The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation held a hearing on “The year of accreditation of educational programs under the new procedure: results, problems, prospects.” The event was attended by First Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykola Kyzym and Deputy Minister of Education and Science for European Integration Andriy Vitrenko.
“The issue of maintaining the quality of education has been and remains a priority of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Particularly acute, given the processes of internationalization, is the question of ensuring the quality of higher education. We welcome all initiatives aimed at improving the educational process. In particular, higher education institutions have recently begun to more actively implement mechanisms to support academic integrity, be more responsible in publishing the results of scientific research, and interact more effectively with students and employers. There is a lot of work ahead aimed at harmonizing the accreditation process, “Andriy Vitrenko said.
He also stressed that today the procedure of accreditation of educational programs has many positive results, but at the same time it is necessary to “work on mistakes.” In particular, it is necessary to create a single transparent system of support and functioning of independent institutions for evaluation and quality assurance of higher education.
The participants of the hearings singled out the legislative conflict on the issue of determining the organizational and legal status of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. This will increase the transparency and objectivity of the NAME activity. In particular, attention was focused on the need to develop and adopt a draft Law on Academic Integrity. After all, the issue of academic integrity is relevant for all parts of the educational system, including preschool, secondary, extracurricular, professional, professional, and higher education, as well as the system of science (scientific activity). Therefore, this draft law should be developed with the involvement of specialists from different parts of the education and science system, and not only higher education.
Experts who spoke during the discussion recommended that the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine develop and amend the Regulations on Accreditation of Educational Programs, including clarifying the cost of the accreditation procedure, standardize mechanisms for institutional accreditation, and provide conditions for accelerating the development of independent institutions. evaluation and quality assurance of higher education.
Following the meeting, a draft Recommendations was formed. Serhiy Babak, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation, thanked all the experts for the discussion and offered to submit proposals aimed at finalizing the project. The final text of the Recommendations will be considered and approved at the sitting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation.
Source: MES of Ukraine.
