Erasmus+ Cluster Meeting on Quality Assurance of Cycle 3 programs

On 16 July, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia hosted a Cluster Meeting on the topic of the Quality Assurance (QA) of Cycle 3 programs and dedicated to the discussion of QA guidelines and standards developed in the scope of Tempus VERITAS (2013-2016) and Erasmus+ C3QA (2016-2019) Capacity Building Projects. The event was attended by education policy makers, representatives from QA Centers and Research Units of Armenian Universities offering cycle 3 education, National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance, Supreme Certifying Committee, as well as Erasmus+ All4R&D, Minerva, Modest, DPPHSS new generation Capacity Building projects targeting the quality of scientific research programs.
The meeting aimed to present the synthesis of issues and receive propositions on the improvement of the legal framework of cycle 3 programmes in Armenia.

The key topic for discussions was the research component, which will be one of the highlights in the RA draft Law on “Higher Education and Science.” The introduction of the research component is an important step towards enhancing the quality of higher education.
Within the framework of Tempus VERITAS and Erasmus+ C3QA projects, QA criteria and standards for doctoral education based on the Salzburg principles have been developed, and will become part of the national accreditation system after being piloted and refined. The projects’ achievements will also be embedded in the concept of cycle 3 reforms, which is being developed within the Republic of Armenia Government Programme 2019-2023.