MBABANE – The Eswatini Higher Education Council (ESHEC) hosted a delegation from the University of Edenberg, Lusaka, Zambia on Wednesday for talks aimed at enhancing the quality and relevance of higher education across Africa.
Held at the ESHEC offices in Mbabane, the meeting brought together senior officials including Dr Loretta Mkhonta, Dr Ncamsile D Motsa, and Dr Monica Nkwanyana from ESHEC, along with the University of Edenberg’s Marketing Director, Dr Cleopas Moono.
As Eswatini’s statutory body for regulating higher education, ESHEC used the engagement to share details of its quality assurance system, which governs the accreditation of institutions and programmes, as well as monitoring, audits, and capacity-building initiatives. These systems are built on five main pillars: institutional accreditation, programme accreditation, monitoring and evaluation, quality audits, and institutional support.
According to ESHEC, Eswatini’s National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) is benchmarked against regional and continental standards including the Southern African Development Community Qualifications Framework (SADCQF), the African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM), and the Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework (PAQAF). The council also participates in international dialogue with other education regulators, aligning local standards with global best practices such as those promoted by UNESCO.
The two institutions identified several possible areas of collaboration, including joint training programmes for quality assurance officers and academic staff, credit transfer and mutual recognition of qualifications, collaborative research, and participation in African quality assurance networks like the Southern African Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN).
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