The quality assurance project in the field of doctoral schools and research in Africa (QADoc) was launched on Tuesday in Senegal. This initiative, which also targets Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the involvement of ministries of higher education, National quality assurance agencies and two universities per country, aims to “strengthen the capacities of these countries to conduct high-quality academic research, so that African countries are better equipped to conduct their own research programs to address their societal and economic challenges.
According to Professor Lamine Guèye, Executive Secretary of the National Authority for Quality Assurance of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Senegal (Anaq-Sup) who chaired the launching ceremony, “this project aims to pool different expertise and experiences to define quality standards in doctoral schools and research in a common way, and to move on to the evaluation of these doctoral schools and research, with the aim of demonstrating quality, but above all for continuous improvement of quality in doctoral schools and research in Africa.
According to him, “it is an important project which was submitted by a consortium made up of African universities, notably those of Senegal, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and national quality assurance agencies of these three countries, and Obreal which is a consortium working on the quality of higher education in Africa. Given the preponderant role of research in economic development, stakeholders have not skimped on resources. “We know that it is essential to succeed in this project and we were able to contact the various qualified partners in this field in Africa, but also in Europe. We submitted this project to the European Union level and we received funding as part of the Erasmus project, which works on mobility in the higher education sector,” informed Professor Guèye. However, the Executive Secretary of Anaq-Sup recognizes that there are challenges to be met, including the need to have common evaluation tools for the success of this project. But remarkable efforts are being made in this direction. “We are very advanced, because each country already has its tools. It is now a matter of harmonizing them at the sub-regional level, at the African level, but also of working with universities so that all doctoral schools are involved in the project for self-assessment,” he said. he rocks. In the academic’s opinion, it is essential to do a self-assessment before being assessed. “When we evaluate ourselves, we highlight our strengths and weaknesses, and we manage to correct ourselves before the external evaluation comes,” noted the teacher, who finds that this project is within their reach. “It is a significant challenge, but within our reach, especially since the financial means are available, the human resources competent in this area are also available,” he assured. In any case, this project finds its relevance in the eyes of European and African partners. “It’s a way of consolidating the partnership with African universities at the level of research, innovation, but also teaching,” said Elisabeth Colucci, director of international projects for the Noubrail association based in Barcelona. . According to her, “European partners are looking for effective partnerships to carry out research in order to better be able to solve common problems”. Which leads him to say that “this project responds to these needs to provide Europe-Africa partnerships to better carry out quality research relevant to sustainable development”. Along the same lines, Dr Facinet Conté, Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education of Guinea Conakry, will say that it is a structuring project which will make it possible to strengthen doctoral schools, the capacity to organize and manage research in Africa.
By Justin GOMIS – [email protected]
