International accreditation practices discussed at CHEA conference

This week’s Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) conference in Washington DC has been a productive event for QAA, with much to celebrate.

We were delighted to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Chile’s National Accreditation Commission (CNA). This was followed by QAA’s Chief Executive, Vicki Stott, and Director of Membership, Quality Enhancement & Standards, Dr Ailsa Crum’s well-received session on the UK Quality Code.

Tying up QAA’s week in Washington, Director of International & Professional Services, Eduardo Ramos, delivered a thought-provoking session on critical approaches to quality assurance. Presenting an overview of ENQA’s European Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance (ESG), Eduardo encouraged the audience to consider quality assurance in their own contexts.

Discussion centred on how quality is defined differently in different parts of the world, with current international accreditation practices risking promoting conformity to Western standards. The session was brought to an end by discussing areas of good practice, such as QAA’s localisation approach, where we aim to work in collaboration with local quality agencies. Multilateralism was also identified as a positive area of practice, with projects like ACE Impact working to build capacity of higher education institutions in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast with the support of World Bank and Agence française de développement (AFD) funding.

Going forward, Eduardo emphasised the importance of allocating adequate resources to regional quality networks, with close global collaboration key to enhancing the quality of education delivered worldwide.