Dr Richard Hopper

Regional Regional Cooperation Cooperation in
Quality Quality Assurance Assurance in
Higher Higher Education Education
Richard Richard Hopper
Senior Education Education Specialist Specialist
The World Bank
Bonn, Germany Germany
18 June 2007

What is a public good? good?
• Non-excludable
Non-excludable
– No one can be barred from benefits benefits
– No single purchaser purchaser
•Non-rival
•Non-rival
– Can be consumed consumed without depletion depletion

Externalities
Externalities
• Higher education education quality assurance assurance produces produces
important important externalities
externalities
– Difference Difference between between public and private benefits benefits
– Hard to measure measure
– Often expressed expressed as desirable desirable and durable attributes attributes
• Benefits Benefits are diffuse
– Employers Employers and society benefit from a better
educated educated workforce, workforce, civil society, society, and populace populace
– Producers Producers of goods and services services also benefit from
educated educated consumers
consumers
• Benefits Benefits of quality assurance assurance cannot be limited
to the individuals, individuals, institutions, institutions, or countries countries
that undertake undertake the exercise exercise
– “Free rider” problem problem in higher education education is
complicated complicated by international international reach of the benefits
– National National markets markets tend to underproduce underproduce public goods,
so the international international community community has role

Quality Quality assurance assurance viewed viewed as
• National National policies are key
a public good
– Governments Governments often struggle struggle to develop develop such policies
– We need only look to issues like HIV, GM foods, etc.
• Yet, global challenges challenges require new approaches
approaches
and frank debate
– Many players are public sector institutions
institutions
– New actors & mechanisms
mechanisms
– Civil society
– Private sector
– International International and regional regional cooperation
cooperation
– Cross-sectoral Cross-sectoral linkages linkages

The World Bank
• Created Created in 1944 to lend and grant
money to governments governments to help them
reconstruct reconstruct infrastructure infrastructure and systems systems
devastated devastated by WWII
– With the demise of colonialism colonialism and
increased increased country country independence, independence, the Bank’s
mandate mandate shifted to focus on loans and
grants to developing developing countries countries
– In 2007 there are 185 member member countries countries
• Donor and borrowing borrowing counties counties
– Mission: Mission: Poverty Poverty reduction reduction

Lending Lending operations
operations
• Lending Lending to national national governments governments is the
core mechanism mechanism through through which the
World Bank operates operates
– The Bank also conducts conducts studies, studies, dialogue, dialogue,
strategy strategy development, development, and provides provides
technical technical assistance
assistance
• Yet there are also various grant mechanisms mechanisms at
the Bank’s disposal disposal to achieve achieve its mandate mandate of
poverty poverty reduction reduction and capacity capacity building building for
development
development
– Lending Lending requires requires the Bank to work with nation
states and has limitations limitations that complicate complicate multicountry,country,
regional, regional, or global initiatives initiatives that are
important important to expanding expanding global public goods

• Nation state model
Regional Regional Programs Programs
– Bi-lateral, Bi-lateral, multi-lateral, multi-lateral, and other aid agencies agencies operate operate mostly on the
nation state model
• Relationships Relationships are straightforward
straightforward
• Legal agreements agreements are customary
customary
• Design is simplified simplified
• Beneficiaries Beneficiaries are clear
• Recent evaluations evaluations underscore underscore the important important benefits benefits of regional regional
programs programs
– Most reach their development development objectives
objectives
– Cooperation Cooperation and sharing
– Integration Integration and harmonization
harmonization
– Value-added
Value-added
– Economies Economies of Scale
• Yet regional regional programs programs represent represent >3% of development development support support
worldwide
worldwide
– The World Bank notes a difference difference in outcomes outcomes between between regional regional lending
programs programs and regional regional partnership partnership programs programs (such as the DGF)
• Lending Lending programs programs have strong country voice
• Partnerships Partnerships dominated dominated by NGOs with weak links to national national institutions
institutions
– An impediment impediment to build knowledge knowledge support for national national policy reforms reforms
• Partnerships Partnerships lack good resource resource mobilization mobilization plans to ensure financial financial predictability
predictability
and sustainability sustainability once external external support support ends

