1. Association of African
Universities and Quality
2nd IAU Global Meeting of
Associations
Paris, France
31 May – 01 June 2007

2. Background & Introduction
• Diversity within Africa: yet sufficient
commonality
• Nature of HE challenge?
– Numbers/resources crunch
– Institutional diversification
– Globalisation & knowledge society demands
• Inadequacy of old QA systems/processes
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3. AAU and Quality Assurance
• Issue taken up by AAU
– 9th General Conference (1997)
– Core Programme of Activities 1997 – 2000; 2001 –
2004; 2005 - 2009
• AAU? = international non-governmental
membership organisation
• 200-plus member institutions in all 5 sub-
regions of Africa, & all education traditions
• Lead Implementation Agency for AU’s “2nd
Decade for Education for Africa 2006 – 2015”
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4. AAU and Quality Assurance
• NB: QA is primarily institutional and
national affair
• AAU Strategic Line: niche for adding value:
– Networking & coordination
– Seeding new ideas to members
– Convening power, representation & advocacy
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5. AAU Quality Assurance Programme –
Phase 1
• Survey of QA at institutional and sub-unit levels
- 1999
• Identified needs & gaps, e.g.:
– Capacity for self-evaluation & quality management
– Institutional M&E plans
– Systematic feedback from employers & graduates
– Benchmarking & capacity dev thru international
links
• Guidelines
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6. Quality Assurance Support Programme
for African Higher Education
2007-2009
WB Dev Grant Facility FY2007 - 2009
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7. Objective & Process
(a) Institutionalised QA systems & capabilities
within universities & national quality regulatory
agencies, and
(b) Regional framework for coordination of
protocols on cross-border recognition of
qualifications
(c) International Expert Advisory Panel
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8. Component 1 – Internal Inst QA
• Enhance/develop institutional QA systems &
local expertise: workshops, attachments,
resource persons, etc
• Networking and info exchange: universities,
national QA & accreditation agencies, regional
& international QA organizations, initiatives
• Awareness raising and advocacy – LEDEV;
AAU events; AU
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9. Component 2 – National Regulatory
Agencies
• QA & accreditation database: on available
regional & international expertise, resources,
good practice, etc.
• Continental network: information sharing/peer
education & support among national & sub-
regional agencies
• Capacity enhancement/dev for national systems
- existing and prospective
• With support of CHE
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10. Component 3 – Regional Recognition
Framework
• Support for revision & implementation of
African Regional Convention on the
Recognition of Studies in Higher
Education (The Arusha Convention)
• With UNESCO
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11. www.aau.org
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