Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State has emerged the sole institution in Nigeria selected to join 14 others around Africa for the prestigious Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation.
The university’s Head of Public Relations Department, Layi Olajumoke, said in a statement on Friday in Lagos that a team of accreditors from the Association of African Universities had visited the institution’s campus.
The statement said: “They came for the HAQAA continental institutional verification, better known as the African Quality Rating Mechanism Monday, June 19, 2017.
“The duo of Dr Beatrice Kwach (from Kenya) and Nodumo Dhlamini, a Director of ICT Services and Knowledge Management from the Accra, Ghana-based Association of African Universities are in the team.
“They were later joined by Prof. Eric Andrew Gibbs for their verification mission.”
It said that HAQAA initiative, funded by the European Union in partnership with the African Union, had been established to support the development of a harmonised quality assurance in the universities.
It stated: “They are in charge of accreditation system at institutional level, national, regional and Pan-African continental level.
“The initiative is currently being implemented by a consortium consisting of the University of Barcelona (Coordinator), the Association of African Universities.
“Others include: the European University Association, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and the German Academic Exchange Service.”
The statement said the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rotimi Ajayi, while welcoming the delegation noted that the institution always grabbed with both hands the opportunity of being assessed.
It stated: “We are open to making giant strides which usually translate to opportunities to make progress.”
Speaking for the team, Kwach remarked that she was thrilled by being in Nigeria and Yorubaland, which she had read so much in the Basic African History in her high school in Kenya, the statement.
It said: “She said their coming should not be seen as an Inquisition but rather a peer-review of friends with friends and expressed delight at the warm reception accorded to the team.
“The team later went about their mission of assessment and talking to the various stakeholders in the university system.”
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