Welcome to the Newsletter of the Harmonisation, Quality Assurance and Accreditation of African Higher Education initiative (HAQAA2)!
This is the second edition of the HAQAA2 newsletter. It features an article on the recent Ministerial Summit of the Bologna Process, where African higher education integration was discussed, and provides an update on the Africa-EU Summit. It highlights the initiatives of one of the important HAQAA2 collaborators, Agence Universitaire de la Francophone (AUF) in supporting governance and QA in Africa, and announces an ongoing open call for iQA agency and system reviews. Additionally, it provides updates on the Implementing Partners: OBREAL/Global Observatory (OBREAL Global) and other project Synergies in Africa; the Association of African Universities (AAU) and its next steps for the AQRM; DAADs’ QA training opportunities in Africa and the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)’s and its support for the ASG-QA Task Force. 21.
The HAQAA2 Implementing Team
HIGHLIGHTED CONTENT
A new chapter for the Bologna Process: The EHEA Ministerial Conference
This article summarizes the EHEA Ministerial conference and talks about the implications for Africa. More information.
Due to take place in October 2020 in Brussels, the Summit was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The incoming Portuguese Presidency of the EU is very much hoping that it can take place before July 2021.
HAQAA2 Training Course: IQA-4-Africa – From Pan-African Policy to Practice – Cohort II Training Course (12 countries – francophone West Africa) | February - March 2021
First Steering Committee meeting for Policy Data Unit - PDU (hosted at AAU) | 4th February 2021
HAQAA Ambassadors Network: How to conceive Higher Education Policy in the African Continental/Regional context: Is there a roadmap possible in order to travel from different departure points to different arrival destinations?| 22 February 2021 at 14:00pm CET
HAQAA2 WEBINARS
For 2021 HAQAA2 will run a series of four webinars examining Quality Assurance Culture in Africa and the effect of the Covid -19 on Quality Assurance Agencies and Institutions.
HAQAA2 will participate in the series of activities OBREAL GLOBAL in Focus 2021, with a webinar entitled Europe and Africa in strategic partnership: What’s new in higher education? to be held on March 11.
RELATED NEWS AND EVENTS
EU approves a landmark deal on the development cooperation instruments
On Tuesday, 12 January 2021, Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the EU Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument for 2021-2027, worth 70.8 billion EUR. The new instrument will support sustainable development in EU neighbourhood countries, Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Pacific and the Caribbean. It will also reinforce key thematic aspects of the EU’s external policy, such as human rights, democracy, civil society, and contribute to addressing global challenges, including climate change, migration, peace and stability, as well as cooperation with strategic partners. The instrument will help countries most in need to overcome the long-term developmental challenges by merging several current EU instruments under one global roof. The EU will also boost its innovative financing under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, by leveraging private capital to complement direct development assistance.
More information. SARUA Conference: Higher Education Regional Collaboration: Opportunities in Complex Times.
SARUA will be hosting its first Virtual Higher Education Conference with the theme: Higher Education Regional Collaboration: Opportunities in Complex Times. The conference will provide delegates opportunities to discuss how to optimise regional cooperation in a time when innovation and re-thinking of higher education is required. The Conference will focus on the issues that are shaping today’s regional higher education collaboration.
Call for Papers Submission Date: 5 March 2021.
You are invited to submit a paper or a thought piece focusing on Higher Education Collaboration in the SADC Region with specific reference on its responsibility and influence on local and global matters. Please refer to the attached document for details about the different themes of the Conference.
Commission for University Education Kenya Self Assessment Tool for ODEL programmes
The Commission for University Education is charged with the responsibility of regulating University education in Kenya. In this regard, the Commission for University Education developed a tool for Self Assessment for ODEL programmes and institutions, seeking to establish the quality of ODeL education in our universities. As a provider of the academic programmes through the ODeL mode of delivery, the University is expected to generate a Self-Assessment report, in the format provided, on the programmes on offer and how the university is prepared for the accreditation of specific programmes and ODeL Centres.
This newsletter has been developed for the European Commission and the African Commission. However it reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission and the African Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
