FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q1: What is accreditation?

The process by which a (non‐)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme in order to formally recognize it as having met certain pre‐determined minimal criteria or standards. More

Q2: Who decides in which quality assurance agency the educational institution or education program will be accredited?

According to Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan accreditation is voluntary and educational institution is independent to choose the accrediting agency from the list of the national registry of accreditation bodies.

Q3: Who funds accreditation of educational institutions or education programs?

In accordance with the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan accreditation of educational institution or education programs is carried out at the expense of educational institutions.

Q4: Are all educational institutions or education programs, applied for accreditation, got accredited?

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan "decision on accreditation or refusal of accreditation is made by the Agency due to the results of examination of educational institution`s application and the documents, the list of which is determined by the Agency»

Q5: What are the terms and conditions of accreditation ?

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan "the terms and conditions of accreditation are defined in the contract on accreditation between the educational institution and accreditation agency".

Q6: What are the requirements of educational institution and education program accreditation?

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan the agency accredits the educational institution and education program in line with its standards and criteria.

Q7: What accrediting agencies are eligible to accredit educational institutions and education programs?

Domestic legislation does not limit the rights and activities of foreign agencies for accreditation of educational institutions and educational programs of Kazakhstan, in accordance with the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan the educational institutions "have the right to carry out national and international institutional, specialized accreditation in the accreditation bodies entered in the register of the authorized body."

However, the government funding and the ability to issue a state diploma will receive only those educational institutions that have a license to conduct educational activities on education programs of technical and vocational, post-secondary, higher and postgraduate education and accredited by accreditation bodies, included in the register of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Order of Acting Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan date June 27, 2012 № 304 "On creation of the National Register of Accreditation Bodies of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan").

Therefore, to obtain the aforementioned advantages the educational institution must be accredited by independent accrediting bodies, while their educational programs can be accredited either by national or international accrediting bodies.

Q8: According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 398-V "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts on education dated November 13, 2015, accreditation bodies, which carry out institutional and program accreditation of Kazakhstani educational institutions, and included in the Register of the authorized body in the field of education should be full members of the European Network for Quality Assurance in Education. Does IQAA meet this requirement?

IQAA is a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and was admitted to the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Also IQAA is a full member of:

- The Central and Eastern European Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA);

- The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) ;

- Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN);

- Council for Higher Education Accreditation  (CHEA).

Q9: How does the accreditation of higher education institutions work?

The procedure of institutional and programme accreditation is designed by the Agency in accordance with the European and international standards, which include 3 main stages. More

Q10: What is the procedure of technical and vocational educational institutions` accreditation?

The procedure of institutional and programme accreditation is designed by the Agency in accordance with the European and international standards, which include 3 main stages. More

Q11: Who decides on accreditation of educational institution or educational program?

At the completion of all stages of accreditation from the preparation of self-assessment report by educational institution to external visit, due to the results of self-assessment report analysis and examination of the external visit report the agency prepares a report for the Accreditation Council.

As the result of the meeting of the Accreditation Council regarding the consideration of educational institutions and education programs one of the following decisions is made:

- accredit for 5 years;

- accredit with the condition for up to 2 years;

- not to accredit the educational institution or education program.

As it has already been stated before a decision taken by the Accreditation Council, which is an elected, collegial body, composed of representatives of the academic community, employers and students. Accreditation Council is responsible for the approval of regulatory documents and the decision making on accreditation.

Q12: Where should the educational institution address its disagreement with the decision of the Accreditation Council or the complaints against the activities of the agency?

For these purposes, there are corresponding structural bodies of the agency, dealing with complaints and appeals.

If the educational institution does not agree with the decision of the Accreditation Council, it needs to appeal to the Appeals Committee.

If the educational institution reveals irregularities in the activities of the Agency at any stage of the accreditation it should lodge a complaint to Complaints Commission.

In addition, there is a special tab FEEDBACK on the agency's website, with the help of which you can ask a question, send comments, suggestions or remarks.

All detailed information on IQAA and its activities is available on the agency's website.