QAA participates in British Council Forum on ‘Internationalisation: Quality Assessment and Approaches’

QAA recently visited Almaty, Kazakhstan to participate in a two-day Forum organised by the British Council on ‘Internationalisation: Quality Assessment and Approaches’. The Forum was attended by institutions across Kazakhstan, as well as universities in the UK who have partnerships or are interested in exploring partnerships in Kazakhstan. 

Day one included speeches from HE Kathy Leah (UK Ambassador to Kazakhstan), representatives from the Kazakhstan Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Gulzat Kobenova, Chair of the Committee of Higher and Postgraduate Education; and Adilet Toibaev, Chair of the Committee for Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education), and Maddalaine Ansell (Director of Education at British Council).

There were also plenary sessions which discussed success and challenges in transnational education partnerships, and quality and standards in transnational education partnerships.

It is clear there are lots of opportunities and appetite for international partnerships in Kazakhstan, with a drive to internationalise universities to support mutual learning and improving standards.

Day two was a day-long workshop facilitated by QAA focused on international partnerships. Session one provided an overview of setting up a partnership, supported by a case study from Queen’s University Belfast and Narxoz University who have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Session two looked at managing a partnership, with a case study provided by Heriot-Watt University and Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University who deliver dual degrees together.

The last session focused on monitoring and reviewing partnerships, with the longstanding partnership between the London School of Economics (University of London) and the Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU) as the final case study.

The Forum was a great opportunity to further educational collaboration between the UK and Kazakhstan and foster international partnerships. QAA would like to thank the British Council for organising this Forum and inviting QAA to participate.