Independent Kazakh Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA)
Independent Kazakh Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA) was established as a non-governmental and non-profit organization in 2008. The establishment of the first Kazakhstani independent quality assurance agency was fully supported by the academic community of the country. The creation of IQAA, in many respects, has given impetus to the establishment and further development of the national system of independent accreditation in Kazakhstan.
In 2008-2009, IQAA studied international experience and best practices on accreditation, based on which IQAA developed its standards and criteria of accreditation, guidelines for an external review of educational organizations and study programmes, the Code of Honor for accreditation experts and other necessary documents.
Today IQAA is a leading quality assurance agency in Kazakhstan in terms of the number of conducted accreditation procedures. The Agency conducts institutional and specialized (programme) accreditation of higher education institutions, educational research centers and TVET organizations.
Mission of IQAAisto contribute to improvement of quality of education, to increase competitiveness of Kazakhstani educational institutions at national and international levels and to promote a quality culture in educational organizations and public consciousness.
Policy of IQAA: IQAA directs its activity at satisfying the needs of all stakeholders – students, their parents, academic staff, educational organizations, state bodies, employers and the public at large.
Main activities of the Agency:
participation in the preparation of normative legal acts to assess the quality of education and other related issues of legal regulation, which are developed and authorized by the legislative authorities and professional organizations;
informational and methodical support of Kazakhstani universities on the issues regarding the quality of education in line with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG);
organization and conduct of the institutional and programme accreditation of educational organizations based on the ESG , both in Kazakhstan and abroad;
organization and conduct of the educational audit, assessment and benchmarking of educational organizations or their separate structural units;
organization and conduct of international, republican and regional conferences, seminars and workshops on the topics of quality assurance in education, management and administration of educational institutions;
development of standards and criteria of institutional and programme accreditation in the field of higher education and TVET;
development of educational, learning and professional programmes and standards for educational organizations;
training of experts and their certification;
provision of consulting services in the field of education;
participation in international programmes, including projects in the field of education and science with the European and international organizations;
international cooperation with quality assurance agencies and organizations, membership in international organizations in this field of activities;
interaction with stakeholders (employers, student organizations, etc.) in quality assessment of educational organizations;
research activities in the field of education, provision of analytical services;
information and publishing activities, including the publication of learning and methodological, as well as the research literature; publication of journals, books, brochures and other literature, their distribution.
To implement these activities IQAA has a highly qualified and dedicated staff. Among them three Doctors of Sciences, four Candidates of Sciences (PhD) and five Masters of Sciences. 25% of staff fluently speak English.
International cooperation
Internationalization and raising public awareness about European and international innovations in the field of quality assurance is one of the focus of IQAA activities aimed at the integration of Kazakhstani sector of higher education into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Participation in international events and joint projects is considered as an important factor to maintain the Agency’s activities at the high level in line with the international trends in the field of higher education and quality assurance.
By declaring its commitment to the general values of quality in the global educational area, IQAA strives to be a part of international networks for quality assurance in education. Representatives of IQAA participate in conferences and seminars conducted by international organizations in this field.
IQAA is:
an affiliate member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA);
a full member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE);
a full member of the Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA);
a full member of the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN);
a full member of the CHEA International Quality Group;
aco-founder organization and a member of the Executive Committee of the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence.
IQAA is actively involved in international cooperation. The Agency has 12 signed memoranda on cooperation with the following foreign QA agencies:
The Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ, Austria, 2013);
The Accreditation, Certification and Quality assurance Institute (ACQUIN, Germany, 2013);
Accreditation Agency for Degree Programs in Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science, the Natural Sciences (ASIIN, Germany, 2013);
Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools-Commisions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS, USA, 2013);
The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP, USA, 2013);
Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA, Germany, 2013);
Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency (EKKA, Estonia, 2014);
Aragon Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ACPUA, Spain, 2015);
National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance (ANQA, Armenia, 2015);
Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC, Lithuania, 2015);
The Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA, Poland, 2015);
The Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Accreditation Agency” (NAA, Russia, 2016).
One of the areas of internationalization is participation of international experts in the IQAA’s review panels, which is an obligatory requirement for all expert panels. To date, approximately 150 international experts from 23 European countries, as well as the USA, Malaysia, and Turkey have participated in the external reviews conducted by IQAA.
In 2016, IQAA has joined the consortium on the Erasmus+ project “Promoting internationalization of research by means of creation and introducing of the cycle 3 quality assurance system (C3QA) in accordance with the European Integration Agenda” with the French University in Armenia (UFAR) and other educational and public institutions.
IQAA strives to become an organization, acting and recognized not only at national level, but also at international level. The Agency works on development of new ideas and forms for quality assurance in educational institutions, on dissemination of a good foreign practice for enhancement of activities of educational institutions.
To find more about IQAA, please visit our website which is available in English.
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