Quality Assurance in Education

Accreditation and quality assurance in the Egyptian higher education system

Rahel Schomaker
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Rahel Schomaker , (2015),"Accreditation and quality assurance in the Egyptian higher education
system", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 23 Iss 2 pp. 149 - 165
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Accreditation and quality Egyptian

higher
assurance in the Egyptian higher education
system
education system
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Rahel Schomaker 149

Cologne Business School, Cologne,
Received 4 August 2013
Germany and German Research Institute for Public Administration, Revised 19 October 2013
Speyer, Germany 3 June 2014
Accepted 16 October 2014

Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to analyze the quality of the Egyptian accreditation system. With a view
on the high competition in the domestic labor market as well as with regards to the international
competitiveness of Egyptian graduates and the potential role of Egyptian universities in the
international market for higher education, a high quality of study programmes and the provision of
skills which meet the employers’ needs is a pressing issue for policymakers in Egypt, in particular in the
light of the recent and ongoing transformation process.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on a triangulation of document analysis and semi-
structured interviews, the authors analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the system of accreditation
as well as current measures to improve quality in higher education and provide policy implications for
further action undertaken by Egyptian policymakers to improve the accreditation system.
Findings – First, the authors provide a sound overview of the newly established accreditation system
in Egypt and analyze the role of the National Authority of Educational Quality Assurance and
Accreditation within this process. Second, the paper addresses the structural shortcomings as well as
implementation problems of the current accreditation system which limit the capacity of the national
accreditation agency to provide accreditation for all institutions of higher education in Egypt and to
ensure the overall quality of higher education. The role of peer reviewers is of pivotal importance in this
context. A specific problem which has not been analyzed so far is the role of religious institutions, the
so-called Al-Azhar institutions, in the accreditation process, and the consequences this will have for
further developments in accreditation.
Practical implications – The paper concludes with providing policy implications at the backdrop of
the ongoing political transformation process in Egypt.
Originality/value – The paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of the strengths and
weaknesses of the Egyptian accreditation system and contributes to the understanding of the pivotal
role of peer reviewers in this process. Also, for the first time, the challenges regarding accreditation of
Al-Azhar institutions are targeted.
Keywords Egypt, Quality assurance, Higher education, Employability, Accreditation
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
The (higher) education sector in the Middle East as well as in Egypt suffers from several
shortcomings, perhaps because of the lack of financial resources, high demographic Quality Assurance in Education
pressure on the system or governance issues due to corruption within the education Vol. 23 No. 2, 2015
pp. 149-165
system. These factors inter alia lead to quality problems, which affect the outcome © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
quality of higher education severely. With a view on the high competition in the DOI 10.1108/QAE-08-2013-0034
 QAE domestic labor market as well as with regard to the international competitiveness of
23,2 Egyptian graduates and the potential for Egyptian universities in the international
market for higher education, a high quality of study programs and the provision of skills
which meet the employers’ needs is a pressing issue for policymakers in Egypt. This is
in particular relevant in the light of the recent and ongoing transformation process,
which demonstrates the negative impact of a mismatch on the labor market and the
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150 associated problems on social stability and life satisfaction of (young) people.
Based on a triangulation of document analysis and semi-structured interviews, we
provide a sound overview of status quo of the system of quality assurance in Egypt, the
newly established accreditation system in Egypt, and analyze the role of the National
Authority of Educational Quality Assurance and Accreditation (NAQAAE) within this
process. In addition, we address the structural shortcomings as well as implementation
problems of the current accreditation system which limit the capacity of the national
accreditation agency to provide accreditation for all institutions of higher education in
Egypt and to ensure the overall quality of higher education. We also target the specific
problem associated with the so-called Al-Azhar institutions in the accreditation process
and discuss the consequences for further developments in accreditation. The paper
concludes with providing policy implications at the backdrop of the ongoing political
transformation process in Egypt.

