Alexander Spiteri National expert in quality assurance for further and higher education, Malta QA Islamic Workshop, North Cyprus 28,29 th May 2015

 2,000 years of colonisation  1964: Independence  1974: Republic within the Commonwealth  2004: Membership in EU  1930s: construction of school inspection system as ‘big brother’ centralised control due to poor teacher status  1990s: rejection of inspection as colonialist legacy, in parallel with increased teacher status  2000: education discourse moves from massification to quality of provision  2006: Education Act amended to foster quality culture throughout education system, including HE.

Licensing Quality Assurance Accreditation Enhanced quality, numbers, personal and national well-being

ENHANCED QUALITY, OUTPUT, NUMBERS INTERNAL EVALUATION EXTERNAL EVALUATION

EQAR Review EQA External review for IQA IQA

 Three self-accrediting institutional providers ◦ University of Malta: EQF 5-8 for 11,000 students ◦ MCAST, national vocational college: EQF 1-6 for 11,000 students ◦ ITS, national hospitality institute: EQF 1-5 for 800 students  3 foreign university campuses or affiliate centres, with more applications in line  30 other private providers of foreign courses, from short FE courses to Ph.D.s  10 state entities and departments that develop courses and outsource provision  55 other providers, mostly micro.  Increased demand for accreditation of distance and digital learning

 One Ministry of Education from pre-primary to vocational, adult and tertiary provision  National Qualifications Framework that gave parity of esteem to vocational and tertiary provision  Parity of esteem and same mechanism for ECTS and ECVET learning credit systems  Same licensing and accreditation mechanisms  Vocational providers aspired to status of tertiary providers  Very close working collaboration between key stakeholders

Col RIM Bureau Veritas ISO 9001 Total Quality Management Common Assessment Framework EQAVET ESG

c.75% of license holders at the time were visited Almost all had explicit or implicit IQA procedures in place. Discussions brought these to consciousness and identified gaps Providers approved of an overarching F&HE QA Framework based on ESG and enriched with EQAVET

ESG + EQAVET IQA1IQA2IQA3IQA4

Developing a national QA framework for F&H education that:  Fosters enhanced quality cultures in providers  Increases the agency, satisfaction and numbers of users  Enhances the international profile and credibility of F&H providers in Malta  Contributes towards Malta becoming a regional provider of excellence in F&H education

1. A Framework based on the ESG and enriched by the EQAVET perspective + focus on financial and institutional fitness for purpose 2. A Framework that contributes to a National Quality Culture 3. IQA that is Fit for Purpose 4. EQA that is a tool for both Development and Accountability 5. The Quality Cycle is at the Heart of the Framework 6. Integrity and Independence of the EQA Process

1. Policy for quality assurance. 2. Institutional and financial fitness for purpose. 3. Design and approval of programmes. 4. Student-centred learning, teaching and assessment. 5. Student admission, progression, recognition and certification. 6. Teaching staff. 7. Learning resources and student support. 8. Information management. 9. Public information. 10. Ongoing monitoring and periodic review of programmes. 11. Cyclical External Quality Review

 First stage: implements the provisions on internal quality assurance and periodic external quality audits in Legal Notice 296 of It refers to further, higher and adult formal education provision in both state and non-state sectors. Third and final version in July  Second stage: review of accreditation procedures, including for elearning and digital learning  Third stage: incorporating QA requirements for informal and non-formal learning and work-based learning.

1. Setting up of Net-QAPE  Unique training opportunities  Constant dialogue at all stages 2. Strengthening Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) systems by providers  with NCFHE support, through Net-QAPE 3. Developing together the External Quality Audit (EQA) objectives, procedures and tools. There was full agreement on the QA Framework, external audit objectives and procedures 4. Piloting the IQA and EQA in the three major state institutions

Maltese stakeholders and service providers ENQA - the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education CEDEFOP – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training AQA - the Austrian Agency for Quality Assurance OAQ - the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education QAA – the UK Quality Assurance Agency RAQAPE - the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education ASIIN – German QA Agency AQUIN – German QA Agency

 Based on ESG+EQAVET,  External review by peers, that include student evaluators  Entity informed 6 months before  Desk analysis of documentation for initial research questions  Entity has 6 weeks in which to give response to draft report  Full report is published, including response by entity on way forward

 IQAs: ◦ work needed to bring to consciousness good practices; ◦ work needed to change mentality from provider of educational service to an educational entity with intrinsic quality culture  IQA Reporting: how to ensure that report not just descriptive but truly self-reflective, identifying needs and proposing sustainable action plan  Peers experts: independent academic peers are more perceptive and demanding than QA agencies  Student evaluators: a valuable contribution  Judgments: need to standardize their interpretations, BUT judgments cannot be compared across different categories of entities  F&H Framework: having one set of standards and interpreting them flexibly for different types of providers WORKS.