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EAC Higher Education Policy 2014

EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY

HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY

Inter-University Council for East Africa

Mohammed KerrePERC-PACE InternationalNairobi

February 2014

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I. Introduction 5The Treaty Establishing The East African Community; The Purpose, Movement Of Goods, Persons, Labour And Capital and Rights of Establishment and Residence; The Education, Labour and Employment Sectors, Productive and Sustainable Employment Opportunities; Harmonisation of Laws and Policies on Free Movement of Labour and Persons; Harmonisation and Mutual Recognition of Academic and Professional Qualifications

II. East Africa 2050 8New Paradigm, Policy Dimension, Policy Proposals

III. EAC Higher Education Future Direction and Practice 11Shaping, Reinforcing and Implementing Autonomy; Increasing and Diversifying Income;, Enhancing Quality and Improving Transparency; Internationalisation; Increasing and Improving the Quality of Mobility; Partnerships; Common Education Area and Common Research Space; sharing of responsibilities; Building Internal quality Culture; Mutual Trust Breeds Transparency; EAC Higher Education Quality Committee; Consolidation of Past Efforts in Quality Assurance; Principle of Autonomy and Responsibility; Internal Quality Assurance and Enhancement; Iterative Processes, Diverse Institutions, Foster Creativity, Promoting Equality; Enabling Access; Outcomes; Pillars of Assessment; Mobility of Academic Staff; Research Based Education; Links Between Higher Education and Research; Critical Change and Development; The Success of the Partner States' Development Visions; Building Distinctive Research Portfolio; Investing in Education and Research; Innovative Approaches in Academic Course Provision; Efficiency and Effectiveness of Staff; Strengthening Links Between Higher education and Research; Transparent Career Structures; Doctoral Education and Training; Circulation of Talent; Internationalisation of Talent; Student Welfare; Government Funded Job Training Programmes; Establishment of Regional Education and Economic development Commission; Widening Opportunities for Participation; Improving Research Careers; Relevant Innovative Study Programmes; Research Profiles

IV. EAC Higher Education Financing 27In Search of a Funding Model, Should Student Enrolment be the Factor?, Sources of Funds, Budget Approval, Synchronizing between Goals and Missions, the Trinity Principle Funding Function, the Outcome-Based Funding Model

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PREAMBLE

Regional economic blocks around the world and their member states are increasingly recognizing that a well-defined regional education development policy is vital for sustainable and balanced growth. Most importantly, it provides direction and focus to the regional education system. By developing a regional education policy the East African Community (EAC) can, among others, bring coherence to the system, facilitate coordinated reforms, and clarify institutional arrangements. The key principles of a sound education development policy are shared responsibility; integration into growth, employment and other development strategies; providing support to life-long learning; and, promoting equal opportunities for education and training.

Policy development should be founded on social partner involvement, consultative and inclusive but with leadership, locally grounded and relevant, and underpinned by research. However a policy is only as effective as its implementation. Setting achievement targets, developing clear implementation plans and identifying a lead agency or ministry responsible for implementation are important. Advocacy and financial support for target groups will ensure that there is sufficient uptake of new programmes. Finally, a good monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system allows the policy to be objectively assessed and provides feedback for future policy reforms. Education is fundamental for individual employability and national competitiveness; a sound and well balanced education development policy can assist a country in achieving these objectives.

This Higher Education Policy Document puts great emphasis on workforce and economy because these are the outputs of the education system.

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The Treaty Establishing the East African Community

The Purpose

Movement of goods, persons, labour, services and capital, and rights of establishment and residence

I. INTRODUCTION

The East African Community (EAC) is the regional intergovernmental organization of the republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The Treaty Establishing the EAC was signed on 30th November 1999 and became effective on 7 July 2000 following its ratification by the original three Partner States: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The republics of Burundi and Rwanda acceded to the Treaty on 18 June 2007, becoming full members of the Community with effect from 1 July 2007.

The Treaty envisages a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa. It seeks to widen and deepen economic, political, social and cultural, research and technology, defence, security and legal and judicial integration among and between the Partner States with the ultimate aim of improving the quality of life of the citizens through increased competitiveness, value addition, trade and investments. This shall be done by developing and implementing policies and programmes. EAC higher education institutions, for their part, shall accept the challenge and taken up a main role in constructing the EAC area of higher education in the wake of the fundamental principles laid down in the Treaty Establishing the East African Community Articles 102 and 103. The involvement of universities and other higher education institutions and of students as competent, active and constructive partners in the establishment and shaping of a EAC Higher Education Area provides the critical mass in building a sustainable process to the creation of a compatible and efficient, yet diversified and adaptable EACHEA.

In pursuance of these objectives the EAC has established a Customs Union, and a Common Market. It is due to establish a Monetary Union, and is ultimately moving towards Political Federation. The Customs Union commenced operations on 1 January 2005. Just over five years later, on 1 July 2010, the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market was launched, expanding the customs union and moving towards economic integration in the region to be attained through removal of restrictions on the movement of goods, persons, labour, services and capital, and the rights of establishment and residence.

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The Education, Labour and Employment Sectors

Productive and Sustainable Employment Opportunities

Harmonisation of laws and policies on free movement of labour and persons

The significance of the education, labour and employment sectors in attaining the EAC objectives of integration cannot be gainsaid. Attainment of regional competitiveness and improvement in the standards of living of the population hinges greatly on how the region nurtures and utilizes its human resources. In return, promotion and sustainability of the EAC integration depends on the degree of efficiency and equity of the region’s labour market. A critical issue in any regional integration process – and particularly in the promotion of free movement of labour as envisaged under the EAC Common Market Protocol – is the degree of equity and level of competence, perceived or real, of the region’s labour and employment sector. At the same time, equality in all facets of employment is a key pillar of the Decent Work Agenda to which all the EAC member states subscribe. An assessment of skills and qualifications gaps, and labour and employment inequalities within the EAC integration process is an important ingredient in promoting integration and ensuring sustainable outcomes.

