Training Meeting on Networking Educational Networks

15–19 June 2015, Vienna, Austria

Dr Nafaa Reguigui

Regional Coordinator AFRA-NEST Secretary, HLSC

Status and Vision

AFRA- Network for Education in Science and Technology

Content

• Introduction

• Background

• Objectives

• Strategy

• S.W.O.T

• Achievements

• Web Portal

• Futur Plans

• Expectations

Countries in Africa considering Nuclear Power

• In order to secure the availability of

qualified HR for nuclear power and non

power applications many resolutions of the

IAEA GC have supported the important role

of the preservation, maintenance, and

enhancement of NK in MSs

• Over the past years, AFRA MSs accorded

special attention to the many challenges

and constraints that have been affecting

their HR systems and plans in the field of

Nuclear Science and Technology (NS&T).

• For African countries without nuclear higher

education system at present, its recognized

that the most cost effective approach will be

to rely on institutions outside their countries

possibly with donor assistance, as a prelude

to building stronger higher education systems

of their own, and hence the need for a

regional approach and plans.

AFRA –NEST : Background

2004: AFRA FMC Meeting :

– Decision: Importance to be given to HRD & NKM

– Preparation of the First Regional Seminar on HRD & NKM,

2005: Organisation of the Dakar Seminar on HRD & NKM

– The Meeting endorsed a Plan of Action to guide AFRA in its

effort to assist the region in the field of HRD Including The

Creation of an AFRA Network in Education & Training

AFRA –NEST : Background

2006: Organisation of the Algiers Task Force Meeting

– To develop the specific organization scheme of the “African

Nuclear Science and Technology Education Network”,

including its Mandate, Vision and the draft documents

dealing with the Statute of the Network Association, the

description of scientific and technological objectives and

workplan for the period 2006-2010

2006: Organisation of the Khartoum Task Force Meeting

– AFRA Master in Nuclear Science & Technology

AFRA –NEST : Background

2007: Algiers High Level African Regional Conference on Nuclear

Energy:

– Declaration & Plan of Acion: Support to AFRA & Importance to E & T in

NST

2007: Aswan AFRA Ministerial Conference

Formation of High Level Steering Committee and invitation to institutions of

member states and international organization to be member of AFRA –

NEST to be established .

Recognition of Regional Designated Centers in Professional and Higher

Education in Nuclear Science and Technology to run academic programs

of Masters of Nuclear Science and Technology

.

AFRA –NEST : objectives

to facilitate operation and networking in education, training, research and

outreach in nuclear science and technology (NS&T) in the African Region

through:

• Sharing of information and materials of nuclear education and training;

• Developing harmonized approaches for education and training in NS&T

in Africa by establishing reference curricula and facilitating mutual

recognition of degrees;

• Programmes evaluation and monitoring;

• Promoting effective cooperation and sharing of resources and

capabilities at national and regional level;

• Facilitating the exchange of students, teachers and researchers;

• Serving as facilitator for communication between the network member

organizations and other regional networks.

Quality Education and Training

AFRA Priority Areas

By the end of 2018, every AFRA MS will have

the possibility to educate and train its citizens

in NST, within Africa, to meet its needs and

bridge the gap in the required human

resources.

Vision

Identification of Priority Programmes for the

AFRA RCF 2014 -2018

The following areas were identified as high-priority in need of

HRD PG programs:

1. Human Health

1. Radiation therapy

2. Nuclear medicine

3. Medical physics

4. Radiopharmacy

High-Priority Areas in Education (1)

2. Sustainable Energy Development

1. Nuclear engineering

3. Radiation and Waste and NSS

1. Radiation protection and health physics

2. Nuclear safety and security

High-Priority Areas in Education (2)

One of the priorities should be to develop modules in

multidisciplinary PG programmes in

– Radioisotope hydrology

– Nuclear analytical techniques involving NAA, XRF, IBA,

using accelerators.

