EAQAN held its 13th Annual East African Higher Education Quality Forum between 9th to 13th September 2024 at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of the conference was: Advancing Quality of Higher Education through International Cooperation and Networking, Harmonization and Integration. Quality assurance in higher education in Africa and globally has undergone significant transformations since 2010, influenced by various factors including technological advancements, globalization, increasing demand for tertiary education, and changing educational paradigms. One of the most prominent initiatives is the Post-2015 Education Agenda (2015), where UNESCO has emphasized that the main responsibility of higher education institutions is to teach the right things in the right ways in order to produce responsible citizenship. This can only be achieved or reached if Quality Assurance (QA) systems are in place and well managed. The emergence of regulatory agencies on Quality Assurance of Higher Education and the different quality assurance bodies is in response to ensure that the education providers conform to set standards and guidelines and is relevant to addressing contemporary needs.
The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) is a strategic institution of the East African Community responsible for coordination of quality higher education. IUCEA established a network of Quality Assurance practitioners from universities, largely, and other Higher Education Institutions to champion and regularly deliberate on emerging trends in higher education and on matters geared towards promotion of quality higher education within the region. In this regard, the East African Higher Education Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN) was formally established as an Independent body in 2012 to provide a platform in which practitioners come together on an annual basis to share experiences on areas of common interest in ensuring and managing quality in the institutions.
Since then, EAQAN in partnership with IUCEA has hosted twelve (12) annual quality assurance fora in which keynote speakers are invited to discuss pertinent and contemporary matters and issues in higher education. The forum also provides opportunities for members to be trained on topical areas in higher education that are keenly selected to suit the theme of each forum. It also provides an opportunity for networking, sharing experiences through presentation of papers on key issues of quality assurance systems, practices, challenges and prospects in the East African Higher Education area. The culmination of the annual forum is a roundtable high level dialogue involving, high level policy makers from the Ministry in-charge of Education of the partner state hosting the forum, East African national regulatory agencies, member universities, key development partners and IUCEA Secretariat.
University of Kigali was represented by the Director of Quality Assurance (DQA), Dr. Elizabeth Owino. Most of the Eastern African Countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, were represented at the conference with each country sending a number of representatives from higher education institutions. This signifies a concerted effort to prioritize and enhance quality and accessibility of all levels of education across the continent. The forum deliberated on the policy dialogue and instruments that are key in the EU-Africa higher education cooperation, DAAD funding possibilities for bilateral cooperation between Germany and East Africa Partner States. EAQAN hopes to explore, strategize, and implement measures that will foster greater collaboration among institutions, transcending traditional barriers for the greater good of global quality education.
Harmonization and integration of higher education emphasize the need for synergy among diverse educational systems. Various initiative on African Continental and East African Regional Integration Frameworks for Higher Education were discussed in depth. By aligning internal and external quality assurance systems, the curricula, research agenda, and institutional policies, EAQAN seeks to create a cohesive and harmonized East African, African and global educational ecosystem. This will not only facilitate the mobility of students and academics but will also enrich the fabric of higher education with diverse perspectives.
