IQAA held the IV Annual Eurasian Forum on Quality Assurance in Higher Education

On October 28-29, 2021 the Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA) has organized the IV annual Eurasian Forum on Quality Assurance in Higher Education, organized annually since 2018. This year's theme "Internal Quality Assurance System of Higher Education Institutions in the Changing World" covered the most compelling issues and topics in the system of education today. The Forum touched upon many relevant issues in the field of the internal quality assurance system of HEIs, in particular: features of the organization of the internal quality assurance system, new models and concepts of IQA, successful practices, difficulties and ways to ensuring the internal quality of education in HEIs.

The Eurasian Forum on Quality Assurance in Education, which has already become traditional, brought together more than 230 participants, as well as about 20 representatives of foreign organizations. Rectors, vice-rectors and representatives of leading Kazakhstani universities, as well as foreign accreditation agencies and HEIs from Austria, Spain, Lithuania, Germany, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Belgium took part in the forum.

While opening the event, IQAA President Sholpan Kalanova congratulated with opening of the 4th annual Eurasian Forum on Quality Assurance in Higher Education, and noted that the main purpose of this forum is to exchange experience and knowledge between all participants, which will contribute to improving the internal quality assurance system of higher education institutions, as well as create incentives for further fruitful work.

The welcoming speech was given to the Chair of the Committee for Control in the Sphere of Education and Science of the MoES of RK, associate professor Gulzat Kobenova, as well as to the Chairman of the IQAA Supervisory Board, Member of the higher scientific-technical Commission under the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Member of the Supreme Council for Economic Reforms under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ex-Minister of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, professor Zhaksybek Kulekeyev.

In her greetings, Gulzat Kobenova expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA) Kalanova Sh.M. for organizing the fourth Eurasian Forum and being so significant for the education system, and noted that currently the development of an internal quality assurance system is a necessity for higher education institutions of the country. Each HEI should have an independently developed policy and standards of internal quality assurance, which must be harmonized with the current national legislation regulating the higher education system. Noting the importance of the forum for the higher education system, Gulzat Kobenova also emphasized the importance of developing a quality culture of HEIs.

In his greetings, Zhaksybek Kulekeyev noted that internal quality assurance in higher education has become one of the most important ways to monitor and manage quality at the institutional level, while internal quality assurance, taking into account the revision of curricula, can contribute to improving and integrating employment opportunities for graduates, which is relevant in the context of rapid global expansion and diversification of the country's economy. In connection with the pandemic, the higher education system has faced a new reality, and universities have new tasks and requirements to ensure the proper level of quality of education of graduates. This is especially relevant, since the rapid expansion of higher education coverage worldwide has led to an increase in an unemployment rate among graduates. Therefore, today higher education institutions are under greater pressure to better align their educational programs with the realities and needs of the labor market. Zhaksybek Kulekeyev stressed that it is also necessary to adapt the internal quality assurance system to the realities of a new generation with the participation of various interested stakeholders, mastering effective forms of partnership, interaction and exchange of experience.

The opening speaker of the IV annual Eurasian Forum on Quality Assurance in Higher Education was a special guest - Dean of Quality Assurance at the Vienna University of Economics and Management, a well-known international expert on the quality of higher education, who worked in 50 countries, Member of the editorial board of the international journal “Quality in Higher Education” Oliver Vettori (Austria) with a presentation on "The swiss army knife challenge: conflicting functions of IQA”.

In the second and third parts of the Forum, leading national and regional scholars presented the practice of CIS countries, including Kazakhstan, Russian and Azerbaijani internal quality assurance systems and their adaptation to modern realities dictated by the current situation in the world. Presentations were made by: Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Nazarbayev University Aida Sagintayeva and Vice Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Nazarbayev University Jason Sparks; they presented the experience of NU in ensuring and improving academic quality on the example of Graduate School of Education, including its strategy, policy and process.

The rector of the West Kazakhstan Agrarian-Technical University named after Zhangir Khan Askar Nametov shared his experience in ensuring the quality of the organization of the educational process at the university, and also stressed the importance of promoting innovative ideas and training personnel with entrepreneurial thinking. Acting Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and International Cooperation of Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after Safi Utebayev, Aida Baygarayeva shared experience on how the university's partnership with industry is being created on the example of Atyrau Oil and Gas University, considered as the basis for ensuring the quality of academic programs.

