Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency Ethiopia

1. Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency Ethiopia HERQA,Ethiopia

2. Quality Assurance for Enhancement of Higher Education in Ethiopia: Challenges faced and lessons learned INQAAHE Abu Dhabi Conference 30 March –2 April 2009 By Dr. Tesfaye Teshome, Director General of HERQA Mr. Kassahun Kebede, Senior Expert HERQA,Ethiopia

3. Ethiopian Government is working to re- • align its higher education system so that • it can contribute more directly to its • national strategy for economic growth and • poverty reduction. • There has been a steady increase in the • number of students in higher education. • Between 1994 and 2002 alone there was • a 45% increase. (Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Education, 2002) Part I Background HERQA,Ethiopia

4. The growth at all levels in higher education, has an annual average increase of over 33% per year • The number of public higher education institutions has also grown from only two universities eight years ago to more than 20 in 2008/2009. • This is due to two national Education Sector Development Programs (Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Education, 2007). HERQA,Ethiopia

5. Sensitive to the fact that expansion of numbers alone would not satisfy the needs of the country, the Agency was established in 2003 with the aim of safeguarding and enhancing the quality and relevance of higher education in the country. • (Higher Education Proclamation no.351/2003) HERQA,Ethiopia

6. Its missions include: • ensuring accredited HEIs are of an appropriate standard; • establishing the programs of study offered by these HEIs are of an appropriate quality and relevance; and • supporting the country’s higher education sector in enhancing the quality and relevance of its education provision. HERQA,Ethiopia

7. Activities undertaken by HERQA to date: • pre-accreditation and accreditation of a programs private HEI’s; • external quality audits in all the public and some private HEI’s, • training of its staff on issues of quality and relevance assurance and enhancement; HERQA,Ethiopia

8. convening of consultative and training • workshops, • development of draft subject benchmarks; and • the publication of procedures and guidelines and quality audit reports HERQA,Ethiopia

9. The purposes of this paper are therefore to: • describe these activities undertaken for enhancing the quality of higher education; • outline the experience of conducting external quality audits of HEIs and • lay out some of challenges it has faced and the major lessons it has drawn through the years. HERQA,Ethiopia

10. Methodology • Analysis of • publications of HERQA • external quality audit reports • personal experience of the writers HERQA,Ethiopia

11. Institutional Quality Audit and Enhancement A-Institutional quality audit Definition: An institutional quality audit isan in-depth analysis and assessment of the quality and relevance of programs and of the teaching and learning environment. It assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of a HEI’s approach to quality care, its systems of accountability and its internal quality assurance mechanisms. (HERQA Profile, 2006) HERQA,Ethiopia

12. Institutional Quality Audit and Enhancement undertaken by QAE team. • External institutional quality audits So far 9 public and 5 private HEIs have been audited and 8 quality audit reports have been published (in addition to 4 pilot audits) HERQA,Ethiopia

13. 2 Training aimed at enhancing quality enhancement and establishing quality assurance systems in the HEIs on issues such as: • how to conduct self evaluation, • preparing policies and guidelines for assessment, • Preparing teaching/learning policies, • research and outreach activities. • e.g. In 2008 alone training was provided for 150 instructors of HEI’s, administrators and leaders in and outside Addis Ababa, the capital of the country. HERQA,Ethiopia

14. 3, Subject benchmarks developed for • Nursing, • midwifery, • laboratory technology, • public Health, • Business Management, • mathematics, • chemistry, • computer science, • biology, • medical science and • agricultural engineering HERQA,Ethiopia

15. B-Accreditation Pre/accreditation refers to the process of assessment of an institution’s programs by experts from selected HEIs and HERQA on the basis of human, material input and other criteria stated in the Agency’s accreditation checklists with the aim of granting permission for an HEI to function. HERQA,Ethiopia

16. pre-accredited and accredited Private HEIs from 2006-2008 HERQA,Ethiopia

17. pre-accredited and accredited Private HEIs from 2006-2008 HERQA,Ethiopia

18. In addition, the Accreditation team is involved in the preparation of • checklists, • guidelines and • training of personnel. • seven volumes of guidelines, checklists and procedures for Pre-accreditation and Accreditation are developed with the participation of stakeholders. HERQA,Ethiopia

19. Part II Procedures and Outcomes of the External Institutional Quality Audits The institutional quality audit proceeds through a number of stages: • A self evaluation by the HEI will be prepared. • A four day visit to the HEI will be conducted • The audit team drafts an audit report. HERQA,Ethiopia

20. 4. Further to the issue of the external institutional quality audit report, the HEI is asked to prepare an action plan that seeks to enhance the quality and relevance of its provision. HERQA,Ethiopia

