RecoASIA – Regional Cooperation in the field of recognition among Asian Countries

The RecoASIA project aims at favouring and increasing the quality of vertical and horizontal mobility within the Asian and European higher education systems by increasing the recognition of qualifications within the Asian and European Region.

In the framework of the project, all partners worked together to improve their competences and skills as credential evaluators defining common practices and creating common tools among the participating European and Asian countries, National Bodies and Higher Education Institutions. The experience of cooperation gained within the Bologna Process, the expertise of the participating Higher Education Institutions and the practices adopted by the ENIC-NARIC networks, built a solid foundation to strengthen and increase collaboration between European and Asian regions. The strategy adopted by the RecoASIA project, developed through a strong cooperation among partners and associated partners from Asian countries, fostered each participant’s experience with regard to recognition, thus facilitating the mobility of international students and professionals.

Against this background, the sharing of relevant information on the educational systems, recognition practices and mobility flows of both regions are important contributions to facilitate mutual trust and understanding.

Among these activities, special attention is paid on analysing controversial recognition cases and sectors such as transnational education (TNE) and international institutions, non-traditional education and methodologies for the assessment of refugee qualifications.

The project runs for 36 months, starting from November 2019 and is co-funded by the EU within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme.

• Analysis of mobility flows between European and Asian Regions and drafting of National Recognition Reports (NRR) to illustrate the recognition procedures available in each partner country as a useful tool for credential evaluators and students
• Training for government officials and staff of National Information Centres (NIC) of Cambodia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam to provide them with knowledge on European higher education systems, recognition practices and National Recognition Centres
• Training for the staff of Asian Universities to foster their capacity in academic recognition procedures and increase cooperation among universities
• Elaboration of guidelines for the evaluation of non-traditional, cross-border or trans-national education and distance learning institutions and their qualifications in order to foster up-to-date recognition practices that can also be applied to latest and cutting-edge education methods
• Elaboration and practice-sharing of procedures for the recognition of refugees’ qualifications
• Support the sustainability of the results in the medium-long term by promoting the signature of a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by NICs of Partner countries and NARIC centres
• Communication activities and dissemination of results both in Asia and in Europe.