(Seated left to right) Mr. Tek Bahadur Malla, Director, CTEVT, Nepal; Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane, APACC President and CPSC Director General; Dr. Pramod Shrestha, Former Professor and Head, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University; and Pn. Noor Aidi binti Nadzri, National Coordinator for Accreditation – Malaysia and Director, Curriculum Development Division, Department of Polytechnic Education with the participants and officials from CTEVT
The Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC), in collaboration with the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), conducted a 2-day APACC International Accreditors' Training at the Airport Hotel Summit Residency, Kathmandu, Nepal on October 13-14, 2017. A total of 26 high-ranking participants from various CPSC member countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, attended the training to know more about APACC and to undergo the training to be certified APACC Accreditors.
The international accreditors’ training is the fourth training and the first one to be held in Nepal. Previous trainings were held in the Philippines since 2013.
The event was organized for the participants to be able to understand accreditation as a tool for improving the quality of TVET institutions. It was also targeted that the participants will be able to build their capacity to undertake an actual accreditation process using APACC criteria.
Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane during the Opening Program
Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) Director General and APACC President, Dr. Ramhari Lamichhane talked about the history, accreditation process and benefits of APACC. In his lecture, he emphasized the role of APACC which is to promote continuous improvement in institutions. He also states that despite its relevance, undergoing the accreditation exercise is voluntary but highly encouraged to further enhance the institution’s reputation and services. He also took the opportunity to share about the Association of APACC Accreditees (AAA) which was primarily formed to establish cooperation and to strengthen regional ties among accredited institutions by expanding cross-border education services in order to facilitate staff and student exchange. His lecture was followed by Dr. Pramod Shrestha's talk on Quality Assessment of TVET Institutions in Nepal through International Accreditation wherein he discussed about the APACC Model and its principles.
The orientation and workshop on the APACC criteria was conducted by Pn. Noor Aidi binti Nadzri, National Coordinator for Accreditation in Malaysia and Director of Curriculum Development Division of the Department of Polytechnic Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. During the workshop, Pn. Noor Aidi discussed the highlights of the seven APACC Criteria namely: (1) Governance and Management, (2) Teaching and Learning, (3) Human Resources, (4) Research and Development, (5) Image and Sustainability, (6) Other Resources and (7) Support to Students. The lessons were supplemented by practical workshops to enhance participants’ understanding of the process of evaluation.
Pn. Noor Aidi bt. Nadzri (left) presents the seven APACC criteria to the participants.
The program ended with an examination to assess the knowledge of the participants after the inputs from resource speakers.
With the addition of newly trained accreditors to the existing pool, APACC demonstrates its effort to uphold its mandate to promote quality and excellence through accreditation and certification by continuously building its resources and personnel to serve more institutions in the region.
