NAA’s Director took part in the conference organized by the Financial University

On February 2, 2023, Lemka Izmailova, NAA’s Director, took part in the Conference “Education Foresight: Revival of Traditions vs Declared Innovation”, dedicated to topical issues in the Russian education development. The event was jointly held by the Financial University and the International Association of Financial and Economic Education Organizations.

The representatives of Ministries and Departments of the RF, heads of Universities, leading international and national experts, scientific and pedagogical workers, research institutes, the representatives of professional associations of employers and major Russian companies were involved in the discussion. The main topics of the event were innovations in the education system to be implemented in the near future; outdated traditions that should be abandoned; and what a graduate of a Russian university should be like today.

Training event for the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church

On January 30, 2023, a training meeting was held to prepare a package of documents for state accreditation. The event was organized in the framework of interaction of NAA with the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The members of the clergy received practical recommendations for filling out the forms of data on degree programs implementation as well as preparation of an application for state accreditation.

A round table dedicated to professional public accreditation

On January 19, 2023, NAA took part in a round table meeting conducted by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). The participants from secondary vocational and higher education took part in the event. The meeting was also attended by the representatives from Department of Education and Science of Moscow, the Foundation for the Professional Qualifications Development of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as professional community represented by employers and their associations. The event was organized in a Zoom format.

Legal support for state accreditation and professional public accreditation (PPA), taking into account the PPA results during external review of degree programs declared for state accreditation (in accordance with the new model of state accreditation) were considered at the event. PPA results of educational institutions of secondary vocational and higher education in 2022 were summed up and the prospects for PPA development in 2023 were determined.

The meeting participants became familiar with Working group’s suggestions on the development of vocational education and training in the national qualifications system. NAA’s leaders are the members of Working group on introducing amendments and additions to Article 96 of the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation", aimed to improve the PPA procedure.

After the speakers’ speeches, the event continued in the format of a discussion.

A press conference was organized in Nizhny Novgorod

On January 17, 2023, a press conference dedicated to the first Russian certificate system in a foreign language "Lingvotest" was held in Nizhny Novgorod. At the event, issues devoted to the creation of a national language testing system, technological equipment of the test center in Nizhny Novgorod and the role of the event for the region development were raised.

Nikita Anisimov, HSE’s Rector, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Mikhail Kozhevnikov, President of the Prosveshchenie Group of Companies, Andrey Sanosyan, Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Regionas well as Nizhny Novgorod HEIs’ heads were the conference speakers.

Nikita Anisimov, HSE’s Rector, emphasized that the main goal of the national certification testing system is to replace foreign analogues, such as IELTS and TOEFL, which were currently inaccessible to Russians. He also paid special attention that, unlike foreign analogues, all personal data of testing participants would be stored in Russia.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, shared with the her experience of holding the first testing session in Moscow, spoke about the specifics of testing and the role of the Russian Accreditation Agency in organizing the testing process. Ms Izmaylova emphasized that there was no need to turn to foreign analogues anymore. She said that the organizers were extremely pleased with the first test results, the participants showed good knowledge. NAA’s Director also added that the geography of Lingvotest would expand in the near future.

At the end of the test, a participant receives a temporary certificate presenting the results of English language proficiency. The certificate has a unique identification number, which is entered in the NAA’s register.

Mikhail Kozhevnikov, President of the Enlightenment Group, noted that the main task of the first Russian certification testing system is to give Russian citizens access to a high-quality certified internal English exam, as the demand for English knowledge in the labor market continued to grow.

The orders of the Federal Ministry of Education are coming into force

From January 2, 2023, the following orders of the Ministry of Education of the RF will come into force: dated November 16, 2022 № 992, dated November 16, 2022 № 993 and dated November 23, 2022 № 1014. The orders respectively approve the federal study program for primary general education, federal study program for basic general education and federal study program for secondary general education.

Organizations carrying out educational activities according to state-accredited basic general study programs develop appropriate programs in accordance with the requirements of federal state educational standards, as well as federal study programs for the corresponding level of general education.

The content for the federal general study programs is represented by educational and methodological documentation, namely: federal curriculum, federal academic schedule, federal work programs of subjects, courses, disciplines (modules), federal program on upbringing, federal schedule plan of tutorial work. The content for federal general education programs determines the basic volume and content of the corresponding level of general education that are common for the Russian Federation, as well as the expected learning outcomes on the general study program.

To get more information on federal general education programs one can use the following links:

Federal study program for primary general education

Federal study program for basic general education

Federal study program for secondary general education

Meeting of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor at the end of the year

In accordance with the Rosobrnadzor’s order dated January 18, 2022 No. 35 “On approval of the procedure for certification, hiring, selection of experts and expert organizations involved in external review, as well as maintaining a register of experts and expert organizations” (entered into force on September 1, 2022) a meeting of the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) was held on December14, 2022. This is the final exam for expert applicants held in 2022.

A qualification exam aims at assessing applicants’ knowledge, skills and abilities in accordance with the qualification requirements.

During the qualification exam, applicants’ ability to analyze the documents and materials during external review, including those regulating its implementation is determined.

Based on the exam results, the commission will make a decision to establish or refuse to establish the powers of experts to individuals for conducting external review.

Similar exams will be held by Rosobrnadzor next year. Interested parties can submit applications and set of documents in the prescribed manner.

Rosobrnadzor’s event on accreditation monitoring

On December 7, 2022, an expert session on the topic “Formation of approaches to the procedure of accreditation monitoring for higher education programs” is being held. The session is hosted by Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Moscow).

The event was organized by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science following the results of the accreditation monitoring conducted in 2022. At the session, the methodology for calculating and collecting accreditation indicators for conducting accreditation monitoring in 2023 are discussed.

The representatives from the President Administration of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, federal and regional authorities of the Russian Federation, HEIs who participated in the approbation including higher education experts are invited to the expert session.

NAA’s representatives conducted training in Tomsk

On November 24-26, 2022, the training under the professional development program "Evaluation of an educational organization’s activities" was organized by NAA. The event was hosted by the Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics. The training was aimed at developing the tools to improve the education quality and creating conditions for teachers’ professional growth.

At the seminar, the audience was provided with the up-to-date information on evaluation of the results of mastering the study program in the framework of state accreditation, independent quality assessment and control and supervisory activities. The seminar continued with reports on the requirements for the formation of assessment materials during professional and public accreditation, the calculation of personnel indicators.

Rosobrnadzor’s leading experts shared their experience in conducting an internal evaluation of the education quality and in preparing for state accreditation in accordance with the new model.

At the second day of training, a practical session was held devoted to assessment materials for the diagnostic work.

At the end of training, the participants were awarded certificates of the advanced training based on the final certification results.

NAA’s Director took part in the V Professorial Forum

On November 22-24, 2022, the Fifth Professorial Forum "Science and Education in the Context of Global Challenges" of the Russian Professors' Meeting was held in Moscow to support the Decade of Science and Technology. At the event, the topical problems and scientific achievements were discussed, priority tasks for science and education development as well as the role of the Russian scientific and educational elite in fulfilling these tasks were identified.

The event was attended by representatives of the leading universities of Russia and the CIS countries, the Ministry of Education and Science, educational authorities of the Commonwealth countries, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Education. The Forum also presented awards to the winners of the national award of the Russian Professorial Assembly in the nominations "Professor of the Year", "Dean of the Year" and "Rector of the Year".

On November 23, the thematic session "State regulation of educational activities in modern conditions. The role of professional communities" was held. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, made a presentation. In her speech, Ms Izmaylova drew attention to the updated model of state accreditation, changes in the regulatory and legal sphere that came into force on March 1, 2022, and noted the high role of improving the assessment of the education quality.

As a result of the sessions, proposals were worked out for the development of education and science.

For reference: The first Professorial Forum was held in 2018. The purpose of the Professors' Forum is to bring together representatives of various scientific and pedagogical communities, government bodies, whose activities are aimed at developing and improving education and science.

Certification testing system «Lingvotest» was launched

On November 17, 2022, TASS hosted a press conference dedicated to the launch of the certification testing system “Lingvotest” assessing knowledge of the English language. The event was held in face-to-face format with the participation of the project's stakeholders – Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Nikita Anisimov, Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University) and Mikhail Kozhevnikov, President of the Group of Companies “Prosveshchenie”.

The press conference participants announced the launch of the Lingvotest project. It was noted that currently one of the most important trends is the import substitution of foreign tools measuring the level of language proficiency. In this regard, it became necessary to create similar Russian products. The certification testing system "Lingvotest" intends to become the closest Russian analogue of common foreign tests, such as IELTS and TOEFL, which have suspended their operation in Russia.

“Ten years of independent assessment of the level of English proficiency among the students in HSE University has made it possible to create a unique system of testing and experts’ training. We want to make this system available throughout the country,” said Mr Anisimov, HSE University Rector.

Ms Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, spoke about the Project technological basis. She announced the registration for the first testing session to be held on November 17 on NAA’s official website. Based on the exams results, participants will receive a certificate with an appendix containing a description of the candidate's real communication skills in accordance with the level scale. At first, the certificate will be in hard copy, it is planned to introduce its digital version from January 1. The certificates will be available in the participants’ personal accounts on NAA’s website. “It seems to me that confirmation of linguistic communicative competencies in our age is the enrichment of the individual and professional growth. Communication skills are the leading, basic skills, and taking the test will contribute to the development of the individual,” summed up NAA’s Director.

Mr Kozhevnikov, President of the Group of Companies “Prosveshchenie”, said that the company had done a lot of work studying best practices in certification of skills. He noted that Lingvotest is the first testing system in Russia at the higher education level with the prospect of entering the international arena.

During the press conference, a tripartite cooperation agreement was signed between the project partners: National Accreditation Agency, National Research University Higher School of Economics and the Publishing House « Prosveshchenie».

Meeting at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry

On November 16, 2022, a round table was held at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was conducted on the topic "Actual issues of training specialists in secondary vocational education (SVE) and training programs." The representatives from NAA, the Department of Education and Science of Moscow, as well as the heads of Moscow sVET institutions attended the event.

Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a report devoted to assessing the quality of students’ training during the state accreditation procedure.

As a part of the event, scenarios for further development of secondary vocational education and training, its role in modern conditions, as well as the procedure for conducting final certification in 2023 were discussed.

A practice-oriented seminar was organized by NAA

On November 15, 2022, a practice-oriented seminar was held in Moscow. The aim of the event was to provide practical recommendations in the process of preparing for state accreditation of degree programs: filling in an application form as well as the requirements for the attached set of documents.

Aleksey Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the seminar with a welcoming speech. He drew attention to the importance of holding such events to clarify the issues related to regulatory changes, to provide up-to-date and reliable information for submitting documents as well as to successfully undergo the state accreditation procedure. At the end of his speech, Mr Yemelyanov wished the participants a good working mood and productive work at the seminar.

During the event, the participants learned about the main changes in the state accreditation procedure: an overview of the main normative legal acts regulating the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities was presented, and a retrospective analysis of the legal framework was also carried out. Particular attention was paid to accreditation indicators on the example of the indicators for study programs of higher education and the requirements for diagnostic work during external review.

The listeners were informed in detail about the important stages for preparing an application from and a set of documents from a HEI to be submitted for state accreditation. During the seminar, the participants were able to receive practical recommendations both on filling in the forms on degree programs delivery, and on working with the organization's personal account in the ISSA system.

At the end of the seminar, the speakers answered the participants’ questions.

Training on expert activities took place

On October 27-29, NAA’s representatives conducted a training session for expert applicants devoted to state accreditation of educational activities. The training was implemented in connection with the entry into force on September 1, 2022 of Rosobrnadzor’s Order dated January 18, 2022 № 35 “On approval of the procedure for certification, engagement, selection of experts and expert organizations involved in external review as well as maintaining a register of experts and expert organizations”.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, spoke about the current changes in legislation, a new model of state accreditation and interaction between experts and NAA during external review. Ms Izmaylova drew the audience's attention to the fact that the changes taking place in the system of state accreditation do not affect the importance of expert activity; the significance of the expert’s role in the state accreditation procedure remains unchanged.

During the event, the participants learned about the new procedure for experts’ certification, new standards for conducting external review, about working with IS SA services, including expert’s personal account.

As part of the training, Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, held a practical lesson on "Selection of assessment materials for diagnostic work." The lesson presented an analysis of the generalized results of the performed tasks’ check, as well as recommendations for the universities to create reliable tools for assessing students’ learning outcomes.

The event ended with a final test, according to the results of which the participants received certificates of the advanced training.

National Accreditation Agency thanks the participants for the productive work at the seminar!

Regular meeting of the Subcommittee on Science and Education between Russia and Uzbekistan

On October 9, 2022, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the fourth meeting of the Subcommittee on Science and Education of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The meeting was organized in the format of a video conference.

During the event, the activity on the development of Russian-Uzbek cooperation in education and science was continued. Ms Izmaylova devoted her speech to the implementation of the protocol of the third meeting of the Subcommittee on Science and Education. She also noted that the development of educational cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan had recently reached a qualitatively new level.

To date, branches of the leading Russian universities operate in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Constant exchange of experience on the issues of assessing the quality of education is carried out within the framework of joint seminars and working meetings.

For reference: On June 22, 2021, a Memorandum of Cooperation between Rosobrnadzor and the State Inspectorate for Education of Uzbekistan was signed.

Working meeting on citizens’ employment

On October 19, 2022, a meeting of the interdepartmental working group on improving the analytical information on citizens’ employment on the Unified Digital Platform for Employment and Labor Relations "Work in Russia" was held. Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, took part in it.

The main issue discussed at the event was the consideration of a new version of the Regulations for the formation of analytical information on citizens’ employment in the subsystem "Analysis of the employment of citizens" of the information and analytical system "Work in Russia".

The meeting was held as part of monitoring the professional and other activities of citizens.

National Accreditation Agency’s participation at the Priority 2030 Forum and the 14th RISA Convention

13-14 октября на площадке МГИМО проходил фестиваль-форум, где был представлен опыт ведущих вузов страны по программе развития «Приоритет 2030». Мероприятие проводилось совместно с XIV Конвентом Российской ассоциации международных исследований (РАМИ), на котором обсуждались актуальные вопросы в сфере образования и политики. В мероприятии приняли участие более 140 человек, среди которых были ректоры и проректоры российских вузов, руководители стратегических и институционных проектов, научных центров и образовательных программ.

Директор Росаккредагентства Измайлова Лемка Султановна приняла участие в мероприятии Priority Fest и рассказала о проблемах контроля качества онлайн-образования. В своем докладе Лемка Султановна особое внимание уделила новой модели государственной аккредитации и проведению диагностической работы в рамках аккредитационной экспертизы.

Поскольку программа Priority Fest включала в себя более сотни сессий, посвященных управлению университетами и внедрению цифры и инноваций в образование, директор коснулась темы цифровой трансформации государственной услуги по государственной аккредитации образовательной деятельности и внедрении современных технологий в процесс проведения аккредитационной экспертизы.

Результатом проведения мероприятия стало определение основных ориентиров как в образовательной, так и в научно-исследовательской практике.

Форум завершился выступлением студенческих творческих коллективов и солистов Культурного центра МГИМО.

A meeting of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor took place

A meeting of the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) was held on October 12, 2022. The event took place in accordance with the Rosobrnadzor’s order dated January 18, 2022 № 35 “On approval of the procedure for accreditation, engagement, selection of experts and expert organizations involved in external review, as well as maintaining a register of experts and expert organizations” (entered into force on September 1, 2022).

An application of the Association of Educational Organizations "Scientific and Educational Theological Association" was considered at the meeting. The application was regarded on establishing the authority of a legal entity as an expert organization for involving in external review of basic study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities.

At the meeting, an assessment of the applicants' compliance with the qualification requirements on the basis of the submitted documents and the results of the qualification exam was carried out.

During the qualification exam, the applicants’ ability to analyze the documents during external review as well as materials regulating the external review procedure was determined.

Based on the results of the qualification exam, the commission will make a decision to establish or refuse to establish the powers of individuals as experts in conducting external review.

NAA’s participation in the meeting of the Council for Cooperation in Education of the States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States

On October 4, 2022, the Council for Cooperation in Education of the States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States held a meeting. The event was organized in Nur-Sultan-city, the Republic of Kazakhstan. The representatives of Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan attended the meeting.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, the Chairman of the Commission for quality assurance of education of the member states of the CIS Council, made a report devoted to the need of considering common standards and criteria for assessing higher education quality.

During the event, the results of the Commission work in terms of developing common approaches to quality assurance of higher education, as well as the development prospects for the educational area of the CIS in the field of qualified workers and specialists’ training were discussed.

NAA’s officials conducted training in Grozny-city

From September 30 to October 1 the Chechen State University named after A.A. Kadyrov hosted a seminar as part of the training program for further professional education (advanced training) "Development and implementation of the main study program in accordance with the law". NAA’s heads and leading specialists as well as experts from the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, made presentations to the event’s participants.

Saidov, the Rector of the Chechen State University, opened the seminar. Then L. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, presented a report “Assessment of the quality of educational activities”. Ms Izmaylova spoke about the creation of reliable tools for evaluation of learning outcomes to be used in internal and external evaluation procedures.

The first day of the seminar was devoted to the following issues: the requirements for the development and delivery of basic study programs, preparation of evaluation materials for external and internal quality assessment, problems and prospects for the academic mobility in higher education. The listeners learned about the technology of submitting documents for the state accreditation procedure, as well as about the first results of experts’ work on a new model of external review.

On October 1, the seminar was conducted in the format of a round table on the topic "The system for assessing the quality of educational activities in higher and secondary vocational education and training". At the event, the participants exchanged experience in carrying out internal and external assessment of the education quality and discussed the problems and prospects for the development of assessing the system in higher and secondary vocational education and training.

This program arose a great participants’ interest due to the relevance of the program subject-matter, the opportunity to obtain information from the leading NAA’s specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s best experts.

The National Accreditation Agency thanks the participants for the productive work at the seminar!

National Accreditation Agency’s participation at the Priority 2030 Forum and the 14th RISA Convention

On October 13th–14th, MGIMO University hosted the festival-forum where leading universities presented their best practices within the development program «Priority 2030». The event was organized jointly with the 14th Russian International Studies Association (RISA) Convention where historical, socio-economic, political and legal aspects of shaping a new world order were discussed. The Convention gathered over 140 leading Russian and foreign scholars.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the Priority Fest and spoke about the quality control problems of online education. In her report, Ms Izmaylova paid special attention to a new model of state accreditation and diagnostic work within the framework of external review.

As the Priority Fest program included more than a hundred sessions on university management and the introduction of digital and innovation in education, Ms Izmaylova touched upon the topic of digital transformation of the state service for state accreditation of educational activities and the introduction of modern technologies during external review.

The result of the event was identifying key guidelines in educational and research practices.

The forum ended with a students’ performance from the MGIMO Cultural Center.

Meeting with the representatives of the Republic of Belarus

On September 28, 2022, L. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, held a working meeting with the representatives of the State Institution "National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education" (Republic of Belarus).

During the visit, the meeting participants signed an Agreement on Cooperation in the field of state accreditation of educational institutions, as well as on the organization and carrying out of educational and other joint activities on quality assurance.

The Agreement is aimed at establishing mutually beneficial international cooperation in the academic and scientific fields, involving the development and strengthening of educational, scientific, methodological and research relationships.

Events on theological education were held

On September 21-23, 2022, NAA’s managers participated in the events aimed at developing theology as a branch of scientific knowledge and a complex of study disciplines, improving the quality of teaching theology in Russia as well as uniting scientific, organizational, methodological and expert activities of Russian universities in the field of theology.

The XV International Scientific and Educational Conference "Readings in Galimdzhan Baudi name" on the topic "Russian theology and the challenges of the time: from revision of ideas to dynamic development in the interests of society" was held on September 21 - 23 in Moscow. The event was hosted by the Spiritual Muslims Administration of the Russian Federation (SMA) and the Moscow Islamic Institute with the participation of the Center for Islamic Studies in St. Petersburg State University.

The conference participants discussed the relationship between the tradition and modernization in Islamic education, state standards for Islamic educational institutions as well as the formation of a scientific and theoretical basis for them. The event attendees representing Russian and foreign religious organizations discussed the issues of Muslim leaders training and exchanged experience in this area.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director took part in the conference and delivered a report “State standards in relation to Islamic educational institutions: problems and prospects”.

Cultural and religious education was touched upon not only at the SMA conference. On September 21, 2022, a solemn concert of the All-Russian Student Literary and Musical Festival "NOTA in Note" was held at the RANEPA University. The Scientific and Educational Theological Association hosted the event. Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director attended the concert.

The festive evening was held with the participation of the famous Sretensky Monastery’s choir, as well as student creative teams from Moscow universities - members of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association.

On September 9, a practice-oriented seminar was held

On September 9, 2022, NAA’s representatives held a practice-oriented seminar devoted to the topical issues of preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. The participants learned about the main stages of filling out an application for state accreditation and the requirements for the attached set of documents.

The seminar was opened by Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director. Ms Izmaylova congratulated the audience on the new academic year and emphasized the practical importance of holding such events for participants of educational organizations. In her speech, she also drew attention to the main renovation in the state accreditation procedure and wished fruitful work at the seminar.

From the speakers’ reports, the event participants learned about the current changes in the regulatory and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. The seminar attendees received practical recommendations on how to fill out an application and data forms on the delivery of study programs, as well as how to work with the organization's personal account in the IS SA system.

NAA’ specialists answered the audience questions and summed up the seminar results.

NAA thanks all participants for the productive work at the seminar! We invite you to take part in NAA’s future events.

