As the dates for the 20^th COREVIP of the Association of African Universities approaches, all hands are on deck in Cairo, in preparation to host Africa’s topmost Chief Executive Officers of various Higher Education Institutions.

AAU’s 20^th COREVIP is holding in Cairo, Egypt from July 8 -11, 2019 and is envisaged to draw over 1,500 higher education stakeholders, including Vice Chancellors, Presidents, Rectors, Academics, Government Representatives and Industry Representatives.

In line with this, a team of senior officials from the AAU Secretariat embarked on a site visit to Cairo, from 27^th – 30^th May, 2019 to among others, ensure that arrangements are advanced towards the hosting of the Conference.

A series of meetings with the Local Organizing Committee and other stakeholders, as well as site visits to the Conference venue, selected hotels and other key venues selected for the Conference also ensued.  The team concluded, that indeed, the colleagues in Cairo had been busy with full preparations for the Conference.

The team from AAU also participated in a major side event “Al-Azhar forum for African-Arab Network” which is organized by AAU Northern African Regional Office (NARO). This meeting was attended by various institutions who are keen to participate in COREVIP, including higher education institutions, Banks, NGOs, ministries’ representatives, international organizations, TVET Egypt, journalists and several others.

Addressing participants at the Arab-Africa Network forum, the Secretary General of the AAU, Prof. Etienne Ehile, thanked all key stakeholders and individuals, including Prof. Ahmed El-Tayeb, the Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Mohamed El-Mahrasaway, the Al-Azhar University President and Prof. Amany El-Sharif, NARO director for their immense contribution to hosting the 2019 COREVIP in Egypt.

Background

The Association of African Universities (AAU), in collaboration with the Arab Republic of Egypt and Al-Azhar University, is organising its 20^th biennial Conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP) at the Al-Azhar International Conference Centre, in Cairo, Egypt from 8-11 July 2019.

Conference Theme and Subthemes

This year’s conference is being held under the theme ‘The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Promoting the Continental Education for Strategy for Africa’ and is set to convene distinguished scholars and practitioners to discuss and exchange experiences on the main conference theme and the subthemes indicated below;

Sub-Theme 1:  Focus on the science and mathematics curricula in youth training and disseminate scientific knowledge and culture in society

Sub-Theme 2: Expand TVET opportunities at tertiary levels and strengthen linkages between the world of work and education and training systems

Sub-Theme 3: Revitalize and expand tertiary education, research and innovation to address continental challenges and promote competitiveness.

Sub-Theme 4: Promote peace education and conflict prevention and resolution at all levels of education and for all age groups.

Sub-Theme 5: Improve management of education systems as well as build and enhance capacity for data collection, management, harness the capacity of ICT to                               improve access, quality and management of education and training systems.

Sub-Theme 6: Promote mobility through harmonization of quality assurance and accreditation systems.

Sub-Theme 7: Identify new directions in improving management of education through enhanced capacity for data collection and management, research and scholarship and efficient governance of HEIs in Africa.

The over 1500 expected participants of the COREVIP will comprise executive heads of AAU member institutions, top-notch African scholars, representatives of student bodies, as well as representatives of sub-regional, regional and international organisations. Members from the donor and development agencies that partner with the AAU in carrying out its mandate of improving the quality of higher education in Africa will also be in attendance. In addition, Ministers of Higher Education and other higher education policy think tanks will partake in this august conference.

About COREVIP

The Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP) is an assembly of the Chief Executive Officers of AAU member institutions or their representatives. The Conference is held every two years with the purpose of collectively examining  themes identified as common concerns and priorities for the development of higher education in member institutions  and Africa in general; making recommendations primarily to members, as well as to the Governing Board of the Association, and to the Secretariat; and acting as a mid-term forum for taking stock of the implementation of the decisions of the General Conference and recommending corrective actions.

For further information on COREVIP 2019 – participation, exhibitions and sponsorship, please visit:  https://events.aau.org/corevip/