2. Methodology
The paper provides a comprehensive overview over and an examination of the Egyptian
system of quality assurance and accreditation with the aim of identifying persisting
problems and providing policy recommendations. This kind of “systems analysis” is
coined by gathering information about the status quo as well as by the identification of
its strengths and weaknesses and by analyzing these factors to provide a conceptual
framework for an adjusted system or major changes of the current system if needed
(Al-Shahat Abdel Karim, 2010). To consider options for future quality assurance in light
of the Egyptian context and to provide policy recommendations seem to be reasonable in
particular with a view on the high unemployment rates, which at least amplify the
current social and political struggles in Egypt’s transition process after the dismissal of
the former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Because of the nature of the topic, as well as the lack of quantitative data, the
principal source for the analysis is document analysis, combined with semi-structured
interviews which have been carried out with members of the accreditation body and
officials in the higher education sector. Using this triangulation of methods, we are able
to map out the complex formal and informal challenges in the accreditation system more
complete and from different theoretical and practical viewpoints (Cohen et al., 2007). As
for the document analysis, inter alia government policy documents, handbooks,
guidelines and reports have been analyzed, recognizing that not all materials may be
made publicly available and that in particular practical constraints or unofficial
procedures may not be covered by them. Here, the ten semi-structured interviews
conducted have been used to collect the missing information to make the picture more
complete. Within the interviews, beyond some established topics/questions on the
accreditation system and procedures, additional questions on monetary incentives,
corruption and open questions were also asked, allowing to explore additional topics
and issues not covered by the initial questions as well as the official documents.
 3. Analysis of the system of quality assurance and accreditation in the Egyptian
Egyptian system of higher education higher
3.1 Accreditation and quality assurance in a nutshell
Over the past decade, and triggered through the globalization of labor markets or
education
integration processes as the integration of European education systems in the so-called system
Bologna Process, issues of quality control and assurance have become a major focus of
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attention for most governments worldwide, as the “traditional academic controls are 151
inadequate to today’s challenges, and more explicit assurance about quality is needed”
(Ramadan et al., 2011). Regardless of the potential merits of quality assurance systems
to ensure the graduates’ skills, each conceivable quality assurance system faces the
momentous challenge of how to measure quality as objectively as possible. Essentially,
three alternative approaches exist: input-orientation, output-orientation and outcome-
orientation. Two of these (presumed) indicators of educational quality are very easy to
identify and to measure – input-orientation (e.g. the financial, technical and personal
resources, library resources and access, staff-student-relations, etc.) and
output-orientation (e.g. students’ average grades, dropout rates, pass rates, etc.). The
third one is more complex to measure: educational (i.e. learning) outcomes, which are the
only sensible indicator of quality from an economic perspective, are extremely difficult
to define, measure and quantify. However, there are only the students’ competences –
which, in turn, exert a strong influence over their prospects to land a job compliant with
the level of their academic training, their “employability” – which can signal outcome
quality. Regular and comprehensive tracer studies among alumni as well as the intense
involvement of (potential) domestic and international employers and all other
stakeholders in curriculum design are the most promising (although methodologically
demanding and administratively cumbersome to implement) approaches to gather this
crucial information.
Perhaps, the most important pillar in quality assurance in higher education is the
accreditation of education institutions through specialized accreditation agencies. Most
national quality assurance systems comprise accreditation of complete institutions,
departments or faculties, as well as the accreditation of specific study programs as one
important factor to ensure the overall quality of graduates. Here, quality as a “fitness for
purpose” is linked to the objectives, as defined by the accreditation body. These systems
rely on the “four-stage model” (Ramadan et al., 2011) of external evaluation, which
comprises a coordinating agency, a self-evaluation (e.g. by report), an on-site peer visit
and a general report (Ramadan et al., 2011). From a theoretical viewpoint, the merits of
accreditation can be seen in the peer-control as well as in the standardization and
fixation of the targeted outcome-quality or at least a minimum degree of quality
(Stensaker and Harvey, 2006). The question whether accreditation is always able to
secure quality left aside, there is sufficient empirical evidence that accreditation is able
to contribute to the operational and strategic quality of the institution itself, as well as to
the quality of study programs and the outcome quality (or employability) of graduates.
In a study carried out in the USA, more than 95 per cent of the leading higher education
staff from public and private institutions (college/university presidents, vice presidents,
chancellors, other senior administrators) agree that accreditation “fulfilled the function
of promoting quality at their institution” (NEASC, 2006). Accreditation – the procedure
itself, the previous self-assessment and the reviewers’ comments – are classified as
being useful for faculty and staff in realizing. One hundred per cent of the people asked
 QAE in the sample confirmed that accreditation helps to enhance quality of education at the
23,2 institution, and more than 80 per cent are more focused on the assessment of student
learning (NEASC, 2006) after an accreditation.
Accreditation and re-accreditation, therefore, can be characterized as a pivotal pillar
in national quality assurance strategies and has also, at least on paper, found entrance in
the Egyptian higher education system.
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152
3.2 A view on the “demand side” – Egypt’s need for quality assurance and
accreditation
The quality of education is of pivotal importance to ensure efficient labor markets, but
beyond this dimension, other factors are also of importance, in particular in Egypt: labor
markets here suffer from a high labor supply, but a lack of jobs. Although the number of
graduates entering the labor market has increased significantly over the past two
decades, the chance to obtain a job which is suitable to the single individual’s
qualification (a “career job”, fitting expectations concerning income, no limited or
part-time employment) has not increased, instead has even decreased during this period
(El Zanaty and Associates, 2007; Osman, 2011). Despite economic growth in the past
decades, the labor market in Egypt is stagnant with unemployment rates for 20-24 year
olds at about 25 per cent, with female unemployment rates being considerably higher
than the male. This problem even worsened because of the revolution of 2011 and again
in the current struggles following the dismissal of President Mohammed Mursi by a
coalition of the military and the political opposition in July 2013. Additionally, public
guarantee schemes provided public employment to all graduates and increased the
number of people in the public sector significantly, creating low-productivity, low-wage
jobs, as well as “causing brain drain from the private to the public sectors” (Van Eekelen
et al., 1999). It is most likely that among other fields of policy, the (higher) education
system will be on trial, especially after the January revolution of 2011 and the current
transition process. This is in particular relevant as the uprisings were induce not least
by the youth, striving for participation and better overall perspectives. To sum up,
education-related problems in Egypt’s labor market are in particular related to these
phenomena (ILO, 2010; OECD, 2010):
• Especially in the relevant, formal sector, only a very limited number of
employment opportunities have been created over the past decade, as informal
employment still is estimated at about 60 per cent of the overall employment.
• Higher education graduates experienced an increase in unemployment within the
past 15 years. There is a “chronic over-supply of university graduates, especially
in the humanities and social sciences” (OECD, 2010), and the still increasing
supply of labor does not meet market requirements because of the poor quality of
educational inputs.
• The problems caused by the existing mismatch between labor supply and
demand in the past could not be solved by national labor market policies.

