The Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (PAQAA) is intended to serve as a guardian body for the PAQAF actions lines and tools, such as the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance. A Technical Working Group (TWG) , appointed by the AUC and funded/supported by the HAQAA2 initiative, has undertaken research and extensive stakeholder consultations to be able to advise the AUC on the next steps for setting-up and operationalizing the PAQAA.

The TWG proposed four sequential phases for the feasible establishment and implementation of the Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (PAQAA).

 

To develop these phases, the TWG has:

  • Reviewed the documents which can be considered the predecessors and legal foundation for the PAQAA
  • Assessed and analysed different governance and funding models of African quality assurance networks, higher education associations and Pan-African institutions
  • Consulted the project managers and experts associated with the African Continental Qualifications Framework initiative (ACQF), as one of the functions of the PAQAA is linked to promoting the ACQF.

This work is summarised in an internal document entitled ‘The Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (PAQAA): Proposed Scenarios for Development – A first approximation’

Consultation

Following the development of the four phases, the TWG conducted a sector wide consultation survey on how to proceed. This was disseminated to stakeholders electronically on June 15, 2022 and left open until August 15, 2022. It was available in four languages – French, English, Arabic and Portuguese. A website was designed with all background information on the PAQAA, the phases, as well as informative videos

To further explore the results of the survey and engage stakeholders in a dialogue around the next steps for the PAQAA, a stakeholder consultation workshop was held in Addis Ababa at the premises of the African Union Commission on 3-4 October 2022.

Further consultations were held at:

  • The AfriQAN annual conference – 25-27 October, 2022
  • The final HAQAA2 conference and Advisory Board, Accra, Ghana – 6-9 December, 2022

A final report with recommendations on the next stage of the PAQAA set-up has been delivered by the TWG to the AUC. 

Proposed phases for the development of the PAQAA