IIOE Annual Meeting 2021 Africa&West Asia was successfully held

The International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) Annual Partnership Meeting 2021 (Africa and West Asia) was successfully held on 11 January, 2022. The conference was jointly organised by the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (hereinafter referred to as the 'UNESCO-ICHEI'), UNESCO, and the Univeristy of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.

The meeting's theme is 'Digital Transformation Empowering Futures of Higher Education in Africa and West Asia'. The meeting aims to connect IIOE partners, including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), international organisations, enterprises and governments, to create a platform for exchange of best practices and discuss ways to empower higher education development through digital transformation. During the meeting, the "IIOE National Centre" Initiative was officially launched in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Based on consensus of all present IIOE partners, the University of Nairobi (Kenya) assumed the role of IIOE rotating presidency unit for 2022. IIOE partners also shared promising practices of online and blended teaching and learning (OBTL) in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States. 

Conducted in Chinese, English, French and Arabic, the meeting gathered over 120 participants from 30 countries, including representatives of partner HEIs, UNESCO headquarters and regional offices, and international higher education experts. Mr. Firmin Edouard Matoko, Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations Sector of UNESCO delivered opening remarks. He highlighted the crucial role of higher education to untap the potential of the African continent, in particular its youth, to achieve a more prosperous and more sustainable future. 

The keynote presentations outlined the key role of digital transformation in building future higher education. Mr. Jiangang Cheng, Director of Institute of Higher Education Digital Transformation, UNESCO-ICHEI presented research and practices of promoting blended teaching and learning reform in China, from the course and programme level to the institutional level. He also expressed his hopes for international collaboration with universities in Africa and West Asia in this field based on existing research and practices. 

Mr. Bakary Diallo, former Rector of African Virtual University, and Ms. Costanza Farina, Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States - Beirut, discussed the current state of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States respectively, as well as how digital transformation could be a key enabler to tackle present challenges and reinvent futures of higher education. 

The second session 'Partnerships for Higher Education Digital Transformation - Promising Practices from Africa and the Arab States' featured case studies of higher education digital transformation from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States. Panelists from University of South Africa (South Africa), Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) and University of Lomé (Togo) presented promising practices in online and distance education, teachers' digital capacity building and leveraging multilingual online courses for blended learning respectively. 

Speakers from Ain Shams University (Egypt), Cadi Ayyad University (Morocco), and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research (Iraq) shared their respective experiences in Artificial Intelligence in medical education; international collaboration for transformative pedagogies and teacher professional development; quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation for online and blended learning; as well as the "Smart Classroom" project supporting e-learning nationwide.

At the end of this session, winners of the first UNESCO-ICHEI - Seewo 2021 IIOE Online Courses Competition were announced. Teachers from Egypt, Togo, Nigeria, Kenya and Jordan were awarded for the quality and innovative courseware they submitted. The IIOE Arabic Micro Course Competition jointly organised by UNESCO-ICHEI, Huawei and Wisdom Palace Group was also launched. 

Subsequently, the IIOE National Centres were launched in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia. Ms. Xiaohan Bi, Assistant Director and Chief of Africa and West Asia Programme Office, UNESCO-ICHEI, introduced the intiative's objectives and functioning mechanism.

Leaders from hosting HEIs of the IIOE National Centres, including Mr. Mahmoud El-Meteini, President of Ain Shams University (Egypt), Mr. Stephen Gitahi Kiama,Vice Chancellor of University of Nairobi (Kenya), Mr. Kabiru Bala, Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (Nigeria) and Mr. Chera E Deressa, Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor from Mulungushi University (Zambia), expressed hopes that the IIOE National Centres could play pivotal roles in strengthening OBTL and benefiting more HEIs in their respective countries. 

Presided by Mr. Yue Du, Director of the Division for Cooperation, Intersectoral Follow-up and Partnerships for Africa, UNESCO, the IIOE presidency unit rotation was conducted. The outgoing IIOE rotating presidency unit chair for 2021, Mr. Syed Mansoor Sarwar, Vice Chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (UET Lahore), Pakistan summarised IIOE achievements during UET Lahore's presidency and expressed his best wishes for the University of Nairobi as the incoming presidency unit. 

Mr. Stephen Gitahi Kiama, Vice Chancellor of University of Nairobi (Kenya) thanked the previous presidency units Ain Shams University and UET Lahore, and outlined strategic directions of IIOE in 2022. 

Stephen Gitahi Kiama, Vice Chancellor of University of Nairobi (Kenya)

"To all IIOE representatives present today, alone I cannot make it but through your support and constructive criticism we shall achieve more."

Finally, Mr. Ming Li, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI delivered concluding remarks. He expressed his gratitude to UET Lahore (Pakistan) for the leadership as the IIOE rotating presidency unit for 2021, and his hope to work with the new rotating presidency unit, the University of Nairobi to steer IIOE forward in 2022. He emphasised that UNESCO-ICHEI will pilot blended teaching and learning at IIOE National Centres based on higher education digital transformation research, and chart the way forward for quality higher education together with IIOE partners. 

Based on outcomes of the meeting, UNESCO-ICHEI will continue to work with all IIOE partners with the common goal of reinventing higher education for a more sustainable future, through harnessing the potential of digital transformation, with special focus on Africa and gender equality.

Text丨West-Asia and Africa Programme Office 

Picture丨West-Asia and Africa Programme Office

Editing丨MA Jinghua

Proofreading丨BI Xiaohan