Representatives from the African Union Commission, European Commission, the EU Delegation to the African Union; the EU Ambassador to Kenya and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Kenya and EU Tuning Experts met in Nairobi on the 14-15 March 2011 with key stakeholders for higher education in Africa.

The workshop received a report on the feasibility study funded by the European Commission to evaluate the relevance of the Tuning approach to the Harmonization of Higher Education programmes in Africa.

The study involved site visits to nine countries in each of the five regions designated by the African Union.

The visits provided an opportunity for meetings with key stakeholders and visits to at least two Higher Education Institutions. The visit teams compiled regional reports focusing on key areas relevant to Harmonization and the Tuning Approach.

The project team received guidance and support from the African Union Commission, the Regional Economic Councils, the National Authorities in the countries visited, and the Higher Education Institutions.

A detailed report explaining the Tuning Approach, reviewing the African Harmonization strategy and ways in which Tuning might contribute to this strategy was presented by members of the project team to the validation workshop.

Their conclusion was that not only would the Tuning Approach be feasible but that it would support and complement the African Harmonization Strategy, the objectives of the revised Arusha Declaration, the development of the Pan African University and the implementation of the Nyerere Programme, addressing key areas of skills and competences for employability and transparency of curriculum, the development of a common academic credit currency,  teaching, learning and assessment related to the achievement of learning outcomes, skills and competences, quality assurance and enhancement.

The representatives at the workshop endorsed these findings and in detailed discussion agreed on four subject areas for a pilot project – Engineering, Agriculture Sciences, Heath Sciences and Teacher Education.

The workshop also agreed that the pilot project should reflect on the one hand, a commitment to a Pan African or Continental perspective explicit in the Harmonization Strategy and on the other, the strength and commitment of the five regions.

Consequently it was proposed that each of the five regions should take primary responsibility for one of the subject areas – two branches of Engineering will be chosen in response to the interest expressed by two of the regions. At the same time each region will nominate a University to participate in the subject area groups of the other regions thus ensuring a genuine continental approach and commitment to disseminating the outcomes on a continental as well as a regional basis.

It is hoped that a pilot project could be completed in 15 months and if successful lead to a larger scale project. In any event, the feasibility project has raised wider awareness of the potential of the Tuning approach in realising the objectives of the African Harmonization Strategy and a pilot project would be a first step in implementing the Joint Africa-EU Strategy Action Plan 2011/2013 which referred explicitly to support for initiatives such as the Tuning Educational Structures approach.

The study was coordinated for the European Commission, by Julia Gonzalez of the University of Deusto in Spain and Robert Wagenaar of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, together with partner institutions, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and the Coimbra Group of Universities.