Creation of productive and sustainable employment opportunities remains the core of employment policy interventions in all the five Partner States of the East African Community. Recognition of employment as a means of alleviating poverty in Africa was formally stated by the Ouagadougou Summit of 2004. The Summit called for the strengthening of the capacity of Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs) to promote creation of productive and durable employment opportunities. In 2008, the East African ministers responsible for labour matters resolved to prioritize employment promotion as a key development agenda for the EAC. At the same time, individual Partner States of the EAC have variously made policy pronouncements to place employment creation at the centre of their national development agendas.

Effective EAC integration and its resultant benefits are hinged on the extent to which the aspiration for the free movement of workers can be actualized. Article 10 of the EAC Common Market Protocol guarantees the free movement within the region of workers who are the citizens of the member states. It also requires the partner states to ensure that workers do not face discrimination in employment, remuneration and other conditions of work because of their citizenship. Within this framework, the EAC Partner States committed (in Article 12) to harmonize their labour and employment policies, national laws and programmes so as to facilitate the free movement of labour across the

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Harmonisation and mutual recognition of academic and professional qualifications

New Paradigm

region. This commitment extends to national social security policies, laws and systems in the region. At the same time, Article 39 of the Protocol obliges the member countries to coordinate and harmonize their social policies so as to promote and protect decent work and improve standards of living of the citizens. Delays have been experienced in the harmonization of the relevant policies, laws and programmes undermining effective EAC integration and the achievement of the anticipated benefits.

Connected to this is a similar lack of harmony in the Partner States' education and training systems at all levels. One of the major developments of the EAC Common Market Protocol is the EAC Partner States’ commitment to harmonise and recognise the academic and professional qualifications, experience and licences or certifications granted in other Partner States. Harmonization here would ensure that the region’s labour force possesses the comparable qualifications and meets common standards as set out by the region. It would also promote the mutual recognition of education and professional qualifications held by those who train within the region. Two separate annexes on mutual recognition of academic qualifications and mutual recognition of professional qualifications have been negotiated allowing qualifications to be recognised in other Partner States to ease mobility of workers by reducing barriers to free movement and opening up new job markets for citizens of the Partner States. However, this is only a tentative measure, and long-term sustainable policy and regulatory frameworks are required to facilitate effective harmonisation of education and recognition of academic and professional qualifications.

II. EAST AFRICA 2050

The mobility of human society requires continuous rethinking and adjustment of our mind-sets and approaches to issues. The race to 2050 and the remaining part of this millennium shall be characterized by radical changes in many spheres , especially in the structure and conduct of business. The idea of reflecting on the role of higher education in the unfolding environment is, therefore, something that each Partner State, the EAC, the labour market and the higher education institutions should be doing. The first essential component of the corporate culture that the new environment requires is leadership. In the last millennium emphasis was laid on producing business managers rather than leaders. The difference between the two is that

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Policy Dimension

managers stress doing things right, according to some established tradition, while leadership stresses doing the right things. As the higher education institutions embark on producing leaders for the 21st century, three important attributes must be taken into account: (i) the ability to work out a coherent and clear vision; (ii) the ability to articulate this vision; and (iii) to empower every other person to actualize it. This empowerment is important as it is in essence a way of releasing, harnessing and focusing the creativity of the entire workforce in the realization of the vision.

For the next 35 years , the EAC and the Partner States' education policies shall be directed at four areas:

Competitiveness and Dynamism - Education and training need to play a decisive role in attracting and keeping talent in East Africa. The productivity gap between the EAC and other regional economic blocks in Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA is an indicator. Reversing this trend calls for investment not only in research and development and ICT, but also in “human capital development”. There is evidence that the reasons for EAC’s under-performance in this area go beyond certain obvious mismatches between skills acquisition and needs. It is more deeply rooted in the insufficient level of educational attainment among the working age population. Education also contributes to entrepreneurship, both by creating awareness of self-employment as a career option and by developing the right culture and skills for it.

Developing a Knowledge-Based Economy and Society - It has been widely acknowledged that the scale and quality of human resources are major determinants of both the creation of new knowledge and its dissemination. Key factors are the supply of new scientists and engineers in sufficient number, the reinforcement of research at university level and the constant updating of the scientific workforce, as well as the overall educational level of the working age population and the intensity of lifelong learning activities. Education also plays a key role in fostering the advancement and dissemination of science and technology in the transition to the knowledge society. The knowledge sector is dependent on the ability of education, in particular universities, to offer high quality curricula in knowledge-intensive areas and to attract a sufficient number of qualified persons to science and technology. Furthermore, while innovation requires research and

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development activities, it is also dependent on the ability of social partners to ensure that a generally well-educated and creative labour force stimulates it, uses it and underpins it.

Creating More and Better Jobs - Higher education and training contribute to this in several ways. There is clear evidence that school attainment is a primary determinant of individual income and labour market status. Recent research suggests that across Europe an additional year of schooling increases wages at the individual level by around 6.5% and by as much as 9% in countries with a less compressed wage structure. In the positive link between education and earnings, upper secondary education forms a break point beyond which additional education attracts a particularly high premium. Two important dimensions of job quality are training (which is shown to have a positive impact in particular on productivity) and mobility (which requires the removal of barriers within the EAC labour market. And finally,

Social Inclusion and Active Citizenship - with an increasing premium on skills, the polarisation between the knowledge rich and the knowledge poor puts strains on economic and social cohesion. Access to employer funded training is often limited to those who are already well qualified and some groups get locked into the lower end of the labour market. An important challenge is to develop education and training throughout life in such a way that change and restructuring in the economy have no adverse effects on social cohesion. One of the most important conclusions of recent educational research is that investing in people is both a growth factor, particularly in the current context of rapid technological change, and a key instrument for enhancing social inclusion. This is confirmed by the analysis an OECD study (PISA, OECD, 2002), which concluded that some of the countries with the highest average achievements also had the lowest levels of inequality between individuals and schools. In other words improving quality does not imply restricting opportunities, but rather the opposite. Another study (Inequality and Development, Bourguignon and Morrison, Delta, Paris, 1997) indicates that a 1 % increase in the proportion of the labour force with at least upper secondary education increases the income share of the poorest two-fifths by 6 % and that of the poorest three-fifths by as much as 15 %, thus contributing to greater income equality. These rates also reflect the fact that education

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Policy Proposals

and training produces social and economic benefits by developing the personal and civic competences as well as the vocational ones. Active citizenship education has the potential to raise the level of social and political responsibility in civil society and in the workplace.

