UNESCO BAMAKO CLUSTER OFFICE 
in collaboration with
UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Africa (BREDA)
Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)-Africa
Association of African Universities
ADEA Working Group on Higher Education
and
Senegalease National Commission for UNESCO
National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria
Osun State University, Nigeria

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

 Third International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa

(ICQAHEA)

Dakar, Senegal, September 15-17, 2008

The attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has remained atop the global development agenda. In the race to 2015 when the goals are expected to be met, African countries are proceeding at a worryingly slow pace. At the January 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the global community called for urgent action at quickening the pace of progress of Africa so that no region is left behind in the march towards 2015  The views of participants at the Forum converged that education is a potent tool in this quest.

Regional education initiatives at addressing the MDGs include the Africa Union Second Decade on Education and the Education Agenda of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). At the country level, there are national plans on education with thrust at poverty reduction- a cardinal millennium development goal. UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, the African Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the Association of African Universities (AAU), and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), among several other partners and organisations, have stressed the role of quality higher education in the attainment of the MDGs.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the quality of higher education delivered is inextricably linked with the attainment of the MDGs. Training of high-level and adaptable labour force in higher education translates into building social capital and expanding opportunities for employability and social mobility. Also, the application of research and development in higher education leads to improvement in the provision of basic needs essential for enhancing welfare levels of poor families, particularly vulnerable women and children.  The goal of the conference is to examine in greater depth, the elements of this linkage and to develop an Action Plan for accelerating the pace of attaining the MDGs by African countries through the delivery of better quality higher education..

Objectives

The objectives of the conference are to:

1.      describe the link between quality higher education and the Millennium Development Goals;

2. review progress made by African countries in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals;

3.      learn lessons from other regions of the world where quality assurance in higher education has been used to leverage development and on course to attaining the Millennium Development Goals;

4.      examine the role of quality teacher education, cross-border higher education and Open and Distance Learning in fast-tracking the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals; and

5.      develop a regional Action Plan on leveraging the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals through the delivery of quality higher education.

Sub-themes

1. Link between quality higher education and the Millennium Development Goals
2. Millennium Development Goals and quality teacher education
3. Role of higher education students in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
4. Open and Distance Learning in higher education and the Millennium Development Goals
5. Quality cross-border higher education and attainment of Millennium Development Goals
6. Perspectives from other regions on quality higher education and MDGs
7. Partnerships in higher education for MDGs
8. Funding quality higher education and the MDGs.

Venue and Date

The conference will take place in Dakar, Senegal from 15^th to 17^th September, 2008. Arrival is on the 14^th  while departure is on the 18^th .

Participants

The conference will be of interest to all stakeholders in quality assurance in higher education in Africa as well as policy makers and practitioners in quality assurance from other regions of the world. Participation is open but not limited to:

• Ministers in charge of Education/Higher education
• Permanent Secretaries/Directors-General of Education
• Heads and management teams of national and regional quality assurance agencies
• Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of higher education institutions
• Quality Assurance practitioners
• Civil society
• Staff Unions
• Student Associations
• Development Partners
• All stakeholders in education

Conference Fee

No registration fee is charged to participants. As a general rule, ICQAHEA does not pay for participants’ travel and living expenses. However, limited funds are available to help meet the cost of attendance of selected specialists.

Exhibition

A limited amount of space will be available for commercial vendors’ displays/exhibits during the conference.

Working Languages

The working languages of the meeting will be English and French.

Sponsors

Sponsors of the conference are:

• GUNI-Africa
• UNESCO-BREDA
• UNESCO Division for Higher Education
• African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES)
• West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
• National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria

Note: Additional sponsors are welcome. Please contact Professor Juma Shabani (j.shabani@unesco..org) conveying expression of interest and for further details.

Call for Papers

Papers or posters on issues falling within the sub-themes outlined above may be submitted as contributions to the conference. Persons who wish to present a paper or poster at the conference should submit an extended synopsis (in English) of 800 words (i.e. two A4 format pages of single spaced typing or the equivalent, including any tables or diagrams and a few pertinent references)  on or before 30 June, 2008. In addition, the synopsis should be sent electronically to the Conference Secretariat, email: j.shabani@unesco.org

Authors will be informed mid-July whether their paper/poster has been accepted for presentation by the Programme Committee. A subset of papers presented at the conference will be published subject to peer review. Further details will be provided after the extended synopses have been reviewed.

Conference Web Site

The conference web site where information updates can be received is located at http://www.ICQAHEA.ORG

 For further information, please contact: