ANQA’s Board of Trustees held regular session

On May 5, 2025, ANQA’s Board of Trustees held regular session, addressing the following agenda items:

1. Hearing and evaluation of ANQA Director's Activity Report;   
2. ANQA Financial Report 2024 (budget execution);
3. Regulation on the formation of the Expert Panel;
4. Procedure on the Submission of Complaints Concerning the Accreditation Process;
5. Internal Disciplinary Rules;
6. Auditor Selection for the Activities 2024.

Ruben Topchyan, director, and Varduhi Gyulazyan, head of the Institutional and Programme Accreditation Division, presented the director's Activity Report 2024, highlighting the activities and achievements aligned with the objectives of ANQA’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
Particularly, in the reporting year:

1. Institutional accreditation of four HEIs and 22 VET institutions was organised, with joint accreditation also conducted.
2. The Accreditation Committee made a decision on the institutional accreditation of four HEIs and 16 VET institutions.
3. ANQA’s staff conducted a total of 30 institutional and academic programme (AP) monitorings in education institutions, comprising 20 VET institutions and 10 HEIs.
4. As part of the accreditation processes, ANQA carried out AP observations and held professional talks, covering a total of 75 APs in four HEIs and 22 VET institutions.
5. ANQA organised discussions on best practices in the AP enhancement through the presentation of 10 best practices during five workshops, engaging 500 representatives from VET institutions and HEIs.
6. ANQA provided training for a total of 270 participants to ensure the effective implementation of accreditation processes.
7. In 2024, 20 experts (local, international, and students) took part in HEI accreditation processes, and 88 in VET institutions.
8. ANQA had discussions with the German Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programs (AQAS) on joint and dual accreditation, as part of which a workshop was held for about 60 representatives of 28 accredited HEIs.
9. As part of the cooperation with the British Council, the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and ANQA, a forum on international dual accreditations took place, attended by 50 representatives.
10. At ANQA’s initiative, Armenia welcomed representatives from the European Training Foundation as part of the ETF Forum for Quality Assurance in VET titled "Quality Assurance of Employment-oriented Formative Assessment". 
11. ANQA's activities continued to be actively covered in the reporting year, achieving greater visibility on the official website and social media platforms.
12. ANQA engaged in proactive legislative activities, notably the submission of a comprehensive package of proposals on the RA Draft Law on Higher Education and Science, as well as five internal legal acts regulating ANQA’s activities for approval.
13. ANQA carried out systematic analyses, particularly as part of the ETF Forum for Quality Assurance in VET titled "Quality Assurance of Employment-oriented Formative Assessment", the Erasmus + Micro-GEAR project and through the follow-up report based on ENQA’s (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) recommendations.
14. ANQA continued its membership in ENQA, EQAR, INQAAHE, CEENQA and DEQAR.
15. Armenia became the co-chair of the BFUG TPG C on Quality Assurance.
16. ANQA was actively engaged in five ERASMUS+ projects (SMARTI, T-GREEN, Micro-GEAR, KPI4HEI, DeSIRe).
17. ANQA’s nine specialists participated in international capacity building trainings.

The achievements of activities 2024 were also presented:

• the introduction and successful implementation of a joint and dual accreditation model in collaboration with European quality assurance agencies;
• the reform of the accreditation policy with a focus on substantive enhancement;
• the ensurance of transparency and international visibility of the QA processes;
• the systemic support geared towards the institutions’ development of internal capacities;
• the promotion of mechanisms for the evaluation of progress and student-centred enhancements;
• the expert panel reports serving as important guidelines for the sustainable development of education institutions;
• ANQA’s experts leveraging their skills to develop institutions' internal quality assurance systems and improve enhance APs;
• the expansion of stakeholder engagement at the national and regional levels, increasing the scope of sectoral dialogue on education quality and building a basis for stable trust;
• the greater accessibility and accountability of ANQA’s publicly shared information;
• the strengthening of strategic cooperation with ETF, providing a basis for a new stage in the development of the VET system;
• the expansion of the legal framework for education quality, aligning national approaches with international requirements;
• the establishment of a new analytical framework for micro-credentials and AI, contributing to the data-driven education policy development;
• the international recognition of ANQA’s formats as best practice;
• the introduction of innovative approaches for the enhancement of education quality.

For the next agenda item, R. Topchyan presented the 2024 budget revenues and expenditures, which were generated and executed from state budget grants, accreditations, trainings, and international projects.
Ofelya Petrosyan, ANQA’s lawyer, introduced the new Regulation on the formation of the Expert Panel, developed in response to the requirements of a number of legal acts regulating ANQA’s activities, particularly the Statute on State Accreditation, the Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Manual for the External Review of RA’s Tertiary Level Institutions.
The key changes concern the expert recruitment, the quality requirements, the capacities of the formed expert panel, its rights and responsibilities, termination of powers and principles of activity.
As the next agenda item, ANQA’s lawyer presented the Procedure on the Submission of Complaints Concerning the Accreditation Process, designed to uphold the stakeholders' right to submit complaints about accreditation processes, thereby ensuring the continuous enhancement and continuity of external quality assurance processes.
ANQA’s lawyer also highlighted the need for new disciplinary rules, prompted by reforms to the Labour Code of the Republic of Armenia and other relevant legal acts, as well as the peculiarities of ANQA's activities.
Ofelya Petrosyan introduced "AVC Consulting and Audit" LLC, the only company to submit a bid in response to the invitations sent out for audit services.