INTER-AGENCY STAFF EXCHANGE PROGRAM FIRST HELD IN TAIWAN

2018-04-02

Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA) and the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) were invited to hold workshops for staff exchange together with Taiwan Assessment and Evaluation Association (TWAEA) and it has showed our improvement in the field of internationalization.

The workshop was held at TWAEA from the 22nd to 24th of Mar., 2018 and three sessions as “Current Situation and Evaluation System of Higher Education in Taiwan, Japan and Thailand", "TWAEA, JUAA, and ONESQA's Experience Sharing in Evaluation Implementation” and “Current Progress of the Internal Quality Assurance System Promoted in Taiwan, Japan and Thailand’s Higher Education" were included.

After explaining the current status on the first day, the three parties specially discussed about the quality assurance systems that higher education institutions are facing right now, and a consensus was reached that in the past, under the cycle of evaluation, assessment or accreditation with different standards, institutions responded passively to evaluations as the results might related to resources allocation. Therefore, most of the evaluations were conducted by governmental authorities by efficiency, comparability, and standardized indicators. However, as we are now under international and competitive environment, everyone requires thinking for the necessity for evaluation transformation, better to be conducted positively. Therefore, the future evaluation will be expected to be more "active orientated”, to promote on the internal quality assurance mechanism, the breakthroughs and strategies to highlight the characteristics, and the establishment of a long-term and sustainable mechanism. It is suggested to use the existing cornerstone as the starting point; through the internal quality assurance mechanism to continuously improve the quality of teaching. On the last day, representatives from TWAEA, JUAA and ONESQA held further discussions to exchange views on seminars, campus visits, and future cooperation policies.

From sequent seminars held recently, TWAEA, JUAA and ONESQA have realized the similarities and differences in the evaluation system of the three places. Most importantly, all associations have strived hard to promote and develop their own sets of local legal systems, to accommodate the uniqueness of the local education systems, and continuously pursue the excellence and quality. Focusing on the issues of quality management and improvement, the three associations have reached a common determination to promote the quality of higher education in East Asia in the 21st century.

Ms. Supparang Intoon from ONESQA was impressed with the positive and successful policy of work study program of Lunghwa University of Science and Technology (LHU) during their visit to the institution. Ms. Supparang Intoon pointed out that all colleges and universities in Thailand never adopted high-end machinery and equipment for training; however, students at LHU already had the opportunities to use high-end machinery and equipment and can actually apply to production after graduation. In addition to academic teaching, students acquire valuable skills and industry-related technologies and experience, which is a little different from the current higher vocational education in Thailand. In the present, Thai graduates still lack the practical skills to meet the needs of the Thai industry. Mr. Oda from JUAA also emphasized the importance of the connection between academia and industry; he further observed that cooperation with industries is particularly effective in recruiting students. LHU provides students the abilities and opportunities for being successfully employed, which is the main goal and purpose of vocational institutions. Therefore, the visit to LHU left a deep impression to the representatives from Japan and Thailand.

The purpose of this inter-agency workshop is to increase the interactions and communications among these three associations; furthermore, TWAEA and ONESQA are invited to visit JUAA in Jun., 2018. We look forward to promoting the joint accreditation among these three organizations in the near future. Through continuous interactions, hopefully more specific and positive plans can be implemented and become beneficial to Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand’s higher education institutions, students, industries and social developments.