Seminars & Conferences

The outbreak of COVID-19 had a huge impact on education, higher education and recognition. The temporary closure of educational institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been leading to changes in qualifications, including examinations at the end of upper secondary school, which in some cases were modified by mode of delivery, postponed, or cancelled. These changes sometimes led, for instance, to qualifications based on average marks of previous learning, or to no final qualification at all. This situation had a negative impact on access to higher education, not only in terms of assessment procedures and access requirements, but also in terms of equality of treatment of students, fair recognition and ensuring the right to education. Recognition of disrupted learning is a crucial turning point for higher education systems and further information sharing is essential.

With a view towards the internationalization and fair recognition of qualifications, the impact of the pandemic will be long-lasting, including on cross-border mobility. Therefore, it is important to deeply focus on post-pandemic planning to ensure the highest degree possible of quality and fairness in the recognition process, as well as the constant support to internationalization and recognition of qualifications granted during the current emergency period based on authoritative information sharing in Europe, Asia-Pacific and worldwide. The discussion of these issues at regional level in the framework of the RecoASIA project is aimed at supporting the current and future dialogue of regional and interregional cooperation in the field of recognition. 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 two regions.

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The impact of Covid-19 on higher education is constantly challenging the world of higher education around the globe: the pandemic caused a steep decrease in the mobility of students, as well as inevitable consequences of this phenomenon in the field of recognition and evaluation of qualifications.

Nevertheless, the desire to go back to normal is strong, and the need to work altogether for international mobility has become stronger. This seminar (which due to the current circumstances took place in online modality) provided tools, knowledge, competence, not only to higher education institutions but also to national recognition centres, and it set solid basis for a simpler and new mobility for study, work or any other kind of activity connected to higher education.

The purpose of the webinar was to have a world tour around different approaches on evaluation and recognition procedures. Representatives from ENIC-Naric Centres, Ministries and Higher Education Institutions joined the webinar and listened to the speakers sharing the methodological approach of credential evaluation in their own centre. Among the main topics, a special attention was placed on the importance of creating a network among centres as well as among people, in order to share approaches and methodologies both at national and international level. As the speakers highlighted, the webinar was an occasion to make new partnerships with all the participants, hoping to cooperate in the future.

Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education and Recognition

Webinar proceedings
Webinar moderator: Ms. Chiara Finocchietti, CIMEA

1. Opening remarks and introduction on RecoASIA and the Tokyo Convention on recognition
Mr. Libing Wang, UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (presentation)
Mr. Luca Lantero, President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Bureau

2. Challenges and responses to COVID-19 in higher education: Perspectives from Europe
Mr. Luca Lantero, President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Bureau (presentation – video)

3. Challenges and responses to COVID-19 in higher education: Perspectives from Asia-Pacific
(Session moderator: Mr. Wesley Teter, UNESCO Bangkok (video)

a) Cambodia – Ms. Sieng Emtotim, Rector, University of Battambang (UBB) (presentation – video)

b) China – Mr. CHENG Weixing, Director, Division of Information System Construction, China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center, Ministry of Education (video), Mr. WANG Yiwei, Director, Division of Overseas Credentials, Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, Ministry of Education (video)

c) Japan – Mr. Taiji Hotta, Executive Director, National Information Center for Academic Recognition Japan (presentation – video)

d) Mongolia – Ms. Damnimsuren Tumennasan, Officer, International Affairs Office, Mongolian University of Science and Technology (presentation – video)

e) Republic of Korea – Mr. Dong-Seok SEO, Director, Korea Academic Recognition Information Center (presentation – video)

f) Sri Lanka – Mr. Renuka Silva, Professor, Wayamba University (presentation – video)

g) Thailand – Mr. Bundit Thipakorn, Associate Professor, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (video)

h) Viet Nam – Mr. Vu Ngoc Ha, Official Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training (presentation – video)

4. Question & Answer: Main challenges ahead for international recognition post-COVID-19 
(Session moderator: Mr. Luca Lantero, LRC Bureau) (video)

5. Synthesis and closing
Mr. Taiji Hotta, Executive Director, National Information Center for Academic Recognition Japan (NIC), Japan (video)
Ms. Anna Tozzi, Associate Professor, University of L’Aquila, Italy (video)

Evaluation procedure from different perspectives in Europe and in the USA

Webinar proceedings:

Webinar moderators: Chiara Finocchietti, CIMEA; Silvia Bianco CIMEA.

  1. Welcome addresses and introduction- Silvia Bianco, CIMEA
  2. Educational and Credential Evaluators, ECE: the role of the institution; the methodology used in evaluation procedures- Amy Kawa, ECE
  3. CIMEA NARIC Italy: the role of the institution; the methodology used in the evaluation- Luca Lantero, CIMEA
  4. Q&A session- Amy Kawa, ECE; Luca Lantero, CIMEA
  5. Concluding remarks- Chiara Finocchietti, CIMEA

Pictures