Amendments in education

On July 6, 2022, the State Duma adopted the Federal Law “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” (effective from September 1, 2022).

The Federal Law is amended as follows:

- An educational organization has the right to use electronic workflows in its activities, which provides for creation, signing, use and storage of documents related to the activities of an educational organization in electronic form without duplication on paper, unless otherwise provided by this Federal Law. The decision to introduce electronic workflows and the procedure for its implementation are approved by the educational organization in agreement with its founder.

- Information and documents on an educational organization’s activities are submitted by the head (deputy head) of the educational organization at the request of a citizen or an official of a state body or local government in the cases and in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation. A founder of a state or municipal educational organization should submit information on the educational organization’s activities.

- The list of documentation (carried out by the teachers when implementation study programs) is approved by the federal executive body responsible for the development and implementation of state policy and legal regulation in the field of general education. A government body of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (performing state administration in the field of education) in agreement with the federal executive authority (in charge of developing and implementing state policy and legal regulation in the field of general education) has the right to approve an additional list of documentation to be prepared by the teachers when implementation study programs.

One can find more detailed information at the link: Federal Law “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated July 6, 2022.

Training on the further professional training (FPT) program on state regulation has been finished

The second day of training within the framework of the advanced professional education (training courses) has been finished. At the end of the event, a discussion on assessing the education quality took place. Training was organized by the Russian Technological University (MIREA).

Elena Efimova, the Head of the Department of Expertise, a senior employee of RANEPA, opened the seminar. In her speech, she highlighted the main aspects of the internal and external quality assurance system of education. She also paid attention to the main quality indicators of a HEI’s work as well as its ability to adapt to new conditions.

The following presentations provided information on students and employers’ participation in assessing quality of study programs. Furthermore, the participants learnt about the use of the diagnostic work as a tool for assessing the education quality during external review and federal state control (supervision) in the field of education.

Elena Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Analytical Department, shared information on the external review procedure in accordance with the new model of state accreditation. Ms. Zakhvatova emphasized the advantages of the new mechanism for conducting external review in order to maintain and develop the education quality.

At the end of the event, certificates of the advanced training were awarded based on the results of the final certification of the seminar participants.

The first day of training on the further professional training (FPT) program.

On July 4, 2022, a two-day seminar as part of an advanced course began its work. The event was hosted by Russian Technological University (MIREA). The main goal of such events is to improve professional competencies of the employees engaged in educational activities in matters of licensing, state control and supervision as well as state accreditation of educational activities.

The first day of the event was attended by Rosobrnadzor’s representatives, NAA’s Heads and leading experts, representatives of Russian universities who have successfully undergone the accreditation procedure under the new model of state accreditation. The information on the proposed topics was very demanded in connection with the changes in the legislation system.

The work was opened with a welcoming speech by Stanislav Kudzh, MIREA’s Rector. He noted the great importance of such events for HEIs’ representatives in connection with the updated legal support. Mr Kudzh thanked Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, NAA’s specialists for organizing and conducting the seminar and spoke about the latest achievements of the university.

The event was continued by Olga Yavkina, Head of the Department of Public Services and Digital Transformation of Rosobrnadzor, with a report on current changes in the regulatory and legal support of state accreditation of educational activities. Ms Olga Yavkina drew the listeners' attention to the relevant documents in licensing, state accreditation that have come into force or should come into force in the near future.

Ms Izmaylova told in detail about the change in the state accreditation procedure and the prerequisites for its creation. NAA’s Director emphasized the priority of improving the assessment of the education quality and accreditation indicators in the system of state regulation of educational activities.

The seminar continued with the reports on assessment tools creation and their importance for external and internal evaluation as well as the issues of licensing, control and supervision of higher education.

Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director-Director of the branch, told the audience about the requirements for an educational organization’s website structure and the main errors in its design. The participants got acquainted with the issues of the university website updating in modern conditions and received recommendations on the most effective use of digital marketing tools to build a strategy for the export of educational services.

The first day of the seminar ended with summing up of the results and answering the audience questions.

A new data collection module for secondary vocational education and training (SVET)

In order to provide technical assistance to educational organizations in terms of preparing for state accreditation, National Accreditation Agency has developed a new software "Data collection module for a special section of the website of an educational organization of SVET".

The software will allow to fill in a special section of the official website of a secondary vocational educational and training organization. This activity is undertaken in accordance with Rosobrnadzor’s order “On approval of the requirements for the structure of the official website of an educational organization in the Internet and information presentation format” enforced on August 14, 2020 №. 831 (as amended on May 7, 2021).

Information about the software is included in the Single Register of Russian Programs for computers and databases of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development (registration number 13848).

NAA’s participation in the Scientific and Methodological Conference with international participation

On June 2, 2022, the 5^th National Scientific and Methodological Conference with international participation devoted to the strategic directions of transformation and a new model for the development of university education. The event was hosted by the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg. This year the Conference is dedicated to the formation of new approaches to the development of strategic university ecosystems in the new reality.

Aleksey Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director, took part in the conference as a leading expert in the field of education. The conference covered such issues as the generation and development of breakthrough ideas in order to solve national problems, develop new solutions in the field of digital transformation in Russian universities as well as new models of interaction between universities.

For reference: "Architecture of University Education" brings together leading experts in the field of education and business. This event is a unique scientific and methodological platform for discussing and developing effective solutions in response to current challenges of the national university education.

The training on state regulation was completed

On June 1, 2022, a seminar in the framework of further training programs devoted to state regulation of educational activities for employees of an educational organization was completed. The event was hosted by MGIMO University.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, focused on the main problems the educational organization faces when undergoing state accreditation and spoke about the first results of external reviews in accordance with the updated procedure.

Sergey Myasoedov, Vice-Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), continued the topic of external review and thanked NAA’s staff for fruitful joint cooperation, which resulted in expansion of the experts’ pool.
Mr Myasoedov spoke about the importance of professional public accreditation and the main directions in the international market of educational services.

Elena Efimova, Head of the Department of Expertise and Development, a senior employee of RANEPA, emphasized the structural and functional aspects of the system for assessing the quality of education and the importance of employers' participation in students’ assessment.

Olga Savka, Head of the Educational and Methodological Department, Russian Technological University, spoke about the grounds for carrying out planned activities as well as control and supervisory procedures.

Furthermore, NAA’s leading specialists made the reports on formation of funds for evaluation tools and diagnostic work. The participants learned about new approaches to state accreditation, quality criteria for training students and received practical recommendations for avoiding mistakes while preparing assessment materials.

At the end of the event, the participants were presented with certificates of further development training.

May 30 - June 1, 2022 further training program was conducted

Improving the work of an educational organization, obtaining up-to-date information on new changes in the state regulation of educational activities from official sources is the key to successful licensing, accreditation, control and supervisory activities.

MGIMO University periodically invites NAA to conduct training events for its employees in order to highlight current changes in the legislation in the field of education.

May 30 - June 1, 2022, a training seminar on state regulation of educational activities was conducted for MGIMO University as part of the further training program. Artem Malgin, MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Development, Head of the MGIMO Rector Office, opened the seminar. Welcoming the participants, Mr Malgin noted the importance and relevance of such events for improving an educational organization’s work. He also thanked NAA’s representatives for organizing training.

Aleksey Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation on changes in the legal support of state regulation of educational activities.

Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, spoke in details about the use of accreditation indicators in state accreditation, control and supervision activities as well as accreditation monitoring. Particular attention was paid to innovations in external review, its timing, requirements for expert team activities, and internal system for assessing the education quality.

The seminar was continued by Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director - Branch Director. He focused on the main requirements for an educational organization’s website, especially the requirements for the structure and form of posting information.

Practical recommendations were also given for working with the personal account of the organization in the system of IS SA and IS LOD.

The first day ended with the answers to participants’ questions.

The second day of the seminar in Pushkin

On May 21, 2022, the further vocational training programme devoted to state accreditation of educational activities was completed.

Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the second day of the event with a report on the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities. In her speech, she focused on the new model of state accreditation in terms of accreditation indicators, drawing attention to the entry into force of the new regulatory acts for the state accreditation procedure.

Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director, told the participants about the diagnostic work as an assessment tool for education quality during external review and federal state control (supervision) in the field of education.

At the seminar, the issues of employers and students’ participation in assessing the quality of study programs were discussed. HEIs’ representatives shared their experience in preparing an educational organization for the state accreditation procedure as well as the expert experience in accordance with the new model.

At the end of training, NAA’s specialists answered the questions. They also conducted a final certification of the participants and awarded certificates of advanced training.

20-21.05.2022 seminar in Pushkin-city

On May 20, 2022, NAA organized a seminar as part of the further vocational training programme "Accreditation of educational activities in the Russian Federation". The event was hosted by St.Petersburg State Agrarian University. The seminar was aimed at improving the competencies of HEIs’ employees‘ in preparing and undergoing external quality assessment.

The seminar was attended by NAA’s heads and leading specialists, representatives of the executive authorities and National Accreditation Agencies from the Republic of Belarus and Uzbekistan, the heads from the Russian society "Knowledge", representatives from the Association for Engineering Education of Russia, universities as well as certified experts of Rosobrnadzor.

Vitaly Morozov, the Rector of St. Petersburg Agrarian University, opened the first day of the seminar. Then, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, delivered a report on the issues of accreditation in the education system. She highlighted the increased attention to internal and external assessment of the education quality. She also thanked the participants for their interest and wished productive work at the event.

During the seminar, the representatives from Belarus and Uzbekistan shared their experience in conducting external quality assurance procedures in their countries. The seminar also covered the issues of accreditation of specialists in the field of medicine, pedagogy and engineering in Russian universities.

At the end of the first day work, NAA’s representatives answered the audience’s questions.

National Accreditation Agency thanks all the participants for their interest and productive work at the seminar!

Joint meeting of the boards with the representatives of the Republic of Belarus

On May 18, 2022, Ms Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director took part in a meeting of the boards of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus. The event was hosted by St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics of National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" in Gatchina.

During the meeting, the issues related to the formation of a single scientific and technological area, the development of concepts for scientific and technical programs, as well as the implementation of joint innovation projects were discussed.

The Russian and Belarusian representatives paid special attention to cooperation in the field of general, secondary vocational and higher education; the formation of a joint action plan of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus in the field of state youth policy in 2022.

As a result of the event, the representatives of the boards reached the agreements and developed common approaches within the framework of bilateral cooperation in the field of education of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

NAA’s participation in the conference on educational legislation

On May 17, 2022, a scientific conference “Educational legislation and law enforcement problems: trends and prospects” was held at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The event was attended by leading experts in the field of jurisprudence, representatives of the Russian Academy of Education, educational organizations, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Rosobrnadzor and NAA.

The issues devoted to the transformation of educational law in the digital age, the problems and prospects of control and supervision activities, as well as the indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of educational law were discussed at the conference. Furthermore, a new model of state accreditation of educational activities, the place and role of professional public accreditation were debated.

Working meeting with the representatives of the Muslim clergy

As on March 1, 2022 the new regulatory support for the procedures of state accreditation, licensing and control (supervision) in education has come into effect, the topic of regulation of educational activities is becoming especially acute today.

NAA’s representatives conduct training events on various issues devoted to this topic. NAA’s specialists also take part in seminars held by academic and expert communities, employers and business communities, where they talk about a new model of state accreditation.

Educational organizations founded by religious organizations show great interest in the issues of legislation amendments in the field of education.

NAA hold a series of training events for seminaries of the Russian Orthodox Church. On April 25, 2022, NAA organized a working meeting with the representatives of the Centralized Religious Organization "Muslim Spiritual Authority of the Russian Federation". At the meeting, the participants discussed the issues of developing and expanding the pool of experts with theological knowledge of Islam and Islamic culture, as well as the issues of interaction to contribute to the development of theology as a branch of scientific knowledge and to improve the quality of theology teaching in Russia.

A seminar devoted to external evaluation of an educational organization’s activities was organized

On April 15-16, 2022, a seminar “Evaluation of an educational organization performance” was held. The event was conducted as part of a professional development program for representatives of St. Petersburg State University of Economics. More than 60 supervisors of basic study programs from the University took part in the seminar.

The event was organized in connection with the new legislation requirements in RF in the field of education and was aimed at studying and implementing in practice of tools for the education quality enhancement, at creating conditions for constant professional growth of the academic staff.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, and Igor Maksimtsev, Rector of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, opened the workshop with welcoming speeches.

NAA’s leading specialists made presentations devoted to external and internal quality assurance in education, preparation of assessment materials and staffing of study programs. The University’s representatives and experts from the National Accreditation Council for Business and Management Education shared their experience in developing assessment materials and in involving employers in assessing the quality of study programs.

Summing up the results NAA’s specialists responded the audience questions.

National Accreditation Agency thanks all the participants for their interest and productive work at the seminar, and invites HEIs to take part in NAA’s planned events in the future!

On April 14, 2022, a webinar was held for representatives of sVET organizations

On April 14, 2022, NAA’s staff held a webinar on the topic "State regulation of educational activities in the secondary vocational education system." The event was attended by the representatives of sVET organizations interested in clarification of the issues concerning licensing, state control and supervision as well as state accreditation of educational activities.

NAA’s specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s experts made their presentations for the audience.

The event was opened by Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director. She thanked the audience for their participation and wished productive work. Furthermore, Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, spoke about the changes in the regulatory system for state accreditation, licensing and control (supervision) procedures.

The event participants were provided with the information on preparation of documents for the licensing procedure. They also learned about the current trends in the system of secondary vocational education and training.

At the end of the webinar, the organizers responded to the questions raised.

April 8, 2022 – a practice-oriented seminar

On April 8, 2022, NAA held a practice-oriented seminar. The event was devoted to the main stages of preparing for the state accreditation procedure, including filling out an application for state accreditation as well as compliance with the requirements for the attached set of documents.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the seminar with a welcoming speech. She addressed the main updates in the state accreditation procedure and wished the participants good and fruitful work at the seminar.

NAA’s staff further made presentations on the preparation of an application and a set of documents by an educational organization for state accreditation, drawing attention to the change in the application form for state accreditation.

During the event, the participants learned about the main changes in the regulatory and legal support of the accreditation procedure and received practical recommendations on filling out forms for information on study programs delivery.

The event finished with the answers to the listeners’ questions.

We would like to thank the event participants for their interest and productive work and invite to take part in NAA’s planned events!

NAA’s participation in the seminar "Week of Medical Education - 2022"

On April 6, 2022, the National Accreditation Agency together with LLC "Medical League of Russia" conducted a training seminar for experts "A new model for study programs accreditation: requirements, prospects, opportunities". The event was organized within the framework of the XIII All-Russian Conference with international participation "Week of Medical Education - 2022".

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Gennady Onishchenko, President of the “Medical League of Russia” opened the seminar. The event was moderated by Tatyana Litvinova, Chairman of the Expert Council of Medical League of Russia.

In her report Lemka Izmaylova told about the new model of state accreditation of educational activities, paying attention to the new regulatory framework for accreditation, licensing and control (supervision) procedures that has come into force. At the end of her speech, Ms Izmaylova thanked the experts from the Medical League of Russia for their high professionalism and deep interest in improving the quality of Russian medical education. In 2021, despite the colossal workload due to the difficult epidemiological situation, experts carried out the necessary work on the state accreditation procedure in a regular mode.

Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a detailed presentation on the latest updates in the legal framework of the state accreditation procedure. From the speakers’ reports the seminar listeners learned about the procedure for conducting external review on accreditation indicators and the main legal requirements for accreditation monitoring.

At the end of the event, the participants thanked NAA’s specialists for the content and practical significance of the information provided.

For reference: The conference "Medical Education in Russia" has been held since 2010. During the event, topical issues of higher medical education are discussed; long-term plans for education and training of healthcare professionals are developed.

Expansion of the list of NAA’s software products

Currently, monitoring studies and control and supervisory activities are carried out through direct interaction with the official website of an educational organization in the information and telecommunication network "Internet" by analyzing the information located in certain sections of the website. In order to simplify the placement and control of information posted on the website by an educational organization, NAA has developed a set of software products designed to automate the placement of mandatory information on official websites of educational organizations and to provide information and consulting assistance on these issues.

On March 1, 2022, the software "Data collection module for a special section of the website of an educational organization of secondary vocational education and training" was registered in the Register of Computer Programs.

The certificate of state registration of the computer program was issued by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) on March 1, 2022 № 2022613105.

Purpose: the software allows for the correct filling out of a special section at the official website of a sVET organization with mandatory information in accordance with the requirements of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 20, 2021 "On approval of the rules for the placement and update of the information about the educational organization, as well as the invalidation of certain acts and certain provisions of some acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the official website of an educational organization in the information and telecommunications network "Internet"", Order № 831 of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science dated August 14, 2020 "On approval of the requirements for the structure of the official website of an educational organization in the information and telecommunications network "Internet" and the format for presenting information" (as amended in accordance with the order of Rosobrnadzor dated August 09, 2021 № 1114). The software product also automatically generates the pages of a special section and marks up the information and electronic documents published there.

Training of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on the further professional education program

On March 27-29, 2022, a session was held as part of the advanced training under the program "Performance evaluation of an educational organization" for representatives of educational organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church. The event is aimed at improving professional competencies of employees in the issues of internal and external evaluation of the education quality.

As part of the training a two-day seminar was held on March 28 and 29. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the seminar with a report on external evaluation of the education quality. The Director spoke about the mechanisms for assessing the quality of educational activities, the procedure of professional and public accreditation, and drew the audience attention to the main changes in the procedure for state accreditation of study programs.

Aleksey Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director, provided the audience with the information about legal requirements for accreditation monitoring, changes in the legal framework for the state accreditation procedure.

The event continued with the reports devoted to the preparation of assessment materials for external and internal evaluation of the quality of educational activities, as well as the issues of assessing the results of students’ level of mastering of the basic study program as part of the diagnostic work.

The second day of the seminar included the presentations on independent assessment of the education quality and analysis of the quality of assessment materials of an educational organization.

The representatives of HEIs and Rosobrnadzor experts shared their experience in developing assessment materials and participation of employers in assessing the quality of study programs.

At the end of the event, the audience thanked NAA’s specialists for the content and practical significance of the information provided.

Meeting with the representatives from the Republic of Belarus

On March 22, 2022, in accordance with the Action plan between the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science and the Department for Quality Control of Education of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus the representatives from the National Accreditation Agency and the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education of the Republic of Belarus held a joint meeting devoted to state accreditation of educational activities.

The event was devoted to the discussion of the issues of legal regulation of contractual relations with experts and expert organizations involved in carrying out external reviews. The management and leading experts of NAA shared with their foreign colleagues the experience of interaction between the Agency and state accreditation experts.

Further professional training (FPT) program in Moscow

From March 16 to 18, 2022, NAA conducted training for educational organizations’ representatives on the topic "State regulation of educational activities". The training was organized in connection with the new requirements of the RF legislation and is aimed at improving the professional competencies of educational organizations’ employees in the issues of licensing, state control and supervision, state accreditation of educational activities.

NAA’s heads and leading specialists as well as Rosobrnadzor’ s experts delivered their reports during the event.

The seminar was opened by Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director. In her speech, Ms Izmaylova noted the importance and relevance of this topic due to the fact that on March 1, new regulatory provisions for the procedures of state accreditation, licensing and control (supervision) came into force. In conclusion, NAA’s Director thanked the audience for participation in the training and wished successful and productive work.

The seminar continued with the presentation of A. Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director who provided detailed information on the changes in the legal framework.

During the event, the participants learned about a new model for state accreditation of educational activities, accreditation indicators as well as the external review procedure. The speakers provided the audience with the information on preparation of the organization's documents for the licensing procedure, as well as on the new forms and mechanisms used to confirm the education quality.

After the presentations, the attendees underwent final certification and received certificates of the advanced training.

We thank all the participants of FPT program and look forward to seeing you at our training events!

NAA’s participation in the All-Russian Scientific and Training Seminar organized by SETO

On March 17-18, 2022, the Scientific and Educational Theological Organization (SETO), with the support of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, held the VI All-Russian Scientific and Methodological Training Seminar on the implementation of basic study programs at the university in accordance with the new legal requirements. The event took place at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation.

The seminar was attended by the representatives of religious organizations and government supervision bodies, as well as universities’ leadership. The event was aimed at improving the competencies of managers and specialists of higher education in terms of legislation, regulations, methods and ways of using educational technologies.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the first day of the seminar. During her statement, Ms Izmaylova noted the importance of educational activities’ regulation in accordance with the entry into force of the new regulatory provisions for the procedures of state accreditation, licensing and control (supervision), and also spoke about the mechanisms for implementing a new model of state accreditation of educational activities.

In closing, Ms Izmaylova thanked the audience for the attention to the state accreditation procedure.

A two-day seminar was held by the National Accreditation Agency

On February 17-18, NAA’s representatives held a practical seminar on the main changes in the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities.

The first day of the seminar "New in state accreditation of educational activities" was opened by Alexey Yemelyanov, NAA’s Deputy Director. In his address to the audience, Mr. Yemelyanov noted the great practical significance of these events for representatives of educational organizations, and also spoke about a new model of the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities.

The seminar participants further learned about the new requirements for an educational organization’s official website as well as the information presented on it, received practical recommendations for filling out an application and forms for study programs implementation.

At the end of the first day meeting, the participants asked their questions to the seminar’s speakers.

The second day of the seminar was devoted to the issues of accreditation monitoring, new forms and mechanisms for confirming the compliance of the education quality with accreditation indicators, the procedure for conducting external review against accreditation indicators, as well as modernizing information systems in accordance with the new requirements.

