IAU-HEEFA Newsletter No. 20

HEEFA Newsletter, No. 20, 15 December 2013
Linking the HE Community to EFA and related MDGs
http://www.heefa.net

I. IAU HEEFA Project
HEEFA Portal will go live in March with pages on Facebook and Twitter!
The HEEFA Portal awaits your contributions! Register and
- start posting your projects, CV and working documents in the HEEFA Portal. New contributions are featured immediately on the homepage
- ask for feedback or input on your work directly from the community
- find out what other higher education institutions and experts are doing
- draw on and be inspired by initiatives to start mobilising your institution and community
Need help? Contact Nadja Kymlicka at n.kymlicka@iau-aiu.net

Next HEEFA Workshop, New Delhi, India, 20-21 February
Preparations for the next HEEFA Workshop are well underway. This Workshop is organized in collaboration with the Lady Irwin College at the University of Delhi. From the Reference Group on HEEFA, Dr. Neerja Sharma has been acting as liaison with the college and Valtencir Mendes from Spain is the invited speaker. 100 participants are expected, with representatives from 8 higher education institutions and high-level Ministerial officials. They will share initiatives and develop an action plan to better include higher education in EFA.

HEEFA End-project review and follow-up meeting
As the IAU HEEFA project will draw to a close early 2015, a 3-day seminar is planned to review outcomes and identify the way forward in November 2014. Hosted by Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, the event is being organized to include the meeting of the Partner Advisory Group of the European Union project, ICT4Information Accessibility in Learning (ICT4IAL), to explore HEEFA from the e-accessibility perspective. Organising partners and Reference Group members from previous workshops will be invited.

IAU nominates HE institutions for UNESCO-Hamden Prize
IAU has nominated three HE institutions for the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers: Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi (India); Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia); Women’s University of Africa (Zimbabwe). All three institutions participated in the 2013 Action Week for EFA. Prize winners will be announced in April 2014.
http://www.hamdanunesco.ae/

II. News from the IAU HEEFA Reference Group
Alejandro Chao Barona (Mexico), Director of the Directorate of Community Development, University Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, will give a presentation, titled Diálogo de Saberes. Pueblos Originarios y Universidad (Dialogue of Knowledges: Native Peoples and Higher Education) at the IAU International Conference, Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development, to be held at Iquitos, Peru, in March 2014.
Marianne Grantfelt (Sweden), Secretary-General of the Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF), participated in the First Forum of NGOs. In follow-up, Ms Grantfelt has expressed SUHF’s interest to develop a project to better engage Swedish universities and its African partners in HEEFA.
http://www.suhf.se/inenglish
Olive Mugenda (Kenya), Chair of the RG and Regional Vice-President of IAU, was appointed Chair of 2013-2015 Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) launched a 18-month campaign, The World Beyond 2015: Is higher education ready?, to explore higher education’s contribution to global development challenges within the MDG framework and post-2015 development and education agendas.
https://www.acu.ac.uk/news/view?id=67&x
Limbani Nsapato, President of Africa Network Campaign on Education For All (ANCEFA), is organising a regional Ccivil society organization policy forum for African participants to share experiences in EFA policy monitoring at the country level, as well as develop a common position around the post 2015 education policy agenda. The Forum will take place in Mombasa, Kenya on 16-20 December 2013.
Bijan Pant (Nepal) was asked by the Tribhuvan University to present the outcomes and the recommendations of the HEEFA Workshop (6-7 Dec 2013 Kathmandu) to the Nepalese Ministry of Education and the National Planning Commission which have expressed interested in integrating them into the national education plan.

