New Trend of Quality Assurance in Cambodia Presented by Dr. Rath - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

13,465 216,053

• 50,000

100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 1995-1996 2012-2013

HE Enrolment

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

6

Universities Quality Assurance Agency

MOE

1.3. Data Sources and Flows

7

MoEYS

• Dept. of HE

(undergraduate)

• Dept. of Scientific

Research (graduate) Scholarship students Fee-paying students ACC Employers Faculties Institute Department Studies

• ffice

(admission) University

• - - - - -

Parent Ministries

1.4. Quality Assurance Structures

Inputs

• student

selection

• staff

recruitment Processes

• assessment
• professional

learning (no) Outputs

• Graduate

rate

Outcomes (no)

• employment
• Satisfaction
• Salaries

8

Not clear:

• value-added? Or,
• fitness-for-purpose? Or,
• fitness-of-purpose? Or,
• value-for-money?

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

• f Education (not

work) (The Prime Minister)

Ministries in charge of Education Institutions responsible for quality assurance (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
• n 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 31 2 Second 2009-2010 56 50 6 Third 2012-2013 55 50 5 Total number of visits 144

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

16

Universities

Quality Assurance Agency 2.1. Agency Model One-Centralized Government Authority

• 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

Continuous quality improvement Focus on the output (student employability Diagnostic assessment

2.4.1. Objectives

Evidence-Standards-Based Approach Consultation with assessed HEIs on assessment report before submitting to ACC Committee Assessment report is publicized Grievance mechanism

2.4.2. Methods

Compulsory Both private and public HEIs Institutional Main and Branch campuses are assessed separately

2.4.3. Scope

Full (5 years) Provisional (3 years) Candidacy (2 years)

2.4.4. Accreditation

Status

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- Interdependent Approaches

(Jane Knight 2011)

zita/aqan/aqafhe 26 Structural Organizational architecture Major actors-govt, professional bodies, NGO, Networks, funders Levels-global, inter- regional, regional, sub- regional

Political

(Declarations Agreement/Convention/Treaties, Summits)

Functional

• alignment of systems

(QA, credit systems, degree levels, recognition, academic years, qualifications framework , ITC platform)and collaborations programs (academic mobility, institutional agreements, research collaborations, COEs, pan-regional university

• 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