UNESCO and Quality Assurance: Progress and Issues Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić Chief, Section for Higher Education UNESCO CHEA International Commission Washington.

UNESCO and Quality Assurance:Progress and Issues

Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić

Chief,

Section for Higher EducationUNESCO

CHEAInternational CommissionWashington D.C., 27 January

2011

UNESCO

What is New?

UNESCO HQ Paris

Irina Bokova

Qian Tang

Section for Higher Education

Division of Basic to Higher Learning

A new structureA new name

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.’

…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”

HIGHER EDUCATION:THE PROGRAMME

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 in-depth reform of higher education systems world wide

2009 World Conference on Higher EducationParis - July 2009

The World Conference on Higher EducationParis - 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

India

France

China

Researchers and scholars from around the world…

Philip Altbach Lidia Brito Mala Singh

Hebe Vessuri J.R.de la Fuente 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

2010Equity, 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 RevisitedOECD/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

“…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

Judith Eaton

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 CommuniquéGIQAC

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…

GIQACTHE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE of GIQAC is to improve and expand worldwide capacity for quality assurance (QA) in higher education in developing and transition countries.

GIQAC Worldwide

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)

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 FY2011ENQA – ECA countriesFuture Sustainability: Beyond DGF

The next 3 yearsAction plan

INQAAHE Forum

Windhoek, Namibia

May 2010

GIQAC meeting Windhoek

“…Spread of the familiar”Judith Eaton

FOLLOW-UP TO 2009 WCHE: NEW

DYNAMICS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE

Open Educational resources OERs University rankings and accountability Private higher education (including for-profit)

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 CAMBRIDGE 96%

2 LOUGHBOROUGH 95%

3= LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS 88%

3= YORK 88%

5 THE OPEN UNIVERSITY 87%

6 OXFORD 86%

7 IMPERIAL COLLEGE 82%

8 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 77%

9 ESSEX 77%

UNESCO GLOBAL FORUM ON UNIVERSITY RANKINGS AND

OTHER ACCOUNTABILITY TOOLSPARIS, 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 demand-absorbing private sector

GLOBAL DEBATE ON PHE INCLUDING FOR-PROFIT

Higher Education Institutions

Web Portal

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]