Only some dimensions of the problem are related to the absorbing capacity of the
domestic labor market (and therewith to the quantity of labor supply), whereas others
are related to the focus of our study, education quality itself. The latter point is of higher
importance, as the quality of education is not only relevant for the graduates’ entry in the
domestic labor market but also – in a global knowledge-based economy – for the
 competiveness of the employees in the international labor market as well as for the Egyptian
Egyptian economy as a whole (Holmes, 2008). As the OECD (2010) summarized: “the higher
Egyptian higher system is not serving the country’s current needs well, and without education
far-reaching reforms it will hold back Egypt’s economic and social progress”.
As a consequence, a large part of the overall workforce lacks the skills and expertise
system
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that the market demands. This is true especially for the private sector, where employers
face difficulties to recruit qualified labor force. The overall low quality of education and 153
in particular missing employability skills can be identified as the root causes of that
problem: Training systems as well as higher education institutions fail to produce the
demanded skills. Several factors have been identified as being pivotal in this context. As
for the training systems, underequipped (and underfinanced) and out-of-date training
centers as well as underqualified and under-remunerated staff and the missing quality
of the curricula themselves can be seen as the most pressing problems (Van Eekelen
et al., 1999).
As for tertiary education at higher education institutions (public and private
universities and colleges), several challenges can be identified, with the general finding
that the Egyptian education system provides “quantity solutions” rather than “quality
solutions”. Overcrowding of students in higher education is the consequence. Current
data indicate that the number of students entering higher education institutions still
grows at about 6 per cent (60,000 students) per year. Furthermore, the expected increase
in the higher education students’ enrolment goes up to more than 35 per cent, with the
percentage of the youth population entering the working age is estimated to rise up to 67
per cent in 2020 (Osman, 2011).
In terms of quality, higher education in Egypt is characterized by a lack of adequate
and qualified teaching staff, affected by under-motivation and underpay, which often
leads to corruption. As for the curriculum itself, “irrelevancies, a lack of practical skills
formation, an over-concentration on memorizing content, passive pedagogies, and a lack
of learning materials, library books, facilities and equipment” (OECD, 2010) can be
detected. As a consequence, there is a significant mismatch between the labor demand in
the market and the skills provided by graduates and young academics. Employers claim
to seek graduates who have not only “hard skills” in the sense of technical or formal
knowledge but also possess “soft skills” (OECD, 2010). Graduates should excel in at least
one foreign language, must have computer and information technology skills, as well as
other communication and team work skills. According to Coplin (2003), employers want
to hire graduates with personal potential who perform well in daily business and take
initiatives, no matter which grade or specialization they acquired. Employability skills,
more detailed, can be classified in “core employability skills”, which cover generic
attitudinal and effective skills, and “communication skills” (e.g. English language skills,
written and verbal communication; Osman, 2011). In a wider sense, the definition
of “employability” comprises writing and oral communication skills, skills in
mathematics, research, decision-making, critical thinking, evaluation, computer work,
teamwork and lifelong learning skills. These qualifications have to be obtained within
the course of study, the curriculum itself, not after graduation. The higher education
system has to equip students with these named skills to enhance their career flexibility.
As for Egypt, employability skills are in average not sustainably offered by the
system of higher education. As recent studies, for example, by the American University
 QAE in Cairo (2012) or El Zanaty and Associates, were able to show that higher education
23,2 does not facilitate the education-to-work transition (Table I).
According to the data, university or higher education in general does not raise the
“possibility of being employed” (El Zanaty and Associates, 2007). Estimates state that
up to 83 per cent of higher education graduates are unemployed, waiting up to five years
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for a first job in the formal sector. As employment-oriented training is missing in many
154 cases and on all educational levels (with only technical being the partial exception), the
lacking transfer of employability skills can be taken at least as a partial explanation
(El Zanaty and Associates, 2007) (Table II).
The need for curricula to be updated or at least adjusted to the market’s needs – in
short: quality assurance – is even more significant than the absence of these skills in the
curriculum. This results in a weak performance and/or a lack of chances for the single
individual, as the competition in the job market is very high, and “opportunities appear
much less promising than those of the previous generations” (Osman, 2011), as well as
results in drawbacks for the overall economic growth. Additionally, as Egypt takes part
in the Bologna Policy Forum (since 2008) of the European Union (EU), and higher
education is planned to be harmonized with EU standards, there is at least some external
pressure to reform the higher education sector with a view on quality assurance.

