The conference on Quality Assurance: Prospect for the Future was attended by the participants of VETs, representatives of the management staff, teachers, managers of quality assurance, employers, as well as students involved in ANQA’s "Students’ Voice" project.
Artur Davtyan, student of Ararat Regional State College, student expert of Goris State Agricultural College after Professor Kh. Yeritsyan participated in the panel discussion about “The impact of accreditation on the VETs’ continuous quality enhancement from the perspectives of college, employer, student" and presented his thoughts from the student's perspective. Avetiq Khosteghyan, student of Gavar State Agricultural College after Academician A. Tamamshev, and student expert of Yerevan State College of Light Industry took part in the second-panel discussion, introducing his observations on the impact of accreditation from an expert's perspective.
During the panel discussions, the students who participated in the "Students’ Voice " project raised the following topics: the necessity of carrying out professional orientation programmes from school age, employers' preference for hiring a student of higher education rather than secondary vocational education in the same profession, students’ approach for choosing a profession based on its attractiveness, not on the demand of the labour market, etc. Let us remind you that ANQA’s " Students’ Voice" project was formed in 2011, as a result of which many students are involved in quality assurance activities each year. It covers a wide range of activities: trained students are involved in accreditation processes as experts, as well as are included in the internal quality assurance system of their educational institutions. In cooperation with ANQA, they also carry out surveys and participate in research works and events organized by international quality assurance organizations.
The activities of the "Student Voice" project’s students contribute to the spread and development of the culture of quality assurance in the Republic of Armenia, in the future, some of the current student experts not only join the ranks of quality assurance specialists in various educational institutions but also become ANQA’s.
ANQA attaches importance to the involvement of students, one of the main beneficiaries of education, in quality assurance activities in various formats, as students ready to realize themselves in the labour market are the outcome of quality education.