– Radiation entomology for SIT technique

– Communicable diseases for isotopic and molecular

techniques

– Isotope and molecular techniques in nutrition

High-Priority Areas in Education (3)

♀

♂

The following areas were identified as training priorities (less or equal to 6 months):

1. Water resources

1. Stable isotope techniques

2. Radioactive dating

2. Food and agriculture

1. Sterile insect technique

2. Radiation processing

3. Mutation breeding and biotechnology

High-Priority Areas in Training (1)

3. Industrial Applications

1. Radioactive tracer techniques

2. NDT

3. Radiation processing

4. Nuclear analytical techniques

High-Priority Areas in Training (2)

AFRA existing framework, policies, strategies and action plan for

HRD and NKM:

AFRA RCF (2014-2018) adopted and in application*

AFRA HLSC for HRD & NKM operational

AFRA NEST launched and website created

*Aligning the afra RCF 2014-2018 with the Common African Position

on the post-2015 development agenda for enhanced relevance and

integration

SWOT Analysis: 1. Strengths

A number of RDCs already recognized:

Master’s Degree in NST

– Egypt

– Ghana

Post Graduate Diploma in Radiation Protection

– Morocco

– Ghana

– Algeria

Strengths (2)

RDC for Medical Physics in Ghana

New programs have been identified, such as Nuclear

Engineering and Nuclear Medicine

Increasing number of Nuclear Educational Institutions with:

– Well established educational programmes

– Highly qualified experts

Existing infrastructure to support training (labs, research

reactors, etc)

Existing virtual universities, ICT material and INIS Centres

Strengths (3)

Lack of information on national policies and strategies in

some member states in relation to HRD and NKM.

HRD and NKM strategies and plans are not included in the

CPF in some countries.

Lack of action plan for national implementation of policies

regarding HRD and NKM and Good Managerial Practices

SWOT Analysis: 2. Weaknesses Weakness can be turned into opportunity

Lack of information on nuclear educational

institutions on national and regional levels

Lack of feedback from MS to HLSC

– E&T NST institutions and inventory (Questionnaire sent,

few replies)

– Expertise : Data register for Africa

Weaknesses (2) Weakness can be turned into opportunity

Full support of IAEA

Financial support from some countries and

organizations.

Collaboration with regional and international

organizations

Availability of RAF fund

Availability of training programs for workforce

planning and HRD planning

SWOT Analysis: 3. Opportunities

MS requiring qualified people in NST.

Some MS expressed interest in establishing nuclear

power programmes.

Existence of RDCs for training, which can be

assessed for postgraduate educational capabilities.

Opportunities (2)

Instability of the policies on the national level

Braindrain of the trainers and trainees in some

countries

Negative public opinion due to nuclear accidents

Lack of public awareness

Lack of decision makers effective commitment

SWOT Analysis: 4. Threats Threat can be turned into opportunity

Higher educational institutions

Virtual universities

RDCs

Specific laboratories and services for

education and training

Required Infrastructure

– Assess the currently-existing infrastructure .

– Assess the real needs for HRD up to 2018. This can be done via preparing a Regional Table with data from IAEA (extracted from CPF), AFRA (PSC, TO & PMO), HLSC (Questionnaires)

– Strengthen the RDC initiative.

– Support creating new university training programmes (both in English and French).

– Broaden the existing virtual university (VU) and support the VU projects to cover all priority themes.

– Utilize and/or develop ICT material to support e-learning and distant learning.

roadmap

AFRA –NEST : Strategy

The strategies for implementing the objectives are

• to use ICT for web-based education and training,

• recognition of Regional Designated Centres

(RDCs) for professional nuclear education in

nuclear science and technology,

• organization of harmonized and accredited

programs

• awarding of fellowships/scholarships to young and

brilliant students for teaching and research in the

various nuclear disciplines.

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

2012:

• The IAEA and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) signed

agreements in Vienna to support education, training and outreach in the

nuclear field, including e-learning capabilities, and to collaborate in

promoting nuclear knowledge management in IAEA Member States in

the African Region.

• GAEC, through its School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS) at the

University of Ghana, will serve as a regional hub for the African region

to install and operate an e-learning platform.

