REGIONAL COOPERATION IN TERTIARY EDUCATIONIN MENA

Nina ArnholdSenior Education Specialist

Education Global Practice

Bologna Policy ForumYerevan

14 May 2015

Structure of the Presentation

1. Talking about MENA…2. The state of higher education in MENA3. An ‘Arab Higher Education Space’?4. Regional cooperation – some examples

a. Quality assurance - ANQAHE

b. World Bank governance and QA program

c. Other examples

Talking about MENA… (I)

Talking about MENA… (II)

The state of higher education in MENA (I)

• Massive expansion like in other regions. Over the last decade:• Increase in enrollment by factor 2.5 • Female enrollment rates (Tunisia 62.3% female students in

2012/13)• Number of HEIs doubled• Percentage of private institutions 35%; sub-regional importance of

branch institutions• Mixed picture employment outcomes • Reform options – view to the US; view to Europe• Quality assurance arrangements – different options • Financing: ‘public systems’ vs. ‘private systems’ – and not much

innovation in terms of mechanisms• University autonomy – still under discussion… (differences between

countries)

Source: Savic, n.d. ; BEPP, MoHESR 2013; El Hassan, 2013 and authors

The state of higher education in MENA (I)Employment outcomes - example Tunisia

Total

Tertiary

Secondary

Primary

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2.2

6.8

3.1

1.5

2.3

9.1

3.1

0.2

Labor Force Employment

Growth Rate 2005-2010 (%)

Tertiary

Secondary

Primary

55-64

35-54

25-34

15-24

Rural

Urban

Total

-5 0 5 10 15 20

18.7

3.6

-4.2

1

1.9

14.8

0.7

4.9

13.5

18.4

Yearly Empl. Deficit 2007-2010 (x1000)

Source: TN Labor Force Survey 2010/11, World Bank staff calculations

An “Arab Higher Education Space”?

• A common language but…• Mobility within the region, inter-regional

migration• Arab regional conferences in 1998, 2009• Interest by institutional actors, e.g. ISESCO• Bologna as a reference system but also other

reference systems• Well functioning teams of ‘Bologna experts’ in

some countries• Systematic, medium term support would be

needed

Regional cooperation: examples (I)Arab Network for Quality Assurance Agencies (ANQAHE)

• Established in June 2007• Independent, nongovernmental and non for profit organization • Includes 10 QAAs as full members and 5 QA Centres as

associated members from 15 countries out of the 22 Arab Countries• Exchange of information and dissemination of good practice• Developed standards for external QA in the region

Source: Nadia Badrawi, Ankara, 06 May 2015; ANQAHE website

Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA

A partnership between the World Bank and the Center for Mediterranean Integration covering:

- Analytical work- “Breaking even or breaking through. Reaching

financial sustainability…”, 2011- “Internationalization of higher education in MENA.

Policy issues associated with skills formation and mobility”, n.d.

- “Benchmarking governance as a tool for promoting change”, 2013

- Benchmarking – 100 universities in 7 (now 8) MENA countries

- Community of practice

University GovernanceScreening Card – Dimensions Outlook

DIMENSION 1: CONTEXT, MISSION and GOALS •Are the missions of the University formally and stably stated?

DIMENSION 2: MANAGEMENT •Are the management mechanisms market-oriented or traditional?

DIMENSION 3: AUTONOMY •What is the degree of academic, staffing, and financial autonomy?

DIMENSION 4: ACCOUNTABILITY •How much is the university held responsible vis à vis its stakeholders?

DIMENSION 5: PARTICIPATION •Do the stakeholders have a voice in decision making?

Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA

2013/14 2014/15ffPre- 2013/14

• Consultations• Knowledge products• Dissemination

Ongoing consultations with relevant stakeholders and

partners

Regional event: Formation of 100-university network, Rabat, Dec. 2012

Consultations with University Network: Development of Action Plans at institutional level

Regional Event on Governance and Quality Assurance, Tunis

June 2014

Creation of a University Governance and Quality Community of Practice

Regional (MENA) Meeting: 2015Inter-regional Meeting: 2016

Tested university governance benchmarking tool, endorsed by

Arab League

Governance Action Plans of individual universities

University Governance Screening Card. Version 2.0

Online Benchmarking Tool

First round of benchmarking exercise - documenting status quo

ENHANCED CAPACITYSecond round of benchmarking exercise with larger number of

countries/institutions

Active 100+ universities network – committed to benchmarking exercise and exchange of good practice

Improved higher education governance in MENA countries (and beyond) – evidenced through benchmarking results

Activi-ties

Outputs

Results

‘Benchmarking Governance”’, other knowledge products

Dissemination of ‘Benchmarking Governance’ Report, Sept. 2013

‘Lessons learned in implementing Action Plans for Governance and

Quality’ Dissemination

Regional cooperation: examples (II) World Bank University Governance & QA Program in MENA

Regional cooperation: examples (III)Supporting transparency

Source: U-Multirank (information provided by U-Multirank team)

• U-Multirank: EC supported, multidimensional ranking

• Participating MENA institutions: total 33• Egypt 5• Iran 15• Jordan 1• Lebanon 2• Morocco 2• Palestine 1• Saudi Arabia 5• Tunisia 1• UAE 1

Regional cooperation: examples (IV)Tuning MEDA (Middle East North Africa)

• “Tuning has developed into a process to (re-)design, develop, implement, evaluate and enhance quality first, second and third cycle degree programmes.”

• Coordinating institution:University of Deusto, ES

• Dec. 2013 – Nov. 2016• Subject areas included in the

project: law, nursing, architecture, tourism

• Earlier Tuning project included medicine in North Africa

Source: http://tuningmeda.org/tuning-meda/

Thank you for your attention!

narnhold@worldbank.org