Education status Male (%) Female (%) Total (%)

Illiteracy 2.9 0.6 1.7

Read and write 1.8 0.6 1.2
Below intermediate 4.8 1.2 3.0
Intermediate 2.6 1.8 2.2
Technical intermediate 49.7 55.8 52.8
Table I. Above intermediate 6.9 7.8 7.3
Distribution of University and above 31.3 32.2 31.7
unemployed (15-64) Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
by education and
gender (2008) Source: Author’s compilation, based on American University in Cairo (2012)

Training status (%)

No training 92.8
Training 7.2
new technology 3.0
foreign language 0.5
managing small projects 0.3
technical training 2.2
marketing 0.5
Table II. agriculture production 0.4
Employed youth by other 0.3
employment-oriented
training Source: Own illustration, based on El Zanaty and Associates (2007)
 3.3 The system of (higher) education in Egypt – status quo Egyptian
With a view on the relevance of education for the job market, the question arises as to higher
how far Egypt is able to meet the needs of the labor markets. Egypt’s education system
is the largest in the Middle East, traditionally providing free education on all levels.
education
More and more, this system of free education not only disintegrates but also puts more system
pressure on public finances (Ramadan et al., 2011). So the prioritization of education
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during the past decade is also reflected in the government expenditure in education: in 155
2002/2003, the total public spending on education was about 6 per cent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and 19 per cent of total public spending, since then, the
government expenditure on education has shown a significant rise, with largest share of
the total education budget being dedicated to universities (whereas other levels of
education which account for almost 80 per cent of total enrolment received only 36 per
cent of the budget; UNESCO, 2008). In several years, Egypt spent more of his GDP on
education than the USA, but anyhow, less than USD1,000 were spent on each student
(Matthews, 2012).
Overall, the Egyptian education system, on all levels from primary to higher
education, is coined by centralization and does not provide the single educational
institutions’ control of the specific program development and the curriculum of study
programs, nor the budget, or the deployment of administrative staff, faculty members or
other staff (Osman, 2011). Decision-making is centralized, with most impulses and
regulation coming directly from the ministries at the national level, or the board of
trustees of the single university. As a consequence, and beyond the institutions on
governorate level which execute many decisions, the national level is governing
education in Egypt.
The Ministry of Education supervises the education sector, with the exception of
higher education, and is responsible for all issues in education policy and its
operationalization, such as planning, program implementation and supervision. The
Ministry of Higher Education supervises the higher education system as a whole and
coordinates post-secondary education policy. Both of them are only responsible for
secular institutions, whereas the Supreme Council of Al-Azhar Institutions supervises
religious schools and universities with a focus on Islamic studies and religious
education.
Supreme Councils for universities, private universities and technical colleges are
responsible for coordination and act as regulatory bodies for the respective types of
educational institutions. In addition, several specific institutions exist which are
responsible for the development of instruction materials and the development of
curricula (Curriculum Centre for Instructional Materials Development and the National
Centre for Educational Research and Development) as well as the education of teachers
(Professional Academy for Teachers) or inspection and evaluation (e.g. Central
Administration for Inspection and the National Centre for Examinations and
Educational Evaluation).
As for quality assurance via external review and accreditation, NAQAAE,
established in 2007, is responsible for all levels and types of education to assure
educational quality and effectiveness (UNESCO, 2011). The aim is to ensure a higher
degree of autonomy for the institutions, to standardize learning outcomes and to ensure
employability. Nonetheless, up till now, this has not demonstrated to have an effective
impact in reality.
 QAE Overall, the number of students in Egypt – male and female – increased substantially
23,2 within the past decade, up to four million in 2011, with the male gross enrolment ratio
still being more than twofold higher than the female one. Also, the overall number of
graduates increased significantly during this time (Table III).
The sheer number of universities increased from four main public universities in
1950 to 18 governorate (public) universities with 325 faculties, Al-Azhar universities
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156 with 64 faculties and 18 private universities with 72 faculties, as well as about 100
additional higher education institutions (e.g. technical colleges) in 2011 (NAQAAE,
2010). In addition, five foreign private universities exist (American University in Cairo,
Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, Université
Francaise d’Egypte, German University in Cairo and the British University in Egypt).
However, the quality of education does not seem to keep pace with that development, as
outlined above, measured in outcome quality as well as other internationally
comparable indicators: with the Cairo University being listed in the top 500 ranking
universities in the world for several years, no Egyptian University is listed there in 2011;
with Cairo University being listed 1,219 today, and other Egyptian universities even
lower (Web of Universities, 2011).