III. Other News of Interest (September-December 2013)
Post-2015 Agenda
Higher education is included in UNESCO’s vision of Education Post-2015: Adopted by the UNESCO General Conference, the UNESCO Concept Note/Draft Position Paper lays out UNESCO’s position on the post-2015 education agenda. Its overarching goal is to ensure equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030. Objective 2: Equitable access to quality upper secondary as well as tertiary education is ensured. A common position on education in the post-2015 agenda will be adopted at the World Education Forum in the Republic of Korea in Spring 2015 for adoption at the UN Summit in September 2015.
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/ED_new/pdf/UNESCOConceptNotePost2015_ENG.pdf
Post-2015 education recommendations are released: Making Education a Priority in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda provides the outcomes and messages that were contributed during the consultations on education, co-led by UNESCO and UNICEF, as well as background on the global situation for education development. It recognizes the narrow vision of education access, conceding it should encompass post-secondary access; however due to financial challenges, it acknowledges difficulties to achieve this.
http://www.worldwewant2015.org/file/389575/download/423267
Global
First evaluation on UN Global Education First Initiative (GEFI): The EFA Global Monitoring Report has been tasked with undertaking a review following the inaugural year of the UN Secretary’s initiative Global Education First Initiative (GEFI). A draft document of recommendations is now available for consultation to gather further feedback on the achievements and potential of GEFI.
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/excel/dme/GEFI_Recommendations.pdf
Higher education is a vital partner to improve learning: In its call to action, the Learning Metrics Task Force recognizes the need to develop new partnerships with universities to improve learning. The Learning Metrics Task Force was set up by UNESCO and the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in the overarching objective to catalyze a global shift from a focus on access to access plus learning.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/09/learning-metrics-task-force-universal-learning
Africa
25 grants were distributed by ERNWACA (Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa) for projects on education.
http://www.ernwaca.org/web/spip.php?article1214
New partnership between Burkina Faso Ministers of Higher Education and Basic Education: the two Ministries of Education launched a new research project, OPERA, with the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, to improve primary teacher education through reinforced partnerships between schools and teacher education and to co-develop pedagogical tools.
http://www.auf.org/actualites/lancement-officiel-du-programme-de-recherche-opera/
Asia
Enhancing the connection between secondary education and higher education: The Education Research Institutions Network (ERI-net) held its annual meeting, titled Transition to a Better and Higher Learning, to discuss the transition from secondary education to higher education. Case studies revealed that admission policies are moving towards a broadening of selection criteria to include both academic achievements and students’ involvement in extra-curricular activities, such as community engagement.
http://www.unescobkk.org/education/news/article/university-admission-policies-revisited-a-growing-call-for-broadening-the-selection-base-and-enhanc/

IV. Where to Learn More on Higher Education for EFA
India: Reaching the unreached - IGNOU’s interventions in Tihar Central Jail, Kaushalendra Pratap Singh, AAOU Journal 8/2, 2013, pp. 33-43
http://www.aaou.org/images/files/AAOU%20Journal%202013%20%28Vol%202%29%20D2%281%29.pdf
Kenya: Training teachers at the world’s largest refugee camp, University Affairs, 6 November 2013
http://www.universityaffairs.ca/training-teachers-at-the-worlds-largest-refugee-camp.aspx
Malaysia: Development of an assessment tool to measure the prior experiential learning of adult learners: The case of Wawasan Open University, Liew Teik Kooi, Teoh Ai Ping, Phalachandra Bhandigadi, AAOU Journal 8/2, 2013, pp. 1-18
http://library.wou.edu.my/vertical/vf2012-30.pdf
Nigeria: An Assessment of Contributions of Non-degree, Part-time University Programs to the Achievement of Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals, Oyeyemi Ololade Aitokhuehi, Supo Jegede and John Olusola Ojo-Ajibare, Journal of the World Universities Forum, 5/4, 2013, pp. 21-29
http://wuj.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.173/prod.365
USA: Every teacher is a language teacher: Preparing teacher candidates for English language learners through service-learning, Yanan Fan, Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, vol. 6, pp 77–92
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/3232
NORRAG News 49: Education and Development in the Post-2015 Landscapes
http://www.norrag.org/fileadmin/Full%20Versions/NN49.pdf