At the end of the seminar, the speakers responded to the participants’ questions and summed up the work results.

We thank the participants for their interest and productive work at the seminar and invite them to take part in the planned NAA’s events in the future!

A webinar developed to the requirements for posting information on a HEI’ s website

On February 1, 2022, a webinar was held for diplomatic missions and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the topic “On new requirements for the structure and format of posting information on a HEI’s official website”.

NAA’s leading specialists introduced the webinar’s participants on the new legislation requirements in the field of education for the structure and content of the official website of an educational organization, the format for posting information, the technology for automated placement and collection of information from official websites. At the end of the webinar, the speakers responded to the participants’ questions.

24.01.2022 – a working meeting with the Russian society "Knowledge"

On January 24, 2022, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in a working meeting with the representatives of the Russian society "Knowledge" (the expert organization). At the event, an award ceremony was held. Based on the results of the past year the NAA’s Head was conferred an award “Achiever of Enlightenment".

The international ranking “IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR EUR)” in cooperation with The National Accreditation Agency

The international ranking for the “IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR EUR)” developed by IAAR in cooperation with NAA is annually conducted. The ranking is carried out based on the developed methodology with the use of a digital ranking program aimed at forming a university ranking in accordance with international quality standards.

On January 20, 2022, Rosobrnadzor organized a round table meeting

Anzor Muzaev, the Rosobrnadzor’s Head, opened the event. He summed up the work for 2021 and outlined the reforming stages for state regulation of educational activities.

1. Kochetova, Rosobrnadzor’s Deputy Head, O. Yavkina, the Head of the Department of Public Services and Digital Transformation, O. Yakimchuk, the Head of the Department of Supervision and Control over Organizations Carrying out Educational Activities, explained the issues of licensing, state accreditation as well as federal state control (supervision) in the field of education in the framework of changes in Russian legislation.

The representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education spoke about the aspects of legal regulation and methodological support for the training of scientific and pedagogical personnel in a graduate school.

For reference. From March 1, 2022 accreditation of universities becomes permanent. Instead of it, a special monitoring of the education quality against to eight accreditation indicators is introduced.

More detailed information on the changes in state accreditation will be presented at NAA’s seminar "New in state accreditation of educational activities" to be held on February 17-18, 2022.

14 January 2022 – open meeting of the NASDOBR Presidium

Lemka S. Izmaylova, Director of the National Accreditation Agency, NAA took part in a joint open meeting of the Presidium of the National Accreditation Council for Business and Management Education (NASDOBR) chaired by A.D. Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the NASDOBR Presidium.

At the meeting, the participants summed up the results of NASDOBR activities in 2021 and discussed the main directions for the organization development in the coming year. The following issues were addressed: the development of public-private partnerships and new opportunities for cooperation in 2022, as well as the creation of a NASDOBR commission for public and professional-public accreditation of higher education programs.

In her speech, Lemka S. Izmaylova thanked NASDOBR for the long and fruitful joint work and outlined areas of cooperation for the education quality improvement.

For reference: The Gaidar Forum is held annually at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Well-known experts, representatives of authorities, public and political figures, entrepreneurs from different countries take part in the forum.  

NAA's visit to the Belarus Republic was finished

From November 10 to 12, 2021, NAA’s delegation conducted on an official three-day visit to the Belarus Republic.

During the visit, the representatives from NAA and the executive authority of the Belarus Republic discussed the prospects of Belarusian-Russian cooperation in the field of state accreditation. The parties also held a two-day training seminar for representatives of Belarus HEIs. NAA shared its experience in undergoing the procedure of external review organized by the European Association for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (ENQA). To create a National Quality Assurance Agency in Belarus, the representatives of the Russian and Belarusian parties discussed draft local documents of the Agency, ensuring its activities in accordance with the legislation of the Belarus Republic and the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.

During the visit, the meeting participants concluded about the necessity to exchange experts for assessing the education quality, to train international experts and create a single pool of experts.

NAA’s management are on a visit to the Belarus Republic

A meeting of NAA and the Ministry of Education of the Republic Belarus will take place from November 10 to 12, 2021. The event was held according to the agreement between the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science and the Ministry of Education of the Belarus Republic on cooperation in the field of state accreditation of higher education institutions, signed on November 20, 2020 in Moscow,

On the first day of the event, T. Bibik and M. Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Heads, discussed with I. Starovoitova, the First Deputy Minister of Education of the Belarus Republic, perspectives of the Belarusian-Russian cooperation in the field of state accreditation. M. Mironchik, Director of the Education Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Education of the Belarus Republic, acquainted NAA’s representatives with the procedure for conducting state accreditation of higher education institutions in the Belarus Republic.

NAA participated in ENQA General Assembly

On October 21, 2021, ENQA General Assembly took place in online form. NAA’s Director and leading specialists took part in the event.

During the event, nominations to the ENQA Board were held. Mr. Oystein Lund (Deputy Director General, NOKUT, Norway) was elected as a new vice-president of the Association. The General Assembly participants approved the report on ENQA activities for 2020-2021 and a work plan for 2022 presented by ENQA’s Secretariat.

The next General Assembly of the Association will take place in Cardiff, Wales, UK on April 27-29, 2022.

For reference: The European Association for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (ENQA) was established with the aim of promoting and strengthening the quality of higher education in the countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) within the framework of the Bologna Process.

In March, 2021, the Board of the European Association for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (ENQA) made a decision to reconfirm National Accreditation Agency (NAA) as a member of ENQA for five years. NAA is considered to be in compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG, 2015) and is admitted/reconfirmed as a member of ENQA.

The 10th ENQA General Assembly took place on October 17-18, 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia. The event was organized in cooperation with the National Centre for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation (ANQA).

Rosobrnadzor expert session was ended on 14.10.2021

On October 14, 2021, a two-day expert session of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) “Formation of accreditation indicators for higher education study programs” was finished. The event was hosted by the State University of Management.

The program of the second day was aimed at the generation of proposals for the formation of draft regulatory legal acts. NAA’s employees took an active part in the discussion devoted to the generalization of the optimal accreditation indicators for the state accreditation procedure of educational activities.

The expert session of Rosobrnadzor started its work on October 13, 2021.

On October 13, 2021, a two-day expert session of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) "Formation of accreditation indicators for higher education study programs" was held. The event was hosted by the State University of Management.

The expert session was attended by experts, heads and leading specialists of higher education institutions of the Russian Federation.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, made a presentation to the session’s participants. The report was devoted to the implementation tools for the new model of state accreditation of educational activities.

The event was aimed at the development of accreditation indicators for the state accreditation procedure in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law of 11.06.2021 No. 170-FL "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Adoption of the Federal Law" On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation”.

A meeting of the Council for Cooperation in Education was held on October 7, 2021.

On October 7, 2021, a meeting of the Council for Cooperation in Education of the CIS Member States was held in Yerevan (Republic of Armenia). The event was attended by the representatives of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Lemka Izmaylova, Chairperson of the Commission in Quality Assurance of the Council, NAA’s Director, made a presentation on the development of common approaches to quality assurance of higher education in the CIS.

For reference: the next meeting of the Council will be held in Kazakhstan in 2022.

On 07.10.2021 NAA hosted a meeting with the colleagues from Azerbaijan

On October 7, 2021, a working meeting with the representatives from the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (AQAE) was held at the National Accreditation Agency. The event was part of the foreign specialists’ visit to the Main State Center for Education Evaluation.

During the event, issues related to the procedure for state accreditation of Russian HEIs were discussed. The management and leading specialists of NAA provided the Azerbaijan colleagues with information on the regulatory legal documentation and also spoke about NAA’s mission and activities aimed at improving the quality of Russian higher education, including that at the international level.

On October the 5th Central Asian International Forum was held in the Republic of Kazakhstan

V Central Asian International Forum "Higher Education Quality Assurance: Global Trends and Regional Aspects" was held on October 1-2, 2021. The event was attended by representatives from Kazakhstan, Russia, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Belarus and other countries.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, made a welcoming speech at the Forum plenary session. She congratulated the colleagues from the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR, Republic of Kazakhstan) on their 10th anniversary and wished further productive cooperation in the field of international activity. Ms Izmaylova also noted the Forum special significance for development and improvement of the higher education quality and enhanced cooperation with international agencies.

During the Forum, the following key issues were discussed: international approaches to the quality assurance of education, development strategies and teaching technologies of higher education, international accreditation as a tool for improving the quality of medical education, etc.

For reference: The Annual Central Asian International Forum (organised by the Republic of Kazakhstan) is held to discuss modern approaches to the development of a quality assurance system, accreditation and rating research, to expand cooperation with international organizations and agencies.

NAA will host a platform for the section on the Professors’ Forum 2021

From September 27 to September 30, 2021, the Professors' Forum 2021 "Science and Technology in the XXI Century: Trends and Prospects" is being held in Moscow.

NAA will host a scientific and industrial section "Professional - public accreditation as a tool for improving the quality of education", which will be held on September 29 from 10:00 to 13:00. The section will be attended by representatives from Russian scientific and pedagogical community.

Moderators:

Lemka Izmailova, NAA’s Director

Andrey Panarin, Chief of Staff of the Russian Professors’ Assembly

On September 26, 2021 the European Skills Championship finished in Austria

NAA conducted the practice-oriented seminars on September 13-14, 2021

On September 13 - 14, 2021, National Accreditation Agency organized the practice-oriented seminars where participants received practical recommendations on the basic steps of preparing for state accreditation.

The seminar program included explanations necessary to fill out updated documents in accordance with Rosobrnadzor Order dated July 23, 2021 No. 1052 "On approval of the Administrative regulations for the delivery of public services for state accreditation of educational activities provided by the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science" entered into force since September 1, 2021.

On September 13, Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the seminar “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out an application for the state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents". She congratulated the participants with the new academic year and wished them success in their educational activities. Furthermore, Ms Bibik presented a report devoted to the amendment of regulatory and legal support of the state accreditation procedure.

Elena Avtenyeva, NAA’s Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, told about the preparation of an application and a package of documents of an educational organization for state accreditation procedure. Ms Avtenyeva also presented practical recommendations for filling out an application for state accreditation and drew particular attention to the relevance of the information provided.

The participants additionally received practical information on filling out the forms of data on study programs delivery.

At the end of the day the seminar’s participants could ask NAA’s leading specialists their questions.

September 14, Michael Petropavlovskiy, NAA’s Deputy Director, Director of NAA’s Branch in Yoshkar-Ola, opened the seminar "Preparation for state accreditation procedure of educational activities using distance learning technologies".

During the event, the listeners were provided with the information about software module of electronic application for state accreditation, posting documents on educational organization’s official website, the procedure for submitting and receiving documents for conducting an external review in electronic form, as well as practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system.

NAA’s specialists responsed to the participants’ questions.

NAA thanks the participants for the productive work at the seminar! We invite you to take part in the planned activities of our organization in the future.

On June 26, 2021, a conference with international participation was held

June 26, 2021 a conference with international participation "Quality assurance of higher education in Russia in the new decade" was hosted by the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Berbekov (KBSU).

The issues of quality assurance and variety of HE forms, models of external assessment of HE in different countries, assurance of their comparability, as well as the experience of undergoing external quality assessment by Russian Universities were discussed at the event.

The conference was opened with welcoming speeches by KBSU’s rector and NAA’s Deputy Director-Director of the branch.

The conference program was divided into several sessions on topical issues in the field of education.

The representatives of the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating, IAAR (the Republic of Kazakhstan), the Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, IQAA (the Republic of Kazakhstan), the Department for Quality Control of Education of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, the State Inspectorate on Supervision of Education Quality under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation, FIBAA (Germany) took part in the first session, dedicated to models of external quality assurance of HE. The session was moderated by Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director. During the session, a productive discussion took place among the conference participants on the issues related to quality assurance in HE.

The second session was under the name “Undertaking the procedure for recognizing the level of activity of an educational organization by the criteria and requirements of international organizations by Russian universities. Legal mechanisms for the recognition of foreign qualifications”. The representatives of the National Centre for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation, ANQA (Armenia), Main State Center for Education Evaluation, leading universities of the Russian Federation participated in the event. Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, took part in the section as a moderator. The session participants discussed in detail the problems of new forms of HE, which should be compatible with national qualifications systems, comply with the same quality assurance requirements and be detailed in terms of learning outcomes.

The third session was devoted to the peculiarities of external experts’ activity. Denis Shabanov, NAA’s Head of the Information Support and Event Management Department, acted as a moderator. The Rosobrnadzor’s experts and the representatives of leading universities of the Russian Federation spoke to the participants. The external experts’ activity plays an important role in the assessment and constant updating of study programs, taking into account national systems. The role of an external expert is key and functionally significant in the system of quality control of HE. During the event, the conference participants asked the speakers a number of questions concerning the specifics of organizing an external expert’s work.

Summing up the conference results, the participants came to the conclusion that quality assurance is a source of mutual trust between the countries in terms of recognition of HE qualifications and noted the importance of using existing means of transparency and comparability between the countries. Recognition mechanisms based on quality assurance and system harmonization make a significant contribution to supporting student mobility, recognizing learning outcomes obtained in different ways, and fostering knowledge exchange, cultural competence and global awareness.

National Accreditation Agency thanks the participants for their interest in the conference, and invites HEIs to take part in the planned events in the future!

On June 25, 2021, training on state regulation of educational activities was held

On June 25, 2021, the National Accreditation Agency, NAA held a practice-oriented seminar on the issues of state regulation of educational activities. The event was organized in the Educational and Scientific Complex of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Berbekov, KBSU. The seminar was aimed at obtaining practical recommendations on licensing, state control and supervision as well as state accreditation of educational activities.

NAA’s managers and leading specialists as well as experts of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science made presentations to the participants of the seminar.

The seminar was opened by KBSU’s rector. He thanked NAA’s staff for organizing the seminar and noted its great practical importance for HEIs’ representatives.

Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation on the issues of state regulation of educational activities and changes in the legal support of the procedure. She drew the participants’ attention to the documents that should come into force shortly and asked to take these changes into account when using them in work.

Furthermore, the participants learned about the legal basis for licensing of educational activities and the principles of state control (supervision) in the field of education.

Elena Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Analytical Department, spoke about the compliance of the basic study programs of HE with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard during state accreditation.

The event was finished with responses to participants’ questions.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Dear Chris,

On behalf of the National Accreditation Agency, please accept our sincere congratulations on your birthday!

We would like to take this opportunity of adding our good wishes to those of your many colleagues in AAQ and ENQA network!

Let all your hopes and expectations come true in your new year! We wish you always to have cheerful mood, good health and great achievements in all your professional activities and great personal happiness!

Having this opportunity, we would like to express our highest appreciation of your permanent personal support and cooperation with our agency in HE QA sphere!

Happy birthday, Chris!

Lemka Izmailova

Director of NAA

May 24-25, 2021 – the practice-oriented seminars

The events were aimed at obtaining practical recommendations on the main stages of preparing for state accreditation.

On April 24, 2021, NAA held the seminar "Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out an application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents". Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the seminar. She noted the great practical importance of these events for HEIs’ representatives, recalled the need to comply with the legal requirements for state accreditation, as well as to provide relevant and reliable information when submitting documents. At the end of her speech, NAA’s Director wished the seminar’s participants fruitful activities.

Furthermore, NAA’s leading specialists made reports. The seminar’s participants learned about the current changes in the regulatory legal documentation governing the procedure of state accreditation; practical recommendations for filling out information forms on the implementation of study programs in accordance with the Order of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science of November 29, 2019 No. 1628.

Elena Avtenyeva, the Head of the Atomated Data Processing Department, made a speech on preparing an application and a package of documents for state accreditation. Ms Avtenyeva gave practical recommendations on how to fill out an application for state accreditation of educational activities. She paid special attention to the accuracy of the forms completion and recommended to check the reliability of the provided information.

Following the presentation of the speakers, NAA’s specialists answered the participants’ questions.

On April 25, 2021, NAA held a seminar "The procedure for state accreditation of educational activities using distance learning technologies". The event was opened by Michael Petropavlovskiy, NAA’s Deputy Director, Director of NAA’s Branch in Yoshkar-Ola. He presented a detailed information on the software module of electronic application for state accreditation .

The subsequent presentation described the procedure for submission and acceptance of the documents for carrying out external review in an on-line form and received practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system.

In conclusion to the event, NAA’s specialists responded to participants’ questions.

On May 20-22, 2021 the further vocational training was held in Ufa

On May 20-22 2021, the National Accreditation Agency conducted training for HEIs’ representatives on the topic "Accreditation of educational activities in the Russian Federation". The event was hosted by the Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after M. Akmulla. The seminar was organized in the form of further vocational training program (advanced training) and was aimed at improving the competencies of HEIs’ staff necessary during external quality assessment.

NAA’s heads and leading specialists, international QA agencies’ representatives from Germany and Kazakhstan (AQAS, Germany and IAAR, the Republic of Kazakhstan), the Russian Society "Knowledge", FSBI "Glavexpertcenter", HEIs’ representatives as well as Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participated in the event.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, made a presentation on accreditation of the educational system and drew the audience’s attention to the importance of internal and external QA during the accreditation procedure. NAA’s Director told about the peculiarities of external review, public and professional public accreditation, European QA standards (ESG) and independent assessment of students’ training quality. Ms Izmaylova told in detail about international ratings of the education quality, the development of HEIs’ international activities in the RF, undergoing international accreditation and increasing the competitiveness of the Russian education at international market. At the end of her speech, Ms Izmaylova thanked the audience for their interest in this event and wished everyone productive work.

Doris Herrmann, Managing Director for Strategy, Process and International Affairs of the Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programs (AQAS, Germany) provided the audience with the information on the international accreditation of the agency for study programs in the Russian Federation.

The representative from "Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating" (IAAR, the Republic of Kazakhstan) made a presentation on the employers’ role of in the procedures of external and internal assessment of study programs quality.

At the seminar, some reports were made on the Russian system of qualifications as well as the education system; legal mechanisms for the recognition of foreign qualifications; up-date tools for assessing the quality of educational activities, students’ participation in the procedures for quality assurance and undergoing the international accreditation procedure. NAA’s employees told in detail about the experts’ role in accreditation, their peculiarities, the practice of implementing European standards and guidelines (ESG) in the Russian higher education area.

At the end of the event, NAA’s representatives organized an examination session for the seminar participants and awarded certificates of advanced training.

National Accreditation Agency thanked all the seminar’s participants for their interest and productive work and invited them to take part in future events.

NAA’s participation in ENQA General Assembly

ENQA’s General Assembly meeting was held in an online format on Thursday 22 April, 2021. NAA’s Director and leading specialists participated in the event.

During the meeting, the elections of Board members, President and Vice-Presidents took place. NAA’s representative was registered as a Board candidate. The ENQA’s financial report, updated Guidelines for ENQA Agency Reviews as well as the composition of the Agency Review Committee were approved.

During the General Assembly, it was officially announced about the extension of the full membership of the National Accreditation Agency (NAA).

For reference: The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) was established with the aim of promoting and strengthening the quality of higher education in the countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) within the framework of the Bologna Process.

In March 2021, based on the results of NAA’s external review carried out in October 2020, the ENQA Board decided to confirm NAA’s membership in the association for the next five years. The ENQA Board concluded that NAA’s activities comply with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015), and thus meet ENQA’s membership criteria.

On April 22, 2021, a meeting of the Working Group of the Russian Union of Rectors was held

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the meeting of the Working Group of the Russian Union of Rectors (hereinafter - RUR). The event was held on April 22, 2021 and was dedicated to the issues of the Moscow International Rating "Three missions of the University".

The Moscow International Ranking “Three missions of the University” assesses classical university missions: educational, scientific research and the relationship between the university and local communities. The new rating is based on the uniform quantitative indicators that significantly increase the level of its objectivity.

For reference: The Russian Union of Rectors is an all-Russian public organization created in 1992 on the initiative of rectors of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation. The organization unites the heads of higher education institutions of the Russian Federation.

Further professional training for the representatives of the Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute named after M.F. Vladimirsky

On April 20-22, 2021 NAA held a seminar for the representatives of the Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute named after M.F. Vladimirsky. The participants were informed about the development and implementation of a basic study program in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard.

On April 20, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the seminar with a presentation on the changes in the state accreditation procedure. From her speech, the audience learned about the current changes in the regulatory legal documentation governing the procedure of state accreditation; its modernization; the requirements for posting information on the educational organization’s website. Ms Izmaylova thanked the medical workers - representatives of the Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute for their dedicated work and professionalism during the spread of the Coronavirus infection. Thanks to the unwavering devotion to their profession, the epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation remains stable.

Furthermore, NAA’s leading specialists made reports on filling out an application and preparing a package of documents for state accreditation; filling out the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation. Elena Avtenyeva, the Head of the Atomated Data Processing Department, gave practical recommendations on how to fill out an application for state accreditation of educational activities and paid special attention to the accuracy of the forms completion and relevance of the provided information.

The second day of the event was continued by the reports devoted to the legal regulation of the practical students’ training on medical residency programs; professional and public accreditation of degree programs, the main stages of preparing for the state accreditation procedure, conducting an audit (residency level). Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, spoke in detail about the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for the development of basic study programs for training highly qualified personnel - residency programs.

In conclusion to the second day session, NAA’s specialists responded to participants’ questions.

On April 22, the seminar was held in the form of video lectures. The listeners learned about the regulatory legal framework for state accreditation of educational activities, the procedure for submitting and receiving documents for conducting an external review in electronic form as well as digitalization of state accreditation procedure.

