Celebrating the Success of the CALOHEA National Meetings and the Burgeoning of CALOHEA Qualifications Framework in the ASEAN Region

The CALOHEA National Meetings served as a dissemination platform for the CALOHEA Recognition Mechanisms, a valuable tool for universities to enhance the transparency and comparability of their learning programme’s outcomes and bridge their programmes to the international mobility of students and scholars. Over the 8-month period between March to November 2023, the AUN Secretariat in collaboration with 14 universities across 7 ASEAN countries successfully organised a series of 14 National Meetings, bringing the valuable tools of CALOHEA to a total of 3,529 participants from 348 universities and 22 countries, a significant expansion to the original consortium of 23 universities from 7 ASEAN countries and 5 European partners in 5 European countries in 2019. Participants consisted of representatives from various stakeholders of higher education, including:

• 2,148 academic staff
• 935 students
• 147 employers
• 29 government agencies’ representatives

With over 90% of the attendees participating in post-event surveys agreeing how the National Meetings had bolstered their understanding in the Recognition Mechanisms and expressing their interest in applying the methodology to their study programme, the National Meetings set a strong momentum for an even more connected, more mobile communities of academics and students both inter- and intra-ASEAN region through learning outcome’s transparency and curriculum’s alignment.

As the National Meeting was making its way across the region, it also made a special stop at the AUN-QA International Conference (AUN-QA IC) 2023, taking place on 6-7 September in Bangkok. The AUN-QA IC is the premier conference in the field of quality assurance in higher education within the ASEAN region, where knowledge, experiences, good practices, and rising challenges are shared and discussed for the betterment of quality assurance practices and higher education’s standard of the region.

The CALOHEA Project, as a framework to standardise students’ qualification, measure students’ workloads, and assess learners’ outcomes, was presented to this conference of over 400 participants including university representatives, Quality Assurance experts and practitioners, policymakers, and government officials. Led by Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Putra Malaysia (then the faculty of School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia); Dr. Richard R. Jugar, Dean of School of Education, University of San Carlos; and Dr. Muhamad Saiful Bahri Yusoff, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, the CALOHEA Project and its Mechanisms garnered the attention of attendees from 177 universities/institutions from 16 countries with its potential to enhance academic mobility within the ASEAN region and beyond in the third agenda “Quality Assurance & World-Class Curriculum Delivery: Unleashing the Synergy.”

The finale of the CALOHEA National Meetings marked not the conclusion of the CALOHEA Project but the preparation of fertile ground for changes to be sowed and prosper, and the seeds of change have already been sowed. With an emerging cohort of academic staff who are equipped with hands-on experience through the National Meetings, the CALOHEA Mechanisms and its framework are now being shared, implemented, and cascaded to universities across the region, inside and outside the project, by this strong coalition of the project members and this rising cohort of CALOHEA practitioners. In the speech at the 7th General Meeting of the project, Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, the AUN Executive Director, highlighted the window of opportunity that is now wide open for ASEAN higher education to emerge as a strong integrated economic player, and an integrated higher education sector, supported by the like of the CALOHEA Framework, could serve as a major boost for ASEAN to achieve its economic vision.

Without the effort and dedication of the 14 host universities, the project members and participating universities of ASEAN, and all the European partners; this burgeoning of the CALOHEA Project and its qualification frameworks would not be possible. The AUN Secretariat, as the Chair of the Dissemination Board, expressed its deepest gratitude and appreciation for all parties involved in making this tremendous success possible.

As tools and good practices of CALOHEA continue to be rolled out across the region, stay tuned to the AUN E-Newsletter and the AUN website for the latest updates on this train of internationalisation that will connect you to the ASEAN region and beyond.

Information is also available on the CALOHEA Project’s Official Website, where you can learn more about the CALOHEA Recognition Mechanisms, the consortium members from ASEAN and Europe, and be updated with the latest news about the development of the project and its events.

Read more about previous CALOHEA National Meetings at:

• Culmination of Excellence: CALOHEA National Meeting Reached Dazzling Finale at Universiti Sains Malaysia!
• CALOHEA National Meeting at Lao PDR Raised the Attention for Authentic Learning Outcomes in Laotian Higher Education
• Vietnamese Higher Education Securing its Front-Row Seat at the Global Stage with the 12th CALOHEA National Meeting at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering