At the 2025 Association for Faculty Enrichment in Learning and Teaching (AFELT) International Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Nairobi, AKU’s Network of Quality, Teaching and Learning (QTL_net) played a defining role in shaping the regional conversation on higher education transformation. Throughout the conference, AKU stood out for its cohesive, future-oriented approach and was widely recognized as a model for how institutions in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) can meaningfully advance faculty development.

AFELT​ is a leading regional network dedicated to strengthening teaching quality, faculty development, and pedagogical innovation across African higher education institutions. Its annual International Conference is one of Africa’s most significant platforms for advancing evidence-informed teaching practices. The 2025 theme, Evolving Landscapes in Higher Education: Adapting to Changing Roles in Facilitating Learning, closely aligned with QTL_net’s work and long-standing priorities. 

Much of the regional debate revolved around questions AKU has been confronting for years and more recently with renewed agency. These include generative AI in teaching, designing practical digital pedagogy ecosystems, strengthening recognition and mentorship structures, and embedding reflective practice in faculty development. QTL_net led sessions across these domains, making the delegation one of the most active contributors at the event.

What distinguished AKU’s contributions was not only the number of sessions delivered by colleagues from Pakistan and Kenya, but the coherence of the narrative running through them. Across diverse topics—assessment, quality assurance practices, digital learning design and faculty development models—presenters repeatedly returned to a shared premise: that higher education transformation depends fundamentally on how institutions choose to support teaching. 

This case was made most explicitly in a session led by Ms Jannat Karim Khan, Executive Officer, QTL_net, and Dr Jane Rarieya, Interim Vice Provost QTL_net and Dean, IED East Africa. Drawing on QTL_net as a case study, they examined how teaching and learning centers can serve as catalysts for sector-wide change in LMICs. They explained that the real leverage for transforming universities lies in elevating teaching as a core institutional value, extending influence through mentorship-based regional models, and embedding systems that support reflective, evidence-informed instructional practice. In doing so, it shifted the conversation away from “tools and trends” toward “systems and impact,” challenging the assumption that innovation must begin with new technologies or curricula.

Strategic engagement also featured prominently at the conference. Dr Khairunnisa Ajani, Director Teaching and Learning, QTL_net, outlined how faculty development centers must redefine their mandate amid rapidly shifting higher education ecosystems. Discussions between Dr Ajani and Mr Faisal Notta, Director Quality Enhancement Cell, with Prof Wanja Tenambergen, Chairperson AFELT, and other leaders also set the stage for future collaboration and promising regional opportunities.

AFELT 2025 underscored what AKU’s work has been signaling for years - that sustained, structured investment in teaching and learning can set institutional and regional standards. QTL_net did not merely participate in the conference; it shaped its intellectual direction and affirmed AKU’s standing as a regional gold standard in faculty development and educational innovation.