CHEA International Commission Washington D.C., 27 January 2011 UNESCO and Quality Assurance: Progress and Issues Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić
Chief, Section for Higher Education UNESCO
UNESCO
What is New?
Qian Tang
Irina Bokova
UNESCO HQ Paris
A new structure A new name Section for Higher Education
Division of Basic to Higher Learning
But, a familiar Old Team!
Mission Statement To help Member States and their institutions widen access to quality higher education through diverse modes of provision adapted to local development needs.
ARTICLE 26 (1) ‘Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.’
HIGHER EDUCATION: THE PROGRAMME …nearly as old as the Organization A resolution adopted by UNESCO’s 2nd General Conference in Mexico (1947) explicitly identified higher education as one of its six areas of work of work under the heading ‘Work with Universities”
1998 WCHE
The first World Conference on Higher Education ever organized by UNESCO Numbers matter! Over 180 Member States; 130 ministers responsible for higher education; some 4,200 participants in all representing all higher education stakeholders Objective: to lay down the fundamental principles for the indepth reform of higher education systems world wide
2009 World Conference on Higher Education Paris - July 2009
The World Conference on Higher Education Paris - July 2009 Theme:
The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development. Over 1,500 participants Governments, academics, QA experts, students, civil society, private sector
Ministers…
Egypt China
India
France
Researchers and scholars from around the world…
Philip Altbach
Hebe Vessuri
Lidia Brito
J.R.de la Fuente
Mala Singh
Alice Dautry
Students were well represented…
FINAL REPORT AND CONFERENCE COMMUNIQUÉ Documents published in hard and soft copy, in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Portuguese for a wide dissemination among key higher education stakeholders
DOMINANT GLOBAL TREND: MASSIFICATION
Globally, age participation rates have grown from 19% in 2000 to 26% in 2007
OECD estimates 50 % – 60 % participation rates are necessary with a view to development
Low income countries: 5% in 2000 to 7% in 2007
150.6 million tertiary students globally in 2007, an increase of 53% since 2000 ***Inability to meet growing demand in developing countries***
TERTIARY ENROLMENT RATES
UNESCO Institute of Statistics
What else is New?
ENROLMENT PROJECTIONS
36 million by 2020 44 million by 2020 26 million by 2050
Higher Education in a world Changed Utterly – OECD 2010 Equity, Efficiency, Quality BUT What was new? The Economic Crisis: Doing More with less Universities in search of revenue: ignoring access and equity, but (a paradox?)… Social engagement – more intense today
New Dynamics Revisited OECD/IMHE 2010
Crossborder – often empty shells
Diversification: but vocational and professional??
Rankings – risky!; will European rankings make a difference? Do not trust League tables!
Academic Profession – students no longer interested (Nigeria)
Changing institutions/changing mindsets...
Does less money mean more innovation?
Europe and Beyond:
The European Higher Education and Research areas must be open to the world (EU Modernisation Agenda for Universities)
The world is becoming smaller as the economic crisis hits both developed and developing countries. Austerity forces HEIs to do more with less
To do more with less: - be more innovative - embrace the new dynamics
Judith Eaton
“…quality assurance – and especially the internationalization of quality assurance – was one of the most striking new developments since UNESCO held its previous World Conference on Higher Education in 1998.”
Inside Accreditation
WCHE COMMUNIQUE: CALL TO ACTION UNESCO ‘[Pursue]… capacity-building for quality assurance in higher education in developing countries’ MEMBER STATES ‘Put in place and strengthen appropriate quality assurance systems and regulatory frameworks with the involvement of all stakeholders’
2009 World Conference on Higher Education Communiqué GIQAC
UNESCO’s Work GLOBAL OUTREACH THROUGH:
UNESCO Global Forum on QA, Accreditation and the Recognition of Qualification (2002; 2004; 2007) UNESCO’s 6 recognition conventions UNESCO-World Bank Global Initiative GIQAC
It takes a community…
GIQAC THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE of GIQAC is to improve and expand worldwide capacity for quality assurance (QA) in higher education in developing and transition countries.
GIQAC FY2010 Implementing Networks International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) African Association of Universities (AAU) in cooperation with the African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (CANQATE)
GIQAC Worldwide
La Red Iberoamericana para la Acreditación de la Calidad en la Educación Superior (RIACES)
GIQAC ACHIEVEMENTS ‘The GIQAC grant has accelerated the growth of quality assurance agencies in various countries and developed leaders who serve as champions for QA in their own agencies. From an initial membership of 47 agencies and institutions in 2007, APQN now has 72 members in various categories. The grant has also paved the way towards greater cooperation and mutual understanding across a diverse and populous region.’ — Concepción Pijano, President, APQN
GIQAC ACHIEVEMENTS In 2010, GIQAC made an impact at the national level in 43 countries in Africa, 11 countries in the Arab States, 27 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and 31 countries in Europe and North America.
