INQAAHE Forum 2024
Transforming Society: Social Reponsibility trough Quality Assurance of Tertiary Education
June 10, 2024
Workshop 5
Quality Assurance as a Catalyst for Refugee and Displaced Student Integration in Tertiary Education
This pre-Forum workshop focuses on using quality assurance to help integrate refugee and displaced students into tertiary and vocational education systems. This session will explore practical strategies and approaches to use quality assurance effectively to create more welcoming educational environments. Participants will discuss how quality assurance can identify and meet the unique needs of refugee and displaced students, helping to make higher education more equitable and responsive to societal responsibilities.
We will collaboratively explore in particular:
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Effective methods for developing social inclusion in quality assurance,
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Developing inclusion policies through quality assurance,
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Quality assurance in registration and enrollment for target populations,
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Access to internships and traineeships,
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Support services and integration,
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Educator preparedness and university admin/staff training for awareness.
Participants will walk away with practical takeaways to implement positive change at your institution and contribute to a more equitable and inclusive higher education system.
Workshop Format
The workshop will start with a 25-minute presentation to set the context. Afterwards, participants will collaborate, share experiences, and engage in discussions centered around the key themes mentioned above. 2 testimonials from Armenia and DR Congo will provide real-experience insights. The participants will be divided into two round-table groups to ensure in-depth exchanges. A common session will be then moderated to highlight the lessons learned from the two groups and identify key areas for improvement in quality assurance and the quality of tertiary education for refugee students.
Facilitated by:
Amir Radfar
Amir Radfar serves as a TVET Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where he is dedicated to broadening access to quality higher vocational education for refugees. With over 20 years of experience in the field of vocational training, he specializes in integrating refugees and displaced persons into TVET systems, ensuring they receive the education and skills necessary for employment. Prior to his role at UNHCR, Radfar worked with TÜV Rheinland in Southeast Asia on TVET quality assurance and conducted TVET market analyses for iMOVE(German international Marketing of Vocational Education). His career is also marked by significant contributions as an adviser, monitoring and evaluation consultant and project coordinator for well-known international agencies including UNESCO, UNEVOC, UNEP, UNOHCHR, UNESCAP, and GIZ, underscoring his broad expertise in educational development and refugee inclusion globally.
Fabrice Hénard
Mr. Fabrice HENARD is the CEO of INQAAHE. He is a global expert in tertiary education and quality assurance as an evaluator, trainer, facilitator or policy advisor. He brings to INQAAHE the experience he gained working for The French Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education and the OECD Tertiary Education Program. As an expert, he has carried out more than 100 assignments for Unesco, World Bank, OECD, European Union, tertiary education institutions, ministries, university networks in some 45 countries and has chaired several expert panels in Europe and the Mena region. Since 2013, he is the Secretary General of the Accreditation Committee of Luxembourg, education expert for the European Commission and he was a member of the Albanian Accreditation Committee 2017-2022. He leads the modules on Education Policy in the South at Sciences Po Paris, Master in International Development.
Bernice Kula-Kula
Master student, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.
Nina Shahverdyan
Master student, Columbia University, USA.
If you have any question about the event, please do not hesitate to contact INQAAHE and/or the Forum host, ARACIS.
