On November 4 the issues that bother the entire university community of Ukraine were discussed by the participants of the round table «New accreditation procedure for educational programs: how to improve the quality of technical education?», which took place in Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. It was organized and conducted by National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAHEQA) and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
«The Accreditation System we suggest isn't new. It works in countries that have high-quality universities. One of its main differences is that we pay attention not to the result, but to the accreditation process. This is great if at the end of this process the result is good but if there are problems this means it's too late to talk about something. Therefore, the accreditation process is so important for universities. In addition, we look at the actual state of affairs in Higher Educational Institutions but not on statements...» Serhiy Kvit, the head of National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, who first spoke at the meeting said.
The crucial was idea that Agency is not only a review body but an organization the main task of which is to help Higher Education Institutions to establish close cooperation with them. This idea was expressed by Serhiy Kvit and other representatives of NAHEQA. However, he paid attention of the audience on the fact that some programs may not receive accreditation. For example, if it is fictitious, that is, when there are classes that are not held or the university ignores one of the quality criteria etc.
Michael Vinnitskiy, the head of the secretariat of the Agency, told about the new paradigm of educational programs accreditation. By the way, he also formulated the main idea of accreditation which is to provide high-quality education in Ukrainian universities. He also gave the definition for high-quality education: « High-quality education is one that corresponds to the established goals». And these goals must correspond to the mission and strategies of Higher Education Institution which, in turn, works to meet the specific needs of society and the state.
The first vice-rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and academician of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yuriy Yakymenko also spoke at the round table meeting. He told about the experience of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in the internal accreditation of programs, which, in fact, is one of the most important components of the entire organization of the university's educational process.
Finally, Bohdan Morklyanyk, the member of NAHEQA, informed about industry expert councils and their role in the process of accreditation of industry expert councils.
61 representatives of the university took part in the round table. The issue of accreditation of educational programs is now extremely urgent for them, so they asked lots of questions. Moreover, for those who could not come to Kyiv on November 4, an online broadcast was organized on the website of the university. Actually, for such a dialogue (or rather a polylogue) the round table format was chosen.
« We are now at the beginning of a very important mission that is the establishment of an independent assessment of the quality of education and independent accreditation of educational programs. This is a necessary condition for the implementation of our higher education in the European educational space. Of course, it is very important that NAHEQA already works, but this is a common matter of universities and the Agency. We must go forward together, resolve certain inconsistencies in order to improve this system and to create a real modern European higher education system. This is the responsibility of our university as well as the entire industry.» Michael Zhurovskyy, the rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and academician of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, whose presentation was the last at the round table, said.
In the photo: Serhiy Kvit giving his speech.