UNESCO/OECD guidelines on “Quality provision in cross-border higher education”.
	In the context of increasing and new forms of cross-border provision of higher education, there is a need for new international initiatives to enhance quality provision in cross-border higher education at a global level by further strengthening quality assurance, accreditation and recognition of qualifications schemes at both national and international levels. UNESCO and OECD have been asked by their respective constituencies to work on the development of non-binding guidelines on “Quality provision in cross-border higher education”. Such guidelines would not supersede individual countries’ authority to regulate the quality assurance and accreditation of their own higher education system. The endeavour will involve the collaboration of both sending and receiving countries of education services and will have global reach. UNESCO and OECD have been asked by their respective constituencies to work on the development of such guidelines according to the resolution of the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO, October 2003, and to the decisions taken at the OECD/CERI Governing Board meeting, October 2003. There are four main policy objectives for the guidelines: · ‘Students/learners protection’ from the risks of misinformation, low-quality provision and qualifications of limited validity. · Qualifications should be readable and transparent in order to increase their international validity and portability. Reliable and user-friendly information sources should facilitate this. · Recognition procedures should be transparent, coherent, fair and reliable and impose as little burden as possible to mobile professionals. · National quality assurance and accreditation agencies need to intensify their international cooperation in order to increase mutual understanding. Final Version of the Guidelines -Final Version of the 'Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education' -Version finale des 'Lignes directrices pour un enseignement supérieur transfrontalier de qualité' Public Consultation on the draft text of the Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education UNESCO together with the OECD has been working on developing the Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education. Three drafting meetings of the Guidelines took place. The first drafting meeting was held on 5-6 April 2004 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. The second drafting meeting took place on 14-15 October 2005 at Tokyo University, Tokyo. The third and final drafting meeting took place on 17-18 January 2005 at the OECD Headquarters, Paris. All UNESCO and OECD Member countries as well as stakeholders including higher education institutions, student associations, quality assurance and accreditation agencies, recognition agencies, academic staff associations, professional bodies, private sector and other international organisations were invited to take part in the process. Draft Texts of 15 February 2005: -Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education -Lignes directrices pour un enseignement supérieur transfrontalier de qualité -Results of the public consultation 15 February to 15 March 2005 Following this process, public comments to make the final text more relevant to the needs and concerns of all stakeholders of higher education were invited. Furthermore, participants of the working meeting as well as UNESCO and the OECD member countries were also asked to comment. This consultation took place between 16 February-15 March 2005. The text was revised taking into account comments received. This revised draft was discussed among the OECD member countries at the CERI Governing Board and the Education Committee the beginning of April 2005. This document is also being submitted for decision on next steps to the 171st session of the UNESCO Executive Board. Draft Texts of 17 March 2005: -Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education -Lignes directrices pour un enseignement superieur transfrontalier de qualité

 

Third drafting meeting: 17-18 January 2005, OECD, Paris, France Documents for the third drafting meeting held at OECD Headquarter, Paris on 17-18 January 2005 The third and last drafting meeting of the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education took place in Paris at the OECD Headquarters on 17-18 January 2005. This was the last drafting meeting, where a draft of the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on “quality provision in cross-border higher education” as well as a proposal for a pilot on an international information tool on recognised higher education institutions was discussed. Furthermore, the implementation process of the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines was discussed. Following the second drafting meeting, the Draft (1) UNESCO/OECD guidelines have been revised. The revised draft (Draft (2) UNESCO/OECD Guidelines) of the guidelines was been sent out for consultation. This draft, attached was revised after this consultation process and the revised version (Draft (3) UNESCO/OECD Guidelines) was discussed at the meeting. Please see the conclusions, attached below from the Second drafting meeting for further information on the process. Second drafting meeting: 14-15 October 2004 in Tokyo, Japan Documents for the second drafting meeting held at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan on 14-15 October 2004 Following the first drafting meeting of the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education, the second drafting meeting will take place in Tokyo, Japan on 14-15 October 2004. This meeting is organised in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. At this meeting, a draft of the UNESCO/OECD guidelines was discussed, as well as a proposal on an international database/portal on recognised higher education institutions. Invitation letters were sent to OECD and UNESCO Member States and stakeholders including higher education institutions, student associations, quality assurance and accreditation agencies, recognition agencies, teachers’ associations, professional bodies, private sector as well as other international organisations. Participation in this meeting was upon invitation only. First drafting meeting: 5-6 April 2004 at UNESCO, Paris, France Documents for the first drafting meeting held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris on 5-6 April 2004 The first drafting meeting of the guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education took place on 5-6 April 2004. All UNESCO and OECD Member States were been invited to nominate a representative. Furthermore, stakeholders including higher education institutions and student associations, quality assurance and accreditation agencies, teachers’ associations, professional bodies, private sector as well as other international organisations were invited to take part in the drafting as observers. Participation in this meeting was upon invitation only. Relevant Document Enhancing Consumer Protection in Cross-border Higher Education: Key Issues Related to Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Recognition of Qualifications

Websites

OECD site for the UNESCO/OECD initiative OECD site for the UNESCO/OECD guidelines on "Quality provision in cross-border higher education" - More info   >> Visit the website