Arab Educational Information Network

Egypt has been engaged in a major system-wide reform of its higher education system over the past decade based on a dynamic long-term strategic reform plan that caters for, and is adaptable to, any changes as needs arise. The outcomes of the implementation efforts made by all concerned stakeholders involved in the reform process is starting to pay back and flourish, influencing the overall performance of Egyptian higher education institutions.The objective of this paper is to give an overview of the Egyptian higher education reform initiative the first phase of which has been ongoing for the past six years, focusing on the efforts made to measure the impact of the reform projects, individually and collectively, at different levels. A review of the three phases of piloting, developing and implementing the impact assessment framework is presented. A review of one of the pilot projects developed and implemented in one of the Egyptian Public Universities to measure its impact, is presented and discussed. The assignment for this pilot project was further extended to develop an impact assessment framework for universities and higher education institutions to use as a guide to implement it in their own institutions. Results of the impact assessment studies conducted by the seventeen public universities based on this framework are also reviewed and discussed. In addition, the World Bank has selected the Higher Education Enhancement Project (HEEP), as one of its most successful projects implemented worldwide, as stipulated in their biannual project performance assessment reports (Aide Mémoire), to develop for the first time what they call a learning ICR (Implementation Completion Report) in which impact assessment is a mandatory portion. Preliminary results of the ICR impact assessment studies conducted by the Projects management Unit (PMU) at the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in collaboration with the World Bank on a pilot scale applied to three public universities selected to establish baseline data for the second phase of reform, is also reviewed and discussed. Lessons drawn from implementing the overall Higher Education Reform Strategy (HERS), together with those drawn from the impact assessment studies are followed by concluding remarks.It is hoped that, the outcome of this paper will help other countries in the region, and globally, to benefit from the lessons drawn from the Egyptian experience and to avoid mishaps that confronted the Egyptian higher education reform initiative. (Published Abstract)