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

2013: Preparatory Meeting for the 1st AFRANEST General

Assembly on Networking Nuclear Education and Training

• AFRA Seminar in Ghana on Implementation of E-Learning

Platforms for Networking Nuclear education and Training

• Training of CLP4NET Administrators in Ghana

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

2013: AFRA-NEST 1st GA; 26-30 August, Arusha; Tanzania

Twenty-four African Member States were represented with

delegates from Universities, Research Institutes and

Laboratories and National Atomic Energy Commissions

Five collaborating organizations were also represented

Burundi Benin Central

African Republic

Malawi

DR Congo

COLLBORATORS

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

2013: AFRA-NEST 1st GA; 26-30 August, Arusha; Tanzania

Cluster Analysis on the Knowledge Marketplace helped to

identify the ARFA-NEST GA Working Groups on:

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT),

• Human Resource Development (HRD) Planning,

• Research Reactors (RR) and

• Human Health (HH) Education and Training

Benefits

Widening academic and industrial collaboration,

knowledge transfer and outreach;

Facilitating access to nuclear research facilities;

Developing harmonized approaches for education in

NS&T in Africa by establishing reference curricula and

facilitating recognition of degrees.

Implementation of National NESTs complement the

work of the HLSC and AFRA-NEST at the regional

level. 6/15/2015

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

The establishment of National Networks

AFRA-NEST Network Structure

AFRA-NEST

Tanzania (TAN-NEST)

Nigeria (e.g. NGN-

NEST)

South

Africa (e.g. SAN-NEST)

Ghana (e.g. GHN-NEST)

etc

AFRA-NEST National Coordination

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

2014: AFRA-NEST National Coordinators Seminar,

1-5 December 2014, Abuja Nigeria

• to share experiences, resources, as well as to discuss policies and strategies for

operationalizing national NESTs, including providing participants with hands-on

training on IAEA NKM self-assessment process for nuclear educational

organizations, as well as to review draft Education Capability Assemenmt and

Planning (ECAP) indicators and discuss ways to mobilize resources to enhance the

national and regional coordination of NEST Networks through AFRANEST

• 38 delegates in total attended the seminar. 19 African Member States were

represented with delegates from Universities, Research Institutes and Laboratories

and National Atomic Energy Commissions.

• In addition, 3 international experts, representing UK Nuclear Technology Education

Consortium (NTEC), the Leadership Advisors group in Germany and the IAEA,

supported the facilitation of the event.

Purpose of the ECAP self-assessment

To understand the strengths and development

areas of national nuclear education programmes

To identify the level of collaboration and

cooperation between government, education and

industry

To provide a summary of all the factors that

influence nuclear education programme

2015: AFRA-NEST Working Group Workshop on

ECAP 1-5 June 2015, Vienna

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

Self assessment criteria

Sustainability considerations that affect nuclear education

within six dimensions:

1. Social acceptance,

2. resource mobilization,

3. human capital,

4. job opportunities,

5. recruitment sustainability and

6. nuclear contributions.

AFRA –NEST : NEWS

• AFRA-NEST Website has been created as

www.afra-nest.org

• and hosted on the cloud and managed by the School

of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS), University of

Ghana, and it is administered by AFRA High Level

Steering Committee on HRD and NKM.

• Establishment of a Cyber Learning Platform for

NE&T(CLP4NET) in Ghana to support e-learning for

selected courses in NS&T which will be tailored to

the needs of the African region to cover thematic

areas .

ACHIEVEMENTS

• AFRA procedure for recognition of Regional Designated Centre (RDC) of Professional and Higher Education was followed to select two educational institutions in Egypt and Ghana for the organization of AFRA Masters of Nuclear Science and Technology which comprises of three options of Radiation Protection & Health Physics, Nuclear Techniques and Nuclear Engineering. There is on-going process for recognising RDCs in Medical Physics, and priority academic programmes of Nuclear Engineering to support the launching of nuclear power programmes in some African countries.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Three RDCs in Algeria, Ghana and Morocco are also running the Postgraduate Diploma Education Course in Radiation Protection (PGEC) Identified priority programmes of Nuclear Medicine, Radio-pharmacy and Radiobiology are planned to compliment the IAEA/PACT initiative of the establishment of Virtual University of Cancer Control network (VUCCnet) for the African Region.

ACHIEVEMENTS

AFRANEST Web Portal

• to facilitate information exchanging among the members,

increase public recognition of the project, and manage

nuclear knowledge in AFRA Region;

• to enable the Web-Portal to serve as the gateway to the

regional Learning Management System (LMS) for

sustainable nuclear education and training;

• The final product is expected to be a self contained

virtualized server that will be deployed in GAEC/SNAS,

Ghana. This Web Portal shall also link to a separate learning

management system application and database.