Establishment of the powers of a new expert organization

On April 14, 2021, the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science established the powers of a new expert organization for the non-profit organization "Association of Experts in the Field of Technosphere Safety". The subject of the organization's activities is to assist in training of qualified experts in the field of technosphere safety; participation in assessment of the education quality in the field of technosphere safety; information support through various means of communication on measures to ensure the safety of the population, objects and territories, involvement of the association members in the consideration and discussion of draft federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation in the field of technosphere safety, introducing proposals for improving activities in the field of technosphere safety, etc..

The non-profit organization "Association of Experts in the Field of Technosphere Safety" has become the 9th expert organization with the powers established by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science to conduct an external review.

On 07.04.2021 a webinar was held on the requirements for posting information on the educational organization’s website

On April 7, 2021, the National Accreditation Agency conducted a webinar on the topic “New requirements to the structure and formation of the information posted on the educational organization’s website. Use of the presented information during state accreditation”. The representatives of organizations engaged in educational activities, including specialists who maintain the organizations’ official websites participated in the event.

NAA’s leading specialists made presentations on the legal requirements to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website, the format for posting information, as well as the use of this information during state accreditation of educational activities. The speakers drew the audience’s attention that the information posted on the website must be up-to-date.

The webinar participants got acquainted with the typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information, the analysis of the review results on the part of the html-markup used on HEIs’ websites being compliant to the updated methodological recommendations with consideration to the legislative requirements of 2021.

At the end of the webinar, NAA’s representatives answered to the participants’ questions.

NAA’s participation in the conference "Week of Medical Education - 2021"

On April 1, 2021, the National Accreditation Agency conducted training for experts from the Rosobrnadzor’s certified expert organization "Medical League of Russia". The practice-oriented seminar "Implementation of the main approaches to the accreditation procedures of study programs in the context of digitalization" was held within the framework of the XII All-Russian conference with international participation "Week of Medical Education - 2021".

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the training seminar as a moderator. In her presentation, she told about the innovations in the state accreditation procedure in terms of regulatory legal documents, noted the advantages of undergoing state accreditation in electronic form. Nowadays, electronic application is increasingly used by educational organizations: since 2018, the number of electronic applications has increased significantly compared to paper applications. In her speech, NAA’s Director stressed the importance of compliance with all the requirements for the procedure of state accreditation: proper paperwork, posting relevant and objective information on the organization’s website. The report also touched upon the issues of an independent quality assessment of students’ training, the inclusion of educative components in study program, the development of international cooperation. At the end of her speech, Ms Izmaylova thanked the experts of the Medical League of Russia for their high professionalism and deep interest in improving the quality of Russian medical education. In 2020, despite the colossal workload due to the difficult epidemiological situation, experts carried out the necessary work on the state accreditation procedure in a regular mode.

Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation on the methodology for conducting external review. In her speech, she presented detailed information on the organization of a working group of experts, taking into account changes in the documentation regarding the procedure of state accreditation, the specifics of assessing the level of students’ training in accordance with the current FSES.

Denis Shabanov, NAA’s Head of the Information Support and Event Organization Department, told in detail about the work of the expert panel during the external review without a site-visit using on-line technologies at the places of experts’ residence.

For reference: The conference "Medical Education in Russia" has been held since 2010. During the event topical issues of higher medical education are discussed; long-term plans for education and training of healthcare professionals are developed.

Rosobrnadzor’s meeting with rectors and vice-rectors of HEIs

The further professional training for the representatives of spiritual educational organizations

In the period from March 22 to March 24, 2021, the National Accreditation Agency organized on-line further professional training for the representatives of spiritual educational organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church. The event was aimed at improving the professional competencies of employees of organizations engaged in educational activities in the development and implementation of basic study programs (BSPs) in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard and preparation of documents for state accreditation of educational activities.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director opened the seminar and made a presentation on the topic "New in the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities." In her report, she spoke about the latest changes in the normative legal documentation regulating the educational sphere of activitties, as well as the main changes in the state accreditation procedure.

Rosobrnadzor’s experts and NAA’s leading specialists provided the information on the development of BSPs at different levels, compliance of the content of study programs with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, external and internal quality assessment of students’ training.

The event participants learned about the main stages of preparation for the state accreditation procedure, the procedure for filling out an application and submitting information on the delivery of study programs.

Summing up the results of the training session, the participants noted the relevance of such events for educational organizations and thanked NAA’s specialists for the content and practical significance of the information presented.

The ENQA Board made a decision to reconfirm NAA’s membership status

On March 4, 2021, the Board of the European Association for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (ENQA) made a decision to reconfirm National Accreditation Agency (NAA) as a member of ENQA for five years. NAA is considered to be in compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG, 2015) and is admitted/reconfirmed as a member of ENQA.

The external review coordinated by ENQA was conducted in October, 2020 with an online site visit. Special work was undertaken by NAA’s specialists to prepare necessary documentation in accordance with the ENQA’s requirements.

For reference: The condition for full membership in ENQA is the compliance with the ESG’s requirements. The compliance is assessed on the basis of quality assurance agencies’ self-evaluation reports and external reviews of their activities, specially organized and coordinated by ENQA. Reviews are carried out by expert panels consisting of independent European experts representing quality assurance of higher education.

On the entry into force of some regulatory legal acts in the field of education

Dear colleagues!

We inform you about the entry into force of the following regulatory legal documents that amend the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education - Bachelor's, Master's and Specialist degree programs:

 - Order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2021 No. 82 "On Amendments to the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education - Master's degree program";

 - Order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2021 No. 83 "On Amendments to the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education - Bachelor's degree program";

 - Order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation dated February 8, 2021 No. 84 "On Amendments to Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education - Specialist programs".

On 03.16.2021 a seminar was held on the use of distance technologies in the state accreditation procedure

On March 16, 2021, a seminar was conducted devoted to the preparation for the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities using distance learning technologies.

The seminar was opened by Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director-Director of NAA’s branch. In the report, he told in details about the requirements for placing the necessary information on the educational organization’s official website.

Further, NAA’s leading specialists spoke to the seminar’s participants. During the event, the listeners learned about the procedure for submitting and receiving documents for conducting an external review in electronic form, received practical recommendations for working with an organization's personal account in the information system of state accreditation: generating an application, attaching electronic versions of the required documents.

NAA’s specialists answered to the participants’ questions.

Practice-oriented seminar was held on March 15, 2021

On March 15, the National Accreditation Agency, NAA conducted a practice-oriented seminar, dedicated to the preparation for state accreditation of educational activities and filling out the documents for state accreditation.

The seminar was aimed at obtaining practical recommendations on the basic steps of preparation for state accreditation, including filling out an application for state accreditation and observing the requirements to the package of documents.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the event. Welcoming the participants, Ms Izmaylova thanked the listeners for their interest in the event. During the speech, NAA’s Director emphasized that an educational organization must comply with the necessary documentation requirements on part of preparation for state accreditation as well as the provision of the relevant information. At the end of her speech, she wished all the participants productive work at the seminar.

Furthermore, different presentations were made. They were devoted to the amendment of regulatory and legal support for state accreditation; detailed information on filling out an application and preparing a package of documents for state accreditation; practical recommendations on filling out an application for state accreditation in accordance with the Order of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science dated November 29 .2019 № 1628.

At the end of the seminar, NAA’s employees responded to participants’ questions.

On March 3, 2021 NAA signed an agreement

Since 2021, in accordance with the State targets, the Federal State Budgetary Institution "The National Accreditation Agency", (NAA) has been supporting measures to assess the quality of students’ training conducted during state accreditation of study programs. For organizing this work, NAA interacts with expert and educational organizations, councils for professional qualifications, federal educational and methodological associations to crate a base of assessment tools.

On March 3, 2021, NAA and the Expert Center of the Russian Lawyers Association signed an agreement on cooperation and interaction in order to prepare information on students’ mastering of study program, the quality of students’ training, to test and improve the funds of assessment tools for assessing the quality of students’ training in the integrated field of study Jurisprudence.

NAA aims to expand interaction with organizations and associations aiming at improving the quality of higher education.

For reference: one of the activities of the Expert Center of the Russian Lawyers Association is to carry out public accreditation of HEIs providing training of legal professionals.

The experts’ powers have been extended

Dear colleagues!

In accordance with the Decree of the Government of RF (dated 04.02.2021 No. 109 "On Amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 3, 2020 No. 440") and the Order of Rosobrnadzor (dated 20.02.2021 No. 209-06) the experts and expert organizations involved in external review, whose certification term is due to expire in 2021, have been extended their powers for 12 months.

On February 17, 2021 the webinar devoted to the requirements for the information posted on the educational organization’s web-site was held.

On February 17, 2021 NAA’s specialists conducted the webinar devoted to the requirements for the structure and information posted on the educational organization’s official web-site.

The webinar was aimed at informing educational organizations as well as specialists responsible for maintaining the web sites on the procedure for implementing the requirements for the educational organizations’ official websites.

The NAA’s leading specialists made the reports on the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s official website; requirements to the format of the information posted on it as well as the use of this information during state accreditation of education activities.

The participants were informed about typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website; summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on HEIs’ official websites to the updated methodological recommendations in compliance with the legal requirements for 2020.

In concluding NAA’s specialists responded to the questions raised by the webinar participants.

The FVT program in St. Petersburg State University

On February 5-9, 2021, the National Accreditation Agency (NAA) organized on-line learning seminar on the further vocational training program (the FVT program) for representatives of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "St. Petersburg State University". The event was aimed at improving professional competencies in matters of state accreditation, licensing, as well as state control and supervision.

Presenting the information on the state regulation of educational activities, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, focused on the importance of meeting the legislation requirements. Concluding her speech, she thanked the representatives of St. Petersburg State University for their interest in holding this event and wished the participants fruitful work at the seminar.

NAA’s leading experts and Rosobrnadzor’s experts delivered the reports about the latest changes in the regulatory legal acts governing education activity; an independent quality assessment of students’ training; the rules for posting documents on an educational organization’s official website and the modernization of state accreditation of educational activities.

Summing up the meeting results, the participants highlighted the relevance of such events for educational organizations and thanked the NAA’s specialists for the content and practical significance of the information presented.

03.02.2021 – a joint meeting of the Expert Councils under the State Duma Committee on Education and Science

On February 3, 2021, a joint meeting of the Expert Council on De-bureaucratization in Education and Science under the State Duma Committee on Education and Science and the Expert Council on Management of the Knowledge Economy on the issue: “Regulation of relations connected with the organization and implementation of state control (supervision), municipal control in education and science ” took place.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, gave a presentation "Approaches to the implementation of state accreditation of educational activities." During her speech, Ms Izmaylova presented the information on changes in regulatory legal documentation and the development of modern technologies in the state accreditation procedure. Over the past 5 years, there has been a tendency towards an increase in the number of HEIs providing documentation for state accreditation in electronic form, without using a paper format. In 2020, due to the epidemiological situation, the external reviews took place in electronic form using the GA IS. Furthermore, NAA’s Director spoke about the technological and legal-normative improvement of the state accreditation and noted that over the past few years the procedure has become more transparent and independent.

In conclusion, Lemka Izmaylova thanked the meeting participants for their attention to the issues of the state accreditation procedure.

January 27, 2021 – the webinar on distance learning technologies in the state accreditation procedure

On January 27, 2021, the webinar was held on the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities using distance-learning technologies. More than 50 participants from eight constituent entities of the Russian Federation took part in the event.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, delivered a welcoming speech to the event participants. In her speech, she addressed issues relating to updating regular acts governing the procedure for state accreditation in the Russian Federation, and the changes concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. NAA’s Director underlined that the webinar on this theme was held for the first time. In conclusion, Ms Izmaylova wished the participants successful and fruitful work.

Then NAA’s leading specialists spoke to the audience. The listeners learned about the technology of preparing and submitting a set of documents for carrying out external review without a site visit to an educational organization. They got acquainted with the assessment of students’ training quality with the use of distance learning technologies, and also received practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system: formation of an application, attachment of electronic forms.

After the speeches, NAA’s specialists responded to the listeners’ questions.

Practice-oriented seminars was held on January 25, 2021

On January 25, the national Accreditation Agency, NAA conducted the first practice-oriented seminar in 2021, dedicated to the preparation for state accreditation of educational activities and filling out an application for state accreditation.

The seminar was aimed at obtaining practical recommendations on the basic steps of preparing for state accreditation, including filling out an application for state accreditation and observing the requirements to the package of documents.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the event. Welcoming the participants, Ms Izmaylova noted the relevance of such events for educational organizations. She drew attention to the frequent mistakes made by educational organizations, while submitting the documents for state accreditation. NAA’s Director emphasized the need to comply with all the requirements of regulatory documents governing the accreditation procedure. At the end of her speech, Ms Izmaylova thanked the listeners for their interest in the event and wished all the participants productive work at the seminar.

Furthermore, the NAA’s specialists performed to an audience. The topics of their presentations were devoted to the amendment of regulatory and legal support for state accreditation, the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation.

Elena Avtenyeva, the Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, introduced the preparation of a package of documents for state accreditation in details. She also gave practical recommendations on filling out an application for state accreditation in accordance with the Order of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science dated November 29 .2019 № 1628. Ms Vladimirovna drew particular attention the relevance of the information provided by the educational organization.

At the end of the seminar, NAA’s employees responded to participants’ questions.

On February 17, 2021 - a webinar devoted to the information posted on the educational organization’s website

Dear Colleagues! In accordance with the Schedule of training activities for the first half of 2021, the National Accreditation Agency, NAA is conducting a webinar on February 17, 2021 on the topic “New requirements for the information posted on the educational organization’s website. Use of the presented information during state accreditation”.

The event is organized for the representatives of organizations engaged in educational activities, including specialists who provide support for the organizations’ official websites.

Attention! Before the event, the NAA will analyze the websites of the universities-participants of the Webinar. The analysis will be carried out IN CONSIDERATION WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LEGISLATION 2020.

During the Webinar, the speakers will present the results of undertaken analysis. The audience will be provided with methodological and presentation materials. All participants will receive FREE ACCESS TO THE SOFTWARE MODULE OF AUTOMATIC SITE CHECKING for a period of 7 days.

At the webinar, the following issues were highlighted:

- implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website in the Internet. The software «Data collection module for the special section of a general education organization’ website»;

- requirements to the format of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website;

- use of the information presented on the website during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system;

- summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on HEIs’ official websites to the updated methodological recommendations in compliance with the legal requirements;

- typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website in the Internet.

- NAA’s specialists responses to the participants’ questions.

Time of the webinar: 10.00-13.30 (Moscow time).

January 14, 2021 - NACBE meeting

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in a joint open meeting of the Presidium of the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE) and the Council for Professional Qualifications in the Field of Management and Law (CPQ in Management and Law). The meeting was held on January 14, 2021 as part of the Gaidar’ Forum "Russia and the World after the Pandemic" and was aimed at summing up the results of 2020 and the mainstream development in 2021 in the new conditions. On the agenda of the event, there were the issues of approving the composition of the CPQ Council, its structure and priorities. In her speech, Lemka Izmaylova thanked NACBE for a long and fruitful joint work. She also outlined areas of interaction with the newly created CPQ to reconcile the assessment materials for testing students during external reviews in general competencies.

For reference: The Gaidar’ Forum is held annually at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. The forum is attended by well-known experts, representatives of government bodies, public and political figures, businessmen from different countries.

Practice-oriented seminars will be held on January 25-26, 2021

Dear Colleagues!

We invite you to undergo training at practice-oriented seminars on the topical issues for state accreditation of educational activities, which will be held by NAA on January 25 and 26, 2021:

 - January 25, 2021: “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out an application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents";

 - January 26, 2021: “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submission of the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation"

At these seminars, participants will receive practical information on the basic steps of preparing an educational of an educational organization for state accreditation, and will be able to ask questions to NAA’s leading specialists.

Taking into account the restrictions associated with the spread of COVID-19, the seminars will be organized both in face-to face and distance (online) forms.

Range of issues for the seminar’s program on January 25, 2021:

 - the amendment of regulatory and legal support of the state accreditation procedure;

 - preparation of the package of documents for state accreditation;

- practical recommendations for filling out various applications for state accreditation; identifying typical mistakes;

 - the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation; practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system.

Seminar working hours: 13.00-16.00 Moscow time.

Range of issues for the seminar’s program on January 26, 2021:

 - using the software module for filling out the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities;

 - practical recommendations for filling out information forms on the implementation of study programs; typical mistakes analysis;

 - the basic steps of preparing for state accreditation4

 - responses to the questions from the participants.

Seminar working hours: 10.00-13.00 Moscow time.

Category of participants: representatives of organizations engaged in educational activities interested in external review.

January 27, 2021 – a webinar for educational organizations

Dear Colleagues! In accordance with the Schedule of training activities for the first half of 2021, the National Accreditation Agency", NAA is conducting a webinar on January 27, 2021 "The procedure for state accreditation of educational activities using distance learning technologies" (hereinafter referred to as the Webinar).

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION, the topic of the Webinar is being held for the first time. It is a new development in the list of training events realized by NAA. The webinar program was created with the aim to provide methodological support for educational organizations during preparation and presentation of documents for state accreditation of study programs using distance learning technologies.

At the event, the following issues are expected to be considered:

- software module of electronic application for state accreditation and forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities;

- practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system, the procedure of formation of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it;

- an educational organization’s official website as an information resource for state accreditation procedure;

- preparing and submitting a set of documents for carrying out external review with / without a site-visit to an educational organization;

- assessment of students’ training quality during external review with the use of distance learning technologies;

- NAA’s specialists responses to the participants’ questions.

Time of the webinar: 10.00-13.30 (Moscow time).

The further training program in the Tyumen State University

On December 10, the further training program was introduced for the representatives from the Tyumen State University in the form of online sessions.

During the event, the participants were provided with detailed information on the normative and legal support of state accreditation of educational activities; on formation and submission of an electronic application for conducting an external review in electronic form as well as transformation of state accreditation procedure to electronic format. In the framework of the event, the participants had the opportunity to interact with the NAA’s specialists.

At the end of the first day, the participants received some self-learning materials.

On December 11, the work of the training event was opened with Elena Tumakova, Vice-Rector for Educational Activities of the Tyumen State University. Welcoming the participants, she noted the great practical importance of holding such sessions for universities and thanked the NAA’s staff for organized event for the Tyumen State University.

Lemka Izmailova, NAA’s Director, presented the report "New issues in the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities." Speaking to the audience, she drew attention to the preparation of documents required for the state accreditation procedure and the relevance of the provided information.

On the second day of the event, the participants got acquainted with information on the implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website, the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) for a basic study program. Tatiana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, told in detail about a study program development in accordance with the FSES requirements and with the current normative and legal acts.

Then, the participants were given presentations on distance technologies for assessing the quality of students’ training during the procedure of state accreditation, on preparation of the package of documents for state accreditation, as well as recommendations for filling out forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities.

At the end of the event, NAA’s leading staff members responded to the questions from the participants.

On December 12, the third day of the event was opened by Nikolay Nadezhin, NAA’s Deputy Director. The event’s participants were provided with detailed information about the internal and external assessment of students’ training.

Furthermore, NAA’s specialists continued the training event with the reports devoted to the audit of higher education programs - bachelor's and master's programs.

At the end of the event, NAA’s representatives responded to questions raised.

NAA’s staff thanks the event’s participants from the Tyumen State University for their active participation and productive work!

Webinar on issues of posting information on an educational organization’s website

On December 9, 2020, the National Accreditation Agency, NAA held a webinar on the issues devoted to posting information on an educational organization’s official web-site. The event was attended by representatives of organizations engaged in educational activities, including specialists responsible for maintaining the official web sites.

During the webinar, the speakers analyzed the compatibility of the html-markup used on the official websites of the educational organizations with the requirements of the Methodological Recommendations for the presentation of information for HEIs in open sources, taking into account compliance with the requirements of the legislation (the official letter No. ITB / 2020-802 dated 20.10. 2020).

Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director - Director of NAA’s branch opened the webinar. Welcoming the participants, he emphasized the importance and urgency of the webinar’s topic. In his report, he provided detailed information on the implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website in the Internet.

NAA’s specialists continued the webinar work. They highlighted the following issues: the requirements to the format of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website; summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on HEIs’ official websites; typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website.

At the end of the event, NAA’s representatives responded to the questions raised by the webinar participants.

Work of the round table on professional and public accreditation

On December 3, 2020, the Russian Society "Knowledge" together with the SEC in the field of education, organized a round table "Professional and public accreditation in the sphere of education: norms and best practices." Experts in the field of education, representatives of regional executive authorities in charge of public administration in the field of education, representatives of national bodies responsible for the development of qualifications, councils for professional qualifications and educational organizations were invited to participate in the event.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Tatyana Bibik, NAA’s Deputy Director, Denis Shabanov, Head of the department for information support and organization of events, took part in the work of the round table. In her report, Lemka Izmaylova told the participants about the tools of external assessment of the quality of educational activities and students’ training.

Rosobrnadzor’s letter on international accreditation procedure

Within the framework of its statutory activities, the National Accreditation Agency provides, among other things, the support for educational organizations wishing to pass international accreditation.

The letter of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science dated November 20, 2020 No. 01-330 / 06-01 for educational organizations provides the necessary information on the preparation for international accreditation.

The 2020 Professors’ Forum

On November 18, 2020 Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the thematic session "Improving the quality of higher education FSES 3 ++: problems of implementation and integration with professional standards. Professional public accreditation, independent assessment of education quality" within the annual 2020 Professors' Forum "National projects and the professorial community".

