| Ishan Ibrahim |
THE AUN-QA (Quality Assurance) Training Course for Accomplishing Programme Assessment (Tier 1) was held at Lecture Theatre 2, Level 2 of Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah Institute of Health Sciences building yesterday.
The course, co-organised by UBD’s Office of the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) and the Ministry of Education, was created by the ASEAN University Network (AUN) to introduce the AUN-QA system and enhance quality assurance in teaching at regional universities.
Held from August 7 – 10, around 29 individuals from eight higher education institutions in the country, comprising professors, lecturers and other academic professionals are participating in the course. The guest of honour at the launch of the training course was Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad.
Also present were Vice-Chancellor of UBD Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz, UBD assistant vice-chancellors, guests from the Ministry of Education and higher educational institutions, Chairperson of the AUN-QA Training Course for Accomplishing Programme Assessment (Tier 1) Dr Masitah binti Shahrill, as well as lead facilitators, deans and directors from UBD.
Dr Masitah said the AUN-QA Tier 1 training course is held to introduce to the participants the AUN-QA system and the AUN Quality Assessment process, as well as to advise them on how to write the self assessment report for the study programme.
She said the training course will help local higher education institutions improve the quality of teaching and learning for the programmes they provide, adding that professors, lecturers and academic professionals will be trained to prepare and improve their academic programmes until they reach a standard where they can obtain AUN-QA certification.
“The training and accreditation will ensure the programmes stay relevant in keeping with the increasing demand for top quality higher education by students and society,” Dr Masitah said.
She elaborated that the certification provides opportunities for higher education institutions around the region to maintain and enhance the quality of their education delivery and promote their programmes internationally to keep up with certain standards in the world university/college rankings.
Meanwhile, Acting Chairperson of the AUN-QA Council Associate Professor Dr Nantana Gajaseni said Quality Assurance programmes have always been part of the AUN’s core activities ever since its inception.
She added that this year is significant for AUN as it is the AUN-QA’s 20th anniversary.
“The AUN-QA Network continues to be a key driving force for educational development in ASEAN,” she said.
“The AUN-QA not only focusses on the assessment, but also on capacity building which is incorporated in the AUN-QA trainings. The training programmes have already produced over 1,600 trainees.”