Tuning as Instrument of Systematic Higher Education Reform and Quality Enhancement: The African Experience

  • Karola Hahn Pan African University, African Union Commission, Human Resources, Science and Technology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Damtew Teferra University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Keywords: tuning, harmonization, curriculum development, reform, quality, higher education, Africa, regional integration.

Abstract

This article explores the state of higher education in Africa as it relates to the experience and lessons learned in the Tuning African higher education project. It analyses the specific African dimension of the methodology, its contribution to the reform efforts in teaching and learning, and the critical issues vital for quality enhancement and harmonization of higher education in Africa.

Published online: 4 July 2014

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Author Biographies

Karola Hahn, Pan African University, African Union Commission, Human Resources, Science and Technology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Karola Hahn is a GIZ AUC Senior Advisor to the Pan African University, African Union Commission, Human Resources, Science and Technology in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). She is a senior manager and researcher in international higher education specialised on internationalisation, higher education development and reform. Dr Hahn is member of the EU-AU Steering Committee on the Harmonisation and Tuning of Higher Education in Africa and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Journal of African Higher Education. Her regional expertise in higher education management, development, reform and research covers Africa, Middle East, South East Asia and Western Europe. She has conducted research and feasibility studies on higher education development e.g. for DAAD, EU, AU, World Bank, ACA and NEPRU as well as for German State Ministries. Dr. Hahn holds a PhD in Political Science from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany).

Damtew Teferra, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Damtew Teferra is Professor of Higher Education, Director of Higher Education Training and Development at the University of Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa), and Founding Director of the International Network for Higher Education in Africa, Centre for International Higher Education, at Boston College (USA) which has just moved to South Africa (with special arrangement with Boston College). Prof. Teferra is the founding (former) Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Higher Education in Africa and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of African Higher Education. He is an author and lead editor of several books including the award-winning African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook (2003) and the latest one Funding Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He is also member of the Steering Committee of the Harmonization and Tuning of Higher Education in Africa Initiative. Prof. Teferra holds a PhD in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, USA.

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Published
2014-04-07
How to Cite
Hahn, Karola, and Damtew Teferra. 2014. “Tuning As Instrument of Systematic Higher Education Reform and Quality Enhancement: The African Experience”. Tuning Journal for Higher Education 1 (1), 127-63. https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe-1(1)-2013pp127-163.