HAQAA2

HAQAA2: What to expect

HAQAA2 is off and running, despite some of the delays and obstacles posed by the global pandemic. The general objective of this Initiative is “To improve the quality and harmonisation of African higher education and support students’ employability and mobility across the continent”, an objective which is even more pressing in the current downturn. HAQAA2 activities will support that

  • Quality assurance culture in higher education institutions is further enhanced;
  • Capacities of quality assurance agencies to implement African Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance is strengthened and cross-regional coordination are enhanced;
  • Capacities of the African Union (AU) in implementing the Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework (PAQAF) are strengthened.

Activities

Some of the key activities of HAQAA2 are as follows:

  1. A Task Force for the further implementation of the ASG‐QA: This Task Force will develop a User’s Guide for the ASG‐ QA, foreseen to be published in the first semester 2021.
  2. HAQAA Continental Training Courses for QA professionals at HEI and Training of key disseminators regarding internal and external quality assurance: HAQAA Training Courses on continental frameworks and evaluation/audit, targeting professionals at HEI will be offered to four regional and linguistic cohorts in Africa; Train‐the‐trainers  training events linked to regional and national dissemination projects (for  QAA staff and HEI staff who have graduated from HAQAA Training courses and activities) and implementation of dissemination projects as an application of the trainings. (Call for nominations for participants launched by July 2020)
  3. Agency reviews and consultancy visits for national QA systems: Training and capacity development is a key element of HAQAA2. QA agency staff will have the opportunity to be trained on the ASG‐QA and build capacity for self‐assessment. Agency reviews will be offered, for existing agencies that wish to assess themselves against the ASG-QA. Additionally, for countries still developing the QA agencies, consultancy visits of international expert teams are offered (Call for interest to be launched by July 2020).
  4. AQRM promotion campaign: The online survey, institutional self-assessment training and verification visits – to generate awareness for the AQRM and promote usage – will be available. The next step, beginning in July 2020, will be a call for interest for universities in diverse African regions to conduct the online self‐rating survey, followed by a verification visit for certain universities. An online tutorial for completing the AQRM survey will be made available. The results will be analysed summarising the general trends and recommendations made for the future of the AQRM.
  5. Technical Working group for the development of the Pan-African Accreditation Agency: established to 1) Conduct a feasibility study for the agency, 2) Conduct consultations on the legal and logistical set‐up of the agency, 3) Make recommendations to the AUC on the establishment plan and statutes. Note that the agency is part of the PAQAF framework and should be a guardian of the PAQAF instruments.
  6. Support for Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA): Organisation of events in conjunction with CESA higher education cluster and sub‐clusters, in five African regions, reinforcing synergies between HAQAA outputs and CESA workplan.