence of accreditation process  Basic process elements Self-study Site visit/peer review Reporting  thorough, however time-consuming and costly process

14. Areas for assessment  Integrity and mission  Governance and management  Human resources  Learning resources and infrastructure  Financial management  Student profile and support services  Curricular aspects  Teaching-learning and evaluation  Research, consultancy and extension  Internal Quality assurance system

15. Explaining convergence  Basic model for accreditation process stems from the US experience  Importance of international and regional networks  International co-operation and aid

16. International collaboration in quality assurance  As part of its work in recognition, UNESCO has established Global Forum on QA in 2003  INQAAHE  Regional networks : ENQA, RIACES, APQN, CANTATE, AfriQua, etc Exchange of experience Codes of good practices for QA process Capacity development (GIQAC)

17. Ex : European region  Context : European Integration within the European Union  Bologna process : creation of a European HE space by 2015  Common qualifications structure  ECTS system Facilitate student mobility Based on student workload and LOs 60 credits per year equivalent to 1500 to 1800 hours

18. Ex European region  Diploma supplement Standardized description of nature, level, context content and status of a study programme Including information on qualification holder, qualification, national higher education system  Quality assurance : one of the pillars of cooperation  ENQA : Guidelines for QA  Creation of a register of quality assurance agencies

19. Ex : Africa  Africa is following the Bologna process  WAEMU and CAEMC (CEMAC) adopted directives to adopt bachelors-master’s-PhD structure  SADECC region has decided to establish a regional qualifications framework  African Union intends the creation of an African higher education space through harmonization of qualification structure  Strengthening of quality assurance systems (AfriQua)  Vision : creation of an African Qualifications Framework

20. Conclusions  Increased levels of student mobility push the need for strengthened mechanisms of recognition of HE credentials  Cross-border higher education creates strong pressure for the development of national QA systems  Regional integration processes provide a political framework for co-operation on QA and recognition  UNESCO plays an important role at the global level