3.4 Current strategies to improve the quality of higher education in Egypt

Acknowledging the challenges that arise from the status quo, several attempts to
improve the quality of higher education have been undertaken within the past decade,
which can be classified in two large groups: approaches focusing on cooperation with
foreign institutions and domestic approaches for quality assurance.
As for the first group, several international partners from non-profit organizations
and foreign governments have been involved in program development. So, to build
effective links between employers and education, the British Council (2012) has created
an initiative, linking UK Sector Skills Councils and their counterparts in Egypt with the
goal to assist the Egyptian bodies to facilitate effective employer-education engagement
and to train students for the “current and future needs of industry in Egypt”. Also, the
EU as a whole has triggered the reforms regarding employability and outcome quality,
e.g. via the TEMPUS (TEMPUS III and IV) program, which fosters university
cooperation between European and Egyptian universities and curriculum development.
These international partnerships may be more relevant, as Egypt is one of the top ten
emigration countries worldwide: not only the domestic labor market but also the
international labor market is of relevance when it comes to employability skills and a
match of skills and employer expectations. In particular, the labor markets in the Arab
Gulf, the main target of Egyptian labor migrants within the past decades, may be of
relevance here. In these markets with strong international competition, in particular for
high-skilled labor force, which are competing with workforce trained in the USA, the EU
or in education institutions in the Gulf countries, the employers’ ideas of employability
may differ at least partially from the Egyptian one, so that the international dimension
of the challenge becomes obvious.
As for the second group of initiatives, the Egyptian Government introduced a nationwide
initiative on quality assurance, comprising a bundle of measures, in particular the Higher
Education Enhancement Project (HEEP), which can be seen as one main outcomes of the
overall higher education reform process, e.g. marked by the Higher Education Reform
Strategy (see for the different initiatives, Al-Shahat Abdel Karim, 2010). This measure
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Medical Science
Group
Engineering Agricultural Agricultural Basic Science Human Science
Science Group Science Science Group Group Group Total
Year Number (%) Number (%) Number (%) Number (%) Number (%) Total (%)

1998 9,366 5.01 8,293 4.43 6,867 3.67 3,856 2.06 158,696 84.83 187,078 100
1999 11,712 4.42 10,412 3.93 9,742 3.68 5,341 2.02 227,477 85.94 264,684 100
2000 16,820 5.78 12,728 4.37 9,020 3.10 4,554 1.56 248,069 85.19 291,191 100
2001 20,171 6.98 18,193 6.29 8,123 2.81 5,324 1.84 237,341 82.08 289,152 100
2002 25,089 8.43 21,878 7.35 9,356 3.14 6,564 2.21 234,696 78.87 297,583 100
2003 26,721 8.39 24,334 7.64 11,032 3.46 7,643 2.40 248,734 78.10 318,464 100
2004 27,372 8.12 25,474 7.56 9,336 2.77 8,979 2.66 265,995 78.89 337,156 100
2005 26,807 7.00 25,724 6.71 8,489 2.22 10,006 2.61 312,165 81.46 383,191 100
2006 29,033 7.32 28,428 7.16 6,595 1.66 10,068 2.54 322,668 81.32 396,792 100
2007 29,074 7.17 28,004 6.90 6,425 1.58 9,975 2.46 332,255 81.89 405,733 100

Source: Own illustration, based on CAPMAS (2012)

private)
Graduates of
Table III.
157
system
education
higher
Egyptian

(governmental/
institutes
universities and high
 QAE consists of several projects with a “mixture of competitiveness, promotion of quality
23,2 assurance system, building staff capacity, and initiation of innovative approach”
(El Badawy et al., 2009). The goal of the HEEP in its single dimension is to increase the
overall quality of the higher education system as well as its efficiency and effectiveness.
The single components of the HEEP are planned to be introduced in three phases
until 2017, which correspond to the government’s five year plans. Several priority
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158 projects (from an overall of 25 projects), which were given priority to be funded and
implemented, have been bundled from the project agenda, comprising the following
(HEEP, 2012):
• Higher Education Enhancement Project Fund.
• Information and Communications Technology Project.
• Egyptian Technical Colleges Project.
• Faculty of Education Project.
• Faculty Leaders Development Project.
• Quality Assurance and Accreditation Project (QAAP).

With HEEP, several new models of academic curricula have been created and
implemented. The dimension of quality assurance and accreditation within that
program is divided into two main phases:
(1) QAAP was created for establishing more quality assurance awareness among
the stakeholder groups, internal quality assurance systems and quality
assurance centers in public universities as well as a national academic reference
standard, and was carried out until June 2009.
(2) The Program of Continuous Improvement and Qualifying for Accreditation
(PCIQA) is still being carried out (Ramadan et al., 2011).

