Quality Assurance Experts call for competency-based learning in higher education in EAC
The 10th East African Higher Education Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN) Annual Forum was held virtually from 21st to 24th September 2021 under the theme: “Competency Based Learning for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals” .
The East African Quality Assurance forum was conceived to provide a unique and an important opportunity for quality assurance practitioners, top administrators of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), executive members of national commissions/councils for higher education, higher education researchers and policy and decision makers to share ideas on quality assurance issues, systems, practices, challenges and prospects in the East African Higher Education Arena.

The Forum was structured into a series of three events which included the Scientific Conference in Higher Education Quality Assurance, the EAQAN Annual General Assembly, the High-Level Quality Assurance Dialogue Meeting. The following were sub-themes of the conference which were run in parallel sessions: Entrepreneurial, innovative and market driven programs in Higher Education; Sustainability of quality systems and structures for quality education-Experience from Universities in East Africa; and Monitoring of Higher Education institution initiatives for sustainable and inclusive development in Society.


At the end of the forum, it was resolved that:
- IUCEA should develop a quality assurance M&E tool by involving stakeholders
- IUCEA should develop Strategies to ensure regular monitoring of the impacts of the regional quality assurance systems in member institutions, using peer review approach.
- EAQAN to innovate inclusive strategies to ensure that all country chapters have operational QA networks to boost comparable QA standards within the region.
- EAQAN should mobilise resources through writing fundable proposals.
- There is need for continuous capacity building to address the issues of higher attrition rate of QA officers in institutions.
- There is need to adopt competence-based learning approach if the region wants to be competitive globally.