France Ministry of higher education and research organized the seminar on Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Research held in Paris at the premises of the French Quality Assurance agency (HCERES) the 10th of February 2017. Nearly all the 5+5 countries attended to the meeting with sending 2 representatives by country. The opening session was given by Tunisia, chair of the 5+5 and France.

Each of the national Quality Assurance development schemes presented are nearly following the same standards for external and internal evaluation of Higher Education and Research

institutions following the Bologna process recommendations. This is a very encouraging sign indeed for the development of future cooperation in the frame of the next 5+5 Action Plan 2017-2018 and this even if Quality Assurance agencies locally are not exactly organized in the same way. All the stakeholders involved are aware of the need to work together on common recognition of diplomas across the countries concerned so that mobility of researchers and students could be facilitated in a way of creating synergies all around the Mediterranean basin.

At the end of the seminar, all attendees expressed their interest in taking part of the working group under the coordination of France leading the two actions under the 5+5 frame on Quality

Assurance on one part and on Governance on the other part, providing that each member state of the 5+5 would acknowledge participant names and institutional representation proposed (quality assurance agency/Ministry ie two representatives by country).

Contacts:

French Ministry for Higher Education and Research

Benoit Labat : benoit.labat@recherche.gouv.fr