Global Global partnerships partnerships to
leverage leverage effectiveness
effectiveness
• The World Bank, (IBRD and IDA), lends $20 billion each year
– To promote promote economic economic growth and social progress progress in the
developing developing world
• IBRD lends largely to middle-income middle-income developing developing countries countries and finances finances
its operations operations primarily primarily through through bond sales on world capital markets markets
• IDA finances finances projects projects in the world's poorest countries countries and lends on
concessional concessional terms, drawing drawing largely on contributions contributions from its wealthier wealthier
member member countries. countries.
• The Bank also mobilizes mobilizes resources resources to help finance non-lending non-lending technical technical
assistance assistance activities activities to meet the special needs of developing developing countries countries
and emphasizes emphasizes its guarantee guarantee instruments instruments as a catalyst catalyst for private
capital flows.
• The Bank supports supports its efforts by forging effective effective partnerships
partnerships
with the members members of the international international development development and
financial financial community.
community.
– In addition addition to mobilizing mobilizing contributions contributions from donor governments
governments
directly, directly, it works with a broad array of private and public
institutions.
institutions.
– Often, the Bank also co-finances co-finances its projects projects with governments,
governments,
commercial commercial banks, export credit agencies, agencies, multilateral multilateral institutions,
institutions,
private sector investors, investors, and NGOs.

Development Development Grant Facility Facility
(DGF) (DGF)
• Established Established in 1998 as Bank’s mechanism mechanism to
support support global and regional regional programs programs to build
capacity capacity in ways that are not possible possible through through
country country operations.
operations.
– Encourage Encourage innovation
innovation
– Catalyze Catalyze institutional institutional partnerships
partnerships
• Each proposal proposal must have a Bank sector
sponsor sponsor to vet proposals proposals prior to submission
submission
to ensure that they align with Bank and sector
priorities priorities
• Adjust programs programs under supervision
supervision

Criteria Criteria for DGF support support
• Subsidiarity Subsidiarity – promotes promotes Bank goals
• Comparative Comparative advantage advantage – does not replicate replicate
work of other donor agencies agencies
• Multi-country Multi-country benefits benefits
• Leverage Leverage – to attract other financial financial resources resources
• Managerial Managerial competence competence – given to an
institution institution with a record of achievement achievement in
program program area and financial financial probity
• Arm’s length relationship relationship to Bank
• Disengagement Disengagement strategy strategy
• Promoting Promoting or reinforcing reinforcing partnerships
partnerships

DGF support support for regional regional
networks networks in quality quality
assurance
assurance
• Asia Pacific Quality Network Network (APQN)
• Latin America America Network Network for Quality Assurance
Assurance
in Higher Education Education (RIACES) (RIACES)
• Association Association of African Universities Universities (AAU)
• Global Initiative Initiative for Quality Assurance
Assurance
Capacity Capacity (GIQAC) (GIQAC)
– Subsumes Subsumes RIACES, RIACES, AAU and adds the Arab Network Network
for Quality Assurance Assurance in Higher Education Education
– Opens the door for funding to APQN, CEE-Net, CEE-Net, and
other regional regional networks networks
– Seeks to build capacity capacity of INQAAHE INQAAHE to support support
capacity capacity building building for QA in developing developing countries countries

Recent Recent IAD and QAG reviews reviews
• … have altered the Bank’s approach approach to
management management capacity capacity of DGFsupportedsupported
initiatives…
initiatives…
– From compliance compliance to capacity capacity
– From transactions transactions to systems systems
– From projects projects to institutions
institutions
– Toward a focus on risk
– Toward partnerships partnerships with institutions institutions whose
systems systems meet standards standards at entry
• Able to withstand withstand increased increased scrutiny scrutiny of controls controls

Global Global Initiative Initiative for Quality Quality
Assurance Assurance Capacity Capacity (GIQAC) (GIQAC)
• Proposed Proposed World Bank partnership partnership with UNESCO UNESCO
– Window Window 2 funding
– Focus on developing developing countries countries
– To build quality assurance assurance capacity capacity
– UNESCO UNESCO generously generously offered to host GIQAC secretariat
secretariat
– GIQAC as an umbrella umbrella for programmatic programmatic support support to:
• INQAAHE INQAAHE
• Regional Regional networks networks for quality assurance assurance
– Not to duplicate duplicate the work of INQAAHE, INQAAHE, but to complement
complement
it and help to build the capacity capacity of INQAAHE INQAAHE to play a
more significant significant role in building building QA capacity capacity in developing
developing
countries countries
– Prior DGF agreements agreements (RIACES (RIACES and AAU) will be ringfenced
in the DGF legal agreement agreement with UNESCO UNESCO
– Opens the door to other regional regional networks networks not yet
beneficiaries beneficiaries of prior DGF funds (CEE-net, (CEE-net, EAQAN, EAQAN,
CANQATE, CANQATE, CAMES, CAMES, HEQMISA, HEQMISA, etc.)