Forum 2024 roundtable: How transnational education can serve to widen access to quality international education

 

INQAAHE Forum 2024
Transforming Society: Social Reponsibility trough Quality Assurance of Tertiary Education

June 11, 2024

 

 

Roundtable
Sub-theme 2: Bridging the gap to quality education for all

How transnational education can serve to widen access to quality international education

Transnational education (TNE), as the provision of education programmes in other countries, can play a crucial role in widening access to international education, by helping meeting demand from students who might be unable or unwilling to travel internationally. However, TNE still faces important recognition challenges, which ultimately rests on consideration of quality and quality assurance. This round-table session aims to facilitate discussion about the value of TNE as means to meet SDG4, the quality assurance and recognition challenges it faces, and possible shared solutions. 

This session will be highly interactive. It will start by setting out briefly (no more than 10 minutes) the context as outlined in the above description. This context setting will focus on the value of TNE, its recognition challenges due to a diversity of quality assurance approaches and views about what quality TNE should look like, existing international policy documents (such as the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines, the UNESCO Global Convention, and the INQAAHE International Standards and Guidelines), the importance of cross-border dialogue and cooperation, and a recent concrete tool developed by the presenter to inform international benchmarking of TNE.    

Delegates will then be asked to share in small groups their views and experiences. The discussion will be structured around four main areas:  

  • Benefits and value: What do delegates view as the main benefits and value of TNE?

  • Quality and quality assurance: What do delegates view as the main challenges for safeguarding the quality of TNE, and for its quality assurance and recognition? 

  • Good practice and solutions: What is the delegates’ experience with quality assuring TNE, either in-bound or out-bound? Any good practice to recommend? Any suggested solutions to the existing recognition challenges?  

  • Cross-border cooperation: What measures and initiative would delegates suggest to foster cross-border cooperation in the quality assurance of TNE, with a specific view to addressing difference in views and practices, quality assurance gaps, and regulatory burden? 

 

Facilitated by:

Dr. Fabrizio Trifiro

Fabrizio is an international expert in quality assurance and international education, with specific expertise in the quality assurance and recognition of transnational education. He is a member of the Accreditation Committee of the British Accreditation Council, and an Independent Governor of Wrexham University in Wales.

Fabrizio has covered, over the past 15 years, leading roles with the agency managing the UK qualification recognition function (UK ENIC) and the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

He has acted as a reviewer and consultant for a number of international quality assurance bodies and international agencies, including most recently the Office for Students (OfS) in England, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), the Granada National Accreditation Board (GNAB), UNESCO, and the British Council.

 

If you have any question about the event, please do not hesitate to contact INQAAHE and/or the Forum host, ARACIS.

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