Agency
President Yoweri Museveni has urged East African Community -EAC member states to work towards a common education area to enable easier recognition of qualifications and facilitate the mobility of academic and skilled labour.
Museveni said the initiative, starting with a common higher education area-CHEA, could unlock the full potential of all member states by allowing individuals trained in one country to continue studies or gain employment in another without obstacles.
He said harmonized education standards and qualification assurance within the EAC could prevent such issues in the future.
Museveni made the remarks while opening the first Regional Ministerial Conference on the EAC Common Higher Education Area in Kampala.
On the education front, the president said the framework, if adopted in the spirit of integration, could remove unnecessary barriers.
In 2017, the EAC established the Common Higher Education Area through a treaty aimed at harmonizing curricula, promoting academic and skill mobility, and strengthening regional integration through education.
The framework provided for compatible national qualification frameworks, shared quality assurance standards and practices, common credit systems, standardized recognition of qualifications, a unified academic calendar with aligned years and semesters, and uniform fees for all East African students.
