On November 5, a forum 'Going Global: Internationalising Higher Education in Armenia' took place in cooperation with the British Council, the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and ANQA in Yerevan. The event highlighted the educational practices and visions of the Republic of Armenia and the United Kingdom in higher education quality assurance and the development of international cooperation.
Ruben Topchyan, ANQA’s director and Varduhi Gyulazyan, head of the agency’s Institutional and Programme Accreditation Division, presented ANQA’s practice of joint accreditation, emphasising the benefits and impact of joint external review on the establishment and internationalisation of the quality assurance system in education institutions. It was stressed that ANQA, together with the French agency Hcéres, conducted joint accreditation at the French university in Armenia and, in cooperation with the German AQAS agency, launched joint accreditation at the State University of Economics of Armenia.
Joint accreditation processes include approaches co-developed with the participation of Armenian and international experts and employers, ensuring a comprehensive and transparent review. Thanks to joint accreditations, the HEIs have the opportunity to:
- to be reviewed against national and international sector standards, which support the enhancement of the education quality and boost international recognition;
- receive a joint report containing enhancement-led recommendations;
- get two accreditation decisions from both an Armenian and a foreign accreditation agency.
As part of the event, the British experts touched upon transnational education as a means of international cooperation, while the chief researcher from Times Higher Education addressed the indicators of transnational education in the RA HEIs, as well as the activities and outcomes of the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).
At the end of the forum, ANQA and QAA signed a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum aims to deepen the cooperation, contributing to the dissemination of the quality culture and the exchange of knowledge and practice within the educational systems of both countries.