Development co-operation

DIES News

02/2010: Towards a common East African Higher Education Area

 The DIES-Event "East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course” supports quality assurance at East African Higher Education Institutions

  From 1 to 5 February 2010 the forth part of the "East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course” takes place in Nairobi, Kenya. The current condition of programme evaluations at East African Higher Education Institutions, conducted in the frame of the DIES-Project on Quality Assurance in East Africa, is the issue. The main objective of the project partners Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and DAAD is the establishment of modern quality standards at East African Higher Education Institutions.

  The East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course in Nairobi is the forth Part of a Course Series, beginning in Oldenburg and Berlin in September 2008. Within two years, Quality Assurance Commissioners from East Africa participated in trainings on the evaluation of Higher Education Programmes. The following Peer Review Phase was implemented by African-German Expert teams. The first steps on the way to a common Higher Education Area have therewith been concluded.

  The event is conducted in the frame of the DIES-Project on Quality Assurance at Higher Education Institutions in East Africa. The DAAD-Programme "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies” (DIES) supports Higher Education Institutions in Developing Countries in the development of strategies to enhance quality and relevance in Education. The DIES-Programme is conducted in close Cooperation with the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK).

10/2009: International Deans' Course Africa 2009/10 Regional Workshops in Nairobi, Khartoum and Abuja

  DAAD, the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck (FHOs), the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in cooperation with the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation (AvH) are jointly organising the International Deans' Course for Africa.

  The key objective of the course is to prepare newly elected Deans, Vice-Deans, and Heads of Department - many of them Alumni of DAAD and Humboldt Foundation - from universities in East & West Africa to cope with the inherent problems of a Dean' s position, discussing issues such as strategic faculty management, financial management, quality assurance and leadership. The course is organised every two years, the first one was offered in 2007.   
  The workshops in Abuja, Khartoum and Nairobi formed Part II of the course and were meant to further discuss the personal action plans each participant had to develop at the end of Part I that took place in Osnabrueck/ Germany in May. Participants came from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Prof. Peter Mayer, former Dean and Vice-President of the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrueck, Prof. Naomi Shitemi, former Dean at Moi University , Kenya, and Dr. Abebe Dinku, former Dean at Addis Ababa University , Ethiopia , acted as experts and shared their experiences. Part III will be organized in February/March 2010 in Addis Ababa to reflect on the implementation of the personal action plans.

10/2009: Workshop on “Managing Quality Assurance Agencies & Quality Assurance University Centers in the Arab Region”

 In light of the fruitful cooperation between the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the field of Quality Assurance and Accreditation, ANQAHE and DAAD organized a joint Workshop under the title "Managing Quality Assurance Agencies and Quality Assurance University centers in the Arab Region” from 17 to 19 October 2009 at Cairo, Egypt.
ANQAHE, is an independent, non profit, non governmental organization. A major component of its objectives is to initiate and sustain regional and international cooperation in quality assurance in higher education and to develop a system for capacity-building for QA bodies. DAAD co-organized this event in the frame DIES program. The main goal of this workshop was to bring the key players of Arab Region’s in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education Systems together with European Experts to discuss their current challenges in Quality Assurance in Higher Education, to exchange information and establish a  link between the European and Arab Region in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Derived from this objective following topics were tackled in the Workshop Sessions:

• External and Internal Quality Assurance Systems for Agencies
• Internal Quality Assurance Systems in Higher Education Institutes
• Experience of the UNDP Quality Assurance project in the Arab region

Prestigious calibers in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Agencies from the Arab Region and other European and Arab Experts participated in the Workshop to achieve the above mentioned goals and objectives.

09/2009: DIES Seminar on E-Learning study courses and its effect on Higher Education Management in Africa

  From 30 September to 2 October 2009 a DIES Seminar on "Integrating E-Learning: Key Challenge for Higher Education Governance” takes place . It is jointly organised with the United Nations University, Vice-Rectorate in Europe and the Commonwealth of Learning. Participants of the seminar are Heads of Higher Education Institutions, Higher Education Commissions and International E-Learning Experts.

  During the seminar the participants focus on the following issues:

•   How can E-Learning study courses, geared towards meeting the international quality standards, be offered at the higher education institutions in developing countries? Innovative study courses carried out mainly in cooperation with African and European universities are also introduced and discussed.
•   How do international E-Learning study courses affect the quality of teaching? Should an African university cooperate with external providers of E-Learning study courses or do new competitors with a good image but bad quality emerge? How should quality assurance standards for E-Learning study courses look like?
•   What consequences and challenges arise for university structures? Are interdisciplinary centres essential? Will a university independently be able to offer E-Learning study courses of a high quality or is a new cooperation with previous competitors necessary for worldwide business?

  The objective of the seminar is to give an overview of the market of E-Learning study courses, inform on suitable offers from external providers taking quality assurance into account and to spotlight the consequences and challenges for higher education institutions through E-Learning study courses.     

09/2009: Briefing of a Rectors' Delegation from East Africa on the Introduction of Quality Assurance Structures in European Higher Education Institutions

  East-African higher education institutions face a new challenge: after the successful completion of 50 pilot evaluations, comes the question on the establishment of departments of quality assurance on a permanent basis at the higher education institutions in East Africa.   However, what is exactly needed to successfully launch quality assurance at universities in the long run? This question is discussed at the DIES Study Tour and Seminar organised for the rectors of higher education institutions from East Africa. The tour takes place from September 20 to September 30 2009, starting at the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen, via Brussels with a concluding visit in Bonn.       

  At the universities in Oldenburg and Groningen, the rectors and the representatives from universities discuss various models of the introduction of quality assurance in the neighbouring countries. What role do ministries, accreditation agencies and students play in the framework of the Bologna Process? How can employers be involved?

  During their visit in Brussels, EU-supported cooperation opportunities between African and European higher education institutions are presented. The programme concludes in Bonn: the German Rectors’ Conference presents by means of best-practice examples how university administrators can manage the introduction of innovative study programmes . During the visit to the DAAD and BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) the delegation members received information on funding of reform projects. Furthermore, the next steps of the project on quality assurance in higher education institutions in East Africa are jointly planned with East-African Inter University Council.

  The visit of the rectors’ delegation takes place within the framework of the DIES Project on quality assurance at higher education institutions in East Africa.

• Africa Sub-Sahara
• Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Latin America
• North America
• Northern Africa and the Middle East
• Western Europe