V. Where to Advance Higher Education for EFA
Calls for Participation
Community engagement: Submissions are now being accepted for workshops, teaching circles and poster presentations for the Community University Victoria Conference (CUVIC) 2014, Beyond Engagement: Creating integration, innovation and impact. Deadline: 31 January
http://www.uvic.ca/cuvic2014/program/abstracts/index.php

Early Childhood: Applications for 2014-2015 Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) Steering Committee are currently being accepted. Deadline: 31 January
http://www.arnec.net/ntuc/slot/u2323/About_Us/Steering_Committee/ARNEC_SC%20Member_2014-2015.doc

Educational quality: European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning (EFQUEL) Forum in cooperation with LINQ are accepting papers for the next event on Changing the Trajectory – Quality for Opening up Education. Deadline: 10 January
http://cdn.efquel.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2013/10/EIF_LINQ_2014_Common_Call_for_Papers.pdf
Educational quality: The 12th International Conference on Developing Real-Life Learning Experiences is seeking research papers and presentations on the theme Changing Education Paradigms in ASEAN. Deadline: 31 January
http://161.246.14.22/DRLEINTER/

Educational quality: The International Academic Forum is accepting papers for its fourth Asian Conference on Language Learning, titled Individual, Community, Society: Connecting, Learning and Growing. Deadline: 1 January
http://www.acll.iafor.org/

Post-2015: Contribute to the online discussion on Quality and Inclusive education for all in Francophone countries: challenges, priorities and prospects for post-2015 (Éducation inclusive et de qualité pour tous en Francophonie : défis, priorités et perspectives pour l’après 2015), organised by CONFEMEN, the Conference of Francophone Education Ministers.
http://www.confemen.org/forum/defis-priorites-et-perspectives-en-education-pour-lu2019apres-2015/

Teacher training: "We" The Teachers: Meeting in an International Classroom for Better Education is the theme of Chicago International Conference on Education. Research papers and presentations are sought in four key areas to delineate the “We”. Deadline: 10 January
http://www.chicagoice.org/
Teacher training: Submit papers or presentations on the theme of Moving Forward in Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Leadership for the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) World Assembly 2014 which will focus on systematic approaches to improving excellence in all aspects of teacher education and development. Deadline: 1 February
http://sites.uoit.ca/icet/call-for-papers/index.php#.Uj9_mD_Hzxo

Awards
Civic engagement: MacJannet Prize recognizes exceptional student civic engagement initiatives within Talloires Network member universities around the world and contributes financially to their ongoing public service efforts. Deadline: 24 January
http://talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu/about-the-macjannet-prize/
Education innovation: WISE Awards recognizes six innovative educational projects for their positive contribution to education and society. Deadline: 15 January
http://www.wise-qatar.org/awards

Selected Events (January – March 2014)
29 January: Global Launch of the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013/2014: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2013/
19-21 February: Towards a Child Sensitive Society in Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe
http://www.wua.ac.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=235
20-21 February: IAU Collaborative Workshop: A three-step activity to envision higher education for EFA locally, New Delhi, India
2-4 March: 2014 Conference on Education and Human Development in Asia, Change, Continuity and Diversity: Perspectives on Sustainability for Asia, Hiroshima, Japan
http://www.presdafoundation.org/human-development-asia-conference/scientificprogram
5-7 March: Annual Education and Development Conference, Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.tomorrowpeople.org/education-and-development-conference-2014
10-15 March: CIES 2014 Conference, Revisioning Education for All, Toronto, Canada
http://www.cies.us/2014/index.shtml
19-21 March: IAU International Conference, Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development, Iquitos, Peru
14-16 April: World Literacy Summit 2014, Literacies: the Power to Change, Oxford, UK
http://worldliteracysummit.org/literacies-the-power-to-change/
17-20 April: The Asian Conference on Language Learning, Individual, Community, Society: Connecting, Learning and Growing, Osaka, Japan
http://www.acll.iafor.org/

The HEEFA Team
Next issue: 15 March 2014