Ms Izmaylova provided the event participants with information on changing the regulatory legal documentation governing the procedure for state accreditation and independent assessment of students’ training. She also emphasized the distinctions of independent assessment, professional - public accreditation and state accreditation. The NAA’s Director pointed out to the difference in the substantial and organizational components of these procedures: peculiarities in regulatory legal documentation, procedure goals, evaluation tools, etc. 

For reference: The First Professors Forum was held in 2018. The purpose of the Professors' Forum is to unite representatives of various scientific and pedagogical communities, public authorities, whose activities are aimed at the development and improvement of education and science.

NAA’s workshops organized on November 16-17, 2020

On November 16 - 17, 2020, the National Accreditation Agency held the workshop devoted to issues of state accreditation of educational activities.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the events were organised in the form of online sessions. This decision was taken with the health and safety of all participants in mind. Despite the temporary difficulties, the number of seminars participants remains unchanged as the topics included in the program remain relevant for educational organizations despite the epidemiological situation.

November 16 the seminar “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out an application for state accreditation. Requirements for the attached set of documents” was held. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the event. She greeted the participants, wished them productive work, and thanked for the attention shown.

Further, the NAA’s leading specialists made the reports on changes in the regulatory and legal support of the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities and the preparation of documents for the state accreditation procedure. Avtenyeva, NAA’s Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, provided the audience with detailed information regarding practical recommendations for filling out an application for state accreditation of educational activities in accordance with the Order of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) No. 1628 dated November 29, 2019. Ms Avtenyeva drew particular attention to the relevance of the information provided and the correctness of its placement.

November 17, the seminar “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submitting information forms on study programs declared for state accreditation" was organized. NAA’s leading specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s experts spoke on the procedure for submitting and receiving documents for conducting an external review in e-form. They also informed the participants on issues related to preparation for state accreditation, provided practical recommendations for filling out information forms on study programs implementation in accordance with the Order of Rosobrnadzor No. 1628 dated November 29, 2019.

At the end of the event, the NAA’s leading specialists answers to the large number of questions from the workshop participants.

NAA’s external review coordinated by ENQA

The state accreditation procedure is generally recognized and considered as the main tool for confirming the quality of Russian education. In accordance with NAA’s Statute, the National Accreditation Agency takes part in implementation of the Bologna Declaration in terms of ensuring the quality of education to support the improvement of evaluation system and assure the education quality in the Russian Federation.

These goals have made it necessary to interact with quality assurance institutions operating at the European and international levels for improving the quality of Russian education.

From 27 to 29 October 2020, the National Accreditation Agency underwent the procedure of external review coordinated by ENQA.

To undergo the procedure, NAA’s specialists prepared a package of documents and a self-evaluation report in accordance with ENQA’s requirements. The preparation of the report became a good opportunity to examine documents and procedures used in the quality assurance system of higher education. ENQA’s review provides an external assessment of these processes, the value of which is significant for the development of Russian higher education.

NAA’s leading experts, representatives of education and public organizations of the Russian Federation, attended this event.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NAA external review was hosted online.

The ENQA expert panel met with the representatives of federal executive authorities in the field of education, heads of universities, specialists responsible for quality assurance of education in universities, student organizations, and experts.

On October 29 was the final day of the event. The ENQA expert panel organized a meeting with NAA’s staff and NAA’s Council for getting acquainted with the preliminary results of ENQA external review.

ENQA online General Assembly 2020

On October 22, 2020, Lemka Izmailova, NAA’s Director, participated in the General Assembly of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education ENQA (Brussels (Belgium)). Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ENQA General Assembly was hosted online.

During the General Assembly, issues related to the organization of work in the context of a pandemic, the election of the Board members, changes in the procedure for conducting external review organized by ENQA were discussed.

For reference: The program of ENQA General Assembly traditionally includes a discussion on topical issues related to the reports on progress made, developing a working plan for the next year, electing Board members, and other organizational issues.

Meeting of the Education Cooperation Council from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS States)

On October 21, 2020, NAA’s representatives participated in an online meeting of the Education Cooperation Council from CIS States. The event took place in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan.
During the meeting, the issues of implementation of Protocol No. 7 of the Council meeting of April 19, 2019, prospects for the development of the activities of the basic organizations of the CIS states in training pedagogical personnel were discussed.
The following decisions were made at the end of the Council:
1. To continue its work on the draft Agreement on accreditation of educational activities of organizations / educational institutions of the CIS states.
2. To consider proposals for the development of common approaches to ensuring the quality of higher education taking into account the differences in the regulatory framework of the accreditation procedure in the CIS member states, as well as restrictions in the labor, tax and migration legislation of the CIS states, the Commission in the field of ensuring the quality of education in the CIS member states.

For reference: The next 2021 year, is an anniversary year for the Commonwealth of Independent States: 30 years ago, on December 8, 1991, the Agreement on the establishment of the CIS was signed.

Guidelines for submission of documents

Dear colleagues,

IV Central Asian International Forum on Quality Assurance in Education

On October 2, 2020, the IV Central Asian International Forum on Quality Assurance in Education was held online in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The work of the Forum was aimed at discussing issues related to non-standard approaches in the system of quality assurance, accreditation and rating researches, expanding cooperation with international organizations and agencies that contribute to the development of quality culture and promote constructive interaction between representatives of education, the labor market and society as a whole.

The Forum was attended by representatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Latvia.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’S Director, addressed at the opening meeting and also took part in the plenary session.

As part of the Forum, sections were organized to discuss issues related to the implementation of strategic initiatives in terms of international experience in ensuring quality of education, architecture of education quality, as well as the integration of science and education.

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, participated in the section "Architecture of education quality" as a moderator.

INQAAHE Forum 2020 " “Quality, Competencies and Learning Outcomes: How to Be Fit for Generation Z Employability”

On October 1, 2020, the fourth day of the Forum "Quality, Competencies and Learning Outcomes: : How to Be Fit for Generation Z Employability” took place. Owing to the limitations related to complex epidemiological situation, the event was held online.

The list of Forum participants included representatives from the USA, Great Britain, Australia, the Russian Federation, the EAEU countries, the CIS countries, Central Asia, etc.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director and Tatiana Bibik, Head of Methodological Support and Legal Expertise Department, took part in the event "Quality assurance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: topics of concern and ways of development" . During the event, the representatives of different countries were able to discuss topical issues in the field of education related to the formation of competencies and the promotion of employment of generation Z through new forms of education.

Meeting with rectors of educational organizations of the Far Eastern Federal District

On September 29-30, 2020, the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) with NAA held a meeting with rectors of educational organizations "Novels in the state regulation of educational activities." The event was aimed at developing the higher education system in the Far Eastern Federal District.

Anzor Muzaev, Head of Rosobrnadzor, opened the meeting. His speech was devoted to the HEIs in the Far Eastern Federal District. He noted the peculiarities of their development, drawing the audience's attention to the relationship between the priority sectors of the district's development and the distribution of students by the fields of study in educational organizations.

Further, Svetlana Kochetova, Deputy Head of Rosobrnadzor, continued the meeting.                                                                                                                                         

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, made a report on the state accreditation. In her speech, she drew the listeners’ attention to the modernization of state accreditation of educational activities, changes in the regulatory and legal support of the procedure for state accreditation of educational activities. She briefed the participants on the impact of economy on the development of HE in the region. She also presented the information on international accreditation. At the end of her speech, Lemka Izmaylova congratulated the meeting participants on the upcoming holiday - Teacher's Day, and wished her colleagues successful work in the new academic year, the implementation of planned projects and creative inspiration!

On September 26, 2020, a seminar for the representatives from Secondary Vocational Institutions was held

On September 26, 2020, NAA organized a seminar "Topical issues of the regulations of educational activities for secondary vocational institutions" in Vladikavkaz city. The event was attended by the representatives of 22 educational organizations and regional ministries of education, interested in obtaining clarifications on licensing, state control and supervision, state accreditation of educational activities, quality assessment of secondary vocational organizations.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the event. In her report, she talks about the peculiarities of study programs’ implementation for Secondary Vocational Institutions in the North Caucasian Federal District; strategic socio-economic development of the North Caucasian Federal District until 2025; the requirements for assessing quality of a study program.

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation on topical issues of state accreditation.

NAA’s leading specialists, experts of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science submitted reports on compliance of the content of the basic study programs of secondary education with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard. The representatives of the leading universities and secondary vocational schools shared their experience in the field of licensing, monitoring and supervision in education, preparing an educational organization for the external review of study programs of secondary vocational education.

Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director - Director of NAA’s branch, made the closing speech.

At the end of the seminar, the speakers responded to the questions from representatives.

On September 24-26, 2020, a seminar was held on further vocational education

                     
On September 24-26, 2020, a seminar "State regulation of educational activities" was held. The event was hosted by the North Ossetian State University named after Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov. The event was aimed at improving professional competencies in licensing, state control and supervision as well as state accreditation of educational activities. Specialists of organizations engaged in educational activities and those interested in obtaining clarifications on this topic were invited to the event.

On September 25, the work of the seminar was opened by Alan Ogoev, the North Ossetian State University’s Rector. In his speech, he noted the relevance of such events for universities and thanked NAA for organizing this event.

Lyudmila Basharina, the Minister of Education of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, made a welcoming speech to the seminar’s participants.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, presented a report on the issues of state regulation of educational activities and changes in the legal support of the procedure for state accreditation. In her speech, Lemka Izmaylova told about the independent assessment of students’ training, the violations revealed during external review with site-visits, the rules for posting documents and materials on the official website of HEIs and the modernization of state accreditation procedure. NAA’s director also paid attention to the issues of international accreditation for Russian universities.

The seminar participants were presented with reports on the legal basis for licensing of educational activities, as well as control and supervision in the field of higher education.

On September 25, the seminar was attended by NAA’s leading specialists", experts of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, representatives of the Chuvash State Agrarian University, the Orenburg State Agrarian University, the Don State Technical University.

Summing up the results of the seminar, the participants noted the richness of the speakers' presentations as well as the high level of event organization.

On September 26, Mikhail Petropavlovsky, NAA’s Deputy Director - Director of NAA’s branch, opened the last day of the seminar. He told in detail about distance technologies for assessing the quality of students’ training during the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities.

Further, the seminar’s participants were presented with the reports on the external and internal assessment of quality of students’ training as well as the peculiarities of FSES 3 ++.

At the end of the seminar, the participants passed the final test and received certificates of further vocational training.

NAA thanks all the seminar’s participants for their productive work and invites them to take part in the NAA’s planned events in future!

September 16-18, 2020, further vocational training program took place

The event was hosted by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MGIMO University).

Gennady Tolstopyatenko, First Vice-Rector of MGIMO, made a welcoming speech to the event participants. He drew attention to the great practical importance of holding such events for improving the work of the educational organization of the higher education, noted the relevance of the topics presented for discussion, and also thanked NAA’s staff and personally NAA’s Director for holding the seminar.

Further, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, told the audience about changes in the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities; updating of regulatory legal documents; peculiarities of organizing work in 2020 in terms of a pandemic. Ms Izmaylova drew special attention to the importance of presenting all the necessary information on the official website of an educational organization on the Internet in accordance with the regulatory legal acts.

During the seminar, the speakers provided the audience with information on a basic study program development in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard; the preparation of a package of documents of an educational organization for the state accreditation procedure, etc.

NAA’s leading specialists, experts of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, as well as representatives of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, RUDN University, National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute” took part in the seminar.

At the end of the event, a special workshop was organized, where the participants could make audit of a higher education program (bachelor's and master's levels).

On September 3 - 4, 2020, the seminars devoted to preparation for state accreditation of educational activities were held

The seminars were attended by over 60 representatives from 50 educational organizations interested in receiving more information on this topic.

On September 3, Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, began the seminars with congratulations to Anzor Muzaev on his assumption of the post as the Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science. NAA’s Director wished him to implement the plans and the tasks in the field of improving the quality of Russian education. This wish was warmly endorsed by all the participants of the event. At the end of her speech, Lemka Izmaylova wished the audience a successful start to the new 2020-2021 academic year in complete health security, the implementation of interesting projects and good health!

NAA’s specialists and the representatives of leading universities made the reports on the preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. The participants obtained the responses to all their questions.

New academic year is coming

In 2020, because of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-2019), many organizations have started working and teaching students in a distance mode Thanks to the Russian Federation citizens’ keeping the individual protection rules, the risk of coronavirus infection was reduced. However, in order to return to normal life, it is necessary both to pay attention to the doctors’ recommendations, and to improve overall health by doing physical exercises.

In addition to compliance with measures to prevent new coronavirus infection (COVID-2019) determined by the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) (employees’ body temperature control, skin antiseptics for hand , regular airing, etc.) and on the eve of the new 2020-2021 academic year, NAA employees spend some time to strengthen their health. On a daily basis, NAA employees have a physical activity break, when they do simple physical exercises to improve efficiency, strengthen immunity and reduce fatigue.

NAA staff choose a healthy lifestyle!

Congratulations to Anzor Muzayev on his appointment as the head of Rosobrnadzor.

National Accreditation Agency congratulates Anzor Akhmedovich Muzayev on appointing him as the head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science!

We believe that his high professionalism, colossal efficiency, ability to solve complex issues objectively, and his devotion to the work are the key to further successful development of the education system in the Russian Federation.

Let us wish Anzor Muzayev the implementation of his plans and achievement of his goals to enhance the quality of Russian education!

On August 19, 2020, the seminar "State Accreditation of Basic Study Programmes for Training Highly Qualified Personnel" took place in Moscow on the premises of Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine.

The Director of this Institute Sergei S. Petrikov made a welcoming speech.

NAA Director Lemka S. Izmaylova presented a report "Hot topic issues of state accreditation of educational activities".

 The seminar was attended by NAA leading specialists and representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow Department of Healthcare, M.F.Gamaleya Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, S.P.Botkin State Clinical Hospital, Kutafin Moscow State Law University.

On behalf of academic community, NAA staff heartily thanks the medical workers who go on taking care of everyone's health and provide highly professional assistance under enormous pressure during the pandemic!

On July 22-24, 2020, there was  a further professional training session

On 22-24 July 2020 Krasnodar hosted a seminar for representatives of Kuban State Agrarian University named after I.T.Trubilin. It was a part of further professional training programme (proficiency enhancement) "Design and implementation of a basic study program in accordance with the FSES requirements".

This programme is aimed at improving the professional competence of employees of organizations carrying out educational activities in the area of designing and implementing basic study programmes in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard (FSES) and in preparing documents for state accreditation.

Among the speakers of the training session there were NAA’s executives and leading specialists, as well as Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts.

70 representatives of Kuban State Agrarian University received training and got acquainted with the regulatory and legal basis of state accreditation of educational activities, modern tools for assessing the quality of educational activities, the main stages of preparation for state accreditation, issues on the design and implementation of basic study programmes in accordance with the FSES requirements.

As a result of the training, the attendee’s received NAA’s certificates of proficiency enhancement.

A webinar "How to become an expert" was held on 26 June, 2020.

On 26 June 2020 NAA’s webinar "How to become an expert" was attended by 19 people from 13 regions of the Russian Federation.

The webinar agenda covered topical issues on the preparation to work as experts involved in the accreditation external review, such as normative legal regulation, accreditation procedure, e-document flow, as well as other organizational issues.

National Accreditation Agency thanks all the webinar participants and wishes success in working as experts!

On June 22-23, 2020, NAA held the seminar “Electronic Information Educational Environment (EIEE), Electronic Library Systems (ELS) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the implementation of study programs in accordance with Federal State Educational Standards”.

The event was attended by over 50 representatives of educational organizations from 8 federal districts of the Russian Federation.

The seminar agenda covered the issues of the structure of EIEE and ELS, their functioning in the educational process of an educational organization.

During the two-day seminar, the attendees listened to the speeches of NAA’s leading specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s experts on the issues of normative legal basis of EIEE and ELS functioning, the implementation of study programs using network and e-learning, distance learning technologies in accordance with the FSES. Representatives of Russia's largest universities shared their best practices on using e-Learning services in their HEIs.

After the seminar the participants left their positive feedback and shared their impressions of the event.

The 9^th of June is the World Accreditation Day

Accreditation’s aim is to ensure the necessary quality of products and services and their compliance with certain standards.

This international professional holiday is a good time to express our gratitude to the experts who develop quality standards, to organizations carrying out accreditation procedures, and to raise public awareness of the importance of accreditation.

Congratulations to all the experts involved in the accreditation external review of educational activities and our colleagues of educational organizations and accreditation bodies! We wish them health and well-being, professional achievements!

We invite to take part in the IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR-EUR) conducted by the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR) from May 15 to June 15, 2020.

IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR-EUR) might increase the recognition, authority and reputation of the HEIs, expand cooperation opportunities, attract talented foreign students, determine the level of universities and create a worthy competition in the global market of educational services. IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR-EUR) position the education quality and intellectual potential of HEIs in the international market of educational services. Entering the Ranking and getting on the Top List is an indicator of a HEI’s high competitiveness. The Ranking is not only a guide for applicants and parents when choosing a university, but can be also used by employers, the government and the academic community.   

The methodology of IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR-EUR) is designed based on digital technologies and includes four indicators: HEI’s academic reputation, quality of the students, concentration of the scientific potential of the university and its internationalization.

To participate in IAAR Eurasian University Ranking (IAAR-EUR), please email an official letter of application signed by the head of the university to the following address: rating.iaar@gmail.com.

On March 2, 2020, in Minsk (Belarus) the Working Group Meeting of the Council on Cooperation in Education of CIS countries took place. The event was devoted to finalization of the Draft Agreement on Cooperation in Accreditation of Educational Organizations of the States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS countries).

The representatives of Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Tajikistan as well as employees of the CIS Executive Committee attended the event.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, was elected the chairperson of the meeting.

After discussing of the Draft Agreement on Cooperation developed by the Commission on quality assurance of education (paragraph 6 of Protocol No. 7 of the meeting of the CIS Council of April 19, 2019), the participants concluded that it was necessary to elaborate the uniform standards for quality assurance of higher education for CIS countries.

The participants also decided to develop recommendations for joint projects implementation and exchange of experts for external reviews, training of international experts as well as creation of a single pool of experts.

On February 28, 2020 NAA’s leading specialists conducted a traditional skype-meeting for Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

NAA’s specialists informed about the procedure of the expert panel activity during external review, on the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members. Some attention was also given on qualification requirements for experts involved in conducting external review and the Expert’s Code as well as the experts’ certification procedure. Elena P. Bychkova, NAA’s specialist of the Experts Affairs Department, spoke about contractual relations with experts.

On February 12, 2020, the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

On February 6 - 7, 2020, in Moscow, the Practice-Oriented Seminars "The preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out an application for state accreditation. Requirements for the attached set of documents” and “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submission of the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation” took place.

More than 130 representatives of HEIs participated in these events.

The following issues were discussed at the seminars:

• preparation of the package of documents for state accreditation;
• practical recommendations for filling out various applications for state accreditation, identifying typical mistakes;
• the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation, practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system;
• interaction of an educational organization and expert panel during the state accreditation procedure;
• changes in the legal support of the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities;
• practical recommendations on the filling out the forms of data on study programs, analyzing of typical mistakes;
• the use of the program module for filling out the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities.

On January 21-22, 2020 the NAA’s leading staff took part in the meeting of the Federal Academic Association of “Service and Tourism”. The event was hosted by RUDN University. The meeting addressed the issues of transition to the Federal State Educational Standards 3 ++ in the areas of training "Service and Tourism", international experience of students’ training in the field of tourism and hospitality, as well as peculiarities of state accreditation for study programs according to new educational standards.

The meeting was welcomed by E. G. Babelyuk, Director of the Department of State Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, A. V. Babich, Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, E. A. Shkabura, Head of the Strategic Division of Higher Education Development of the Department of Public Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, G. M. Romanova - Rector of Sochi State University, S. P. Shpilko - President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, I. O. Bukharov - President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia. 

M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, delivered a presentation “Topical issues of state accreditation”. Denis M. Shabanov, NAA’s Head of the Department of Innovative Development, presented modern approaches to the activities of the expert community.

On January 22, 2020, the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

On Junuary 17, 2020, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the skype-meeting for Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational organizations’ activities.

The skype-meeting was opened by E. M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director. Svetlana A. Vekua, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Department for the Support of the Accreditation Procedure, informed the participants about the main issues for state accreditation.

On January 16, 2020 an open meeting of the Presidium of the National Accreditation Council for Business and Management Education (NACBE) was held in the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). The meeting was attended by Alexander Zhukov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of RF, the Chair of NACBE Presidium.

The meeting was held by S. Myasoedov, Deputy Chair of NACBE Presidium, the President of the Russian Association for Business Education (RABE), Vice-Rector, Director of the Institute of Business and Business Administration (IBBA) of RANEPA and N. Evtikhieva, NACBE and RABE’s Director. E. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director and T. Bibik, NAA’s Head of the Information and Analytical Department participated in the event.

The meeting addressed issues of interaction and cooperation between NACBE and Rosobrnadzor in 2020, on the NACBE’s activities in the framework of state-private partnership in the light of the Decree of the Government of RF of November 18, 2013 No. 1039 “On state accreditation of educational activities”, (as amended from 08/15/2019), on the results of the work undertaken in 2019.

On December 17, 2019 the webinar «New requirements for the information posted on the educational organization’s web-site. Use of the presented information during state accreditation» was held.

The webinar was organized for the representatives’ of educational organizations responsible for maintaining the official web sites.

