Zimbabwe hosts pilot workshop on Strengthening of Quality Assurance in Higher Education in the SADC Region

UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (UNESCO ROSA) in partnership with Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) will host a two-day capacity building workshop series focused on strengthening quality assurance in higher education in Zimbabwe from October 16 to 17, 2024, in Harare.

The workshop supports the strengthening of both internal and external quality assurance practices at the institutional level, while addressing emerging trends in higher education including digital transformation.

The capacity building programme covers key topics including the Foundations of Quality Assurance, National, Regional and International Quality Assurance Frameworks and Standards, Quality Assurance in Digital Transformation, Assessment Methods, Curriculum Design, and the intersection of Internationalization and Quality Assurance. Participants will engage in lectures, discussions, and group works to deepen their understanding and enhance their competences in implementing quality assurance practices in their professional context.

Quality assurance in higher education is vital for maintaining academic standards, youth empowerment, and for upholding a rigorous higher education system that supports sustainable socioeconomic development. Despite the progress made in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), challenges including constrained institutional capacity and fragmented quality assurance practices across countries highlight the need for capacity-building efforts.

As part of UNECO's Campus Africa Flagship Programme and guided by the UNESCO Operational Strategy for Priority Africa, UNESCO ROSA initiated the capacity-building workshop series to be rolled out to the SADC countries covered by the office, following the pilot workshop in Zimbabwe. The workshop series are organized while seeking synergies with ongoing initiatives, including the Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation(HAQAA) Initiative.

The event brings together all 20 accredited higher education institutions in Zimbabwe. Participants include 24 quality assurance directors and pro-Vice Chancellors, government representatives from relevant ministries, experts and practitioners in quality assurance, and ZIMCHE staff.Prominent speakers will come from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Audit and Skills Development of Zimbabwe,Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education, International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in higher Education (INQAAHE), OBREAL and the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA).

The capacity building workshop series marks UNESCO's continuous commitment to enhancing institutional capacities on quality assurance, facilitating regional networking on quality assurance, and implementation of normative frameworks including the Addis Conventionand the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning higher education.

The cultivation of a culture of continuous improvement with empowered quality assurance bodies and networks will serve the SADC region in building a quality-assured higher education system that contributes to the building of innovative and knowledge-based societies.