Professor Xiulan Wan, Deputy Dean of Institute of International and Comparative Education, Zhejiang Normal University visited IICBA on the 18^th of April, 2017. Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki, Director of IICBA, Mr. Omar Diop, Senior Programme Specialist and Ms. Jingxin Bao, sponsored trainee by Chinese government attended the meeting.

The Institute of International and Comparative Education in Zhejiang Normal University is a top tier institution in China notably in African Education studies. Professor Wan is leading a research program on the harmonization strategies of education development in Africa, which aims at analyzing the situation of the harmonization of education in Africa and issues thereof. This calls for a need of cooperation with UNESCO, particularly with IICBA.

Dr. Yumiko warmly welcomed Professor Wan and responded that IICBA is keen to collaborate with universities in China. Mr. Diop introduced IICBA’s working domains, the recent publication on Teaching Policies and Learning Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa and the on-going research on teacher motivation in Africa. “IICBA is the coordinator of teacher cluster of the African Union Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25), and the only category one institution of UNESCO in Africa with a mandate of teacher development, which makes it crucial when talking about teacher issues.” Mr. Diop said.

As education qualification cannot be achieved without qualified teachers, the harmonization of education is a distant dream without facing the challenges of teacher professionalization and migration in Africa. IICBA and Zhejiang Normal University look forward to extending the South-South cooperation on teacher development in Africa.