Web Portal map • Education

• Database

• Master Programme

• Proposed PhD Topic

• Education and Training Courses

• Opportunities

• Fellowships

• Scholarships

• Vacancies

• Regional Designated Centers

• e-learning material

Web Portal

• Links to Education Networks

• ENEN (European Nuclear Education Network )

• ANENT (Asian Network for Education in Nuclear

Technology )

• LANENT (the Latin-American Network for

Education in Nuclear Technology )

• NTEC

• NPI

Web Portal

• www.afra-nest.org

Futur Plans

• AFRA-NEST e-learning strategy can be developed in

three phases:

• Phase 1 (Short term): web-supplemented courses

• Phase 2 (medium term): web-dependent courses

(blended learning)

• Phase 3 (long term): Distant learning

Futur Plans

Phase 1 (Short term): web-supplemented courses

During this phase, the traditional course structure and

face to-face delivery is maintained, but computer-

mediated learning elements, e.g. online course and

supplement material are uploaded onto AFRA-NEST.

Futur Plans Phase 1 (Short term): web-supplemented courses

This phase could be implemented in three sub-phases

that can go in parallel or in series:

Sub-phase one: Collect as much as possible of e-

learning material and upload it onto AFRA-NEST

according to priority fields

Sub-phase two: Modify some of the existing material to

tailor them to local needs and cultures

Sub-phase three: Locally transform conventional

content into e-learning objects

Futur Plans Phase 1 (Short term): web-supplemented

courses

Sub-phases two and three require the following

implementation plan:

• Find funds from donors

• Create an e-learning task force to oversee the

selection procedures for the content to develop

• Contract with professionals for the developments

of e-learning material according to SCORM

standards

• Deployment onto AFRA-NEST

Futur Plans

Phase 2 (medium term): web-dependent courses

(blended learning)

During this phase, face-to-face teaching will be

supplemented by online, interactive learning

activities.

During this phase, there will be a careful assessment

and redesign of the existent content and staff skills

and work patterns in order to succeed.

Futur Plans

Phase 3 (long term): Distant learning

During this phase, distant students will have the

option to take courses online. Resources centers will

be established to provide online material and on-

demand assistance. This phase requires new skills

from students and staff and a significant commitment

of resources.

Sustainability

Need to prepare a business plan for AFRA-NEST in

order to insure the implementation of the various

phases and sustain the activities.

• Payment of lecturers and developers

• Maintenance of the platform and equipment

• Procurement of any required licenses for software

Future Development of AFRA-NEST

Harmonization and Recognition of RDCs for MSc

programs:

1. Medical Physics (on-going)

2. Nuclear Engineering

3. Nuclear Security

4. Nuclear Medicine

5. Radio-pharmacy

6. Radiobiology

Future Development of AFRA-NEST

Formulation of Modules to form part of existing

academic programs of Universities:

1 Energy Planning

2 Isotope Hydrology

3 Radiation Processing and Entomology

4 Radioisotopes in Nutrition and Communicable

Diseases

Future Development of AFRA-NEST

Expansion of AFRA-NEST into Sub-Networks to cover thematic areas:

1. Sustainable Energy Development (Sub-Network for African Network for Nuclear Power Infrastructure Development)

2. Radiation Medicine ( Sub-Network for Virtual Univ. for Cancer Control network)

3. Radiation Safety and Nuclear Security

4. Food and Agriculture

5. Water Resources Management

Future Development of AFRA-NEST

Enhance relationship with IAEA NKM Section for development and promotion of activities of AFRA-NEST

AFRA-NEST is interested in establishing links with other regional educational networks to serve as Collaborating Members of AFRA-NEST

Collaboration with the regional networks will develop nuclear expertise for the safe, secure and successful application of nuclear technologies in Africa

Expectations

More Active AFRA HLSC HRD & NKM Role

Higher Commitment from the AFRA MSs, (27 NC)

Performance Management at the Countries Level to be

Strengthened,

Close Cooperation & Experience Exchanges with Other

Regional Networks & IAEA;

Thank you