Strategic Focus Area
Institutional Quality Management
Supporting objectives outlined in the SADC Protocol for Education and Training
SARUA is committed to supporting the objectives outlined in the SADC Protocol for Education and Training, which include staff and student mobility, credit recognition and transfer. As the report of the 2022 UNESCO World Higher Education Conference states, ensuring access to agile and affordable higher education while maintaining relevance, quality, trust and credibility is of paramount importance. This SFA focuses on assisting SADC HEIs in designing and delivering relevant, high-quality and sustainable formal and non-formal tertiary education programs to cater to diverse student learning needs.
Programmes
State of Play of IQA in the SADC
SARUA’s strategic focus area on Institutional Quality Management has been gaining momentum especially regarding internal quality assurance (IQA) in the SADC. In line with SARUA’s strategic objectives, a research project to explore the ‘State of Play of IQA in the SADC’ was launched through a webinar held on 17 August 2021. From October 2021 to February 2022, seven focus group meetings were held which informed the development of an online questionnaire which was piloted and subsequently distributed from March 2022 to August 2022. The report is in the process of being finalised.
The purpose of this research was to explore the state of play of IQA in the SADC in the view of regional stakeholders working in the higher education sector and the opportunities and challenges in implementing IQA systems. The key findings clearly indicated the importance of monitoring the implementation of IQA and identified the areas for SARUA to include in its future capacity development programmes. Further, the research highlighted the value attached to forming a Community of Practice (CoP) to provide a forum for discussion and ongoing support amongst QA practitioners in the region. The findings of this research show that while IQA systems are in place and there is a considerable understanding of the technical aspects which underpin the success of an IQA system, there is a challenge implementing institutional-level management of change to allow the embedding of a shared quality culture.
SARUA established the Community of Practice (CoP) for Institutional Quality Management which was launched at the end of 2022. A panel meeting to discuss Perspectives on the implementation of an institutional quality management system took place at the webinar meeting of the CoP on 18 April 2023.
TrainIQA
The TrainIQA programme is an initiative of the Dialogue on Innovative HE Strategies (DIES) and is jointly coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Higher Education Rectors Conference (HRK). The initiative is funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is coordinated by the University of Potsdam. SARUA is an implementation partner for the SADC region and has been actively engaged in the TrainIQA programme.
The TrainIQA programme aims to:
- Strengthen national capacities in the field of quality assurance.
- Promote exchange and networking among higher education institutions (HEIs) and various stakeholders.
- Provide opportunities for exchange and dialogue both within the SADC region and between European and African partners and institutions.
- Enhance the professionalisation of quality managers who will promote ongoing capacity development in the field of internal quality assurance (IQA) at their home institutions as well as within their respective countries.
Training modules
Five training modules have been developed which may be downloaded from trainiqa.org. The modules are as follows:
SARUA’s Participation
SARUA participated in the selection of the cohorts of candidates for the 2020 /2021 and 2023/2024 training programmes respectively. The training for the first cohort was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023/2024 SADC Train IQA programme, offered over an 18-month period, consists of three interconnected workshops (two in the SADC and one at the University of Potsdam, in Germany) as well as online phases. 185 staff members from higher education institutions across the SADC applied to participate in the programme and 30 were selected. These participants come from the following SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The first workshop for the 2023/2024 cohort was held at the University of Johannesburg from the 19th to the 24th of March 2023 with training conducted jointly by trainers from Germany and from the SADC. During the last two days of the workshop, a conference was held, which was attended by the respective executive manager (Vice-chancellor / Deputy Vice-chancellor) from each of the SADC institutions represented at the workshop. During this final conference, the participants presented the topics for their institutional change projects, which forms an integral part of the training programme.
The DAAD also provided funding for research on the State of play of Quality Assurance in the SADC. The project was undertaken by Butcher and Associates and a report was published in 2018. [Hoosen S, Chetty Y and Butcher N, 2018. State of Play: Regional Quality Assurance in Southern Africa SADC. DAAD. Germany.
Access the report
