Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport Accreditation Committee of Cambodia New Trend of Quality Assurance in Cambodia Presented by Dr. Rath Chhang 1
Contents 1. Quality Assurance System of Higher Education in Cambodia 2. Accreditation in HE as of July 2013 3. Challenges 4. Ways forwards in 2015 2
1 . Quality Assurance System in Cambodia 1.1 . Background • After the 1993 UN-sponsored election, privatization of higher education was introduced; • Enrolments have dramatically increased; • a rapid expansion of the number of higher education institutions (HEIs); • The expansion was not, however, meticulously planned; instead it was pursued for the most part by investors seeking financial benefit (Ayres 2000); • educational experts describe the reform as ‘vibrant and lively’, ‘a cause for concern’, ‘plagued with difficulties’, and a ‘ferment of reform’ (2006, p.10); 3
HE Enrolment 250,000 216,053 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 13,465 - 1995-1996 2012-2013 4
• The establishment of the quality assurance system has reflected the implementation of the rectangular strategies and the government’s policies in order to enhance the quality of higher education and to integrate Cambodia into the ASEAN, regional and global communities. • ACC was founded in 2003, which was under the leadership of the Office of the Council of the Ministers. 5
1.2. Agency Model Two-Independent Authority MOE Quality Assurance Agency Universities 6
1.3. Data Sources and Flows MoEYS Parent Ministries Dept. of HE (undergraduate) Dept. of Scientific ACC Scholarship Research (graduate) students Fee-paying University students Faculties Studies Employers - - - - - - Institute office (admission) Department 7
1.4. Quality Assurance Structures Outcomes Inputs (no) Processes Outputs - student - employment - assessment selection - Graduate - Satisfaction - professional rate - staff - Salaries learning (no) recruitment Not clear: - value-added? Or, - fitness-for-purpose? Or, - fitness-of-purpose? Or, - value-for-money? 8
1.5. Leadership and management • There is no regulatory requirement for management and leadership skills in the promotion of university and college leaders; • There is no specific term for Rectors or other types of leadership; 9
1.6. Supreme National Council of Education Supreme National Council of Education (not work) (The Prime Minister) Institutions Ministries in responsible for charge of quality assurance Education (e.g. ACC, NTB) 10
• Multiple parent Ministries (13); • Cambodian Higher Education Association (CHEA) (does not work well); 11
• Professional bodies do not exist; • There is no official tracking system for student employment in the majority of HEIs; • The unemployment rate among youth 15-24 in Cambodia is 71.9 percent of the total unemployment rate (Morris, 2007) • Teaching faculty moved from HEI to HEI; • Tenure track position is based almost completely on length of service; • Merit-based performance in teaching, research, and community service; • Database Management system for information dissemination does not exist; 12
1.7. Assessment results 1.7.1. Foundation Year Program The FYP assessment results Cycle Year HEIs Full Provisional Non-accreditation First 2006-2007 33 0 31 2 Second 2009-2010 56 50 6 0 Third 2012-2013 55 50 5 0 Total number of 144 visits 13
1.7.2. Institutional Accreditation • In 2012, 5 institutions were granted accreditation: provisional status: 4 candidate status: 1 • Assessment reports were sent to the accredited HEIs and parent ministries. 14
2. Accreditation in HE as of July 2013? 15
2.1. Agency Model One-Centralized Government Authority Universities Quality Assurance Agency 16
• The new government has integrated ACC to be under the MoEYS by the Royal Decree: No. ns/rkt/1013/1060 issued on 30/10/2013; • Not clear transition plan; • Reviewing Standards, accreditation tools and procedures; • Need to improve the quality and training of qualified team leaders and assessors; • Capacity building for ACC Secretariat; • Objectives of accreditation are not clear; • ACC does not have strong “teeth”; 17
• In response to the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework which requires each member country to have the National Qualifications Framework (NQF); • ACC, MoLVT (NTB) and MoEYS (DHE), coordinated by COM, developed the CNQF since December 2010; • It was finalised and singed as a sub-decree for implementation on 28 March, 2014; • A series of trainings on CNQF for HEIs have been conducted. 18
2.3. Revision on the National Standards • Consultative workshop on the National Standards for institutional accreditation with representatives from higher education institutions, Directorate General of Higher Education (DHE), Higher Education Department, Cambodia Higher Education Association, World Bank and UNESCO representatives and other relevant stakeholders; • Decision on the official implementation of the National Standards, January 26, 2015; • Dissemination workshop on the implementation of the National Standards for Institutional Accreditation in March 13-14, 2015. 19
2.4. Assessment Procedures 2.4.1. Objective s Continuous quality improvement Focus on the output (student employability Diagnostic assessment
2.4.2. Methods Evidence-Standards-Based Approach Consultation with assessed HEIs on assessment report before submitting to ACC Committee Assessment report is publicized Grievance mechanism
2.4.3. Scope Compulsory Both private and public HEIs Institutiona l Main and Branch campuses are assessed separately
2.4.4. Accreditation Status Full (5 years) Provisional (3 years) Candidacy (2 years)
2.5. Assessor Recruitment • Decision on Assessor Recruitment Criteria, dated February 26, 2015; • Public announcement of Assessor Recruitment; • Assessor training workshop led by Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) (7-9 May 2015). 24
2.6. Comparison Cambodia QA system with QA Framework for Higher Education (AQAFHE) 25
2.7. Comparison of Cambodian QA system with Three Approaches to Regionalisation- Structural Interdependent Functional Organizational -alignment of systems Approaches architecture (QA, credit systems, degree Major actors-govt, (Jane Knight 2011) levels, recognition, academic professional bodies, NGO, years, qualifications framework Networks, funders , ITC platform)and collaborations programs Levels-global, inter- regional, regional, sub- (academic mobility, regional institutional agreements, research collaborations, COEs, pan-regional university Political (Declarations Agreement/Convention/Treaties, Summits) zita/aqan/aqafhe 26
3. Challenges • Budget plan for conducting assessment and accreditation in 2015 has been canceled; • Qualitative-based and evidence-based assessment tools are new concept for both HEIs and assessors; • There is a lack of trust on quality assurance system among implementers and relevant stakeholders; • The assessment results have not been fully used in developing policies by ministries, development partners and other institutions; • The culture of quality assurance has not yet been embedded in the Cambodian higher education context; • Lack of harmonization between ACC and DHE in terms of QA. 27
4. Ways forwards in 2015 4.1. General work: • Prepare ACC internal regulations; • Continue to enhance capacity of assessors and ACC staff; • Organize field trainings for higher education institutions on accreditation; • Embed the culture of quality in the mindset among relevant stakeholders; • Establish the data-base system for storing accreditation results and assessor profiles; • Develop and revise the guidelines and procedures for institutional accreditation; • Recruit and train newly selected assessors (50 persons ). 28
4.2. Conducting assessment of 11 HEIs • ACC will choose 6 public institutions and 5 private institutions for the diagnostic assessment; • The purpose of the assessment with a view to identifying strengths and weaknesses of the assessed HEIs which can be used as internal policy development for improving the assessment and accreditation process and procedures a model for the other HEIs; • The result of the assessment will not be rated as a pass-fail accreditation status; • ACC technical staff and assessors will be employed in this assessment; • The assessment has commenced in the semester 2 of 2015. 29
Thank you very much for your attention! 30
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