Re: [AU-Harmon-AAU-QA] Developing an African Higher Education Rating System”.

[goolam mohamedbhai]

Dear Olusola and Colleagues
   
  Thank you for your comments.
   
  You are quite right about the implementation. While I am happy with the proposed Rating System, I am concerned about the process and the implementation. Let me explain.
   
  The proposed System rightly devolves the assessment process from the proposed continental implementing body (AAU) to national and regional bodies. Otherwise it woud be impossible to manage at the level of AAU. And it is assumed that appropriate bodies exist at national and regional levels to assist in the process.
   
  But do they? I know that many African countries have not yet established appropriate national Quality Assurance (QA) systems for higher educaion. The two best known ones are South Africa and Nigeria. And in those countries where attempts are being made to establish such QA systems, there is a severe shortage of capacity in QA matters. I think a priority for African countries at present is assistance in establishing national QA systems. This is where the Harmonizarion process fits in nicely. A harmonised QA system for Africa would go a long way towards subsequently implementing the Rating System.
   
  Then we come to the regions. Which are the regions?  Some of the regions are well-known, others are not and in some cases there is overlapping between regions.  I think it is important to have this clearly defined at the level of AU for this exercise.  And it is equally important to identify and agree on the body in each region which will be responsible for processing the submissions from the region. Again, I am not sure whether there is expertise in some of the existing bodies to deal with matters related to QA or the Quality Rating System.
   
  I believe that while the Rating System is being polished, and the Harmonization strategy is being finalised, an effort should be made to survey all African countries to see how many of them have the appropriate body which can handle QA and the Rating System. Similarly the appropriate regional bodies should be identified, again determining whether they have the capacity to do the work. I fear that one would find many loopholes in the process! 
   
  Goolam
  

"Prof. Olusola Oyewole" <oyewole at aau.org> wrote:
  Dear Goolam,
Thank you very much for this very important contribution. I am quite delighted that you have
highlighted the advantages and benefits of the proposed rating mechanism over the ranking
system. Indeed, the goal of the current quality rating mechanism is to help in improving the
quality of the African higher education system and institutions. As part of our collective
contributions to the evolving rating mechanisms, I will want to know our views on :
(i) The major challenges that the implementation of the proposed rating mechanism could
pose on our educational system and how such challenges can be resolved.
(ii) Are there some specific gaps in the proposed quality rating mechanisms?
I look forward to our views on these.
Olusola Oyewole


On 6 Sep 2007 at 20:38, goolam mohamedbhai wrote:

>
> Dear Olusola and Colleagues
>
> Sorry for not responding earlier. I received the report only a couple of days ago. And it is a long
> report.
>
> To all those participating in this debate, let me say that it is extremely important to go through that
> report (or at least the part describing the Rating mechanism) to fully understand the Rating
> System being proposed. And here I fully sympathise with my friend Lamine Ndiaye that there is no
> French version being circulated. I think our Francophone colleagues, especially those who are not
> fluent in English, will experience some difficulty in appreciating the proposal. I do think that
> situation should be rectified.
>
> To answer specifically to your questions, I am against all the existing systems of ranking and I
> think the reportgives all the reasons whythey are not appropriate - indeed they are damaging! - to
> African higher education.
>
> But theproposed Rating System is different. I think it ismuch closer to the Quality Assurance
> System we are familiar with, except that a rating is applied here. As long as theSystem is applied
> gradually and with the objective of enabling the institutions to improve their situation, I am
> supportive of it.Perhaps some of the criteria may need to be re-worded or modified but the
> principle and procedure seem to be right.
>
> I also think the criteria are flexible enough to be applicable to all types of institutions - public and
> private, DE and Virtual institutions. Indeed, it must be ensured that theyare applicable to all
> institutions. One of the positive outcome of this Rating System might well be that it will weed out
> the purely commercial private institutions which nowoperate in all African countries. The good
> private institutions - and there aresome of those - will have no difficulty in satisfying the criteria,
> except that they will probably request a very low weightage for research.
>
> Goolam Mohamedbhai
>
>
> "Prof. Olusola Oyewole" wrote:
> Dear All,
> Following our discussion on the Harmonization of HE programs in Africa, we would now
> focus on the issue of " Developing an African Higher Education Rating System".
>
> The Report prepared for the African Union Commission was circulated some days ago.
> Rankings refer to the rating and ordering of higher education institutions or programmes of
> study based on various criteria. Ranking systems of HEIs and programmes are a growing
> phenomenon across the world. Whilst national rankings have existed since the 1980s, world
> rankings have only recently emerged. Ranking systems operate by comparing institutions or
> programmes against a set of indicators, and different ranking systems use different
> indicators in order to obtain a picture of quality.
>
> There is a belief that the ranking systems will remain because :they provide a possible
> mechanism for identifying leading universities and information to student consumers,
> government, HE leaders and policy-makers. They have the potential to protect students and
> other stakeholders such as employers, from low quality provision.
> These possible benefits not with standing, a number of criticisms are levelled against
> rankings. While rankings purport to measure `quality´ but this is a highly contested notion
> with no universally agreed measure of quality in higher education. There have been a
> number of methodological critiques levelled against ranking systems. There have also been
> reported inconsistencies between that information given by institutions to ranking groups. It
> has also been noted that global rankings tend to favour institutions in English-speaking
> countries, institutions with a large research component, and tend to marginalize vocational
> institutions.
>
> For African institutions, it has been noted that the existing global/rating systems do not take
> into consideration African specificities.
> Dear Discussion participant,
> (a)What are your views about the current global ranking systems as it relates to African
> institutions - Are the methodologies and criteria relevant to African institutions?
> (b)Should African Institutions continue to measure their worth by the global ranking?.
> Do you have alternative ideas?
> (c)Is it a good decision to develop an African Higher Education Rating Mechanism?
>
> Olusola Oyewole
>
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>
>
>
> -------
> Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai
> President, International Association of Universities
> Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mauritius
>
> Tel: (230) 4547351 (home); (230) 7782351 (mobile)
> Fax: (230) 4673606
> Email: g_t_mobhai at yahoo.co.uk
> Website: www.unesco.org/iau
>
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Prof. Olusola Oyewole,
Project Officer (Research & Programmes)
Association of African Universities
P.O. Box AN 5744,
Accra-North, Ghana
Tel: +233-21-761588/774495
Cell Phone :+233-24-293-7782
Fax: +233-21-774821.
E-Mail: oyewole at aau.org
Website Address:  http://www.aau.org




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-------
Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai
President, International Association of Universities
Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mauritius

Tel: (230) 4547351 (home); (230) 7782351 (mobile)
Fax: (230) 4673606
Email: g_t_mobhai at yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.unesco.org/iau
 		
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