At the initiative of the “National Center for Professional Education Quality” Foundation (ANQA), a conference dedicated to the development of vocational education and training institutions’ quality assurance systems was held at the American University of Armenia.
Zhanna Andreasyan, deputy minister of RA MoESCS, participated in the conference. Zhanna Andreasyan noted that the Ministry of ESCS works with ANQA and observes the accreditation process’s nuances and peculiarities so that the future processes of quality assurance would be more targeted.
The deputy minister also added that they have set an ambitious goal, "As you know, the state program for the development of education until 2030 is under discussion. It has a special emphasis on the field of vocational education and training. Particularly, we have planned that 90% of vocational education and training institutions’ graduates should work in their profession." Ruben Topchyan, ANQA’s director, stated in his speech, "When it comes to accreditation, we don't want you to show us reports, we want you to present your progress, how you work and what you've achieved." During the conference’s panel discussions, special emphasis was placed on the expansion of job qualifications, the necessity of closing some professions, the importance of employer-education institution cooperation, the necessity of carrying out professional orientation programmes from school age, and other issues. At the end of the meeting with VETs, Lana Karlova, coordinator of National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia, gave a speech. Welcoming the attendees, Lana Karlova mentioned the importance of organizing such meetings, as cooperation with various organizations in the field of education contributes to the development of both educational organizations and institutes, as well as the field. Referring to the Erasmus + programmes, she added that during 2021-2027, within the scope of the capacity development programme, Erasmus + will allocate funds to VETs.
The purpose of the conference was to have discussions with the VETs’ representatives and stakeholders about the impact of the accreditation process on the development of secondary vocational educational institutions. During the event, the results of external review processes and existing challenges from the perspective of representatives of governing bodies and managers of quality assurance, as well as experts’ capacity-building in the RA and its impact on VETs’ internal quality assurance system were discussed.