aau annual report - AAU Resource Center - Association of African ...

The AAU web site was updated with an up-to-date database of QA practitioners and AAU
in collaboration with the African Union hosted web discussion on harmonization and
ratings of higher education in Africa from July to November, 2007.
In collaboration with the African Union, a stakeholders meeting was held in Accra from
March 27 - 28, 2008 on the Arusha Convention and existing practices in cross-border
recognition of qualifications among African countries. A seven-member advisory
committee comprising regional and international QA experts was set up and organised
two meetings to advise on developing the project work plan. The project work plan was
developed and approved by AAU Executive Board, with two-member team comprising a
Project Officer and an Assistant Project Officer now operational at AAU Secretariat.
AAU
ANNUAL REPORT
2007-2008
Quality Assurance Support Programme for African Higher Education
The Quality Assurance (QA) Support Programme for African Higher Education is a
World Bank Funded activity for promoting quality assurance activities in h i g h e r
education in Africa. This is in line with the Arusha Convention, a regional convention on
the recognition of studies, certificates, diplomas, degrees and other academic
qualifications in higher education in Africancountries. The objective of the QA
Programme is to lay a foundation for institutionalized quality assurance mechanisms
within tertiary institutions, national quality assurance and accreditation agencies, and
an eventual regional network for coordination of cross-border protocols and
specialized capacity building in QA. The Programme, which targets AAU member
universities and African Higher Education QA, also received funding from the Global
Initiative for Quality Assurance Capacity (GIQAC).
Academic Mobility (Staff Exchange/Small Grants for Theses and Dissertations)
Academic Mobility, which targets staff and post-graduate students of AAU member
institutions, is one of the most popular of the AAU Programmes, and comprises two
separate components, namely:
• Small Grants for Theses and Dissertations (grants to facilitate early completion of
post-graduate theses and to ensure quality of the research work undertaken).
• Academic Staff Exchange (supports academics from AAU member institutions
undertaking short-term research work, teaching assignments, external examining
and supervision of both post and undergraduate theses).
The objective of this programme is to promote academic mobility, networking and
institutional collaboration as a vehicle for achieving the strategic goal of, supporting
African higher education institutions in their core functions of teaching, learning,
research and service to their community.
AAU
ANNUAL REPORT
2007-2008
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During the year under review, a lot of activities took place. Quality Assurance Needs
Assessment studies were carried out in Anglophone West Africa, the 17 Francophone
countries in Africa, North Africa and Arabophone countries, Portuguese-speaking
countries and East African countries. In addition, curriculum for Training of Trainers in
institutional self-assessment were developed and reviewed and training workshops on
institutional self-assessment were conducted for Southern and East African countries.
Furthermore, the AAU entered into collaboration with Council for Higher Education
(CHE), Pretoria, South Africa, National Universities Commission (NUC), Abuja, Nigeria;
and Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l'Enseignement Supérieur (CAMES), Burkina
Faso.
Other events that took place during the year under review to support existing and
emerging QA agencies include, discussions on UNESCO and ADEA/WGHE training for
national QA agencies; discussions with NUC and UNESCO on developing and delivering
tripartite QA Distance Education Course; an Agreement was entered into with UNESCO
for a Distance Learning Course on Quality Assurance for the French-speaking countries
in Africa; African QA Network (AfriQAN) launched an initiative to facilitate cross-country
knowledge sharing in QA on September 17, 2007 with NUC, the South African Council
for Higher Education (CHE) and CAMES (Francophone Africa) as founding members.
Small Grants
During the year under review, one out of seven 2006/2007 theses were submitted and
deposited with AAU Database of African Theses and Dissertations (DATAD), When the
2008/2009 grants were advertised in September 2007, 31 applications (18 PhD and 13
Masters) were received by the deadline of November 2007, and 20 grants (12 PhD and 8
Masters) to tune of US$61,500 were awarded to applicants, who had fulfilled all the
requirements expected of them. Disbursements were accordingly made in respect of
students, who provided their bank account details.
Staff Exchange
Two out of three candidates who qualified for the Staff Exchange Programme completed
their missions in 2006/2007, and presented reports endorsed by the VCs of their host
universities. The candidates were Dr (Mrs) A. Kharkar from the University of Mauritius,
who went to the University of Swaziland and Professor M.Saber El Sayed, of Ain Shams
University, Cairo, who went to National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe.
In addition, a call for nominations for the 2007/2008 Staff Exchange Programme was put
out at the Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents (COREVIP), which was
held in Triploi, Libya in October 2007, with a deadline of November 2007. The call
attracted 16 applications and five fellowships were awarded.
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