The African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) is organizing a hybrid conference that will be hosted physically in Maputo, Mozambique and virtually from – 25^th to 27^th October, 2022.  This event is supported by the HAQAA2 initiative and is being held under the theme: ‘Post COVID-19: Emerging Developments in Quality Assurance in Africa – ‘Towards strengthening synergies between Quality Assurance Agencies and accelerating regional integration’ .The conference will create the much needed platform to to share new developments in quality assurance in Africa and to strengthen synergies between quality assurance agencies and networks, in pursuit of the harmonization of quality assurance systems in Africa, the mutual recognition of qualifications and enhanced mobility of academics and labor. The REGISTRATION LINK is made available here for stakeholders’ attention – https://www.research.net/r/AfriQCon22

Background

Over a decade, quality assurance in higher education in Africa has registered tremendous changes. Cognizant of the important role of quality assurance agencies, the continent continue to register an increase in the number of new agencies that are being created.  On the other hand, the already established agencies continue to strengthen their quality assurance activities, notably by undergoing external quality assurance evaluations and by joining and participating in the activities and key programmes of different quality assurance networks, such as the African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN), the Francophone Network of Quality Assurance Agencies (RAFANAQ), the East African Quality Assurance Network (EAQN), among others. These quality assurance collaborations are fostering the establishment of compatible and comparable quality assurance systems to facilitate the recognition of qualifications and mobility of labor on the continent.

In the same line, the HAQAA (Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation) initiative that was launched in 2016 and funded by the European Union in partnership with the African Union, has been established to support the development of a harmonised quality assurance and accreditation system at the institutional, national, regional, and Pan-African continental levels.

Despite the above positive developments, African higher education has faced different challenges including the recent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore the need to relook the emerging developments (both positive and negative) and to strengthen the efforts by the different players to overcome the challenges and accelerate regional integration is critical now, more than ever.

The conference will highlight key emerging developments in quality assurance in Africa and take a deep-dive into discussing issues/questions such as –   how can African quality assurance agencies and higher education institutions also capitalize on the available  opportunities, whether it is from enhanced digitalization, or from the plethora of quality assurance initiatives that are being funded and implemented? What is the role of quality assurance (QA) in supporting higher education to be competitive in a global market? How can African higher education institutions leverage QA to positively contribute to the socio-economic transformation of the continent?

Objectives of the Conference

The conference will:

i) Document and discuss quality assurance developments in all African regions, including common challenges and best practices

ii) Provide a platform for the dissemination of the quality assurance initiatives under HAQAA 2

iii) Strengthen synergies between quality assurance agencies, across regions and linguistic lines

iv) Strengthen and support quality assurance networks’ collaboration

v) Revisit AfriQAN’s vision and mission and define the road map for the future

Who should attend?

Vice-Chancellors; Rectors and Provosts of higher education institutions ; AfriQAN members; Quality Assurance Agencies; Officers in charge of higher education at the African Union Commission; UNESCO officials from the regional and muti-sectoral offices in Africa ; Regional bodies (CAMES, SARUA, IUCEA, etc); Regional networks (RAFANAQ, EAQAN, SAQAN, INQAAHE, etc); Higher Education Policy and Decision Makers and Experts;  Quality Assurance practitioners; University Academic,  Research and Administrative Staff;  Professional bodies;  Students and student unions and, Development Partners;  Stakeholders in higher education in Africa and from other regions of the world.

Working Languages

The working languages of the meeting will be English, French, and Portuguese

Contact details

For any inquiries, please e-mail :

• Marie Eglantine Juru (mejuru@aau.org)
• Professor Maria Luisa Chicote, AfriQAN President (mluisachicote@gmail.com)
• Jorge Fringe, Executive Director of Internal Quality Assurance, CNAQ Mozambique (orgefringe@gmail.com

Download Further information on this Conference from here

Concept note

Programme