Tbilisi: Georgian Minister of Education and Science, Mikheil Chkhenkel opened the annual international conference of the National Center for the Development of Quality Education, addressed the participants and stressed the importance of quality assurance at all levels of education.
Mikheil Chkhenkeli stated: “Today’s conference organized by the National Center for Quality Development of Education is an important event aimed at strengthening the education system. Events like this promote ongoing dialogue among stakeholders in the education system, sharing of ideas and experiences, and developing models and best practices to address existing challenges.
The program of the conference puts special emphasis on important issues such as: the third mission of universities, development of scientific research, internationalization of higher education, news in preschool, general and vocational education and planned activities.
The initiative of the National Centre for Quality Development is welcomed to focus more on improving and improving the quality of education at all levels from 2023 Cluster Accreditation begins in 2022, which will enable accredited higher education programs to be evaluated within a calendar year.Â
From 2022, the evaluation of all regulatory and PhD level educational programs has begun with the involvement of international experts. In addition, from 2023 all higher education programs will be assessed by the chairmanship of international experts.
 Involving international experts in the evaluation process of educational programs will further contribute to the internationalization of the higher education system and increase the quality of higher education programs.Â
As the minister noted, one of the main priorities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia from the perspective of higher education is the development of the quality of doctoral programs and the promotion of scientific research, which is preceded by internationalization, or the study of best international practice.Â
According to Mikheil Chkhenkeli, a number of action steps are being taken in this direction today and various large-scale and interesting projects are being implemented in the field of education, and in this process all initiatives of the National Center for Quality Development of Education, which are aimed at improving the quality of education have special importance.
During his speech, the Minister focused on the achievements of the National Center for Education Quality Development. He especially highlighted the Centre’s acquisition of membership in the European Association of Quality Assurance Agencies (ENQA), recognition of the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) and registration of Quality Assurance Agency (EQAR) and noted that these are a step forward not only for the Centre but for the education system as a whole.
Mikheil Chkhenkeli thanked WFME, ENQA, EQAR, Association of European Universities, European Students Union (ESU) and other invited guests for their participation and support in the conference.
At the end of his speech, the Minister also emphasized the importance of holding an annual international forum of ENQA members in Georgia. According to him, the forum will be hosted by the National Centre for the Development of Quality of Education in 2023, by the decision of the European Association for Higher Education (ENQA), which is a very important achievement in terms of the country’s popularity, the development of the quality of higher education and internationalization.
Within the event, the activities of the National Center for Education Quality Development in 2022 were summed up by the First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Tamar Makharashvili.
The conference, held remotely, discussed key issues in preschool and general, vocational and higher education, current achievements and challenges in the context of quality education.
Participated in the conference: representatives of the European Association for Higher Education (ENQA), European Register for Higher Education (EQAR), World Federation of Medical Education (WFME), Association of European Universities (EUA), European Students Association (ESU) and international experts, Georgian Education and Science Lebi’s, vocational and higher educational institutions, early and preschool institutions.
 Also partner representatives of local and international organisations, Centre Coordinating Board members, Accreditation, Authorization and Appeal Board members and experts, students, employers and other stakeholders.