Within this framework there are eleven possible policy directions to follow in promotion and harmonization of higher education in the EAC and to prepare a smooth path towards 2050. These policies include:

1. Establishment of a EAC Higher Education Common Area (EACHEA)2. Increasing the productivity of public and private investments and services

in higher education as a focus for a new investment paradigm in education and training

3. maintaining universities as a public responsibility, 4. Promoting and consolidating research as an integral part of higher

education, 5. Improving academic quality by building strong institutions, 6. Furthering mobility and the social dimension, 7. Making the best use of resources, by introducing, strengthening and

institutionalizing quality assurance into higher education; by better matching resources to needs, and by enabling higher education institutions to develop new partnerships to support their new, wider role.

8. Raising the standard of learning by improving the quality of training for academic staff, and by making a specific effort on science mathematics engineering and technology.

9. Making access to learning easier and more widespread at all times of life, through an effort to make lifelong learning easier to enter and more attractive, by making it easier to move from one part of the education system to another (across and between programs and system, and across borders).

10. Updating the definition of basic skills for the knowledge society, in particular by integrating ICT skills, by concentrating more on personal competences, and by looking at shortages in specific skills.

11. Opening education and training to the local environment, and beyond through mobility by strengthening links with business and by developing education for enterprise.

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III. EAC HIGHER EDUCATION FUTURE DIRECTION AND PRACTICE

Dream no small dreams, cautioned the great German poet Goethe, for they have no power to move the hearts of men. The same is true of higher education, vast collections of people aspiring to reach the next level in life. Ambitious higher education systems and institutions attract and retain the best thinkers and achievers - people who, having stood on the shoulders of giants, support the next generation.

Countries at all levels of development are finding that adequate education and skills can improve the employability of workers, the productivity of enterprises and the inclusiveness of economic growth. This realization has led to increased interest in the formulation of skills development policies to drive the change necessary to meet development challenges. Many of these policies, increasingly broad in scope and outreach, are underpinned by efforts to bring the world of education and training and the world of work closer together.

Shaping, Reinforcing, and Implementing Autonomy

Increasing and Diversifying Income

Enhancing Quality and Improving Transparency

Strong and Flexible Higher Education Institutions Pursuing Excellence in their Different Missions

Higher education institutions need strengthened autonomy to better serve society and specifically to ensure favourable regulatory frameworks which allow university leaders to design internal structures efficiently, select and train staff, shape academic programmes and use financial resources, all of these in line with their specific institutional missions and profiles.

Increasing and diversifying income shall be the objective of every HEI. HEI shall achieve financial sustainability by implementing sound accounting practices that identify the full costs of all activities, diversifying the income portfolio and securing adequate public funding, and providing the basis to fulfill the HEI’s core missions over the long-term.

Enhancing quality and improving transparency by fully embracing the responsibilities derived from the commitment of universities to quality and by providing accurate information about institutional mission, activities, performance and results obtained to learners, employers and other stakeholders.

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Internationalisation

Increasing and Improving the Quality of Mobility

Partnerships

Common Education Area and a Common Research Space

Promoting internationalisation by enhancing global collaboration, partnership and presence beyond the EAC as a priority for an ever greater number of HEI with diverse missions, to ensure strategic presence and promote a more international outlook among students and staff alike, and, in particular in times of global crisis, to demonstrate active solidarity and cooperation.

Increasing and improving the quality of mobility by developing coherent institutional strategies, providing structured opportunities, and removing obstacles to the mobility of students, staff, including administrative staff and researchers at all stages in their careers; encompassing mobility between sectors, institutions and internationally as a way of enhancing personal, academic and professional development and improving transferable skills, including linguistic competence.

Developing partnerships for strengthening the various missions of universities, taking account of the needs of partners in curriculum development, research collaboration and innovation activities, in particular embracing the open innovation model of university/enterprise cooperation based on sound project management and improved intellectual property management reflecting respective interests.

Creation of the EAC Higher Education Common Area (EACHECA)

The Partner States, in order to promote the achievements of the objectives of the Community as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, and to strengthen cooperation in the development of human resources, science and technology, and to finally operationalise Article 11 of the Common Market Protocol, shall establish the EAC Higher Education Common Area and Science and Research Area. This shall create the EAC common space for knowledge creation and transfer, human capital development, and facilitate wide scale mobility.

In an EAC common space promoting dialogue with, and engaging a variety of stakeholders at different levels, ensures impact on society, and the development and dissemination of local knowledge in an international context. It contributes to talent development by offering benefits to the individual, the university community and society. It requires particular efforts to be made to facilitate more and better interaction between the university and its local community. Knowledge moves with people, and thus increasing the exchange of young researchers and

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Sharing of Responsibilities

promoting mixed career profiles between academia and industry, across the borders, and in a common space is of particular importance to institutionalizing regional education integration mechanisms and ensuring a sustainable people driven common education space.

Improving Academic Quality by Building Strong Institutions, and Supporting Academic Infrastructure

Successful implementation of policy reforms requires leadership, quality and strategic management within each institution involving the Partner State, the University and the students, and external stakeholders.

Partner States shall create the conditions enabling universities to take long-term decisions regarding their internal organisation and administration, such as the structure and internal balance between institutional level and faculties and the management of staff. In addition Partner States and higher education institutions shall enter negotiated contracts of sufficient duration to allow and support innovation.

Higher education institutions on their part shall foster leadership and create a structures of governance that allow the institution as a whole to create rigorous internal quality assurance, accountability and transparency.

Students should play their part by serving on relevant committees. External stakeholders should serve on governing or advisory boards.

