UNESCO BAMAKO CLUSTER OFFICE 
in collaboration with
Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)-Africa
Association of African Universities

and
ADEA Working Group on Higher Education

Capacity Building Workshop on the Licence-Master-Doctorate (LMD) Reform

Workshop Announcement

Owing to a number of factors such as lack of funding, inadequacies in infrastructure, equipment, and qualified academic staff and researchers, several African countries are unable to develop academic and research programmes in all priority areas of sustainable human development. It is widely agreed that a strategy for dealing with this challenge is to develop effective frameworks that will facilitate mutual recognition of degrees and therefore help to promote academic mobility.

Academic mobility prominently features in the African Union Action Plan for the Second Decade on Education for Africa. It is anticipated that academic mobility in Africa will be achieved through three major strategies: (a) revision and implementation of the Arusha Convention, (b) the African Union higher education harmonisation strategy; and (c) the Licence-Master-Doctorate (LMD) reform in francophone countries.

The Licence-Master-Doctorate (LMD) Reform

The Licence-Masters-Doctorate (LMD) reform was adopted by the UEAMOA Council of Ministers in July 2007 for the purpose of aligning their higher education degree structure to that of Anglophone countries (Bachelor-Master-PhD). This is expected to facilitate comparability of academic programmes and mutual recognition of degrees. This reform is mainly motivated by the need to promote academic mobility of students, staff and researchers within UEMOA countries and beyond. In addition to the three degree levels, the reform will help establish a semester system, a credit-transfer system, a diploma supplement providing information on the learner’s academic records, national quality assurance mechanisms, and a regional monitoring system to ensure effectiveness and coherence in the process of transition to the new degree structure. Member States have agreed to complete this reform by December 2009. Capacity building is essential for getting this reform to take root. This workshop is aimed building capacity of potential implementers of the reform.

Objectives

Specifically, the workshop will:

• strengthen capacity of participants from UEMOA and other interested countries in implementing the LMD reform and ensuring comparability of academic degrees between francophone and anglophone countries;
• familiarise participants with key elements of the LMD reform;
• identify roles that students, teachers, institutional managers, quality assurance agencies, government, parents and other stakeholders can play in the implementation of the LMD reform;
• foster the development of practical skills by participants in the implementation of the LMD reform; and
• develop an outline Blueprint for implementing the LMD reform within the framework of the Arusha Convention.

Venue and Date

The workshop will take place in Saint Louis, Senegal from 19^th to 20^th September, 2008. Arrival is on the 18^th while departure is on the 21^st.

Participants

The workshop is for officials of UEMOA and other countries who desire to deepen their understanding of, and acquire practical skills in, the implementation of LMD reform as well as the provisions of the Arusha Convention on students and staff mobility, transfer of credits and mutual recognition of certificates, diplomas and degrees.

The workshop specifically targets:

• Officials of the Ministry of Education of UEMOA and other countries
• Heads of tertiary institutions- Vice-Chancellor/Rector/Provosts or their representatives
• Heads and management teams of national and regional quality assurance agencies
• Quality assurance practitioners
• Other interested stakeholders

Expected Outcomes

The following are the expected outcomes of the workshop:

• Participants with deeper understanding of, and practical skills in, the implementation of the LMD reform
• Development of a regime that ensures comparability of academic degrees between francophoine and Anglophone countries
• Production of an outline Blueprint for implementing the LMD reform within the framework of the Arusha Convention.

Registration Fee

No registration fee is charged to participants.

Working Languages

The working languages of the workshop will be English and French

Registration

Since limited spaces are available, interested persons are urged to register early. To register, please visit the workshop web site at:

http://www.ICQAHEA.ORG

 For further information, please contact:

Professor Juma Shabani

Director UNESCO Bamako Cluster Office

Bamako

J.Shabani@unesco.org