During the webinar, the speakers analyzed the compatibility of the html-markup used on the official websites of the educational organizations.

At the webinar, the following issues were highlighted:

- on implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website in the Internet. The software «Data collection module for the special section of a general education organization’ website»;

- requirements to the format of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website;

- use of the information presented on the website during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system;

- summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on HEIs’ official websites to the updated methodological recommendations in compliance with the legal requirements;

- typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website in the Internet.

The speakers also payed attention to the issues of summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on the official website on the educational organizations official website in the Internet.

NAA’s specialists responded to the questions raised by the webinar participants.

On December 7, a seminar with international participation “Results of 2019” was held. The certified experts, including the experts’ organizations of Rosobrnadzor, the representatives of educational organizations, and members of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor were among the guests at the event. Ms. J. Bekker, a special representative of FIBAA (Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation, Bonn) and Mr. Chr. Bohlens, a representative of FIBAA students’ pool of experts (Germany) took part in the seminar.

The expert community is playing an increasingly important role in the education system, becoming an essential component of infrastructure and methodology for quality assurance.

At the seminar, commendations were awarded to experts for fruitful and efficient work during the state accreditation of educational activities, as well as letters of acknowledgements from NAA.

On December 05-06, 2019, an All-Russian meeting with the HEIs’ rectors “Improving the State Regulation of Educational Activities” was held in St. Petersburg. During the meeting, a number of thematic sections, addressed to the issues of state regulation of educational activities in higher education, secondary vocational education, as well as in the system of supplementary education were organized.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, participated in the event.

The program of the event included three sections:

• State regulation of educational activities in higher education;
• State regulation of educational activities in secondary vocational education;
• State regulation of educational activities in the system of supplementary education.

On November 29, 2019 the regular meeting of the Commission on Quality Assurance in Education of the members of Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS Member States) was held at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

The representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan took part in the event.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks.

1. The Commission on Quality Assurance of the CIS Member States is a working body of the Council for Cooperation in the field of education of the CIS Member States to serve permanently.
2. The Commission consists of authorized representatives of the Ministries of Education and Science of the CIS Member States, and other organizations.
3. The Commission in its activities has been guided by the Charter of the CIS Member States, the documents on education adopted within the framework of the Commonwealth, and these Regulations.
4. The Commission carries out its activities in close cooperation with the Council, the educational authorities of the CIS Member States and informs them of its activities.

On November 29, 2019 the regular meeting of the Commission on Quality Assurance in Education of the members of Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS Member States) was held at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

The representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan took part in the event.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks.

1. The Commission on Quality Assurance of the CIS Member States is a working body of the Council for Cooperation in the field of education of the CIS Member States to serve permanently.
2. The Commission consists of authorized representatives of the Ministries of Education and Science of the CIS Member States, and other organizations.
3. The Commission in its activities has been guided by the Charter of the CIS Member States, the documents on education adopted within the framework of the Commonwealth, and these Regulations.
4. The Commission carries out its activities in close cooperation with the Council, the educational authorities of the CIS Member States and informs them of its activities.

On November 29, 2019 the regular meeting of the Commission on Quality Assurance in Education of the members of Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS Member States) was held at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

The representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan took part in the event.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks.

1. The Commission on Quality Assurance of the CIS Member States is a working body of the Council for Cooperation in the field of education of the CIS Member States to serve permanently.
2. The Commission consists of authorized representatives of the Ministries of Education and Science of the CIS Member States, and other organizations.
3. The Commission in its activities has been guided by the Charter of the CIS Member States, the documents on education adopted within the framework of the Commonwealth, and these Regulations.
4. The Commission carries out its activities in close cooperation with the Council, the educational authorities of the CIS Member States and informs them of its activities.

November 14, 2019 NAA’s representatives conducted a seminar for independent experts to be involved in the state accreditation procedure of study programs on integrated group of specialties (fields of training) “Economics and Management”. The event was hosted by the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education, NACBE (NACBE has the status of an official expert organization certified by Rosobrnadzor).

The key issues considered at the seminar:

• external review and normative and legal regulations of the state accreditation procedure;
• interaction of an educational organization and expert panel during the state accreditation procedure
• changes in the external review procedure;
• the procedure of external review of a basic study program during state accreditation, verification of information accuracy,
• peculiarities of state accreditation of study programs (secondary vocational education and training level (sVET), PhD level);
• development of reporting documents based on the external review results;
• typical errors in filling out the reporting documents based on the external review results.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, highlighted the developments in the legal support of state accreditation of educational activities.

On November 12, 2019 II Congress of Public Association’s Members "Russian Professors’ Meeting" was conducted in the Central House of Scientists. At the Congress, priorities for the organization’s actions were identified, a new version of the charter was adopted, the governing bodies were elected. During the event, a scientifically-practical conference "Actual issues of improving the quality of higher education" was held. A broad discussion was launched on such important topics as new approaches to state accreditation of universities, the role of professional and public accreditation and an independent assessment of the quality of students’ training, role and place of federal educational and methodical associations in improving the quality of education. The issue of creating a council on professional qualifications on the basis of the Russian professors' meeting was also considered.

The Congress was attended by M.A. Borovskaya, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, S.M. Kochetova, Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science, L.S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, E.G Babelyuk, Director of the Department for the Coordination of Activities of Higher Education Organizations of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, I.M. Matskevich, Chief Scientific Secretary of the Higher Attestation Commission, the representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading universities, regional branches and scientific councils of the Russian professors' meeting.

Russian Professors’ Meeting is an all-Russian public organization uniting the country's leading scientists and teachers. It was created in 2016 to consolidate the scientific and pedagogical workers in Russia.

On November 06, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out: testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’s work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

On October 23-25, 2019, NAA’s staff conducted a training session on Further Vocational Training Program (FVTP) "Development and implementation of a basic study program in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards’ (FSES) requirements". The event was hosted by Financial University (The Federal State-Funded Educational Institution of Higher Education 'Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation).

Ekaterina A. Kameneva, Vice-Rector for the Development of Educational Programs, welcomed the participants.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, presented the report “The changes in normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities”.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, spoke about modern tools for assessing the quality of educational activities and the basic requirements for internal quality assurance.

The program is aimed at improving the professional competencies of educational organizations’ officials engaged design and implementation of basic educational programs in accordance with FSES, in matters of preparing documents for state accreditation of educational activities.

The advantages of studying in NAA’ further vocational training programs are the relevance of the programs’ topics; access to programs’ presentations; the ability to receive information from NAA’s leading specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s best experts in the field of state accreditation and supervision activities.

The 10th ENQA General Assembly took place on October 17-18, 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia. The event was organized in cooperation with the National Centre for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation (ANQA).

On October 17-19, 2019 NAA’s leading specialists conducted a further vocational training program on the topic: "Using EIEI as well as ELS in the educational process in accordance with FSES requirements".

The program is aimed at developing of participants’ modern approaches to the design of electronic information and educational environment (EIEI) as well as an e-library system (ELS); improving the professional competencies in matters of digital environment among educational organizations.

The participants were granted the certificates on advanced training issued by NAA.

On October 09, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of accreditation of experts were held - testing and interviewing applicants for the establishment of expert credentials.

According to the results of the work of the commission, a decision will be made to establish or refuse to establish the powers of individuals as experts in conducting external review.

Similar examinations are carried out by the Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Anyone who submitted an application and a package of documents attached to it in the prescribed manner can take part in them.

On October 4-5, 2019, Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, took part in the III Central Asian International Forum on Quality Assurance in Education. The event was organized by the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR), the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Forum in Turkestan involved over 600 participants. The event explored how to improve the quality of education in Central Asia and Europe; to promote qualitative institutional changes in the higher education; to increase the competitiveness of educational services; to improve the level of specialists’ training, graduates’ relevance and employment; to increase academic mobility and the internationalization of education; to form an effective system of interaction between universities, employers, stakeholders on the principles of balancing the interests of all participants in the educational process; to develop integration into the global educational space.

The annual Central Asian International Forum on Quality Assurance in Education held by IAAR attracts a large number of government officials, representatives of academic and professional community. The Forum is gaining more popularity: for example, in 2017, more than 400 people took part in the event in Almaty, and 500 people took part in Nur-Sultan in 2018.

Central Asian International Forum on Quality Assurance in Education became a platform for the sharing good practices and establishing contacts between scientific and educational community. As a result, a number of Memorandums and Agreements on cooperation between educational organizations, scientific and international companies had been signed.

On September 19-21, 2019 NAA’s specialists conducted a further vocational training program "Development and implementation of a basic study program in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) requirements". The event was hosted by Samara State University of Economics.

The program of training consisted of two modules:

Module 1. The main issues of state accreditation of educational activities:

- normative and legal support of state accreditation of educational activities;

- interaction between an educational organization and expert group during the external review;

- peculiarities of external review with / without a site-visit to an educational organization. or its branch.

Module 2. Requirements for the development and implementation of a basic study program in accordance with FSES requirements:

- the peculiarities of the design, implementation and assessment of educational programs quality, taking into account the updated FSES;

- assessment tools requirements;

- modern tools for quality assurance of educational activities;

- best practices for implementing study programs and assessing students' competencies.

The participants were granted the certificates on advanced training issued by NAA.

The program is aimed at improving the professional competencies of educational organizations’ officials engaged design and implementation of basic educational programs in accordance with FSES, in matters of preparing documents for state accreditation of educational activities.

The advantages of studying in NAA’ further advanced training programs are the relevance of the programs’ topics; access to programs’ presentations; the ability to receive information from NAA’s leading specialists and Rosobrnadzor’s best experts in the field of state accreditation and supervision activities.

On September 18, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

The such meetings are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

On September 12-13, 2019 the seminar «Development and implementation of a basic study program against Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) requirements» was held in Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

Karasev, Vice-Rector for Educational and Methodological Work, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, presented the report on a very challenging topic «Changes in legal and normative support of state accreditation of educational activities».

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, told the seminar’s participants about modern tools for assessing the quality of educational activities and the basic requirements for internal quality assurance. Shubaeva, Vice-Rector for Academic and Methodological Work, St. Petersburg State University of Economics; N. Sergeeva, Head of the Department for Methodological Support of Study Programs, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation”; G. Shvedov, Associate Professor, Department of Electric Power Systems, National Research University MPEI; D. Dzigua, Associate Professor, Institute of Natural Sciences and Sports Technologies of Moscow City Pedagogical University; Y.Knyazev, Associate Professor of the Department of MIREA-Russian Technological University” made the reports for the seminar’s participants.

On September 06, 20019 NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype-meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

On August 28, 2019 the webinar «New requirements for the information posted on the educational organization’s web-site. Use of the presented information during state accreditation» was held. The webinar was organized for the representatives’ of educational organizations responsible for maintaining the official web sites.

During the webinar the following issues were highlighted:    

• on implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website in the Internet. The software «Data collection module for the special section of a general education organization’ website»;
• requirements to the format of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website;
• use of the information presented on the website during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system;
• summarized analysis on the compatibility of the html-markup used on HEIs’ official websites to the updated methodological recommendations in compliance with the legal requirements;
• typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website in the Internet.

On August 29 and 30, 2019 the first in the new academic year practice-oriented seminars for representatives of organizations involved in educational activities were held in Moscow.

• On August 29, 2019 the seminar under the theme "The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out the application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents";
• On August 30, 2019 the seminar under the theme "The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submission of the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation".

During the seminar, the participants received practical recommendations for filling out various applications for state accreditation and for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system. The procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation was also discussed. The Seminar’s program comprised the information on amending the Regulation on state accreditation of educational activities (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 15 August 2019, № 1052).

The Government of the Russian Federation of August 15, 2019 No. 1052 approved the amendments to the Regulation on state accreditation of educational activities, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 18, 2013 No. 1039 “On state accreditation of educational activities”.

August 02, 2019 the National Accreditation Agency won the contest for the implementation of the project “Comprehensive expert evaluation of the potential of Russian universities providing training for the economy and social sphere in the members of the Russian Federation”

This project is carried out as part of the federal project “Young professionals (Improving the competitiveness of vocational education)” of the state program of RF “Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation”.

In the project framework NAA will develop assessment tools for evaluating effectiveness of study programs. The project results are focused on HEIs applying for the status of a flagship university, which are of key importance for the industrial and socio-economic development of the members of the Russian Federation.

On July 10, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out: testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’s work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

On July 3, 2019, a practical seminar for certified experts “Methodological support for the state accreditation procedure of educational activities” was organized.

Madina Malikovna, Vice-Rector for Educational and Social Work of the Dagestan State University, delivered a welcoming speech to the seminar’s participants. Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, informed about the development of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities. NAA’s leading staff continued the presentations.

July 1, a further training program "Staff Resources Environment for the Implementation of the Basic Study Program" was hosted by the Dagestan State University.

The program is aimed at improving the professional competencies on preparation of documents for state accreditation of basic study programs (BSP) on system-wide requirements (staff component) and staff resources environment for the implementation of BSP.

NAA’s heads and leading specialists, Christopher Grolimund, President of ENQA, the representatives of international QA agencies, Russian leading universities, as well as Rosobrnadzor’s experts participate in the program.

On June 28, 2019 NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA holds skype- meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

June 10-11, 2019 NAA conducted a further vocational training programs “Training of expert candidates for state accreditation of educational activities”. The event was hosted by Belgorod State University of Arts and Culture.

Sergei Iv. Kurgansky, Rector of Belgorod State University of Arts and Culture, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks. M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, presented the report “Normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities”. NAA’s leading staff members and invited speakers continued the statements.

The program was designed to provide the discussion of the following issues:

          normative and legal support of the experts’ certification procedure;

          analysis of the information posted on an educational organization’s web site. Preparations for the external review;

          carrying out external review with / without a site-visit to an educational organization. The procedure of expert panel’s work;

          the procedure of external review of a basic study program during state accreditation;

          audit of a basic study program;

          formation of the reported documents based on the external review results;

          the state accreditation procedure in the electronic form;

          formation of skills while working with the CIS SA services in carrying out state accreditation in the e-form. The expert’s work in the Personal Account.

More than two thousand people from 23 countries came to the capital of the Stavropol Territory to participate in the III International Festival "Student Spring of the BRICS and SCO countries. It took place on June 4 - 9, 2019.

During the Educational Forum of the III International Festival "Student Spring of the BRICS and SCO Countries", the international practices of quality control in higher education were presented. The forum’s speakers represented the educational accreditation organizations from Russia, Armenia and China.

Students interested in obtaining quality education are involved as quality assurance experts in Russia, Armenia, Europe and China. Each country develops and implements its own projects for students’ training and participating in external reviews.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, in her report informed that NAA is a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance of Higher Education (ENQA) and NAA’s activity meets the requirements of the Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). In the European system, a student is a full member of the review panel.

In Russia, 85 student have been trained to participate in external review for assessing quality of higher education. There are already objective data on the effectiveness of their involvement in the process of analyzing the universities’ work. They understand gaps in study programs, if the programs are overloaded or not sufficiently loaded.

A similar program is carried out in Armenia. Students as other external reviewers conduct surveys, analyze study programs, evaluate universities from students’ perspective. Some of the student continue their professional activities in Rosobrnadzor.

Dr. Hao Zhing, the representative of the Chinese quality assurance organization, focused the participants’ attention on the demand of young people for modern education forms in accordance with the UNESCO recommendations. In this regard, new forms of education are being introduced in China: smart audiences, applications with access to classes at any convenient time, the use of QR codes in the classroom.

The Chinese expert indicated in his report: “Methods for students’ participation in the evaluation of study process are still limited. Many students are not motivated enough to participate in this assessment”.

The meeting of the departments’ heads for youth affairs of the BRICS and SCO countries also took place within the framework of the International Festival in Stavropol. The foreign delegations noted the exchange of educational programs and projects, increase of students’ access to quality education as the top priorities for higher education.

On June 6, 2019, a forum was held in the framework of the International Salon of Security Equipment "Integrated Security - 2019" under the theme "Prospects and Development Path of Vocational Education in the Field of Life Security."

On June 5, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, the applications were considered and E-testing was held for the establishment of the powers of experts and expert organizations.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

On May 30-31, 2019, the representatives of organizations involved in educational activities took part in practice-oriented seminars on topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities.

May 30, 2019 under the theme "The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out the application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents";

May 31, 2019 under the theme "The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submission of the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation".

The Seminar’s program comprised the following items:

- preparation of the package of documents for state accreditation;

- practical recommendations for filling out various applications for state accreditation, identifying typical mistakes;

- the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation, practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system;

- interaction of an educational organization and expert panel during the state accreditation procedure;

- legal support of the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities;

- the requirements for filling out forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities. The analysis of typical errors when filling out the forms of information, practical recommendations;

- practical recommendations on the use of the program module for filling out the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities;

- methodology of state accreditation of educational activities.

During the seminar the participants received practical recommendations on the main stages of preparation for state accreditation of educational activities.

At the end of the event, NAA’s leading staff members answered the participants’ questions.

On May 28, 2019 Mari State University (MARSU) hosted the international seminar “Students’ involvement to quality assurance of higher education”.

The event was organized within the European program Erasmus+ Jean Monnet European Quality Assurance for Students, EQAS aimed at disseminating European good practice in involving students in quality assurance of higher education.

On May 16-17, 2019 in Ufa NAA’s specialists took part in the seminar under the theme “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities. The requirements implementation against Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) of Secondary Vocational Education (SVE) and Higher Education (HE) when preparing and conducting state accreditation.”

The seminar was hosted by Bashkir State Medical University. Professor Valentin N. Pavlov, Rector of BSMU, delivered the welcoming remarks.

The event’s participants listened to the reports devoted to the development issues of state accreditation of educational activities, learned about the new approaches to state and professional - public accreditation taking into account the current legislation, about the technology of state accreditation of educational activities and the new requirements for the structure and format of placing information on the official website of the educational organization.

The seminar’s program also included consideration of the following issues: a data collection module for a special section of an educational organization’s web-site, the formation of the package of documents for state accreditation, practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system, meeting the requirements of the FSES of HE when preparing and undergoing the procedure of state accreditation, problematic issues of state accreditation of basic professional study programs, independent quality evaluation of educational activities.

On May 17, 2019, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the skype-meeting for Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

Svetlana A. Vekua, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Department for the Support of the Accreditation Procedures opened the meeting. Igor S. Cherepov, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Department informed the participants about the requirements for filling out the experts’ report and the conclusion. Denis M. Shabanov, NAA’s Head of the Department of Innovative Development noted the peculiarities of the accreditation review in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education (FSES HE). Elena P. Bychkova paid attention to topical issues of the Department on working with experts, as well as the Expert’s Code and the problems arising in reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses.

On May 15, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

On April 26, 2019, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the regular skype-meeting for experts.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director opened the meeting. Elena V. Zabolotskaya, NAA’s Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures informed about cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members.

On April 25, 2019, the Annual Meeting of the RABE (Russian Association for Business Education) was held. Welcoming remarks to the participants were made by S.P. Myasoedov, RABE’s President. He devoted his presentation to new trends in the development of business education in Russia and in the world.

Tatyana K. Bibik, NAA’s Head of the Department of Innovative Development participated in the event as an invited guest. She reported about the development of the state accreditation procedure.

The participants discussed the results of RABE and RABE Council’s activity for the past reporting period, as well as upcoming events, including those dedicated to the 30^th Association anniversary to be celebrated in 2020.

On April 19, 2019, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the regular skype-meeting for experts participating in external review of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

NAA’s leading specialists told about topical issues related to state accreditation of educational organizations, cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members as well as to the problems arising in reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses.

On April 18-19, 2019 the seminar “Topical issues of state accreditation. The requirements for a basic study program (BSP) development and Implementation against updated Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) was organized. The event was hosted by Saint-Petersburg University of State Fire Service of EMERCOM of Russia.

Eduard N. Chizhikov, the Head of the University, made welcoming remarks to the seminar’s participants. Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, continued the seminar’s work with the report “State Accreditation of Educational Activities: Topical Issues”. NAA’s specialists, Rosobrnadzor experts and representatives of leading universities spoke to the audience.

On April 18, 2019, a regular meeting of the Council for cooperation in education of the States members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS Member States) was held in Bishkek.

April 16, 2019 a meeting of the Federal Educational and Methodological Association on integrated group of professions, specialties and fields of training (IGPSFT) "Architecture" was held in the Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy), MARKHI. The participants exchanged the best practice on the development of basic professional study programs (BPSP) in accordance with the requirements of the updated professionally oriented educational standards (POES HE 3++) in educational organizations implementing study programs of IGPSFT “Architecture” for “Bachelor’s” and “Master’s” levels.

Academician G.V. Esaulov, Chairman of the Federal Academic Methodological Association on IGPSFT "Architecture", opened the meeting. D.O. Shvidkovsky, a member of the Coordination Council, MARKHI’s Rector took the floor. Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a report “State accreditation: topical issues”.

On April 16-17, 2019, the Scientific-Practical Conference “New Educational Standards: methods of students’ training with specified qualification characteristics” was held at the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the plenary meeting on April 16, 2019.

The conference was held in the form of discussion platforms devoted to the most topical issues of the development of vocational education as well as master classes and poster presentations. The conference work included plenary discussions and briefing meetings organized by the conference moderators.

During the conference, innovative educational technologies introduced in the HEIs’ were presented. The presentation of quality standard for further vocational training programs developed by the Councils on Professional Qualifications for Financial Markets was made. Special attention was paid to the international approaches applied for national qualifications frameworks, issues of advanced training, problems of developing the competencies of the digital economy, new challenges related to the implementation of federal projects affecting university development programs.