21. 5. HERQA requests a copy of this plan and monitors its implementation in subsequent institutional quality audits which evaluate the extent to which the HEI has been able to use its action plan to enhance quality and relevance. HERQA,Ethiopia

22. HERQA has conducted 18 external institutional quality audits on 11 public and 7 private HEIs, • completed and published the reports for 8 public universities and • Completed 4 reports and sent to the audited HEIs for feedback HERQA,Ethiopia

23. Some of the major outcomes of the quality audits : • 1.Quality Assurance System or Mechanisms • The audited HEIs are aware of the necessity of assuring quality in the institutions. • Some of them plan to establish a quality assurance office • Problems • The quality assurance system or mechanisms are not fully in place • In some of the HEI’s systems for obtaining data that can be used to judge the quality of the institutions are not fully in place HERQA,Ethiopia

24. 2-Assessment • There is effort on the part of audited HEI’s through ADRC’s to help instructors develop sufficient assessment skills. • In some of the HEI’s • assessment units areestablished at the • department and faculty level. • Problems • assessments are mostly dominated by norm • referencing. • assessments arenot sufficiently transparent. • assessments aredominated by mid semester and end-of-semester examinations. HERQA,Ethiopia

25. 3-Curriculum Review and Design Procedures • all the audited HEIs do engage in curriculum • development • Some involve external peers and other stakeholders when they consider they lack the necessary expertise HERQA,Ethiopia

26. 4-Research and Outreach Activities • All of the audited HEIs • aspire to contribute to the development of the country through problem solving researches • have firm convictions that research plays a crucial role in developing the economy HERQA,Ethiopia

27. … research • have Research and Publication officers • Some of them have developed • research policies • guidelines and • various journals • have created links and research collaborations within Ethiopia and abroad HERQA,Ethiopia

28. … research • problems • heavy teaching loads and responsibilities • lack of sufficient time to engage in research • insufficient budget for research • Insufficient research skills on the part of young instructors HERQA,Ethiopia

29. 5-Infrastructure and Resources There is a huge investment in all the audited HEI’s in: • Buildings • infrastructure • laboratory equipment and • other resources problems: • lack of sound systems to ensure efficient resource management • a lack in systemic management and maintenance of these resources HERQA,Ethiopia

30. 6-Expertise and Experience of staff • All the audited HEI’s: • are actively engaged in helping instructors improve teaching and research skills • Budgets are allocated for training • Instructors receive training in and out side the country HERQA,Ethiopia

31. problems • Some of the instructors are fresh graduates from the • universities (due to the HE expansion process) • Heavy load of teaching on the part of instructors has • made it difficult for the experienced instructors to share • their knowledge and skills in teaching and research areas. HERQA,Ethiopia

32. Part Three Conclusions, Challenges and Lessons Learned • Conclusion • There is a huge investment on the part of • the government and • the private HEI owners • HERQA has been established in order reduce • the impact of quality problems that may arise • due to the expansion process in 2003 with • Proclamation Number 351/2003. HERQA,Ethiopia

33. HERQA has helped to bring quality to the top of the agenda, • it has been successful in engaging with higher educational institutions to carry out quality audits and • it has contributed significantly to • enhancing the quality of higher • education in • Ethiopia. • . HERQA,Ethiopia

34. Challenges • a/ There is a general lack of expertise and experience in quality assurance related matters in HEI’s. This impacts on the work of HERQA as it seeks credible individuals • to be trained as external quality auditors and • to be involved in program accreditation. HERQA,Ethiopia

35. b/ HERQA is expected to work harder as : • few higher education institutions have • accommodated an explicit quality assurance • function within their legislation • few higher education institutions have quality • assurance policy or strategy. • a number of higher education institutions • have set up quality assurance units but these are • very much in their infancy and are just becoming • functional. HERQA,Ethiopia

36. Most of the audited higher education institutions do not have quality assurance policy or strategy. • a number of higher education institutions • have set up quality assurance units but • these are very much in their infancy and are • just becoming functional. HERQA,Ethiopia

37. The importance of communicating with • stakeholders and getting feedback from them. • The importance of being an agent of distribution of • good practices gained from one institution to the • others and • The importance of being a forum for discussions • on quality and quality assurance. Lessons Learned HERQA,Ethiopia

38. The importance of developing a mechanism to • check the move of some fraudulent HEIs( like • surprise visits). • The importance of working harder to build the • capacity of HEIs in establishing quality assurance • management systems. HERQA,Ethiopia

39. Thank You HERQA,Ethiopia