Site visit within “Strengthening institutional Capacities of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education” Project

Site visit was carried out as part of the pilot accreditation process at the Baku State Industry and Innovation Vocational Training Center on October 26-27 and at the Baku State Vocational Education Center for Tourism and Social Services on October 31-November 1 within “Strengthening institutional Capacities of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education” project funded by the European Union.

The purpose of the pilot accreditation was to test the accreditation standards and indicators, which were prepared by the experts of the project in accordance with the international practice and adapted to the local conditions and legislation. At the initial stage of the pilot accreditation, the above-mentioned vocational education institutions prepared a self-assessment report, and site visit was carried out according to that report. During the site visit, meetings were held with employees and students of the institution, as well as with parents and employers, and the infrastructure of vocational education institutions was monitored.

This project is implemented under the Financing Agreement (Education for Employment in Azerbaijan) between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the European Union. “Education for Employment in Azerbaijan” (ENI/2018/041-537) Annual Action Programme 2018 is financed under European Neighbourhood Instrument. The specific objective of the project is to improve the capacities of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (TKTA), to develop and introduce new mechanisms on accreditation of education institutions, quality assurance processes at all educational levels, recognition of prior learning, as well as recognition of foreign qualifications in accordance with advanced European experience. The project covers activities in five directions including, strengthening regulatory framework and capacities of the TKTA on accreditation, quality assurance, supporting TKTA to apply for full ENQA membership, improving communication function and strengthening research and analytics capacity of TKTA.