Transcript Quality Assurance within the NCFHE
Alexander Spiteri National expert in quality assurance for further and higher education, Malta QA Islamic Workshop, North Cyprus 28,29 th May 2015
2,000 years of colonisation 1964: Independence 1974: Republic within the Commonwealth 2004: Membership in EU 1930s : construction of school inspection system as ‘big brother’ centralised control due to poor teacher status 1990s : rejection of inspection as colonialist legacy, in parallel with increased teacher status 2000 : education discourse moves from massification to quality of provision 2006 : Education Act amended to foster quality culture throughout education system, including HE.
Quality Assurance
Enhanced quality, numbers, personal and national well-being
Licensing
INTERNAL EVALUATION EXTERNAL EVALUATION ENHANCED QUALITY, OUTPUT, NUMBERS
EQAR Review EQA External review for IQA IQA
Three self-accrediting institutional providers ◦ University of Malta: EQF 5-8 for 11,000 students ◦ ◦ MCAST, national vocational college: EQF 1-6 for 11,000 students ITS, national hospitality institute: EQF 1-5 for 800 students 3 foreign university campuses or affiliate centres, with more applications in line 30 other private providers of foreign courses, from short FE courses to Ph.D.s 10 state entities and departments that develop courses and outsource provision 55 other providers, mostly micro. Increased demand for accreditation of distance and digital learning
One Ministry of Education from pre-primary to vocational, adult and tertiary provision National Qualifications Framework that gave parity of esteem to vocational and tertiary provision Parity of esteem and same mechanism for ECTS and ECVET learning credit systems Same licensing and accreditation mechanisms Vocational providers aspired to status of tertiary providers Very close working collaboration between key stakeholders
Col RIM EQAVET
ESG
Common Assessment Framework Total Quality Management Bureau Veritas ISO 9001
• • • • c.75% of license holders at the time were visited Almost all had explicit or implicit IQA procedures in place. Discussions
brought these to consciousness
and identified gaps Providers approved of an overarching F&HE QA Framework based on ESG and enriched with EQAVET
IQA1 IQA4
ESG + EQAVET
IQA2 IQA3
Developing a national QA framework for F&H education that: Fosters enhanced quality cultures in providers Increases the agency, satisfaction and numbers of users Enhances the international profile and credibility of F&H providers in Malta Contributes towards Malta becoming a regional provider of excellence in F&H education
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A Framework based on the ESG and enriched by the EQAVET perspective
+ focus on financial and institutional fitness for purpose
A Framework that contributes to a National Quality Culture IQA that is Fit for Purpose EQA that is a tool for both Development and Accountability The Quality Cycle is at the Heart of the Framework Integrity and Independence of the EQA Process
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Policy for quality assurance.
Institutional and financial fitness for purpose.
Design and approval of programmes.
Student-centred learning, teaching and assessment.
Student admission, progression, recognition and certification.
Teaching staff.
Learning resources and student support.
Information management.
Public information.
Ongoing monitoring and periodic review of programmes.
Cyclical External Quality Review
First stage : implements the provisions on internal quality assurance and periodic external quality audits in Legal Notice 296 of 2012. It refers to further, higher and adult formal education provision in both state and non-state sectors. Third and final version in July 2015.
Second stage : review of accreditation procedures, including for elearning and digital learning Third stage : incorporating QA requirements for informal and non-formal learning and work-based learning.
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Setting up of Net-QAPE Unique training opportunities Constant dialogue at all stages Strengthening Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) systems by providers with NCFHE support, through Net-QAPE Developing together the External Quality Audit (EQA) objectives, procedures and tools. • There was full agreement on the QA Framework, external audit objectives and procedures Piloting the IQA and EQA in the three major state institutions
• • • • • • • • • Maltese stakeholders and service providers ENQA - the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education CEDEFOP – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training AQA - the Austrian Agency for Quality Assurance OAQ - the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education QAA – the UK Quality Assurance Agency RAQAPE - the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education ASIIN – German QA Agency AQUIN – German QA Agency
Based on ESG+EQAVET, External review by peers, that include student evaluators Entity informed 6 months before Desk analysis of documentation for initial research questions Entity has 6 weeks in which to give response to draft report Full report is published, including response by entity on way forward
IQAs : ◦ ◦ work needed to bring to consciousness good practices; work needed to change mentality from provider of educational service to an educational entity with intrinsic quality culture IQA Reporting : how to ensure that report not just descriptive but truly self-reflective, identifying needs and proposing sustainable action plan Peers experts : independent academic peers are more perceptive and demanding than QA agencies Student evaluators : a valuable contribution Judgments entities : need to standardize their interpretations, BUT judgments cannot be compared across different categories of F&H Framework : having one set of standards and interpreting them flexibly for different types of providers WORKS.
Dr. Alexander Spiteri (National expert in quality assurance for further and higher education in Malta)