The accreditation is carried out by the NAQAAE, which was founded with the issuing
of Law No. 82 (2006) and the Presidential Decree No. 25 (2007). This agency provides
accreditation for the complete institution or specific study programs or courses (see for
the general discussion on the different systems, Haug, 2003). The accreditation process
by design follows more or less international standards and is designed as can be drawn
from Figure 1 (for details, see also HEEP, 2004), with quality assurance being defined as:
[…] the means of ensuring that, informed by its mission, academic standards are defined and
achieved in line with equivalent standards nationally and internationally, and that the quality
of learning opportunities, research and community involvement are appropriate and fulfill the
expectations of the range of stakeholders (HEEP, 2004).
An institution of higher education is accredited when most of the standards are fulfilled
and will not get an accreditation when the standards are passed, with the option of a
postponement if some of the standards of accreditation (with the exception of
educational effectiveness standards) are not fulfilled yet (NAQAAE, 2010).
An on-site and off-site review of a specific institution is carried out on a contract basis
by teams of three to four certified and trained reviewers, with one individual acting as
the team leader (see for the details of the review and the reports, Al-Shahat Abdel Karim,
2010). Future reviewers have to apply for participation in a training measure and have
to pay a moderate fee of about USD10 (or may be free of charge under specific
 Egyptian
higher
Final review and Self-evaluation
decision by of the institution education
NAQAAE system
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159

Feedback option Review (on-site

for the and off-site)
institution of
higher education

Report of the
reviewers
Figure 1.
The NAQAAE
Source: Own illustration, based on NAQAAE, 2010 accreditation process

conditions) before they are allowed to work as reviewers. The training is carried out at
the NAQAAE, based on materials and manuals provided by the agency. The potential
trainees have to apply to become reviewers and are selected according to former
professional qualifications. After completing the different components of the training
successfully (four components for university education), trainees, if certified, are
allowed to work as reviewers on a contract basis. The reviewers’ performance is rated
additionally by their team peers as well as by the institution in a specific accreditation
process, so that qualified reviewers can be selected for further contracts. Nonetheless,
the final decision whether a university or institution of higher education is accredited
remains with the permanent staff (in the last consequence, the President) of the
NAQAAE.

