UNESCO supported the organization of a workshop in Mali to develop evaluation framework for higher education institutions within the framework of the UNESCO-Shenzhen Project: “Strengthening Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa”.
The workshop held on 19-21 June elaborated a provisional evaluation framework to be piloted in the University of Ségou. The piloting of the framework marks an instrumental step to the establishment of a complete institutional evaluation system for higher education institutions in Mali.
Mali is in the process of establishing its national quality assurance agency, the Malian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and Research (AMAQ-Sup) with the support of the UNESCO-Shenzhen project. The Project is financed by the Shenzhen Municipal Government of the People’s Republic of China, and aims to strengthen quality assurance systems in higher education in 10 African countries, including Mali.
Since 2017, Mali has made great strides towards the establishment of a national quality assurance agency. The Council of Ministers adopted the institutional texts for the Agency in November 2017 and the National Assembly reached consensus on the establishment of the AMAQ-Sup in May 2018.
To operationalized quality assurance functions, the General Directorate for Higher Education and Scientific Research (direction générale de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche scientifique (DGESRS) of Mali decided to initiate an institutional evaluation experiment with the University of Ségou, a recent-established multidisciplinary university. The piloting experiment will roll out a complete institutional evaluation system in 2018, including an on-site exploratory evaluation, a self-evaluation by the University, visits of a committee of experts, and the draft of an evaluation report.
During the workshop, experts in quality assurance evaluation and DGESRS officials responsible developed and validated an institutional evaluation reference system, which will serves as the reference for the evaluation of the University of Ségou. “Quotation of Project Focal point, awaiting inputs”. The pilot evaluation is constructive in testing the relevance of the provisional intuitional evaluation framework. Necessary adjustments will be identified during the piloting phase to finalize the framework before it is operationalized on a larger scale in Mali.
The iimplementation of quality assurance activities in West Africa including Mali, Niger, the Gambia, and Senegal is supported by the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Dakar, with involvement of UNESCO Bamako Office for Mali, in coordination with UNESCO Headquarters (UNESCO HQs).
- More about the UNESCO-Shenzhen Project.