Since March 5, the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education officially entered into force. This UN treaty makes academic mobility programs more fluid and makes it possible to seize employment opportunities on an international scale.
It was following its ratification, on December 5, 2022, by a 20th Member State that this first UN global treaty on higher education became a reality. It should revolutionize the way countries think regarding access to higher education and international mobility.
Today, of the 235 million students worldwide, 6 million study abroad, compared to 2 million in 2000. More than half of these 6 million study outside their region of origin, a figure which is expected to double over the next decade. Also, this global convention will significantly contribute to making academic mobility and the recognition of qualifications a reality for millions of people around the world. Indeed, according to UN press release, it establishes universal principles for the fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications and qualifications giving access to higher education and offering study and employment opportunities. Including provisions on non-traditional ways of learning, the Global Convention also facilitates the recognition of qualifications, prior learning and periods of study carried out at a distance.
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On paper, “a student from Côte d’Ivoire, a country that has already ratified the convention, might go to Norway, the first country in Europe to have ratified it, and benefit from the same facilities and an easier process recognition of his skills and diplomas than a European student. And it’s a big step forward for global mobility,” explains Stefania Giannini, UNESCO DGA for Education. The treaty leaves the latitude to States and universities to carry out verifications of qualifications and to apply the principles of transparency in order to fight once morest false certificates and fraudulent processes.
It was in November 2019, at the 40th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, that this convention was adopted. But it was only three years later, last December, that it reached the required quorum of States having ratified for its entry into force. A total of 21 countries have ratified the convention. These countries are Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, France, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestine, Romania, United Kingdom, Holy See, Slovakia, Sweden and Tunisia. The ratification process continues, as an increasing number of Member States undertake to ratify the Global Convention. By the end of the year, the UN hopes to reach between 30 and 40 countries that will have ratified this treaty. What regarding Morocco?
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According to a source at the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Morocco might become the 22nd country to ratify this global convention since the examination of the convergence of the provisions of this treaty with the legal and national regulatory framework is at an advanced stage. It should be noted that Morocco is already a signatory, since February 2022, of the convention on studies, certificates, diplomas and degrees in higher education in the Arab States. This Convention, which falls within the framework of UNESCO regional conventions, is also an integral part of the World Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications relating to Higher Education.