4. Discussion
Because of the relatively short period of time, as well as a lack of surveys, empirical
evidence of the impact of HEEP in general, and QAAP and PCIQA in particular is
limited so far. This is in particular true with a view on the indicator “accreditation”, as
only a very limited number of institutions have undergone the process so far. Also, there
is no data if and in which cases accreditation has been denied, or in how far successful or
unsuccessful re-accreditations took place. These shortcomings complicate the analysis
of the formal and informal drawbacks in the accreditation system.
Concerning the scope of accreditation, the picture remains poor: within the past seven
years, only the American University in Cairo received an institutional accreditation
from the NAQAAE. Other initiatives from universities and education institutions,
 QAE which sum up to about 50 applications per year, started, but the accreditation process is
23,2 not finished yet, except for a very limited number of study programs or courses. With a
view on the fact that the accreditation process is being set-up for a length of only about
nine months, this leads to the assumption that institutional drawbacks within the
NAQAAE are the main reason for this lag. This was also confirmed by almost all
interviewees. Beyond the general problem that program accreditation may lead “to
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160 paralysis of the system […] as is nearly the case in some countries where too many new
programs are in a queue for accreditation” (Haug, 2003), the main issue seems to be the
limited capacity of the NAQAAE. Although on paper the accreditation procedures as
well as the training measures for reviewers follow international standards (as
concerning the general procedures and standards of the materials for training, etc.), the
main problem seems to be the work overload of the people involved. Beyond quality
problems, this may explain why only a very limited number of universities have
undergone an accreditation procedure by now, despite there is a number of applications
per year, which would in general allows a higher number of accreditation procedures
completed.
As for the design of the accreditation process, the task to ensure adequate
qualification and, most of all, neutrality and secretiveness of reviewers and peers has
sometimes proven to be difficult in other countries. This is because of the inherent
conflicts of interest facing peers who teach in competing programs in a relatively small
market of only about 35 universities in Egypt. This is especially true regarding highly
specialized study programs which are offered by just a handful of universities. In
addition, with a view on the ex-ante investment to become a reviewer, reviewers expect
a return on investment from being trained. This benefit can realize in terms of
experience and higher qualifications for their further career, but also in terms of
monetary profit, as the additional income from a single accreditation procedure would
be about USD100 per day. As the average salary of peers (professors, assistant
professors or teachers) starts at USD100 per month, the initial investment for trainings
as well as the potential returns is relatively high. As interviews revealed, there can be a
high pressure to receive a positive evaluation from team members and the accredited
university, which increases the risk for corruption or to testify following political
considerations. If such cases affirm to be a structural problem, accreditation would not
contribute to quality assurance, but quite the contrary. But, despite these shortcomings,
it should not be overlooked in this context, however, that the sector-specific expertise
and the high levels of professional competence of the peers (and, as a result, of the
accreditation body) can be seen as a specific advantage for the Egyptian system,
compared to other systems worldwide which do not include peers.
Finally, the re-accreditation process is fraught with some serious shortcomings: if
study programs do not have to be re-accredited within a fixed period of time – as
evidence from other countries demonstrates – only short-term solutions can be the
consequence, which help to get an accreditation, but do not foster the long-term quality
of the institution and the curriculum accredited.
Another point in the Egyptian accreditation system is the highly problematic
“too-big-to-fail” situation, as the NAQAAE has a monopoly for accreditation. In other
words: lacking the market exit sanction may deprive the accreditation body of the need
to assure their own quality. As with a view on the costs of accreditation most Egyptian
universities could not easily switch to a foreign accreditation body, it is most likely that
 the NAQAAE can hold its monopoly even if the quality may be poor. The fact that this Egyptian
point matters in reality is indicated by the non-transparent decision in accreditation: higher
following the statement of the agency that institutions are accredited if “most of the
NAQAAE (2010) standards are fulfilled”, there is no objective report if and how the
education
standards are weighted. system
A systemic stumbling block in the quality assurance system is Al-Azhar education,
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as emphasized by nearly all interviewees: by the understanding of the NAQAAE itself, 161
the accreditation of Al-Azhar institutions follows the same approach as the
accreditation of other institutions, following the general aims and standards of
education (NAQAAE, 2010). Following this perspective, accreditation of religious
institutions can follow more or less the same standards as applied in secular institutions.
But, in particular with a view on curriculum development, it remains questionable in
how far this approach can be carried out in reality. Until now, no Al-Azhar institution
has been accredited by the NAQAAE, even though 24 institutions (see Appendix)
applied for accreditation several years ago. In these cases, it is not clear whether the
process of accreditation has been stopped due to problems with the standard of the
curricula or due to other reasons.
Especially for this field, the selection of the peer reviewers can be seen as complex: if
they are trained in religion-specific tasks, or also secular fields such as economics, it is
most likely for them to have close links to Al-Azhar institutions (at least if they are from
Egypt), so that the necessary neutrality can be questioned. As for peers from other
countries or non-religious fields, the inclusion into the accreditation process may be
problematic, as they may be perceived as being “underqualified” to evaluate the
religious curriculum and the learning outcomes.
Particularly with a view on international comparability of accreditation standards,
these shortcomings may lower the overall standards of Egyptian institutions and,
therefore, the outcome quality. This may, an international perception of that problem
being given, lead to a decreasing demand for Egyptian graduates, or lower their chances
to continue their studies abroad, especially the transition from BA to MA courses, or
from MA to PhD programs, which becomes more and more significant (Altbach and
Knight, 2006). As the option to study and/or work abroad is very high among the
Egyptian youth, as confirmed by many interviewees, this may lead to additional
dissatisfaction with the domestic government. Also, the relatively small number of
foreign students and graduates (1,136 in 2008) in Egypt, with almost none of them
coming from the USA or the EU, could be a consequence of the perceived or real low
standards of higher education in the country (CAPMAS, 2012).
As for the question of employability skills of graduates, there is no evidence that the
accreditation of institutions and programs did have a positive impact so far. Following
a small survey among employers and human resource managers in the field of
engineering, carried out by Osman in 2011, today only four of ten employers are
“somewhat satisfied” with the employability of graduates, and most others are “not at
all satisfied”, while no employer in the sample was “very satisfied”. The same is true for
students, which do not feel properly prepared for the requirements of modern labor
markets in several dimensions (Osman, 2011).
In a study examining the influence of HEEP at the Zagazig University, El Badawy et
al. (2009) are able to demonstrate that the impact of this reform program is visible, but
still limited. For the faculties evaluated, the percentage of staff and post-graduates
 QAE students which take part in specific training classes increased because of HEEP, the
23,2 post-graduate studies curriculum was more need-based and vocational training became
more specialized. Internet use increased among staff members as well as the different
student groups, but e-learning and networking just started to appear. Regarding the
“methods of teaching and students’ assessment, the traditional methods were still
utilized more than the new methods” (El Badawy et al., 2009), limiting the students’
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162 employability. Quality documentation, as an integral part of the overall quality

assurance system, is still perceived as being weak, and reports and documentations are
defective and not integrated into the single faculties’ daily business. Concerning the
quality of education, in particular with a view on “employability skills”, students
acknowledge their performance as being enhanced to some extent because the program
has been introduced, mainly attributed to the improved infrastructure, staff training and
the increased use of new technology (El Badawy et al., 2009).

