NAIROBI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC)'s member states are set to meet next week in Uganda to discuss harmonization of higher education standards, officials said on Monday.
Alexandre Lyambabaje, executive secretary for Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), told Xinhua in Nairobi that it will be the second time for the regulators of higher education in the regional bloc to have face to face talks to review modalities for regional cooperation.
"We hope that the EAC member states will sign the Regional Accreditation System Framework by June 2020 in order to achieve mutual recognition of higher education throughout the economic bloc," Lyambabaje said.
The EAC partner states include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
Lyambabaje said that a number of steps have to be followed before mutual recognition of higher education is attained.
He noted that once the regulators of higher education in each member state agree on a final document, it will then be forwarded to the EAC council of ministers for endorsement.
"The last procedure will be the ratification of the higher education agreement by each of the partner states," Lyambabaje said.
He observed that all the member states are committed to make the trading bloc, a common higher education area.
The IUCEA official said that mutual recognition of higher education standards will ensure that tertiary certificates granted by one member state are recognized in all other member states.
He noted that reciprocal recognition will also promote the free movement of labor across the EAC by enabling professionals recognized in one partner state to work in other member state.
