QA
About Quality Agency for Higher Education
According to the amendments of the Law on Higher Education Institutions (Latvijas Vestnesis 257 (5137)) and the fact that regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 407, 408 and 409 (14.07.2015) have entered into force, the Academic Information Centre (AIC) establishes the Quality Agency for Higher Education (QAHE).
QAHE operation is based on the following values:
- Objectivity;
- Transparency;
- Neutrality;
- Validity.
Mission and aims
Mission: To promote the quality of higher education thus increase the international competitiveness of the Latvian higher education.
Aims: To ensure the implementation of external quality assurance system in the Latvian higher education according to the Standards and Guidelines for Quality
Assurance in the European Higher
Education Area as well as to promote improvements in the internal quality assurance systems in the HEI, study directions and study programmes thus promoting the acknowledgement and recognition of Latvian higher education.
Main tasks:
- to elaborate and its operations abide by methodologies and procedures for external quality assessment of study directions that comply with the Standards and Guidelines elaborated by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education for ensuring quality in the European Higher Education Area;
- to organize and coordinate the work of the committee for assessing study directions, to organize on-site visits at the HEI, colleges and branches and participate in the visits, and to ensure the access of the required information;
- to elaborate the selection criteria for members of the Committee for Accreditation of Studies;
- to ensure documentation and archiving of the accreditation procedure;
- to organize sittings of the Higher Education Quality Assurance Council, the Committee for Accreditation of Studies and the Committee for licensing Study Programmes, and to request and receive the necessary data from State registers;
- to publish on the QAHE official website information about accreditation of study directions and licensing of study programmes;
- to consult and provide with information regarding quality assurance in study directions and study programmes;
- to analyse the results of higher education quality assessment and provide recommendations for improving it;
- to participate in the activities of institutions of the European Higher Education Area and activities in the field of higher education quality assurance;
- at the beginning of every year to publish on the QAHE official website the list of the study directions to undergo quality assessment in the same year, and inform about the deadline for submission of self-evaluation report.
Participation in international organisations
Academic Information Centre is a full member of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) since June 21, 2018.
Academic Information Centre is a full member of INQAAHE (International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education) since October 2015.
Since May 2016, AIC is a member of CEENQA (Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education).
Contacts
Quality Agency for Higher Education
Phone: (+371) 67 225 155
Fax: (+371) 67 221 006
Head
Jolanta Silka
Phone: (+371) 67 225 155
E-mail: jolanta.silka [] aic.lv