"Quality assurance is a pre-requisite and a hallmark for Government's vision of developing Malta into an international centre of excellence in further and higher education by 2015." This was the key message of a recent National Commission for Higher Education (NCHE) report entitled 'A Quality Assurance Framework for Further and Higher Education in Malta'.
In the report, the NCHE states that a new licensing framework for further and higher education institutions needs to be introduced, and that there should be a link between a licence and quality assurance based on accreditation. It also calls for local accreditation agencies to be established, recognised and regulated in line with international standards and best practices.
It says that the proposed licensing, accreditation and quality assurance framework should be applicable to all public and private providers of further and higher education and their respective programmes. The framework would include regulations defining the process to obtain official recognition for different categories and levels of education provision.
The NCHE recommends the development of: a) a system to carry out accreditation of institutions and their respective programmes; b) provisions to verify and endorse the integrity of foreign accreditation and quality assurance of programmes leading to foreign qualifications; and c) adequate standards for accreditation agencies themselves to operate according to international best practices.
The proposed framework aims to foster a 'quality culture', to improve the quality of education offered to students, to provide a means of accountability for the use of public funds, and make available reliable information about the quality of education providers and their programmes to students, employers and the public.
While no legal framework currently exists for accreditation and quality assurance, on a European level, Malta is committed within the Bologna Process to develop a quality assurance system. The report was prepared in a response to a request Education Minister Louis Galea sent to the commission on November 21 to study the structure of further and higher education in Malta and to recommend improvements. The NCHE subsequently embarked on a thorough review process and consulted with all key stakeholders in the sector.
NCHE chairman Joseph F.X. Zahra stressed that such a framework should be implemented immediately so that the recommendations would be implemented this year. He also urged all stakeholders to participate actively and work together in this process, adding that governing bodies, academics and students need to support the development of a 'quality culture' within institutions.
The NCHE believes that safeguarding quality standards in education is the cornerstone to developing excellence in further and higher education institutions and to attract excellent foreign institutions to Malta. This would help Malta retain its best talent and attract the best international students, which in turn would enhance its future labour force, increase its research capacity, and attract more foreign direct investment. The report may be accessed at the Website www.education.gov.mt/NCHEqualityassurance.htm.
Glossary
• A licence authorises an educational institution to operate in and from Malta, whereas accreditation is the process which recognises an institution's legitimacy or a programme of study's suitability.
• Accreditation is the basis for an institution's licence. It consists of external evaluations made by accreditation agencies, and provides a public certification of accepted minimum quality of the institution and its programmes.
• Quality assurance is an ongoing process that reviews an institution or programme's accreditation status periodically, normally every five years.
• Internal quality assurance processes are developed within institutions to maintain the quality of their curricula, instructors, facilities and resources to deliver a programme and run their institutions.
• External quality assurance processes review individual institutions' internal quality assurance mechanisms and serve to accredit institutions and their programmes.
Mr Sciberras is the CEO of the National Commission for Higher Education.