Universities are committed to developing, embedding and mainstreaming an internal quality culture that fit their institutional mission and objectives. This commitment is demonstrated by the growing numbers of institutions involved in Inter-University Council's quality related activities. Universities are convinced that legitimacy of and confidence in external quality assurance procedures derive from a partnership among all stakeholders (students, universities, national authorities) and a shared agreement on these procedures, their goals and follow-up.

For eight years (2006-2013)now universities have experienced the lessons learnt from peer review and now advocate for a balance between autonomy and accountability through institutional audit procedures, which embody a fitness for purpose approach that is culturally adapted to countries and institutions and in

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Building Internal Quality Culture

Mutual Trust Breeds Transparency

EAC Higher

line with their different missions and profiles; are aimed at strategic improvement and change rather than quality control; and are designed to develop a EAC dimension through EAC higher education evaluation teams and to take into account engagement with society and commitment to the social fabric of the EAC education system.

Making the best use of resources, by introducing, strengthening and institutionalizing quality assurance into higher education; by better matching resources to needs, and by enabling higher education institutions to develop new partnerships to support their new, wider role.

Quality Assurance For Higher Education

Quality assurance (QA) is a major issue in the EAC higher education system, and in building a common education area. This Policy proposes a coherent QA policy for the EAC, based on the belief that institutional autonomy creates and requires responsibility, that universities are responsible for developing internal quality cultures and that progress at EAC level involving all stakeholders is a necessary step. Therefore, an internal quality culture and effective procedures foster vibrant intellectual and educational attainment. Effective leadership, management and governance add value to this process. With the active contribution of students, universities must monitor and evaluate all their activities, including study programmes and service departments. External quality assurance procedures should focus on checking through institutional audit that internal monitoring has been effectively done.

The purpose of a EAC dimension to quality assurance is to promote mutual trust and improve transparency while respecting the diversity of national contexts and subject areas. QA procedures for EAC must: promote academic and organisational quality, respect institutional autonomy, develop internal quality cultures, be cost effective, include evaluation of the QA agencies, minimise bureaucracy and cost, and avoid over regulation.

This Policy, therefore, proposes that stakeholders, and in particular universities,

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Education Quality Committee

Consolidation of Past Efforts in Quality Assurance

Principle of Autonomy and Responsibility

should collaborate to establish a provisional “EAC Higher Education Quality Committee“ (EACHEQC). This should be an independent Committee, respect the responsibility of institutions for quality and demonstrate responsiveness to public concerns. The Committee shall provide a forum for discussion and, through the appointment of a small board, monitor the application of the Quality Code for Higher Education, developing a true EAC dimension in quality assurance.

Quality Code for Higher Education

In the implementation of this Policy, the Partner States shall take into consideration steps already taken at higher education institutional level, state and regional levels in design, development, implementation and institutionalization of quality assurance systems since 2006. To complement the Quality Assurance process, this Policy calls for the design, development, approval and implementation of an EAC Quality Code for Higher Education as the definitive reference point for all EAC higher education institutions. The Code shall make clear what higher education institutions are required to do, what they can expect of each other, and what the general public can expect of them. The Quality Code shall cover all the five EAC Partner States and all EAC higher education institutions operating locally and internationally. The Code shall also protect the interests of all students, regardless of where they are studying or whether they are full-time, part-time, undergraduate or postgraduate.

EAC higher education is based on the principle of the autonomy and responsibility of the degree-awarding body for the academic standards and quality of learning opportunities of the programmes it offers and the qualifications and credit it awards. There is no national or regional curriculum for higher education, and higher education institutions decide what programmes to offer within the context of their organisational mission and other strategic factors. These may include government policy to stimulate economic growth and to support strategically important and vulnerable subjects, an assessment of student demand for existing and new programmes, and advice from external bodies such as employers and industry about workforce needs. This independence is a strength of EAC higher education as it enables higher education providers to offer a variety of programmes reflecting the needs of an increasingly diverse range of students.

The processes of programme design, development and approval are an essential part of higher education institution's internal quality assurance and enhancement.

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Internal Quality Assurance and Enhancement

Iterative Processes

Diverse Institutions

They ensure that appropriate academic standards are set and maintained and the programmes offered to students make available learning opportunities which enable the intended learning outcomes to be achieved. Ultimate responsibility for the approval of programmes rests with degree-awarding bodies. However, all higher education institutions shall be involved in elements of programme design, development and approval. The extent to which roles and authority for programme design, development and approval are delegated to a delivery organisation with whom a degree-awarding body works shall be defined in the agreement between the two bodies. This Code is to facilitate both degree-awarding bodies and delivery organisations to discharge their responsibilities for setting and maintaining academic standards and assuring and enhancing the quality of learning opportunities in relation to programme design, development and approval.

Programme design, development and approval of programs depend on reflection and critical self-assessment by individuals, groups and higher education institutions. Designing a programme is a creative activity, which leads to an iterative process of development, depending on feedback from a range of sources, which may include other staff, students, employers and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies. Programme approval involves a number of steps, but there is clarity for all parties involved about the point at which the degree-awarding body definitively approves a programme for delivery. Higher education provision is dynamic, and programmes are continually evaluated and revised to improve the learning experience for students and to maintain the currency of the curriculum.

EAC higher education institutions are diverse, and each has processes for programme design, development and approval which reflect individual missions and goals, while also ensuring the security of academic standards and quality of learning opportunities. These processes are clearly set out in ways which make evident their application to the higher education institution's context. Higher education institutions, therefore, apply their processes systematically and operate them consistently; the processes are capable of being applied to all higher education offered by an institution, but respect differences between subjects, modes and levels of study. Processes are not unduly burdensome or complicated, taking into account an assessment of the risks involved. Decisions are based on evidence, processes operate in a transparent way, and an appropriate level of resource is applied to ensure the required outcomes of the process are achieved.

