Final Conference on Implementation of National and Sectorial Qualifications Frameworks in Armenia
Within the frames of TEMPUS ARMENQA project “Implementation of National and Sectorial Qualifications Frameworks in Armenia” Yerevan State University (YSU) was held a project dissemination event – a final conference “National and Sectorial Qualifications Frameworks for Higher Education of Armenia. Achievements and Challenges” on May 17, 2017 at YSU.
Within the frames of the conference the results achieved through the lifetime of the ARMENQA project were presented to the higher education community of Armenia and main stakeholders by partner institutions from Armenia:
- New National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education of Armenia (NQFA)
- 5 Sectorial Qualification Frameworks (SQF) in Education, Law, Physics, Civil Engineering and Agriculture sectors
- Strategy of NQFA Implementation
- Handbook of the NQFA utilization
- Self-Certification Report of the NQFA
- 20 sample learning outcome based study programmes aligned with NQFA and SQFs.
The conference consisted of 3 plenary sessions and a parallel session for discussions in 5 thematic groups.
The first plenary session was mainly the introductory part presenting the Implementation of the ARMENQA project by Janerik Lundquist, Coordinator of the ARMENQA project, Linkoping University, Sweden; ARMENQA project and main accomplishments: New National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education of Armenia and its Implementation Strategy by Armen Budaghyan, Deputy Vice-Rector, Director of the Quality Assurance Centre, Yerevan State University and Mari Santurjyan, Senior Specialist of the Quality Assurance Centre, Yerevan State University; Perspectives of Implementation of the National and Sectorial Qualifications Frameworks for Higher Education in Armenia by Robert Sukiasyan, Head of the Department of Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education of the Ministry of Education and Science and The Impact of Qualifications Framework on Universities in Flanders by Frederik De Decker, Head of International Relations Office, Ghent University, Belgium. Karine Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia and Lana Karlova, Head of the National ERASMUS+ Office in Armenia The first session were assisting the first session.
The second plenary session was presenting The Constructive Alignment – The Role of Learning Outcomes by Volker Gehmlich, Professor, Hochschule Osnabrück, Germany, Achievements of the ARMENQA project: The Handbook of the NQFA and Self-Certification Report by Kristina Tsaturyan, Head of the International Cooperation Unit, Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan and National Qualifications Framework of Armenia from the Employers’ Perspective by Gagik Makaryan, President of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia.
The last plenary session was concluding the 3-year activity of ARMENQA Project by presentations on The NQFA and Recognition of Qualifications in Armenia presented by Gayane Harutyunyan, Director of the National Information Centre of Academic Mobility and Recognition, Use of the NQFA and SQFs in the Process of Development of Learning Outcomes and Competence-Based Study Programmes by Vahan Sargsyan, Head of the Centre for Internship, Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan and National Qualifications Framework of Armenia with Students’ Eye by Armenak Minasyants, President of AEGEE Yerevan European Students’ Forum.
The parallel sessions were divided into 5 thematic groups for discussions on The NQFA, the Sectorial Qualifications Frameworks (for Education, Civil Engineering, Law, Agriculture and Physics) and Development of Competence-Based Study Programmes.
The challenges and perspectives of implementation and utilization of the NQFA and SQFs by HEIs and employers, governmental organizations and regulatory bodies with participation of representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, ANQA, NICARM, RUE, etc. were discussed as well during the conference.
For a short introduction, ARMENQA is a three-year Structural Measures project of national importance funded by the TEMPUS programme of the European Union. ARMENQA aims at enhancing employ¬ability of Armenian HEIs’ graduates and facilitating recognition of Armenian qualifications in the labour market nationally and internationally.
The specific project objectives include:
1. Operationalization of the NQFA by creating and utilizing relevant regulatory and methodological bases & tools;
2. Capacity building of HEIs staff and main NQFA implementers in developing learning outcomes (LO) based qualifications and programmes in line with the NQFA;
3. Development of a national model and methodological basis, as well as 5 SQFs for establishment of sectorial qualification frameworks (SQF) in Armenia;
4. Providing reference points, methodological basis & practical tools to HEIs for developing LO based multi-level study programmes coherent with NQFA, SQFs and relevant to the demands of the labour market.