Higher education in North Africa faces the challenge of providing growing numbers of young people with a university education. Not just any education – but a quality education that prepares students effectively for the workplace, and one that teaches them knowledge and skills and enables them to contribute to the growth and economic development of their country.
With a view to improving the outcomes of higher education in the region, governments in North Africa are looking to quality assurance and quality management practices as a way to support both modernisation and reform in the sector. This is also supported by those international organisations that are active in higher education, such as, the World Bank, the European Union, the African Development Bank and ISESCO.
In Morocco – the host country for the Policy Dialogue - the issue of quality is of paramount importance to the Ministry of Higher Education, leading to the establishment of the National Agency for Evaluation and Quality Assurance of Higher Education and Sci entific Research as an independent body to regulate the mechanisms of Quality Assurance in Higher Education institutions.
To support the Ministry of Higher Education and the newly established Evaluation Agency, the British Council will set up a Policy Dialogue looking at effective ways to build a culture of quality in higher education in North Africa –through both policy and through practice.
Reflecting the increasing importance of internationalisation in higher education, this Policy Dialogue will be part of the British Council’s Global Education Dialogue Series, linked it to the Going Global conference in May 2016.
With its mature higher education system and an internationally recognised approach to quality assurance, the UK sector has a wealth of expertise to share – from policy and regulation through to quality enhancement. This Policy Dialogue will also enhance the mutual benefit for the UK towards sharing best practice and learning from the international approaches to quality presented at the conference.
This will enrich the conversation around common challenges, and how to build a culture of quality within institutions and agencies across the North Africa and the UK.
PURPOSE
- To exchange ideas around best practices in quality assurance in higher education with key experts from the region and the UK with a particular focus on internal and external strategies for building a quality culture.
• To inform new thinking around the policy and practice of quality assurance in higher education in North Africa.
• To consider strategies for setting and maintaining academic standards that are comparable to international best practice.
• To provide an opportunity for policy makers and academics in North Africa to take advantage of the experience of the UK in terms of quality assurance with insight into how policy around quality assurance in the UK impacts on the practice of quality at an institutional level.
• To promote the enhancement of quality to meet the expectations of students,employers and other stakeholders.
• To explore opportunities for delegates from North Africa to build relationships with UK colleagues, thereby encouraging the exchange of further knowledge and information between North Africa and the UK.
• To develop new approaches to quality assurance in North Africa, in support of national higher education policy and emerging practice in universities in the region.
CONFERENCE PARTNERS
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our partners
- Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training
- Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
- Moroccan British Society