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Foster Creativity

Promoting Equality

Enabling Access

Programme design, development and approval may involve many different organisational and operational departments within the higher education institutions, such as academic departments, professional services, and central registry, strategic planning or quality assurance functions. The balance of responsibilities should be clearly defined and understood, and all those involved should be made aware of the outcomes of decisions, in order to foster creativity

Programme design, development and approval are opportunities for higher education institutions to encourage innovation, alongside a culture of continuous improvement of provision. Programmes may reflect developments in the subject area or in educational research and practice. Programmes may embrace new technologies or innovative modes of delivery and study, including those which offer flexibility to students taking the programme. In setting out criteria to be considered in the design and development of programmes and testing the fulfillment of these criteria in programme approval, higher education institutions shall take into account the entitlements of a body of students who reflect the diversity of protected characteristics and prior educational experience, and promote the development of inclusive practice. Promoting equality involves treating everyone with equal dignity and worth, irrespective of the group or groups to which they belong, while also raising aspirations and supporting achievement for people with diverse requirements, entitlements and backgrounds. An inclusive environment for learning anticipates the varied requirements of learners, for example, because of a declared disability, specific cultural background, location, or age, and aims to ensure that all students have equal access to educational opportunities. Higher education institutions, staff and students all have a role in and responsibility for promoting equality.

Equality of opportunity involves enabling access for people who have differing individual requirements as well as eliminating arbitrary and unnecessary barriers to learning. In addition, disabled students and non-disabled students are offered learning opportunities that are equally accessible to them, by means of inclusive design wherever possible and by means of reasonable individual adjustments wherever necessary. Offering an equal opportunity to learn is distinguished from offering an equal chance of success. All higher education institutions have legal obligations which they must meet, for example in relation to equality of opportunity and eliminating unlawful discrimination. Higher education institutions are challenged to widen access and increase capacity to respond to the needs of more diverse student populations so that all learners with the potential to do so

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Outcomes

are able to benefit from higher education and that tomorrow's graduates have the skills and competences needed to make them employable in rapidly changing job markets. A starting point should be broad, flexible and adaptable Bachelor programmes that, for most disciplines provide a suitable entry point to the labour market and to all further learning. Therefore, this Quality Code sets out the following expectations about realization of quality in university education, which higher education institutions in the EAC are required to meet. It is the onus of Higher education institutions that in discharging their responsibilities for setting and maintaining academic standards and assuring and enhancing the quality of learning opportunities, operate effective processes for the design, development and approval of programmes. Particularly, it shall be required that:

a) Higher education institutions maintain strategic oversight of the processes for, and outcomes of, programme design, development and approval, to ensure processes are applied systematically and operated consistently.

b) Higher education institutions make clear the criteria against which programme proposals are assessed in the programme approval process.

c) Higher education institutions define processes, roles and responsibilities for programme design, development and approval and communicate them to those involved.

d) Higher education institutions evaluate their processes for programme design, development and approval and take action to improve them where necessary.

e) Higher education institutions make use of reference points and expertise from outside the programme in programme design and in their processes for programme development and approval.

f) Higher education institutions involve students in programme design and in processes for programme development and approval, and

g) Higher education institutions enable staff and other participants to contribute effectively to programme design, development and approval by putting in place appropriate arrangements for their support and development.

Assessment in Higher Education: Basic Principles

Higher education institutions in the EAC face substantial challenges in a rapidly evolving global context. The challenges of meeting new expectations about academic standards in the next decade and beyond mean that assessment will

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Pillars of Assessment

Mobility of Academic Staff

need to be rethought and renewed. This Policy document provides a stimulus for those involved in the redevelopment of assessment practices. It recognizes three important pillars of assessment designed to make assessment an integral, but also inclusive part of student development, and critical in competence building.

Therefore, assessment shall

1. be a central feature of teaching and the curriculum. It powerfully frames how students learn and what students achieve. It is one of the most significant influences on students’ experience of higher education and all that they gain from it. The reason for an explicit focus on improving assessment practice is the huge impact it has on the quality of learning.

2. be the making of judgements about how students’ work meets appropriate standards. Teachers, markers and examiners have traditionally been charged with that responsibility. However, students themselves need to develop the capacity to make judgements about both their own work and that of others in order to become effective continuing learners and practitioners.

3. play a key role in both fostering learning and the certification of students. However, unless it first satisfies the educational purpose of ensuring students can identify high quality work and can relate this knowledge to their own work, the likelihood that they will reach high standards themselves is much reduced.

Increasing the Productivity of Public and Private Investments and Services in Higher Education

Research and publications are core pillars of the university system. Publication of research findings in reputable journals is one of the ways in which these findings are widely disseminated to stakeholders. Studies show that research and publishing by faculty has sharply dropped over the last few years. Due to heavy teaching responsibilities – brought about by the rising student numbers, plus the need to 'moonlight' so as to make some extra money to supplement pay – faculty are not keen on undertaking meaningful research and publishing their works. However, this does not mean the faculty are spending more time on developing their students rather they are spreading themselves too thin to cope with quality. This calls for clear guidelines on mobility of academic staff between institutions.

Higher Education Institutions in East Africa are critical in defining the future of the

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Research-Based Education

Links between Higher Education and Research

Critical Change and Development Agents

EAC integration process through knowledge creation and by fostering innovation, critical thinking, tolerance and open minds. These are the essentials for preparing citizens for their role in society and the economy and responding to their expectations by providing opportunities for individual development and personal growth. Through research-based education at all levels universities provide the high-level skills and innovative thinking the modern societies need and on which future economic, social and cultural development depends. Universities in the EAC shall strive for the long term, in addition to assuming new tasks and providing solutions to current problems, to provide requisite capacity for the Partner States to face the future. Universities need to keep pressing the case for research-led teaching and learning in EAC’s universities. Graduates at all levels must have been exposed to a research environment and to research-based training in order to meet the needs of the EAC as a knowledge society. The diversity of universities across East Africa provides great potential for fruitful collaboration based upon different interests, missions and strengths. Enhancing EAC collaboration and increasing mobility at the doctoral and post-doctoral levels are essential, for example through the promotion of joint doctoral programmes, as a further means of linking the higher education and research space.