On April 12, 2019, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the regular skype-meeting for experts.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

Tatyana K. Bibik, NAA’s Head of the Department of Innovative Development opened the meeting. In her report, she mentioned the peculiarities of the external review. Igor S. Cherepov, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Department informed the participants about expert panel’s activities.

On April 11, 2019, NAA conducted a training session on Further Vocational Training Program (FVTP) "Development and implementation of the basic study program in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards’ (FSES) requirements". The event was hosted by the Chelyabinsk State University.

NAA’s leading staff and Rosobrnadzor’s experts presented their reports to the audience. Elena V. Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Department of Innovative Development spoke about the peculiarities of development, implementation and assessment of the quality of study programs, taking into account the updated FSES.

All participants who had completed the training were granted the standard certificates.

On April 11, 2019, Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, participated in the working group of the National Council under the President of RF on professional qualifications for the development of vocational education and training in the national qualifications system

The representatives of leading universities implementing study programs on the basis of Independently Established Educational Standards (IEES), the representatives and experts of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, professional qualifications councils acted as key experts in the event.

The seminar program included a discussion of the following issues:

1) Peculiarities of the IEES development: independent determination of the content of education; compliance with the “not lower” requirement of the established Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) towards the results and conditions of mastering basic professional study programs

2) Taking into account the demands of professional standards and labor market requirements for the development of IEES and study programs

3) Local legislation regulating educational process carried out on the basis of IEES

4) Peculiarities of external and internal quality assurance for study programs delivered on IEES

5) Development of proposals for the regulatory and methodological approaches improvement to the IEES development, implementation and evaluation.

On April 10, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, two stages of experts’ certification were carried out testing and interviews for the establishment of the powers of experts.

Based on the results of the Commission’ work, a decision will be made on the establishment or refusal to establish the powers as an expert in carrying out external review.

Similar certifications are carried out by Rosobrnadzor at least once a month. Any person who has submitted an application and a set of documents can take part in them.

On April 10, 2019 the Forum "Education Development in Management: Updating Study Programs (based on the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) 3 ++) to the requirements of the professional community" was held in the State University of Management (SUM).

At the event the participants discussed the issues of improving the efficiency of interaction between universities and employers in the development and implementation of "Bachelor" and "Master" study programs in the field of "Management" in light of the new educational standards FSES 3 ++.

On April 9, 2019, a church-wide methodological seminar was held at the site of the Kolomna Spiritual Seminary, the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The event was devoted to state accreditation of study programs delivered in the religious educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Bishop Konstantin Zaraisky and Archpriest Mikhail Vakhrushev, the Rector of the Kolomna Spiritual Seminary and the First Deputy Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, delivered a welcoming speech to the seminar’s participants.

Tatyana K. Bibik, NAA’s Head of the Department of Innovative Development, opened the seminar with the report “The methodology of external review of basic study programs”.

The seminar was attended by Rosobrnadzor’s experts, vice-rectors of the Moscow Spiritual Academy and the Kolomna Spiritual Seminary, as well as the Deputy Head of the Kolomna-city Department of Social Protection.

On April 05, 2019, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the traditional skype-meeting for experts.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the event.

April 04-05, 2019 NAA’s representatives conducted a seminar for independent experts to be involved in the state accreditation procedure of study programs.

The specialists from Moscow, Vladimir, St. Petersburg, Orel, Samara, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Pyatigorsk, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk took part in the seminar.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, welcomed the participants.

The main issues of the seminar:

• external review and normative and legal regulations of the state accreditation procedure;
• interaction of an educational organization and expert panel during the external review procedure;
• changes in the external review procedure;
• methodology of study programs’ assessment in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education, verification of the information reliability;
• peculiarities of state accreditation of study programs (secondary vocational education and training level (sVET), PhD level);
• development of reporting documents based on the external review results;
• typical errors in filling out the reporting documents based on the external review results.

The seminar’s participants were awarded a Certificate of Training under the theme: “State accreditation of educational activities”. During the meeting, they were also interviewed and E-tested. Those who had passed the interview and E-testing successfully got NACBE’s expert certificate approved by NACBE’s Bureau.

NACBE – the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education.

The association of unions and organizations whose activities are aimed at the development and implementation of methods and standards for management and quality assurance of study programs for business and management.

On April 3, 2019 NAA’s leading staff participated in the training program “New approaches to the public-professional and state accreditation procedures in light of the changes of the current legislation”. The event was held for certified experts from “Medical League of Russia” hosted by I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University). The meeting was organized within the All-Russian conference with international participation “A week of medical education - 2019”

The meeting opened with a welcome address by Tatyana M. Litvinova, a Chairman of the Expert Council of the Medical League of Russia, and Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director.

The participants listened with keen interest to the reports on the legal and regulatory issues for state accreditation of educational activities, on the external review procedure as well as the formation of reporting documents after the external review.

On March 28-29, 2019 NAA with the all-Russian public organization «Russian Union of Youth (RUY)», the Mari State University (MarSU), the Irkutsk State University (ISU) and Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation, Bonn (FIBAA) held a round-table “Students’ involvement in the procedures of quality assurance of higher education”. The event was devoted to the implementation of the joint project “European Quality Assurance for Students, EQAS”.

The representatives of the expert organizations participating in external reviews (the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education – NACBE, the Medical League of Russia), as well as the representatives of the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR, Republic of Kazakhstan) were also invited to take part in the meeting.

The EQAS project (financed by the Jean Monnet program) is aimed at gathering, analyzing and disseminating European good practices in involving students in higher education quality assurance (both external and internal).

The event was started by Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director. The representatives from three countries – Germany, Kazakhstan and Russia – met at the roundtable. Professor Dr. Kerstin Fink, FIBAA’s Managing Director, told about accreditation of HEIs in Germany and the students’ role in the procedure. Alina Zhumagulova, IAAR’s Director, shared her experience on students’ involvement in the procedures of program assessment.

The expert organizations took part in the discussion of the issues to students’ involvement in independent assessment of education quality. Sergey Myasoedov, NACBE’s Vice-Chairman of the Bureau, spoke about the practice of involving students in independent assessment carried out by the organization and about the prospects of this activity. Tatyana Litvinova, Chairman of the Expert Council, spoke about the experience of involving students in professional and public accreditation of medical study programs.

The experience of involving Russian students in internal quality assurance through the activities of student government bodies was presented by the rectors of two leading Russian universities - Irkutsk and Mari State Universities.

Darya Panarina, Head of the RUY project "Open Education", spoke about the forms of students’ participation and involvement in quality assurance with the help of project activities conducted by the Russian Union of Youth and the National Council of Student Commissions on education quality. Furthermore, students from Russian universities shared their experience of participation in quality assurance such as engagement as an observer in the Unified State Exam (USE), external and internal assessment of the education quality.

The round table participants noted that expert assessment, both external and internal, remains one of the main tools for ensuring the quality of education and involving students in the education quality assessment. It should contribute to greater transparency in quality management and, as a result, improve the quality of education in general.

On March 25-26, 2019 a further vocational training program “Training of expert candidates for state accreditation of educational activities” was provided by NAA in the People’s Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University).

Alexander Efremov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of RUDN University, delivered a welcoming speech to the audience.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, presented the report “The legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the official website of the educational organization in the Internet.” NAA’s leading specialists and the invited speakers continued the presentations.

The following issues were discussed during the event:

-         normative and legal support of the experts’ certification procedure;

-         analysis of the information posted on an educational organization’s web site. Preparations for the external review;

-          carrying out external review with / without a site-visit to an educational organization. The procedure of expert panel’s work;

-          the procedure of external review of a basic study program during state accreditation;

-          audit of the basic study program;

-          formation of the reported documents based on the external review results.

-          state accreditation procedure in the e-form;

-          formation of skills while working with the CIS SA services in carrying out state accreditation in the e-form. The expert’s work in the Personal Account.

On March 22, NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype-meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

NAA’s leading specialists told about topical issues related to state accreditation of educational organizations, cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel. Some attention was also given to the queries raised by experts related to the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses on the basis of civil law contracts for involvement in external reviews.

On March 21, 2019 Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, participated in the International Scientific Methodological Seminar with a report “Development of state accreditation as a condition for improving the culture of higher education quality”

The conference was held in the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. The event was attended by the representatives of Ministries and Department authorities of the Russian Federation, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the National Agency for the Development of Qualifications, Russian and international agencies for quality assurance in education, research institutes, professional employers’ associations and large Russian companies, leading Russian and foreign universities.

In the modern world, the quality of education is the main factor of an educational institution competitiveness and the guarantor of graduates’ employment. Constantly changing demands of the labor market, the need for personnel for the digital economy, students' desire for academic mobility, increase in the export of Russian education actually led to a transformation of the architecture and content of education and identified the need to improve approaches to assessing its quality.

On March 15, NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype-meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

NAA’s leading specialists told about topical issues related to state accreditation of educational organizations, cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members as well as to the problems arising in reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses.

On March 13, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

After the successful electronic testing, the candidates were interviewed for the establishment of the powers of experts and expert organizations.

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

March 12 is the second day of conducting classes in the framework of the further vocational training programs "Using an electronic information and educational environment (EIEI) as well as an e-library system (ELS) in the educational process in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) requirements".

The representatives from 10 cities took part in the event. The participants were introduced to the best practice of using the EIEI and ELS in HEIs and the procedure of implementing study programs by means of network and e-learning technologies.

After summarizing the training results, L.Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, handed certificates of advanced training.

On March 06, 2019 NAA began implementing a course for representatives of educational and scientific organizations in further vocational training programs (advanced training) with identity certificate of the stipulated type: "Using an electronic information and educational environment (EIEI) as well as an e-library system (ELS) in the educational process in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) requirements". This activity was carried out for the first time in NAA’s history.

On March 11-12, at the face-to-face workshops the speakers will present reports on the current topics of state accreditation, as well as the best practices of using EIEI and ELS resources in the educational process of a HEI.

During the first half of 2019, NAA will continue the implementation of the new further vocational training programs on the following topics: “Training of expert candidates for state accreditation of educational activities”; "Using an electronic information and educational environment (EIEI) as well as an e-library system (ELS) in the educational process in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) requirements"; "Personnel conditions for a basic study program delivery"; "Development and implementation of a separate study program (BSP) in accordance with the requirements of FSES".

The programs of the courses are a combination of distance learning workshops and face-to-face seminars. The representatives of leading universities and other educational organizations, the best Rosobrnadzor’s experts, as well as officials from executive and legislative bodies will be involved in the events.

The studies on further vocational training programs (advanced training) are conducted in accordance with the license for educational activities from 21.09.2018.

On March 04, 2019 NAA held the practice-oriented seminar entitled “The main issues of state accreditation of educational activities”.

The seminar was organized for representatives of organizations involved in educational activities and interested in obtaining explanations on this subject. The participants could get practical information on topical issues necessary for undergoing state accreditation.

On February 28, 2019 the methodological workshop with the involvement of the chairmen of state examination commissions, officials from government bodies of educational institutions and military schools was organized in the Park "Patriot".

More than 100 generals and officers, chairmen of examination commissions and HEI’ senior representatives, as well as more than 300 representatives from the troops, universities and their branches were able to participate in the meeting by means of the video conferencing at more than 50 sites from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

The representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, the National Accreditation Agency took part in the event.       

The all-Russian campaign "A single day for taking the USE by the parents» was held on February 26

On February 26, Sergey Kravtsov, the Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, together with the Moscow pupils’ parents took part in the all-Russian campaign "A single day for taking the Unified State Exam (USE) by the parents". On a single day of the state exam, not only mothers and fathers and grandparents, but also famous actors, deputies, journalists checked their knowledge. The action is aimed to support the school-leavers and their parents to remove unnecessary stress associated with the preparation for the exam.

February 15, 2019 the practice-oriented seminar was held for the organizations carrying out educational activities.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, delivered welcoming remarks.

The seminar’s participants listened to the following speeches: Irina Teleshova, Deputy Dean of the Economic faculty of Moscow State University, an expert of Association of Classical Universities of Russia; Diana Mashtakeeva, Director of the Institute of short-term programs of Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Council for professional qualifications in the financial market; Irina Apuhtina, Director for the education development of the Russian Presidential academy of the National Economy and public Administration (RANEPA) as well as leading NAA’s staff.

At the seminar, the issues devoted to the preparation and presentation of information necessary for external evaluation, preparation for state accreditation of study program, developed based on self-established educational standards, as well as the requirements of the updated Federal State Educational Standards (FSES 3++).

February 14, 2019 the practice-oriented seminar “The procedure of state accreditation of educational activities” was held in 33 Shabolovka Str.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the seminar with the report “Improvement of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities”.

E.Avtenyeva, NAA’s Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, told about the requirements to the package of documents for state accreditation of educational activities.

D.Savelyev, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Technical and Database Support Department, gave practical recommendations on the transition of the state accreditation procedure into an electronic form.

Nadezhda Matukhina, Analyst of the Innovation Development Department, informed about the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education (FSES of HE) when preparing and carrying out state accreditation.

On February 13, 2019 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, the applications were considered and E-testing was held for the establishment of the powers of experts and expert organizations. More than 70 applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

February 08, 2019 the practice-oriented seminar entitled “The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submission of the forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation” took place.

О.N. Kulkova, NAA’s Chief Legal Adviser made a report devoted to normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure.

Elena V. Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Innovative Development Department, gave practical advices for filling out forms of data on study programs declared for state accreditation of educational activities and analyzed the typical errors in filling out the forms of information.

At the conclusion of the seminar, NAA’s leading staff members responded to the questions of the participants.

On February 08, NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype-meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Igor S. Cherepov, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Department, reported about the work of the expert panel. Tatyana K. Bibik, NAA’s Head of the Innovative Development Department, highlighted the particular features of external review in her speech.

February 07, 2019 NAA held the practice-oriented seminar entitled “The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out the application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents”.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks. NAA’s leading staff members E. V. Avtenyeva, Head of the Automated Data Processing Department; Svetlana A. Vekua, Deputy Head of the Department for the support of the Accreditation Procedure, D.Savelyev, Deputy Head of the Technical and Database Support Department continued the statements.

The seminar was devoted to the following issues: preparation of the package of documents for state accreditation; practical recommendations for filling out various applications for state accreditation; identifying typical mistakes, the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the documents attaching to it for state accreditation, practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system, interaction of an educational organization and expert panel during the state accreditation procedure.

At the end of the seminar, NAA’s leading staff members answered the participants’ questions.

E.Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, made the concluding remarks.

On February 01, NAA’s leading specialists held a traditional skype-meeting. Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

The issues devoted to cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review as well as the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members were discussed during the event. NAA’s professionals paid particular attention to the current issues related to the Expert Work Department.

On January 31- February 1, 2019 Mrs. Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, took part in the III National scientific conference with international participation “The Architecture of University Education: Modern Universities in Common IT Area” held at the Saint Petersburg State University of Economics.

Mrs. Efimova made a speech entitled “State accreditation in the system of external evaluation of Higher education”.

The conference is a platform for discussing the key issues and challenges of status and development of education; formation of common IT area for educational environment as well as search for solutions related to the improvement of educational activities and quality of graduates’ training in accordance with the labor market requirements.

The conference was attended by heads and representatives of educational institutions, leading Russian and foreign enterprises, professional communities and associations, public authorities, corporate universities and other representatives of the academic and business community.

On January 30 - February 1, 2020 the IV National Scientific and Methodological Conference with international participation "Architecture of University Education: Building a Single Space of Knowledge" was held by St. Petersburg State University of Economics and the Presidential Library.

S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, acted as an expert in the Conference plenary session “Strategic partnerships as a tool for the formation of a single knowledge space”). E. M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, moderated the session "Ensuring the quality of educational activities: innovative approaches and modern challenges".

In 2020, the Conference was dedicated to the formation of a single space of knowledge, the active involvement of all stakeholders in the development of effective partnerships and the use of digital technologies, as well as the consolidating role of universities in solving national problems of education.

Key topics of the conference:

• Transformation of university education in the digital economy.
• Modernization of the architecture of higher education in accordance with the requirements of the labor market.
• Quality assurance of educational activities: innovative approaches and modern challenges.
• The integration of science and education in the formation of a single space of knowledge.
• Export of educational services and information resources: current forms of international collaborations.
• Leadership in the integration of resources in a single information and educational space: traditions and innovations.
• New formats of activity and digital instruments of subjects in the cultural and educational environment.

On January 25, a round table discussion on “The ways to solve stuffing resource challenges in the area of health” was organized in the Federation Council. Mrs. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, participated in the event.

Mrs. Tatyana Kusaiko, a member of the Committee of the Federation Council for Social Policy, representative of the legislative (representative) body of state power of the Murmansk region, hold a meeting.

Mr. Valery Ryazanskiy, the Chairman of the Committee of the Federation Council for Social Policy, senators, Mrs. Natalia Sanina, the first Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Care, the representatives from Federal and Regional Executive Authorities as well as medical establishments, took part in the event.

On January 25, NAA’s leading specialists held a regular skype-meeting for experts “Procedures for expert panel”.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

NAA’s professionals informed about the current issues related to state accreditation of educational organizations, cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members as well as to the problems arising in reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses.

On January 21, 2019 NAA’s stuff together with the representatives from the Russian Union of Youth as well as the practitioners and students of the Mari State University met with the management of the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation, Bonn (FIBAA). The meeting was devoted to the implementation of the joint project “European Quality Assurance for Students, EQAS”.

The project is aimed at gathering, analyzing and disseminating European good practice in involving students in higher education quality assurance (both external and internal).

FIBAA – is a Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation with a head office in Bonn (Germany).

FIBAA is a member of the largest European and international quality assurance associations and networks:

FIBAA is a member of:

• ENQA, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
• INQAAHE, International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education
• CEENQA, Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education
• EUA, European University Association

FIBAA has been registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) since 2009.

On January 21-24, 2019, NAA’s specialists attended the round tables with the representatives from the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation, Bonn (FIBAA ) within the European program Erasmus+ Jean Monnet European Quality Assurance for Students, EQAS.

The project is aimed at gathering, analyzing and disseminating European good practice in involving students in higher education quality assurance (both external and internal)

On January 16, 2019, on the second day of the Gaidar’s forum a meeting of the Public Council consolidating CIS countries for training in the field of public administration took place. The event was attended by NAA’s staff.

Based on the meeting’s outcomes it was approved to develop the cooperation plan for 2019 and to publish a thematic issue of the journal "Public service" dedicated to the analysis of best practices of public administration in the CIS countries. At the meeting the agreements on the implementation of joint study programs between partner universities were also signed.

The pilot projects of the Network Academy and the implementation of joint study programs of training in priority areas of economic and socio-cultural integration realized by the partner universities will promote an atmosphere of confidence, a common understanding of values and prospects of long-term cooperation between the participating states.

On January 15, 2019 the 10^th anniversary Gaidar’s Forum "Russia and the World: National Development Goals and Global Trends" took place. In the Forum an open meeting of the Presidium of the National Council of business and management education was held. The meeting was chaired by Alexander Zhukov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of RF. The event was attended by Sergey Kravtsov, Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science as well as Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director and Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director.

The main activity of the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE) is aimed at the quality of Russian study programs. Since January 14, 2016 NACBE has been authorized as an expert organization for carrying out state accreditation of Bachelor's and Master's programs in the integrated field of study "Economics and management".

The NASDOBR’s representatives and the invited participants shared their views and discussed the topical issues in the field of educational activities, management training as well as the creation of a system for national independent evaluation of teachers’ professional activity at various levels.

The 10th anniversary Gaidar’s Forum "Russia and the World: National Development Goals and Global Trends" was held at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) on January 15-17, 2019.

The Gaidar’s Forum is the largest international event that brings together experts who have an impact on the socio-economic development of regions and states. More than 100 different events are planned within the framework of the anniversary Forum: panel and expert discussions, debates, analytical reports, open lectures, round tables, etc.

Traditionally, the Forum will be attended by Russian and foreign experts, public and political figures, journalists and business persons, members of the Government and leaders of the Russian Federation.

On January 11, 2018, NAA’s leading specialists conducted the first skype-meeting for experts “Procedures for expert panel”.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational organizations’ activities.

NAA’s specialists informed about the topical issues of state accreditation of educational organizations; cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review; the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members. Some attention was also given to the queries raised by experts related to the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses on the basis of civil law contracts for involvement in external reviews.

December 21, 2018 Sergey S. Kravtsov, the Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) met with NAA’s staff.

Mr. Kravtsov commended NAA’s staff for its excellent work in 2018 “The expiring year has been fruitful and interesting for us from a professional point of view, and I hope that next 2019 will be also successful”.

Olga Yakimchuk, the Head of the Department of Public Services noted that in 2018 NAA’ team coped successfully with the planned objectives. She also added that the active cooperation of Rosobrnadzor and NAA would ensure achievement of the proposed goals in the coming year.

Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director presented the results of work in 2018, mentioning the results of external reviews, certification of experts and expert organizations, training activities, the work of NAA’s branch, international projects and events, as well as the perspectives and objectives for 2019.

At the end of the meeting Mr. Kravtsov awarded commendations and letters of gratitude from Rosobrnadzor to Lyudmila Kapralova, Head of the Information and Analytical

The seminar "Accreditation of educational activities. The results of 2018" was held on December 17. The event was attended by the certified experts and representatives of expert organizations of Rosobrnadzor, representatives of HEIs, heads of the subordinate bodies of Rosobrnadzor and members of the Accreditation Commission of Rosoblnadzor.

