Strong African Institutions Would Guarantee Quality in Higher Education- Prof. Okojie

Acting Permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Education(FME)
Hajia Hindatu Umar Abdullahi

The Executive Secretary, NUC
Professor Julius A. Okojie

The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius A. Okojie, OON, has expressed optimism that, with strong national institutions across Africa, Quality Assurance in the continent's higher education system would be better achieved. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 7th Edition of the International Conference on Quality Assurance in Africa (ICQAHEA), held from 22 - 25 September, 2015, at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, Professor Okojie noted that although the two major global challenges facing higher education, were access and quality, there were also other challenges such as the quality of teachers and students, absence of a common language of communication within the African continent, issues of inter-university credit transfer and brain drain, which hampered quality assurance in the system. The Executive Secretary observed that the dwindling quality of teachers in recent times had affected the quality and performance of students, since it was

L-R: Michael Arrion, Julius Okojie, Juma Shabani, Yohannes Woldemtensae and Olin Oedekoven at the 7th ICQAHEA Conference, held in Abuja

difficult for a teacher to give what he or she did not have. He advocated continued training and retraining of teachers for optimum productivity. While advising Quality Assurance regulatory Agencies in the continent to provide adequate guidance and advice to students on their choice of institution, he advocated the strengthening of the already existing regulatory agencies in Africa for effective operations, since the countries faced common challenges of inadequate resources, capacity building, among others. Professor Okojie charged participants to maximise the opportunity provided by the Conference to address the quality assurance issues affecting the continent. With the successful completion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Executive Secretary called on African universities to key into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the overall development of the African higher education system. He maintained that education held the key to the continent's development and that with effective regional cooperation, the continent would record giant strides in the global community. Declaring the Conference open, the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Hindatu Umar Abdullahi, commended the Organisers of the Conference for the choice of th Nigeria to host the 7 ICQAHEA. She reiterated the importance of quality assurance to higher education and expressed the hope that more collaboration and networking would ensue from the Conference. She pledged the Federal Government's commitment towards ensuring a quality higher education system that would engender rapid socio-economic development of the African continent. Hajia Abdullahi stated that the Federal Government had, through the various education regulatory agencies in the country, such as the NUC, for Universities; the National Board for Technical E d u c a t i o n ( N B T E ) , f o r Polytechnics and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), provided instruments to regulate and ensure standards in the higher education

The President, African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) and Deputy Executive Secretary I, Professor Chiedu Mafiana

system. She explained that for universities, the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) had prescribed the requirements for all programmes run in the universities, adding that the NUC had been carrying out regular monitoring of the universities to ensure compliance with the set standards. The President, Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi)- Africa, Professor Peter Okebukola, explained that the Conference was meant to review the growth and recent development in Quality Assurance in higher education in Africa, with a view to charting a new course for the continent. He stated that the event would not only afford participants the opportunity of sharing important information and experience, but also look at the key thrusts for improving the quality of higher education in Africa, including elements of the AU-EU Joint Strategy, notably the tuning methodology. Professor Okebukola stated that the Conference would, among other things, evaluate the activities and achievements of AfriQAN and GUNiAfrica with a view to making projections into the future. In his remarks, the President of African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) and Deputy Executive Secretary I, NUC, Professor Chiedu Mafiana, observed that although the Network was young, it held a prospect for sustainable development of African higher education. He enjoined other African countries that were yet to register with the Network to key in for effective collaboration. He looked forward to a fruitful AfriQAN General Assembly that was to hold in the course of the Conference. The European Ambassador to Nigeria, Michel Arrion, charged participants to redouble their efforts at ensuring that African universities were globally competitive. According to him, African universities and other higher education institutions had a central role to play in promoting growth, improving lives and reducing poverty in the continent. He recalled that the Africa-EU Roadmap, which was developed at the Brussel Summit, was meant to use education as a tool for driving socio-economic development in member states. Michel Arrion reiterated the European Union's support to African higher education system through international collaboration and mobility. To ensure good quality higher education system, he said, Europe and Africa needed to collaborate better at all levels, “to ensure that we have better quality, we need to cooperate better at all levels to help universities and higher education institutions develop better courses, enable students and staff to share experience across continents and ensure that we recognise each other's qualifications. We in Europe are ready to work with Africa in all these areas.”