LOOKING AHEAD: CHALLENGES
GIQAC FY2011 ENQA – ECA countries Future Sustainability: Beyond DGF
The next 3 years
Action plan
INQAAHE Forum Windhoek, Namibia
May 2010
GIQAC meeting Windhoek
Judith Eaton
“…Spread of the familiar”
FOLLOW-UP TO 2009 WCHE: NEW DYNAMICS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
Open Educational resources OERs
University rankings and accountability
Private higher education (including forprofit)
and
Cross-border higher education: what next
UNESCO Paris, 5 – 8 July 2009 COMMUNIQUE (8 July 2009) ODL approaches and ICTs present opportunities to widen access to quality education, particularly when Open Educational Resources are readily shared by many countries and higher education institutions
WCHE session on OERs Imperative to ensure that all – developed and developing countries - are enabled to contribute to OERs…
Policy Forum 1 (December 2010, Paris) UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning
Taking the Open Educational Resources (OER) beyond the OER Community: Policy and Capacity
Objectives of the Project
Ensure greater support for the use of OER created and used both in developing and developed countries by educational decision makers (governmental and institutional)
Enhance capacity of educational practitioners in developing countries to create and use OER.
Basic Premise
OERs will not be able to help countries reach their educational goals unless awareness of the potential can be rapidly expanded beyond the communities of interest that they have already attracted
Mainstreaming OER will contribute to the quality of learning materials
Activities 2010
Development of an OER Dossier
3 Online Forums
4 Capacity-Building workshops
1 Policy Forum
Policy Forum 2 (October 2011, Paris) UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning
Policy Guidelines on OERs
UNIVERSITY RANKINGS
BRITAIN’S TOP NINE UNIVERSITIES Quality Rankings of Teaching based on all subject assessments 1995-2004 (Sunday Times University Guide 2004) 1 2 3= 3= 5 6 7 8 9
CAMBRIDGE LOUGHBOROUGH LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS YORK THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OXFORD IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON ESSEX
96% 95% 88% 88% 87% 86% 82% 77% 77%
UNESCO GLOBAL FORUM ON UNIVERSITY RANKINGS AND OTHER ACCOUNTABILITY TOOLS
PARIS, 16-17 MAY 2011 Goals: Healthy debate on Rankings and other accountability tools Increased understanding of the impact of rankings Improved convergences between rankings and other accountability tools Improved communication between the higher education community and the public, particularly governments, funding bodies, and potential students Access to reliable and transparent information
PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION
Private HE: fastest growing sub-sector - 30% global HE enrolment
Japan, South Korea: 80% Latin America– 50%
Governance: relationship between government and PHEIs QA: key tool for demandabsorbing private sector
GLOBAL DEBATE ON PHE INCLUDING FORPROFIT
Web Portal Higher Education Institutions
Degree Mills What next? Would a UNESCO legal instrument be useful?
WEB PORTAL ON HEIS: COUNTRY INFORMATION 1.
Institutions recognized by competent authorities
2.
Higher education programmes recognized by competent authorities
3.
Information for students planning to study in the country
4.
Information on the higher education system
5.
Foreign credential assessment and recognition
6.
Information on financial assistance opportunities
7.
Cross-border higher education
8.
National Information Centre
9.
Other information sources
10. Definition of key terms
CURRENT PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES FEBRUARY 2010
Argentina Armenia Australia Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Canada China Costa Rica Cyprus Cuba Croatia Egypt Ireland
Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Mexico Malaysia Namibia New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Paraguay
• • • • • •
Saudi Arabia Sweden Thailand Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom United States of America
COUNTRIES BEING PROCESSED DECEMBER 2010
Austria Chile Colombia Dominican Republic Estonia Guyana India Indonesia
Iran Kazakhstan Panama St Vincent and the Grenadines Switzerland Uruguay Uzbekistan
Guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education UNESCO and OECD Implementation Survey and analysis
LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ACADEMIC MOBILITY: CONVENTIONS (December 1, 2009) Region
Secretariat
Adopted
Number of parties
SIDS / UCSIS
Last ratification
Last meeting
Africa
UNESCO Dakar
Arusha 1981
22
Seychelles and Holy See
2008
Addis Ababa, Sept 2009
Arab
UNESCO Beirut
Paris 1978
14
None
1991
Beirut, March 2006
Asia & the Pacific
UNESCO Bangkok
Bangkok 1983
21
Maldives and Holy See
2008
Manila, May 2009
LAC
IESALC Caracas
Mexico 1974
19
Cuba, Suriname, and Holy See
2007
Caracas, October 2006
MED
UNESCO Paris
Nice 1976
12
Malta and Holy See
2007
Split, 2005
Europe
UNESCO & Council of Europe
Lisbon 1997
47
Malta and Holy See
2010
Sevres, June 2010
Welcome to Tokyo! Asia and Pacific Convention on Degree Recognition Revised text: Diplomatic Conference 25-26 November 2011, Tokyo, UNESCO & MEXT A WORKSHOP ON THE WEB PORTAL WILL BE ORGANIZED
FLAGSHIPS PROJECTS 2012 – 2013
Diversified and innovative providers and modes of higher education delivery for expanding equitable access: private higher education, cross-border providers, ODL and OERs;
Strengthened use of quality assurance systems and other accountability tools to promote quality and relevance of sustainable higher education systems
Assistance to the creation of an African Higher Education and Research Area
“global leadership in education”
political discourse
academic debate
THANK YOU!
[email protected]