The integral link between higher education and research is central to the EAC higher education and a defining feature of EAC’s higher education system. Partner State Governments need to be aware of this interaction and to promote closer links between the higher education and research as a means of strengthening EAC’s research capacity, and improving the quality and attractiveness of EAC higher education. They should, therefore, fully recognise and promote the doctoral and post-doctoral studies as the third and fourth cycles of university education (Bachelors - Master- Doctoral - Post doctoral) in the EAC education system.

Higher Education Institutions in the EAC shall strive for excellence in teaching, research and innovation, by offering opportunities to diverse groups of learners, and by providing the optimal creative environment for the talented young researchers that the EAC needs. By so doing universities shall increasingly be central to future growth and the consolidation of EAC's as a knowledge society. With its reservoir of highly-trained and flexible citizens able to respond to changing labour markets and with the research skills needed to make EAC more creative and innovative, and thus ultimately more competitive, higher education institutions are well placed to find answers to the global challenges of the 21st

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The Success of the Partner States' Development Visions

Building a Distinctive Research Portfolio

century. Partner States should begin to embrace expenditure on education, research and innovation as “growth friendly expenditure” and invest more in these areas.

Higher education institutions in the EAC shall be central to the success of the each Partner State's development Vision and the East African Industrialization Policy 2032: the EAC cannot afford to run the risk of losing a generation of talented people, or of a serious decrease in research and innovation activity while other economic blocks are investing heavily in higher education institutions and the next generation of young people who will be the innovators of tomorrow. The EAC higher education institutions collectively add value to the EAC society and the EAC economy. The EAC needs to consolidate Partner State budgets in future by prioritising higher education, research and innovation as every shilling spent at EAC level on higher education will add value by bringing people together, pooling knowledge and creating synergies that could not be achieved at national level alone.

Higher education and research hold the key to the future and have the capacity to impact on the unprecedented global challenges that also affect East Africa- climate change, energy consumption, sustainability or combating poverty - affecting all aspects of human endeavour and not contained by geographical borders or specific scientific disciplines. The EAC higher education institutions, working within a global research community, have a crucial role to play in addressing these challenges through their contribution to new knowledge, and to educating talented individuals to be creative and search for innovative solutions. Each higher education institution should be able to develop distinctive research portfolios: a rich variety of unique environments that stimulate interdisciplinary approaches through project development, that are supported by competitive research funding, and strengthened by cooperation mechanisms through regional clustering and networking at the EAC level and by contributing to the creation of a global research community that takes account of the challenges facing all world regions. Ensuring that university staff and students identify with the university and its specific mission as a basis for generating and maintaining a vibrant university environment, built on core university values, promoting the social responsibility of staff, researchers and students, balancing cooperation and competition, and open to the world thus fostering an all encompassing community of purpose.

Higher education institutions need to be able to continue to invest in their future

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Investing in Education and Research

Innovative approaches in academic course provision

academic and research activities. Financial sustainability is conditional on reliable and sufficient public funding. This means redoubling overall efforts to reach the target of 3% investment in research and development and to invest at least 2% of GDP in higher education, as proposed in the past. Such support will not only underpin the development of the EAC Higher Education Area in order to drive the activities of EAC universities, it will also support EAC solidarity and will work against the present increased risk of nationalism and protectionism in EAC, ensuring that East Africa emerges strong, resilient and forward looking from the present challenges of poverty, unemployment an sluggish economic growth.

Higher education institutions need financial sustainability to be able to keep investing in their future academic and research activities, and thus to continue fulfilling their role in society. Financial sustainability is crucial and conditional on reliable, sufficient public funding, and the required autonomy to be able to explore additional funding options. Because public funding provides bulk of the income structure of public universities on average across EAC, complementary funding sources, even combined, do not have the potential to fully replace it. Therefore, public funding should be viewed as more than a basis on which universities may develop additional income streams but rather as a condition for sustainability. It is in this respect that universities stress the link between a systematic quality culture, the scope of autonomy and funding levels, and call on Partner State governments to acknowledge that greater autonomy and adequate funding levels are essential to raising the overall quality of EAC’s universities.

Raising the Standard of Learning by Improving the Quality of Training for Academic Staff, and by Making a Specific Effort to integrate Students/Learners.

The dawn of a global knowledge society with information-driven economies and expansions in international higher education markets is placing new demands on higher education institutions to search for more innovative approaches in academic course provisions; revenue generation; to sustain educational quality; good institutional governance, and human resource management and to address longstanding difficulties caused by rapid enrolments; financial constraints; frequent labour strife and brain drain. In addition, it is becoming clear to the academia that they should open their doors to the employers and governments to participate in university education. Therefore, EAC universities should work closely

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Efficiency and Effectiveness of Academic Staff

Strengthening Links between Higher Education and Research

Transparent Career Structures

with the government and the private sector in identifying skills gaps to the realization of the EAC and individual Partner States development objectives.

According to UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education (1998), low funding from the exchequer, increased enrolment, limited access compared to the population level, increased enrolment without commensurate improvement in available facilities, gender inequality, and a low research capacity, are some of the problems facing universities in the EAC region. These problems have led to fears that quality of education is in a downward trend in most of these universities, with overcrowding, low budgets and staff retention problems continuing to contribute to inefficiency and falling academic standards. Staff recruitment lags behind in majority of universities and impacts negatively on teaching and research. Up to two-thirds of university teachers have had no initial pedagogical training. Most of these institutions are relying on individuals who have not acquired their highest level of academic training as lecturers. To improve their efficiency and effectiveness in delivering their services, staff, and especially the academic staff, shall be trained continually in relevant areas. Universities must have a clear training policy, outlining their strategy for human resource development, instead of the ad hoc procedures currently followed. In-house pedagogical and metacognition programmes are important in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the academic staff in higher education institutions.

In furtherance of productivity the higher education institutions shall strengthen the links between teaching and research from an early stage and build research capacity from the undergraduate level. This shall be realized by breaking down barriers, making sure that teaching and research are connected in the curriculum. This also means thinking differently and starting early to attract young talent, and also encouraging the further integration of lifelong learning into university missions and strategies in the years to come in order to ensure that universities and societies do not miss out on a huge pool of readily available talent.

