On February 13-14, ANQA held training courses for experts. The two-day courses aimed to prepare experts of relevant professions for institutional accreditation. They should be able to combine facts gathered from the VET institutions, analyse and identify major institutional issues, recognize best practices and provide targeted recommendations for enhancement.
At the beginning of the training, the participants discussed the concept of quality. ANQA’s Director Ruben Topchyan noted that quality is a dynamic phenomenon, characterized by an endless movement. Dr. Topchyan also highlighted the importance of experts focusing on the flexibility of VET institutions and their capacity to follow the requirements of the time as part of the institutional accreditation.
During the training, the participants received information about the given VET institution for the pilot external review. Their task was to analyse the provided information, conduct a desk review and draw questions that would help make sound observations and conclusions about the institution’s institutional capacities.
The following issues were under discussion:
- determining the principles for evaluating the institutions’ activities and academic programmes;
- understanding whether students become professional upon graduation and evaluating the achievement of academic programmes’ outcomes.
It was highlighted that expert would be able to formulate the right questions, get information that can be generalized, forming an objective understanding of the institution.
It should be noted that ANQA’s training courses for experts are conducted periodically. Upon successful completion of the course, the specialists are included in ANQA’s expert panel, and later take part in accreditation processes.