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The University of London template for working collaboratively with independent Recognised Teaching Centres was reviewed and enhanced in 2018. This case study addresses this ongoing work in South Asia, where thousands of our students have completed their studies through attendance at one of our 40 centres throughout the region - in Pakistan (29), Bangladesh (7), Sri Lanka (3) and the Seychelles (1). The University’s policy scaffolds have always stopped short of accreditation, affiliation, or validation, but still offer a meaningful and sustainable pathway to a formal connection with the University. The teaching centre network exemplifies UoL’s unique function to support and build capacity, sitting hand in hand with, and enriching, rather than replacing, local provision.
Despite some challenges around teaching culture and continuous QA, the system has unquestionable strengths. Key characteristics involve local/regional face-to-face provision; teachers who are familiar with the local cohort and culture of learning and teaching within their own countries; various benefits for the local education economy, capacity and local institutions seeking to benchmark their provision and attain university status.
Our engagement has:
Multidirectional impacts have been afforded through these partnerships, supporting multiple SDGs.
In terms of educational impact, the University’s engagement with centres is mostly focused academically – for instance to reduce potential clashes in teaching cultures and expectations; to foster development of appropriate pedagogy; to ensure institutions are aware of the minimum achievements students must demonstrate; to tailor their own learning support accordingly; and also to identify, support and share best practice. In support of these goals, UoL operates programmes of annual visits to centres, learning and teaching workshops and conferences, alongside multiple other development initiatives including models for tutor accreditation.
The involvement of local centres is also highly beneficial in the local delivery of skills training, careers advice and opportunities, in perceived programme coherence; student engagement; teaching, supervision and assessment practices; and relevance to local employers. Further benefits are yielded through remedial English courses, and in importing an international and comparative dimension to study and thus promoting global citizenship.
Research into the impact of our engagement with RTCs has identified five main impacts:
Societally, and specific to SDGs 4, 5, 8, 10 and 16, multiple case studies relating to alumni who attended these centres yield a wider story of our ongoing impact, as they contribute to longer-term societal development within their local and national contexts, often at senior level. Recent examples include two Pakistani students shortlisted for Social Impact awards in 2021 for their work on sustainable development, others who advance economic empowerment of youth and harnessing excluded youth potential via the UNDP, a number of lawyers in humanitarian law and human rights, and specifically as advocates for women and child rights, one of the most prominent being Dipu Moni, Minister of Education in Bangladesh, who has long worked for women’s rights and entitlements in Bangladesh’s economic and social development.