The universities shall also build attractive and transparent career structures, tracks and opportunities for all staff as well as appropriate and supportive working environments through reconsidering traditional academic and administrative career paths and promoting interest in academic and scientific careers from an early age, promoting family-friendly policies and specific incentives to increase the number of women in academic, research and leadership positions, and, more generally, to identify and support future leaders.

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Doctoral Education and Training

Circulation of Talent

Internationalisation of talent

Student Welfare

Higher education institutions shall place a special focus on doctoral education and training and prioritize the development of career opportunities for early stage researchers, through further strengthening institutional support to structured doctoral education, thus assuming institutional responsibility for training through research, ensuring transparency of recruitment and promotion procedures, granting greater independence for post-doctoral researchers, and improving working conditions, in particular pension provision and other employee benefits adapted to researchers‟ careers.

Developing and promoting the circulation of talent in order to enhance research capacity and bring new knowledge developed through contact with different cultures and ways of thinking requires operation of mobility schemes and inter-institutional collaboration mechanisms designed to contribute to improving excellence and quality. Mobility should include not only researchers, academic staff and students but also administrative staff so as to facilitate their communication with international researchers and include mobility between sectors, institutions and other stakeholders. Structured opportunities should be provided, and efforts made to remove obstacles to the mobility of students, staff, and researchers at all stages in their careers, with a particular focus on improving the portability of financial resource options.

A clear internationalisation strategy, enhancing collaboration, partnership and presence both within the EAC and at global level is of particular importance in attracting and retaining talented individuals, in promoting a more international outlook among students and staff alike, and in promoting active solidarity and cooperation, and for knowledge transfer.

Student welfare is crucially important component of any university system – and which is often ignored in most university decisions and processes. National and institutional decision- makers must place students and their needs at the centre of their concerns, and must consider them as major partners and responsible stakeholders in the renewal of higher education. This must include student involvement in issues that affect their level of education, in evaluation, the renovation of teaching methods and curricula, and in the framework of policy formulation and institutional management. As students have the right to organize and represent themselves, their involvement in these issues must be guaranteed. The process of integration of students in the university academic architecture

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Government Funded Job Training Programmes

Establishment of Regional Education and Economic Development Commission

should start on admission, through assessment, examination and award of qualifications. The three weeks to three months of orientation should be used more to understand the student (his resources, skills, traits) so as to adequately accommodate him/her in the human resource development frame.

Create Regional Competitiveness Authorities to make EAC Competitive

Government-funded job training programs in the EAC Partner States are mostly created to provide relatively unskilled people the skills needed to get a job- any job - as quickly as possible. So it is not surprising that government-funded job training has not, on the whole, been connected to the government’s efforts to stimulate economic development. That being so, the jobs that people who go through this system get are all too often short term and dead end. It is now clear that the most effective strategies for economic development are technology based and regionally focused. It is also clear that the most effective way to provide a real future for people who need jobs is to provide training that is related to the economic future of the region those people live in, for jobs in growth industries.

Therefore, the EAC should develop legislation to encourage the Partner States, through the IUCEA to create Regional Education and Economic Development Commission1 (REEDCO) involving the key leaders from many sectors in those regions in the development of education and economic development strategies that make sense to them. The REEDCO would not only be responsible for coming up with development goals and strategies for the EAC, but also for (i) coordinating the work of the region’s education and training institutions to make sure that each Partner State’s workers develop the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in that labor market, (ii) mainstreaming linkages between higher education and the business and employment sectors, and (iii) promote student and staff exchange programmes designed to reflect global learning.

Inclusive and Responsive Higher Education Institutions

Higher education institutions shall be encouraged to widen opportunities for participation in and successful completion of higher education in order to make

1 REEDCO would be a Commission of the IUCEA responsible for linking education to the business, employment and social sectors. The Commission should be allowed to raise and spend its money to realize its agenda and meet Partner State development needs in education and employability.

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Widening Opportunities for Participation

Improving Researcher Careers

Relevant and Innovative Study Programmes

Research Profiles

lifelong learning a reality. The institutions shall expand the range of those entering higher education, ensuring continuing possibilities for learners throughout their lives and paying close attention to successful attainment.

The HEI, through transparency of recruitment and promotion procedures and granting greater independence for young researchers at postdoctoral stage, shall enhance the overall quality and attractiveness of research careers and optimise the research performance of universities. In addition, the institutions shall be encouraged to recruit within the spirit of the Common Market concept

HEI shall providing relevant and innovative study programmes to reinforce the teaching mission by maintaining curricular reform and renewal by introducing new approaches to teaching, offering flexible learning paths adapted to the needs of diverse learners and ensuring that tomorrow’s graduates, also those entering the labour market at Bachelor level, have the skills and competences needed to make them employable on rapidly changing job markets.

Developing distinctive institutional research profiles should be the priority of any higher education institution. This way the it is possible to stimulate a rich variety of unique environments that promote interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the 21st century global challenges; enhanced through theme focused project development, supported by competitive research funding, and strengthened by cooperation mechanisms through regional clustering and networking at the EAC level.

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IV. EAC HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCING

In Search of a Funding Model

Should Student Enrolment be The Factor?

The Current Practice

The East African Community Partner States have since 2004 sought to find an equitable way to fund public higher education in a manner that is stable and yet prompting institutions to be more productive and efficient, and allow student mobility. For many years, funding to higher education institutions in the EAC Partner States is based primarily on enrollments. This means that the main policy objective incentivized are increased enrollment rather than efficiency in or production of degrees. In an attempt to increase degree completion, the Partner States incorporated a small, but robust performance funding measures to the enrollment based formula one to two decades ago‐ to reward institutions for success in meeting certain state goals for higher education. These goals included higher graduation and student satisfaction levels, and other variables.

