March 10, 2022
e-Platforms to Assist: Ukraine-Returned African Students
T The ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis has led to thousands of international students fleeing Ukraine. Many countries all over the world have stepped up to help students whose studies have been disrupted.
The Conseil présidentiel pour l’Afrique (Presidential Council for Africa, or CPA) in France and the Coopération des Associations Africaines Pour l’Education (Cooperation of African Associations for Education or CAAP Education) have set up e-platforms to register African students who have been studying in Ukraine and whose studies have been disrupted. These e-platforms will help save details of students so that they can get into the same course at French universities.
…as long as the students are coming from and going to institutions that support the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG-QA), transfers shouldn’t be problematic...
Egypt, in an effort to help its returning students, have set up an e-platform where students can register their academic and educational data. This will help them to find alternatives in Egyptian universities. Given the dire situation, many students don’t have their academic papers with them. This makes it difficult to compare their degrees with the Egyptian system. But the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research ensures that all scenarios will be taken into consideration, and the data provided by these e-platforms will be crucial. Similarly, Morocco has also set up an e-platform to store students’ personal and academic data, as told by the Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation.
Dr. Violet Makuku, project officer for harmonisation of the African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation Initiative, at the Ghana-based Association of African Universities, is of the view that, as long as the students are coming from and going to institutions that support the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG-QA), transfers shouldn’t be problematic. However it is also noted that students are likely to face challenges like unavailability of accommodations, institutions and funding.
Another important issue to be kept in mind is the lack of harmonisation of credit systems and qualifications that may pose difficulties for students in continuing their education in their home countries or any other European universities. Peter Kwasi Kodjie, the secretary general of the All Africa Students Union, Ghana said in a statement, “Prior to the Ukraine-Russia crisis, we have been advocating that governments ratify the Global Convention on the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications.” What’s the need for the global convention? As per the global convention, there will be seamless academic mobility that will help the students, teachers, researchers and job-seekers to have access to higher education and other opportunities in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner.
Posted in News and tagged News, Ukraine, International Students, African Students, Africa, Higher Education
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