President of Astana International University, Chair of the Public Council of the MoES of RK Serik Irsaliev made a presentation on updating the understanding of quality assurance in the university sphere in the post-pandemic conditions. The experience of the Republic of Azerbaijan in using measures to maintain the quality of educational services at the Faculty of Chemistry was shared by the Head of the Internal Quality Assurance System of the Chemical Faculty of Baku State University Ulviyya Hasanova. Also, the Vice-rector for Educational and Methodological Work of the Russian Chemical Technology University named after D.Mendeleev Nikolay Makarov made a presentation on highlighting the experience of Russia in improving the quality of training qualified personnel for the chemical industry.

The forum also reviewed successful foreign practices of the internal quality assurance systems of such countries as Austria, Spain, Lithuania, Germany, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Belgium. Presentations were made by: Director of the Aragon Agency for Quality Assurance and Strategic Foresight in Higher Education (ACPUA), Member of the Board of ENQA Antonio Serrano Gonzalez (Spain), who shared the Spanish experience of the internal quality assurance system. Deputy Director of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC), Ex-member of ENQA Board, ENQA expert for quality agency external reviews and Member of several working groups Aurelija Valeikiene (Lithuania) spoke about the disruptions in the higher education system in Lithuania in connection with Covid-19 and about the aspects of IQA that played an important role during the Covid-19 pandemic. The German experience in using the concept CORE for enhancing the quality based on the results of the case study of FH Munster was shared by the Quality Manager of the Internal Quality Assurance Department of the Munster University of Applied Sciences Petra Pistor (Germany).

Also, among other important speeches was a presentation made by a representative of the world-famous Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). Dr.Alison Felce (the United Kingdom), Manager of Accreditation, Partnerships and Policy of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education delivered a report on sharing the experience of the United Kingdom regarding the longstanding campaign and the upcoming legislation on essay mills in England, as well as on micro-credentials designed to provide students with specific knowledge, skills and competencies.

Member of the IQAA Supervisory Board, Quality Manager of the Department of Internal Quality Assurance of the University of Tartu, ex-Director of International Cooperation of the Estonian Accreditation Agency for Quality Assurance (EKKA), Ex-member of the INQAAHE Directorate (2014-2018) Maiki Udam (Estonia) shared experience on conducting the internal evaluation of curricula on the example of the University of Tartu. Nora Skaburskiene (Lithuania), Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, ex-Director of the Lithuanian Accreditation Agency (2014-2019) presented the difficulties and successes of internal quality assurance management system of Lithuania.

The final presentation of the forum on the topic of "Quality assurance: new insights & trends in a changing world" was made by a special guest, a well-known international expert on the quality of higher education, author of two editions of Manuals on Internal Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Manual for Internal Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Looking for a new quality in HE in new world” (2019) (Belgium), professor of Ghent University Lucien Bollaert (Belgium), who generated an interesting discussion among the participants of the event about the readiness of participants to cope with the challenges of new international insights and trends of quality assurance.

Moderators, the leading managers and representatives of the education sector in Kazakhstan, also played an important role in facilitating the forum. They included such important individuals as the Rector of the Karaganda University of Kazpotrebsoyuz Yerkara Aimagambetov, Chair of the Board-Rector of Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University Darkhan Bilyalov, Chair of the Board-Rector of the International Kazakh-Turkish University named after Akhmet Yassawi Zhanar  Temirbekova, Deputy Chair of the IQAA Accreditation Council, Co-chair of the Commission on Education and Science under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Member of the Republican Council for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, Labor Ombudsman of NCE RK "Atameken" Talgat Doskenov, Chair of the IQAA Accreditation Council, Head of the Research Institute of Legal Policy and Constitutional Legislation of KAZGUU University named after M.S. Narikbayev Sergey Udartsev and the President of IQAA Sholpan Kalanova.

The forum raised various interesting discussions and topical themes related to IQA, which allowed the participants to extract the most relevant information for themselves and ask questions of interest. All sessions were very productive and interactive, and also generated interesting discussions.

The materials of the Forum will be available for the participants of the event on the website and sent by e-mail.