On May 5, ANQA organised an exchange of practice as part of ENQA’s progress visit. The meeting's thematic areas were proposed by ANQA, based on the current agenda of the RA education reforms and the strategic priorities of the quality assurance system.
The discussion focused on three key topics:
- International practice of ex-ante accreditation, particularly in countries where new academic programme quality is evaluated prior to implementation. The connection between ex-ante accreditation and licensing, the criteria applied and the subsequent monitoring mechanisms were also addressed.
- Self-audit of academic programmes as a tool for evaluating the implementation of follow-up plans during the accreditation process. A particular emphasis was placed on the ESG requirements for the periodic review of programmes and data-driven management.
- International accreditation standards for medical and related professions, peculiarities of the decision-making process given the sector’s high risk and responsibility.
ENQA experts Almantas Šerpatauskas, head of the National Education Programmes Unit at Lithuania’s Education Exchanges Support Foundation, and Michèle Wera, senior staff member at the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), shared insights into their countries' legislative regulations, quality assurance tools and standards.
ANQA invited higher education representatives to foster a broad, multi-stakeholder dialogue. Among the participants were representatives from the RA MoESCS Higher Education and Science Committee, members of the Accreditation Committee, as well as vice-rectors and quality assurance managers from Yerevan State University, Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, M. Nalbandyan State University of Shirak, Gavar State University, Yerevan State Medical Universities, Armenian Medical Institute, University of Traditional Medicine and "Mkhitar Gosh" Armenian-Russian International University.
Ruben Topchyan, ANQA’s director highlighted: “The topics were carefully selected to reflect the priorities of Armenia's education policy development. Ex-ante accreditation, self-audit and sectoral accreditation are tools that can increase trust in new academic programmes, enhancement outcomes and the credible award of qualifications”.