20080411 nche

NCHE recommendations on

Licensing, Accreditation and Quality Assurance

for Further and Higher Education in Malta

Presented by Jacques Sciberras

to the Chevening Alumni Association

11th April, 2008

Malta.

• Massification of higher education;

• More quality and more quality assurance;

• Rapid science and technology developments that require continuous

upgrading;

• Student and workforce mobility, portability of qualifications;

• Research with different degrees of intensity and responsiveness to priorities;

• More private investment and consumption of higher education;

• Foreign direct investment is following governments who invest heavily in

education and research. Authorities must provide adequate information and

Universities are key agents of competitive and entrepreneurial workforces.

Challenges for higher education

• Compliance:

• Ensure a minimum set of standards are observed;

• Regulate low quality programmes and take measures to improve them;

• Transformation:

• Promote overall quality improvement;

• Develop a ‘quality culture’ and systems within institutions;

• Fitness for purpose:

• Relates quality to the outcomes in relation to a purpose/mission as defined by a

provider;

• Consumer/stakeholder protection:

• Inform students, employers and public on quality of providers;

• Value for money:

• Act as a basis for accountability for the use of public funds (inputs vs.

outcomes);

• International recognition:

• Provide adequate basis for recognition of qualifications;

• Integrate qualifications within EHEA and international protocols.

Public policy goals for quality assurance:

• Providers have the primary responsibility for the quality of their provision and should be able to demonstrate their quality at home and internationally;

• The interests of society need to be safeguarded through standards for education;

• The quality of programmes needs to be developed and improved for students and other beneficiaries of further and higher education;

• There needs to be efficient and effective organisational structures within which programmes can be provided and supported;

• Transparency and the use of external expertise in quality assurance processes is important;

• Processes should be developed through which further and higher education providers can demonstrate their accountability, including accountability for public and private investment;

• Quality assurance for accountability purposes is fully compatible with quality assurance for enhancement purposes;

• Processes used should not stifle autonomy, diversity and innovation.

Key principles for sound QA policy:

• UNESCO-Council of Europe (1997) Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region. (Paris, UNESCO; Strasbourg, Council of Europe);

• UNESCO-OECD (2005) Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-Border Higher Education (Paris, UNESCO, OECD);

• ENQA (2005) Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. (Helsinki, The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education);

• the Communique of European Ministers for Higher Education titled “The European Higher Education Area (EHA) – Achieving the Goals” in Bergen on 19 May 2005;

• The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997);

• The National Qualifications Framework (MQC 2007);

• Relevant local legislation particularly the Education Act and all subsidiary legislation under that chapter.

Frameworks to take into account:

• The Treaty Establishing the European Community and the rights for free movement of persons, services and capital established therein (cf. articles 43, 49 and 50 of the EC Treaty);

• The Directive on services in the internal market (2006/123/EC) which does not exclude in scope, services of private education provision;

• The Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications (2005/36/EC);

• The Recommendation on Transnational mobility within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Charter for Mobility (2006/961/EC);

• The Directive on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, pupil (2004/114/EC).

Community law relevant to education regulation:

Institution License

Institution Accreditation

Programme Accreditation

Quality Audits

Accreditation Agencies

The NCHE

highlights the urgent need for a License, Accreditation and Quality Assurance

Framework, and

proposes a 5 pillar structure

Institution License

License Category

University

Higher Education Institution

Higher Education Centre

Further Education Institution

Further Education Centre

University carries specific criteria for use of such title and license.

Education Institution provides accredited education programmes and awards qualifications in Malta.

Education Centre provides accredited education programmes but cannot award qualifications.

Competent authority issues licenses and monitors or intervenes on compliance issues.

Institution License

Quality standards as obligations of license holders:

• license subject to valid accreditation status,

• roles and responsibilities of the head/governing board of an institution,

• adequate resources and competences,

• subject specific expert verification,

• advertising and information to students and the public at large,

• student enrolment (local, overseas, third country nationals), necessary student

records, and obligations of students and institutions towards each other,

• student support obligations,

• specific obligations (use of title, etc) of further and higher education institutions,

• branches and agency arrangements,

• exemptions for specific operators to require a license.

Institution License


Accreditation

The process by which a (non-)governmental body

evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme

in order to formally recognize it as having met certain predetermined minimal criteria or standards.

The result of this process is usually the awarding ofa status (a yes/no decision), of recognition, and sometimes of a license to

operate within a time-limited validity.

(OECD)

Institution License


Institutional Accreditation

Self Accrediting

Non Self Accrediting

+ Level:

University

Higher Education Institution

Higher Education Centre

Further Education Institution

Further Education Centre

Self Accrediting status: the ability and repute to accredit its own qualifications and only be subjected to external quality audits.

Non Self Accrediting status: the requirement to seek external accreditation for programmes and qualifications by an Accreditation Agency.

University/Institution/Centre/HE or FE the status depends on staff profile, type of programmes and qualifications, resources, etc.

Accreditation Agency accredits an institution as capable of delivering certain types of educational programmes and awarding qualifications.

Institution License



Further/Higher Programme: locally awarded qualifications, accredited in Malta.

Foreign Approved Programmes: programmes delivered locally and recognised locally as awarded by a foreign institution and accredited under a recognised foreign accreditation body.

Qualification NQF mapping: information regarding the recognised NQF level of the qualification that will result from the programmes delivered and the inclusion in an MQC qualifications register.

Accreditation Agency accredits a programme and its qualification in terms of quality and level for official recognition purposes.


Further Education Programme

Higher Education Programme

Approved Foreign Programme

+ Qualification Level:

Further – NQF Levels 1-5

Higher – NDF Levels 6-8

Professional – NQF Levels 5-8

Institution License



Quality Audits

Regulations regarding Quality Assurance

• internal and external Quality Assurance standards

• forms of external quality assurance:a. Institutional quality audit (accreditation 1st time, review every 5 years)b. Programme quality audit (accreditation 1st time, review every 5 years)

• frequency of review cycle proposed to be that of 5 years

• standards for quality audits and accreditation decisions

• reports – content and publication

Institution License



Quality Audits


Regulations for Accreditation Agencies in Malta

• recognised accreditation agencies in Malta,a. NCHE for all F+HE institutionsb. NCHE for all HE programmesc. NCHE for all FE sixth form programmesd. MQC for all FE vocational and professional programmes

• compliant with European Standards and Guidelines for QA agencies:

• an accreditation committee within NCHE which meets independence criteria for ENQA membership;

• objectives and functions of Accreditation Agencies.

Institution License



Quality Audits


Step 1: Provider seeks programme accreditation and subsequently institutional accreditation

Process

Institution License



Quality Audits



Step 2: Provider obtains institutional license to operate and provide specific courses in specific categories

Process

Institution License



Quality Audits




Step 3: Provider undergoes external quality audits every 5 years to assess the accreditation status of both its programmes and the institutional as a whole

Process

Institution License



Quality Audits




Step 3: Provider undergoes external quality audits every 5 years to assess the accreditation status of both its programmes and the institutional as a whole

Step 4: Accreditation Agencies feed the public with information of the outcomes of accreditation and quality audits and make quality improvement recommendations to the institutions and policy makers

Process

MQRIC MQC

NCHE

Qualifications

Institution License



Quality Audits

Thank You

[email protected]