The current focus of government and higher education institutions is on enrolment as the basis for university funding and student financing. However, at institutional level questions abound as to how they arrive at the figure to charge as tuition and fees – answer economic status and geography (?). This does not bring out the common set of institutional variables of student, program, research and service. This is often avoided because neither the higher education institutions nor the authorities responsible for management of higher education have the capacity to collect, on a national level, data on these variables. Even if this data was available and used in determining funding estimates, the Partner State governments are yet to fully embrace performance and outcome-based budgeting – they still use incremental methods with predetermined ratios. This approach does not even try to integrate the higher education institutions in the implementation of national and institutional policy; neither does it have a program logic that allows implementation to reflect intention. Finally this arbitrary incremental approach does not seem, as a data-driven process, methodologically valid, reliable, and predictable. This is why some public universities have complained of being shortchanged in the allocation and distribution of funds by the respective Partner State governments.

Sources of funds and terms of financing define the financial autonomy of the

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Sources of Funds

Budget Approval

Synchronization between Goals and Missions

higher education institution. The ability to obtain operating revenue from a wide range of sources is an important measure towards this direction. Current sources of financing for higher education institutions in the EAC include government and development partners (referred to as donors) in form of government allocations, grants, donations and gifts; students in form of fees, income from higher education institution owned enterprises or services; and finally through borrowing and investing. In most cases borrowing must first be approved by the Minister responsible for higher education. In some countries the approval of the cabinet is required. These actions weaken the autonomy of the Institution and also delay progress by curtailing the decision-making powers of the institution.

In some Partner States, the government authorities still hold the powers to approval higher education institutions' budgets for public universities. Private universities have a free hand in this matter, however, they also experience interference from sponsors, when it is least expected. It is also a common practice that approved allocations sometimes take long to be disbursed and this compromises performance and quality at the institution.

Innovative and All-Inclusive Funding Model

HEI funding formulas should reflect and advance Partner State goals and drive the mission of the HEI. Often we find that State goals are varied and complex, the general policy goals of providing access, promoting economic development, and achieving the social benefits of education are a meaningful starting point for examination. Each HEI has its own unique mission to realize. Hence the need to harmonisation State and HEIs missions, through a funding formula. At the moment the funding and financing approaches adopted by the Partner States have only indirect connections to important policy goals of the Partner State other than strategic planning; especially, the pertinent policy objectives of access and mission differential are poorly reflected or even not considered in the approach. It is even less clear that economic development or other benefits of higher education to society at large are intended as desired outcomes of the current funding processes.

There are three basic principles that the EAC Partner States and the HEIs should consider in developing a funding model designed to ensure autonomy, all inclusive, properly funded ad internationalized higher education system.

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The Trinity Principle Funding Function

The Outcomes-Based Funding Model

These principles include: (i) promotion of mission differentiation, (ii) reward success, and (iii) reward progress.

Promote Mission Differentiation Research universities

Course completions Doctoral and professional

degrees External research funding

Comprehensive universities Course completions Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees

Community Colleges Momentum points Workforce training Basic skills Dual credit enrollment

Reward Success with Underserved Populations

Don’t lose sight of access, but don’t settle for enrollment

Avoid cherry-picking students Give extra weight to students from

at-risk populations: Low income – usually Pell or

state-aid eligible Adults Academically at risk Traditionally underrepresented Part-time students

Give extra-weight to Cross-border students

Reward Progress Improvements in degree and certificate production don’t happen

immediately

Reward institutions that help students make step-by-step progress: Credit hour completion: 24, 48, 72 Value upper-level credits at a higher rate

Reward institutions for students achieving “momentum points” Complete remedial courses Succeed in first college-level course Complete 15, 30 credit hours

The implementation of the Trinity Principle Funding Function leads to an outcomes-based financing model, which provides several distinct advantages to higher education financing. It is productivity based and provides more stability by spreading the financial incentives across more variables. Unlike performance funding, the outcomes based formula does not have annual targets or benchmarks. Therefore, it does not punish institutions for failure to achieve a predetermined goal. Furthermore, the links to the national broad Vision (i.e. 2020, 2025, 2030, and 2040) or the Education Master Plans are strengthened by utilizing the formula as a policy tool to encourage increased productivity.

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The outcomes based funding formula rewards institutions for the production‐ of outcomes that further the educational attainment and productivity goals of the state. The outcomes chosen represent broad activities across various types of institutions from research heavy three or four year universities to‐ ‐ community colleges filling workforce development needs. These outcomes measures are grouped into the categories of student progression, degree production, efficiency, and other important institutional functions such as research and community outreach. The outcomes are weighted according to institutional mission, reflecting an institution’s basic classification. Institutions with similar missions have the same weights applied, providing a framework for grouping similar institutions together. Metrics that play a larger role in institutional mission are weighted more heavily in that institution’s formula.

The outcomes based model does not include student enrollment data. Instead, two sets of outcomes are identified that best reflected the purposes of each type of institution, those for three-year or four year universities, and‐ those for two year community colleges:‐

Outcomes for universities include progression (at 24, 48 and 72 hours) for bachelors, postgraduate diplomas, masters’ and doctoral degrees, research and service, student transfer, degrees per 100 fulltime enrolled student and graduation rate;

Outcomes for community colleges include progression (at 12, 24 and 36 hours), dual enrollment, diploma and certificate degrees, job placement, remedial and developmental education, student transfer and workforce training.

Student progression measures the accumulation of credit hours, thereby incorporating course completions.

Draft 1 PPI/2014/ST Outcomes for universities include progression (at 24, 48 and 72 hours) for bachelors,

postgraduate diplomas, masters’ and doctoral degrees, research and service, student transfer, degrees per 100 fulltime enrolled student and graduation rate;

Outcomes DataStudents Accumulating 24 HoursStudents Accumulating 48 Hours


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Outcomes for universities include progression (at 24, 48 and 72 hours) for bachelors, postgraduate diplomas, masters’ and doctoral degrees, research and service, student transfer, degrees per 100 fulltime enrolled student and graduation rate;

Outcomes DataStudents Accumulating 24 HoursStudents Accumulating 48 Hours

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