5. Conclusion and policy implications

Several problems remain with a view on the design as well as the practical
implementation of quality assurance in higher education in Egypt. As for the formal
dimension, the design of the accreditation procedure follows more or less international
standards. Also, at least on paper, there is a strong incentive for universities to apply for
accreditation, which is not reflected by current accreditation numbers. The most
pressing need in this context is the capacity enhancement of the NAQAAE. As the basis
for potential reviewers is large, potential permanent staff may also be recruited from this
group which already has a high level of expertise in quality assurance. Another
approach to relieve the permanent staff of the NAQAAE would be the transfer of more
competences to the peers: if their decision on the accreditation of a specific institution
would be more or less binding and not subject to improvement and adjustment by the
permanent staff, the workload of the permanent staff would also decrease. As a
consequence, structural adjustments of the accreditation system may be helpful in this
context.
More informal reasons for the relatively small numbers of successful accreditations
so far seem to be administrative constraints and the costs of accreditation, which may be
low in international comparison, but relatively high for specific study programs, as
expressed in the interviews. Beyond cost reductions, stronger incentives for
institutional accreditation and support in the pre-accreditation phase via PCIQA may be
reasonable solutions here, even if these measures should have been taken place within
the precursory QAAP. Despite the general unstable situation, a new initiative by the
(interim) government may be of some help here.
As for the sensitive issue of Al-Azhar education, the political implications go far
beyond sheer questions of quality assurance, as perceived by nearly all interviewees. As
has been announced by the officially still leading Freedom and Justice Party, which is
closely connected to President Mursi (who is officially still in office, even if the real
power has been taken over by an interim government), the organizational and
educational independence of Al-Azhar will be strengthened. If this decision stays valid,
this would decrease the necessity for Al-Azhar to become an accredited institution
(Matthews, 2012). But as the latest “revolution” or “coup d’etat” in July 2013 installed a
new interim government, composed by former opposition politicians and the military,
this may eventually change the decision on Al-Azhar education, as the new interim
 government is more secular-oriented. Also, under this scenario, it is most likely that Egyptian
problems occur, even if it will not be associated to quality here, as religious groups may higher
be unwilling to accept interventions concerning the content of religious education. education
To sum up, although the first university and several study programs became
accredited by the NAQAAE, and the HEEP produced at least some guidelines and system
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materials reviewed by external examiners according to (international) quality

assurance standards, there are still are a lot of examples which could be tracked 163
within the curricula and organizational structures of higher education institutions
that need to be updated or adjusted to real needs (Osman, 2011). Structural
adjustments of the formal accreditation system are necessary, providing sound
incentives for peer reviewers. In addition, the question of Al-Azhar education has to
be targeted by policymakers, as it has several implications relevant for social
stability in the ongoing transition process, in particular the field of tension between
secular and religious groups in the society.
Newly created initiatives, using, for example, programs of the EU as the Twinning
Projects, are designed to target these problems by including international experts into
the quality assurance of the accreditation body itself via trainings and concept re-design
as well as into accreditation procedures for higher education institutions (see for this,
need for internationalization of quality assurance Altbach and Knight, 2006). An
assessment of these measures has not been carried out by now, as most initiatives just
started, but are listed on the research agenda of the author as well as the evaluation
agenda of the European partner institutions. New initiatives and cooperation modi are
even more important, as the current pressure on the system of higher education in Egypt
can not be lowered by domestic policy measures alone: also an optimal outcome quality
and a high employability in the short run cannot create sufficient jobs to absorb the
supply of graduates, so that some kind of “export” of high-skilled labor is necessary.
Appropriate frameworks and policy measures for this kind of labor migration have to be
created in cooperation between the stakeholders in Egypt as well as the EU and the
countries of the Arab Gulf, which account for the highest numbers of work-related
migration from Egypt.

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 Appendix Egyptian
Al-Azhar Institutions which applied for accreditation with NAQAAE by Spring 2013 higher
(NAQAAE, 2010) education
Faculty of Medicine (Girls), Nasr City Campus system
Faculty of Dentistry (Girls), Nasr City Campus
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Faculty of Science (Boys), Nasr City Campus

Arabic Language Faculty, Darrasa Campus 165
Faculty of jurisprudence & Law, Darrasa Campus
Faculty of Fundamentals, Darrasa Campus
Faculty of Science (Boys), Assuit branch
The Confluence of Model Elementary Academy, Nasr City (Cairo)
The Model Preparatory Secondary Girls’ Institute, Nasr City (Cairo)
The Model Preparatory Secondary 6th Area Girls’ Institute (Cairo)
Dr Talaat Model Secondary Institute for Boys (Cairo)
Sheikh Zayed Model Preparatory Institute for Boys (Giza)
Sheikh Zayed Model Preparatory Girls’ Institute (Giza)
Sheikh Zayed Model Elementary Girls’ Institute (Giza)
Omar Bin Abd Al-Aziz Model Preparatory Secondary Institute for Boys, 10th of Ramadan City
(Sharkia)
Fouad Khamies Model Preparatory Secondary Institute for Boys, 10th of Ramadan City Sharkia)
Banha Model Preparatory Secondary Girls’ Institute (Qaliubiya)
Al-Shaarawey Institute for Girls, Borg EL-Arab City (Alexandria)
Sedy Bishr Preparatory Secondary Girls’ Institute (Alexandria)
The Model Semoha Academy (Alexandria)

About the author

Rahel Schomaker received a PhD in economics and habilitated in economics and administrative
sciences. She holds the chair for economics at the Cologne Business School and is affiliated to the
German Research Institute for Public Administration. Her research is focused on governance and
institutions; beyond her academic work, she serves as a consultant for public institutions in the
EU and Middle East. Rahel Schomaker can be contacted at: rahel.schomaker@online.de

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