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What is the MENA Collaborative?

Background: 

The MENA Region, according to the World Bank acknowledges that the Arab world has closed the education gender gap and halved the literacy gap by almost 50 percent. These achievements have contributed to the improvement in the quality of life for citizens of the MENA Region. However, educational quality assurance, accountability, national standards, teacher licensing and student centered teaching/learning remains below or is nonexistent between and among other nations of comparable economic development. The World Bank has further noted that better quality of education will require incentive mechanisms and measures of accountability that will assure the public that all of its citizens are being educated. Central to this type of reform is the establishment, adoption and implementation of quality assurance mechanisms such as national standards, certification/licensing and professional development at both the local and regional level. These things link teacher performance to the performance of the children who are being taught in schools.

In 2007 the Higher Education for Development (HED) , an international education organization that works closely with the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID), funded an initiative to study accreditation issues in the Middle East and in North Africa.  Requests for professional collaboration and assistance aligned with the HEDs goals of institutional capacity and strengthening were delivered as outlined by the American Council on Education and (USAID). At that time three countries were identified for participation in this Initiative: Oman, Bahrain, and Morocco. As the world becomes more global and cross-cultural and international boundaries become more permeable, the need for quality assurance through standards, accreditation and professional development becomes even more central to retain quality education.

At the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education, UNESCO created the Global University Network for Innovation in response to different waves of innovation and reform. And at the December 2005 meeting of the (GUNI) the leadership using the vision of 1998 dedicated the entire meeting to accreditation as a measure of quality assurance.  Subsequently, this work led to the release of the GUNI Report,* Higher Education in the World, and Accreditation for Quality Assurance: What is at Stake: (April, 2007).

According to the 2007, Global University Network for Innovation Report, global demand for higher education had grown exponentially which increased concern world-wide about ensuring the quality of higher education and giving accreditation a more prominent role.  The GUNI report concluded: "There is widespread consensus that one of the most important quality assurance methods in higher education is accreditation. Given that, the guidance to ministries of higher education for improved tertiary education in developing countries must incorporate an understanding and appreciation of accreditation and provide for colleges and universities to work toward meeting accreditation requirements." With this in mind, the need to  collaborate with Institutions in the MENA Region is essential, as evidenced in the work completed by the HED, GUNI, USAID, CQAIE (Center for Quality Assurance in International Education) and the systems of postsecondary education that meet national needs and keep pace with international standards. With the rapidly growing number of Institutions preparing educators in MENA Region, both public and private stakeholders and  decision makers are being pressed to plan simultaneously for improved quality and expanded quantity of higher education.