The representatives from the State Inspectorate for Supervision of Quality Education under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the heads of educational organizations that hosted NAA’s seminars during the year were present as invited guests.

The expert community plays an increasing role in the education system, becoming an essential part of quality assurance.

The procedures of state accreditation involve Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts meeting the relevant regulatory requirements. Annually the experts undergo training on various issues of improving the procedures of state accreditation and participate in the seminars held by the National Accreditation Agency on topical subjects linked to the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities.

Among the certified experts, there are about 340 representatives from the Association of Leading Universities of Russia, as well as about 300 experts from the Association of Classical Universities of Russia.

At the seminar, the experts were awarded commendations for fruitful and effective work in the process of state accreditation from the National Accreditation Agency.

On November 29, 2018 the first meeting of the Commission on Quality Assurance in Education of the members of Commonwealth of Independent States was held at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

The representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan participated in the event.

Anzor Muzaev, the Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, and Lemka Izmaylova, the Chairperson of the Commission, NAA’s Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks.

The Council on Cooperation in the field of Education created the Commission on Quality Assurance in Education of the members of Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS Member States). The participants bore witness to the issues related to quality assurance of higher education and focused on further development of national quality assurance systems. They emphasized the importance of convergence through the establishment of common (unified) approaches and tools for educational quality assessment.

On October 18-19, 2018 NAA’s representatives took part in the annual General Assembly of European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).  The meeting was organized in Astana, Kazakhstan and hosted by the Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA).

The main policy and decision-making body of ENQA is the General Assembly, which is composed of the member organizations of the Association and has European ministerial representatives and stakeholders as observers. The General Assembly convenes once a year. 

About 100 representatives from 37 countries took part in the General Assembly, 17 speakers presented their reports. The event addressed the development of quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area, a system for effective communication with employers, as well as quality assurance of e-learning (E-Learning).

The experts from Germany, Spain, Russia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and other countries shared their relevant knowledge and experience, responded to the questions raised by the participants of the event. The wide geography of the participants and the choice of reports’ topics helped them to better understand the issues under discussion.

At the opening of the General Assembly, welcoming remarks were made by Dr. Christoph Grolimund, ENQA President, and Prof. Sholpan Kalanova, IQAA President.

During the event NAA successfully presented a poster on the theme “Working with experts, the examples of successful education / training of experts; student participation”.

The second day of the Assembly were devoted to the reports covering the activities of ENQA President and Secretariat, action plan of the  Association as well as the key actions in 2019. Elections were held for the Steering Committee members.

On October 18, 2018, the First Russian-Uzbek Educational Forum “New Personnel for a New Economy” started in Tashkent as part of the state visit of V.PUTIN, the President of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The professional dialogue platform was organized by the Russian Union of Rectors, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the administrations of the presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan in order to expand and institutionalize the bilateral scientific and educational cooperation. For the first time, more than 140 heads of educational centers from Russia and Uzbekistan gathered at the same venue. From the Russian side, the rectors of 80 leading universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian regions participated in the Forum. NAA is represented by L. Izmaylova, the director.

The keynote addresses will be made by: Vladimir CHERNOV, Head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries; Abduzhabar ABDUVAHITOV, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Mikhail KOTYUKOV, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; Aziz ABDUHAKIMOV, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Viktor Sadovnichy, President of the Russian Union of Rectors , Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University; Anatoly TORKUNOV, Rector of Moscow State Institute of International Affairs and others.

The program of the Forum includes a plenary session “Educational projects are a driver of a strategic partnership between Russia and Uzbekistan”, as well as the work in a session format. The current trends and mechanisms of training personnel for key economy sectors; the status of technical education in the system of priorities of the Russian-Uzbek cooperation; prospects for the development of science and innovation in higher education will be considered in the panels joined by a theme “The economy of knowledge: human capacity as the basis for the economic modernization of Russia and Uzbekistan”.

Particular attention will be paid to the Russian language as a factor of competitiveness in the scientific and educational environment. The practical result of the event will be the signing of more than 100 agreements on cooperation and implementation of joint programs and projects between educational centers of Russia and Uzbekistan.

The forum is expected to become an authoritative, permanently operating platform for consolidating the potential of representatives of the university community of the two states, developing a dialogue between the rectors of leading universities in Russia and Uzbekistan.

The Heads of 17 regions of the Russian Federation and 14 regions and cities of Uzbekistan participated in the event.

On October 16, 2018 the annual Central Asian international quality forum on quality assurance in education started its work.  The meeting was organized by the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR), Kazakhstan. The event became a good tradition and met a great interest from international associations and quality assurance agencies.  

The II Central Asian Forum on Quality Assurance in Education gathered over 200 experts from Europe and Central Asia, Russia and the post-Soviet countries at the Nazarbayev Center. Senators and deputies, vice-ministers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, Presidents of EQAR and ENQA, leaders of accreditation bodies and universities’ representatives - all together determined the tools and procedures in quality assurance of education.

The Forum main goal is to create an international dialogue for discussing and sharing best practices:

• to develop a quality assurance, accreditation and rating research system;
• to enhance cooperation with international networks and foreign agencies promoting the development of quality culture and the professional community formation;
• to improve the quality of education, curricula and students’ training paths according to international standards.

During the event L. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, delivered a presentation "Harmonization of the regulatory framework in the field of accreditation as a prerequisite for successful interaction in improving the quality of higher education in the region".

On October 1 - 2, 2018, Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics, with the support of the Committee on Science and the Higher School of the Government of St. Petersburg held a scientific and practical conference " National concept of quality: state and public protection of the consumers’ rights".

Scientific and practical conferences in the framework of the project "National concepts of quality" are held annually.

The conference aim is to highlight the best practices for the national concepts implementation in the sphere of quality management and the prospects for their development in the context of consumer’s right.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, took part in the conference with the report “State Accreditation of Educational Activities: Challenges and Prospects for Development”.

The conference was organized by:

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, All-Russian Organization of Quality,   Committee on Science and Higher Education, Committee on External Relations of St. Petersburg, Committee of State Financial Control of St.Petersburg, Committee of State Service and Personnel Policy of the St. Petersburg Government, Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics, Federal Budgetary Institution “Test-St. Petersburg”, Stockholm School of Economics, Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization “Baltic International Business School of Business-Meetings Industry”.

The seminar hosted by the Academic Information Centre (AIC), took place on September 27-28, 2018 in Riga, Latvia.

NAA’s representatives took part in the seminar for the agencies preparing for the ENQA external review.

The agencies have to undergo ENQA external review every five years.

The participants discussed the matters related to external review. The agencies’ representatives that had successfully passed ENQA external review shared their experience and responded to the questions from the audience.

The two-day workshop “State Accreditation of Educational Activities. The requirements for a study program” (using the case of Education and Pedagogical Sciences) was held in the FSBEI of HE “Altai State Pedagogical University (ASPU)”.

The workshop was organized for the representatives from the organizations conducting educational activities; the officials of executive authorities responsible for carrying out state accreditation; candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of Rosobrnadzors’ experts implementing external reviews of educational activities. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, welcomed the workshop participants.

The representatives from NAA, Rosobrnadzors’ experts as well as the leading universities took part in the event.

The seminar program included the following issues:

• improvement of the procedure for state accreditation;
• the main stages for organizations conducting educational activities for state accreditation;
• use of the information from the educational organization’s official website during state accreditation;
• the best practice of HEIs in preparing and undergoing state accreditation procedure.

On June 15, 2018 NAA’s leading specialists conducted a regular skype-meeting for experts “Method of work for the expert panel members”.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational organizations’ activities.

NAA’s specialists informed about the topical issues of state accreditation of educational organizations; cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review; the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members. Some attention was also given to the queries raised by experts related to the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses on the basis of civil law contracts for involvement in external reviews.

On May 24-25, 2018 the Russian Classical Universities’ Association (RCUA) and FSBEI of HE M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) held an information and methodology seminar for vice-rectors of the universities under the theme: "Designing higher education programs for developing research and teaching activities, underpinned by the introduction of the industrial qualifications framework and professional standards."

About 100 people participated in the event (representatives of more than 40 classical universities, of 15 Federal Educational and Methodological Associations (FEMA), Deputy Deans of MSU.

The presentations of Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, on the strategic issues of quality assurance of HE in Russia and Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, on the topical issues of state accreditation of study programs aroused a considerable interest among the seminar’s participants.

L.Trubina, MSU Vice-Rector, and E. Egorova, Head of the Department of the Moscow Pedagogical State University (MSPU), introduced to the participants a draft of the pedagogical module for the programs of classical university education. On May 21, the module was considered and successfully approved by FEMA "Education and Pedagogical Sciences". This module had been developed during the last two years on the initiative of RCUA and MSPU (Saratov State University, Crimean Federal University, Bashkir State University and MSU were also closely involved in the module development).

A.Serova and M. Bershadskaya, the representatives from the National Research University of Higher School of Economics (HSE), introduced the extremely important methodological developments on designing and assessment of universal graduates’ competences specified by the Federal State Educational Standard 3++. A. Fomkin, representative from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) and V. Malandin, Director of the Educational and Research Center for Priority Research and Problems in Scientific and Pedagogical Staff’s Training, MSPU, shared the valuable experience in delivering postgraduate programs. D. Venediktov, Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, RANEPA, informed the participants about the successful practice of inclusive education organization for disabled people.

On May 21-22, 2018 FSAEI of HE «Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin» opened its doors to the holding of the practice seminar organized by NAA.

The representatives from NAA, the Ministry of General and Professional Education of the Sverdlovsk Region, Rosobrnadzors’ experts as well as the leading universities took part in the event.

The seminar program included a discussion of the following issues:

• accreditation of educational activities in the Russian Federation; improvement of the procedure for state accreditation;
• use of the information from the educational organization’s official website during state accreditation, taking into account the updated recommendations;
• main requirements for the development of study programs of the first level (bachelor's degree, specialist’s degree, master's degree); audit of study programs;
• preparation of educational organizations for state accreditation in connection with the system-wide requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education (FSES HE) and the Federal State Educational Standard of Secondary Vocational Education (FSES SVE);
• interaction between the organization that carries out educational activities and the expert team during external review;
• methodology for the external review procedure;
• 105 days of state accreditation of educational activities: from the application to the accreditation certificate;
• regional experience in conducting state accreditation of educational activities
• practical classes; responses to the questions.

On 17 May, 2018 the Scientific - Educational Theological Association (the Theological Association) held its first session of the All-Russian Scientific-Practical Seminar “Theology and Education: Direction of Development” in the assembly hall of the Church-Wide Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies (PDPs). The event was organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and Science of RF and supported by Rosobrnadzor (National Accreditation Agency, NAA).

47 participants from 34 educational institutions throughout Russia: Theological Academies and Seminaries as well as Secular HEIs realizing theological programs took part in the seminar.

The work of the seminar was opened by G. Teplych, Executive Director of the Theological Association and Head of the Department of Scientific and Educational Projects of the Church-Wide PDPs, and A. Gusev, Head of the Educational-Methodical Management of the Church-Wide PDPs. In their welcoming speech, they outlined the main goal of this scientific and practical seminar - training of highly qualified experts of the Theological Association in sphere of theology for participation in external reviews of educational institutions.

This session of the seminar is devoted to the issues of experts’ certification and accreditation of theological programs.

The first section of the seminar was held in the webinar format titled "Who wants to become an expert" organized by NAA. During the webinar NAA’s staff provided detailed guidelines on obtaining (extending) the powers of an expert for conducting external review of educational activities. The main documents regulating the expert's activity, the requirements for the experts’ applicants, the procedure for obtaining expert powers, as well as the specifics of the examination were considered. NAA’s specialists emphasized the increased demands to experts, which resulted in enhancing their skills, and, as a result, the increased objectivity of the expert evaluation in order to improve the quality of education.

The second section of the seminar was called "Regulatory framework in the field of theological (religious) education: challenges and development perspectives" and was devoted to the accreditation peculiarities of theological programs implemented by the Theological Association. At the end of the webinar NAA’s leading staff made their presentations highlighting all procedure peculiarities. O. Kulkova, NAA’s General Counsel, delivered a presentation on legal regulation of the state accreditation procedure. She talked about the typical mistakes made by educational organizations when applying for accreditation. She also informed in details about the peculiarities of accreditation for religious HEIs.

1. Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development, continued the stated topic. In her report devoted to the state accreditation procedure she focused on the specifics of the Federal State Standard of the direction "Theology", such as the necessity to implement the programs within a certain confession; the selection of teaching staff from the list recommended by the central religious organization; special requirements for logistical support and electronic information and educational environment. After the presentations, the seminar participants had an opportunity to ask the speakers any questions. A stormy discussion of such topical problems as peculiarities of teaching of disabled persons in the spiritual educational institutions; work features with spiritual literature and requirements for conducting internships were held.

The third section of the seminar was conducted in the meeting format and devoted to the development of educational and professional-expert activities in the field of Theology. The section work was headed by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, President of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association, Rector of the Church-Wide Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies. S. Pilipenko, Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of RF; A. Tretyakov, Chief Adviser to the Office for Internal Policy of the President of RF; O. Naumova, Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science; L. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, composed this section presidium.

The work of the section was opened by S. Pilipenko, who spoke about the program monitoring for the universities’ effectiveness and expressed ideas for its development and improvement. The speaker highlighted the monitoring results, and also spoke about the widespread use of the collected data.

1. Tretyakov’s report was dedicated to the recognition of Theology as a scientific branch and the development of state-confessional relations. In the statement he spoke about the uniqueness of the Theology branch and some consideration of its topical issues, such as the formation of confessional passports. The speaker especially stressed the necessity to develop this branch and to train experts in theology to preserve and transfer the unique experience of peaceful coexistence of representatives of various religious faiths on the Russian territory.
2. Naumova spoke about the openness of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science to the interaction and joint development of Theology as a scientific branch. She highlighted the current processes in the legislation regulating the accreditation of study programs, and expressed her hope for cooperation in the field of accreditation with the Theological Association’s experts.

In her report, L. Izmaylova gave a presentation summarizing the work of NAA’s staff at the first sections of the seminar. In her speech, she particularly stressed the urgent demand for certified experts in the field of "Theology" who are trained by the Theological Association.

On May 11, 2018, NAA’s specialists conducted a skype-meeting for experts participating in external review of educational activities.

Every Friday NAA conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts participating in external review of educational activities.

NAA’s specialists informed about topical issues of state accreditation of educational organizations; cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review; the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members. Some attention was also given to the queries raised by experts related to the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses on the basis of civil law contracts for involvement in external reviews.

On April 26, 2018 the Russian Union of Youth (RUY) and the all-Russian public movement of youth "Association of Students and Students' Unions of Russia" held the all-Russian competition of student practices in the field of education quality improvement.

The competition involved the bodies of student governments and student associations of HEIs and professional educational organizations that implement projects related to education quality improvement. The competition was established with the purpose of collecting and broadcasting the best practices of students’ participation in the education quality evaluation and management of the educational services quality.

The expert team was represented by:

1. Konstantin Raev, NAA’s Deputy Director
2. Denis Shabanov, Deputy Head of the Expert Relations Department of NAA
3. Igor Fatov, Chairman of the Central Control Commission of the Russian Union of Youth, Member of the Advisory Council under the Committee of the Council of Federation on Constitutional Legislation, Legal and Judicial Issues, Civil Society Development, member of the Expert Council of the State Duma Committee on Education.
4. Vladimir Selin, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Union of Youth, member of the Public Council of Rosobrnadzor.

25 applications (selected among 50 projects from 20 regions of Russia) have passed into the final in four categories:

The winners were determined on the results of more than two hours of face-to-face defenses:

The best project aimed at monitoring the quality of educational services

I place. National Research University "Higher School of Economics"

II place. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

III place. Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University) 

The best project aimed at improving students’ performance

I place. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University

II place. Ryazan State Medical University named after academician I.P. Pavlov

III place. Chuvash I. Yakovlev State Pedagogical University

The best organization of the work of the student commission on education quality

I place. National University of Science and Technology - MISIS

II place. Penza State University

III place. Kaliningrad State Technical University

The best idea for improving the education quality

I place. North-Caucasian Federal University

II place. Surgut State Pedagogical University

III place. Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs

A visit by the representatives of international organizations for quality assurance in HE took place at NAA’s office on April 25, 2018. The visit was made as part of the UNESCO Regional Consultation Meeting for Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions.

Dr Christoph Grolimund, President of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), and Nora Skaburskiene, President of the Network of Central and Eastern European Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA), had observed the work of the National Accreditation Agency (NAA). NAA’s specialists reported the foreign partners on state accreditation of educational activities in Russia.

In turn, the representatives of foreign agencies shared their experience on the quality assurance issues in Western European countries, as well as the main priority directions in the development of quality assurance agencies.

Forum took place on 19-20 April 2018 in Zaragoza, Spain. The 8th ENQA Members’ Forum was hosted by the Aragon Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ACPUA).

The representatives from Quality Assurance Agencies (ENQA members and affiliates), Regional Ministry of Education, HEIs and European University Associations took part in the event. The Russian Federation was represented by the National Accreditation Agency and the National Centre for Public Accreditation.

The practice-oriented seminar «Current issues of state accreditation of educational activities» was held by NAA on April 24-25, 2018

The seminar was organized in accordance with NAA’s timetable for conducting training activities by agreement with Rosobrnadzor. NAA’s heads and leading staff, Rosobrnadzor’s experts, and representatives of major universities took part in the event.

The seminar program included the following issues: state accreditation in the system of education quality evaluation, the structure of the official website of an educational organization, use of the information presented on it during the state accreditation procedure and monitoring of the education system, based on the updated recommendations of 2017.

NAA’s specialists spoke about the procedure for conducting state accreditation of educational activities and the main stages of preparation for the procedure, the interaction of the organization caring out educational activities and the expert panel during external review.

At the practical training courses, the participants discussed the following aspects: the requirements for filling out an application for state accreditation; analysis of common mistakes; practical recommendations; the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and the attaching documents for state accreditation in the Personal Account of the organization; audit of study programs.

On April 21, 2018 a round - table meeting "The role of information resources in quality assurance and recognition of education" was held in the framework of the Moscow International Salon of Education – 2018 (MISE). The event was organized by NAA jointly with the Main State Center for Education Evaluation (Glavexpertcentr).

During the event, the issues devoted to the development of information resources for assuring the quality of education and its impact on the education sector were discussed. The Heads of NAA and Glavexpertcentr, representatives of international networks of quality assurance agencies in higher education, certified experts of Rosobrnadzor and international experts participated in the event.

On April 06, 2018 The seminar “Topical issues of the state accreditation procedure. Preparation of educational organizations for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel” was hosted by hosted by Moscow State University of Design and Technology (MSUDT).

The event was organized by NAA. More than 60 educational and scientific organizations took part in the seminar.

The following issues were discussed at the seminar

• The current issues of normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. The main requirements for the documents necessary for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.
• The interaction between the organization that carries out educational activities and the expert group during external review.
• The peculiarities of carrying out state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.
• The practical recommendations on working with the Personal Account of an organization in the CIS SA system, in particular on filling out the application, attachment of electronic versions of the documents.

At the end of the seminar, NAA’s specialists answered the participants’ questions.

On April 04, 2018 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) held a meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

69 applicants successfully passed through e-testing. Following the testing, the interview took place for the establishment of experts’ and expert organizations’ powers.

During the interview, the applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

On March 30, 2018 the representatives of the general education organizations (schools) joined to the webinar «The information posted on the educational organization’s website» held by NAA.

The webinar program included a consideration of the following aspects:

• On implementation of the legislative requirements set to the structure and content of the educational organization’s website in the Internet;
• On software «Data collection module for the special section of a general education organization’ website»

At the end of the webinar, the NAA’s leading specialists responded to the questions raised by the webinar participants.

On March 27, 2018 NAA organized the third seminar on selection of student experts within the federal experiment “Forms of students’ public assistance in state accreditation procedures of educational activities)”. The event was attended by 38 students and graduates from 18 Russian regions.

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the seminar and wished the participants productive work.

The seminars speakers were represented by NAA’s leading staff: Olga N. Kulkova (General Counsel of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department), Svetlana A. Vekua (Deputy Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures), Nadezhda V. Matyukhina (Analyst of the Department for Innovative Development). Evgeny Matvienko, Deputy Director of the Center for Student Programs (Russian Union of Youth – RUY) also contributed to the seminar.

The seminar participants had to undergo several tasks: to do homework, get tested and pass an interview. As a result, the pool of student experts has been enlarged by 29 members representing different constituent territories of the Russian Federation, including experts from Novosibirsk, Lipetsk, Vologda, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Tula and Leningrad regions, the Komi Republic and the Stavropol Territory. In total, more than 60 applications were submitted for the participation in the seminar.

Additional information: Since 2017 the National Accreditation Agency in collaboration with RUY has been implementing the experiment "Forms of students’ public assistance in state accreditation procedures of educational activities". Under the experiment, a pool of student experts is formed, which will be gradually involved in the state accreditation procedures of educational activities. The experts can include the students (starting from a second year of a bachelor's or a specialist degree) and postgraduates having no academic debts, with experience in assessing the quality of educational services, including the work in the Public Observers' Corps of RUY.

On March 23, 2018, NAA’s leading staff held a regular skype meeting for experts participating in external evaluation of educational activities.

Every Friday the National Accreditation Agency (NAA) conducts skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts – members of the external review panels.

NAA’s professionals informed about the current issues related to state accreditation of educational organizations, cooperation between the expert panel and educational organization during external review, about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the expert panel members.

Particular attention was paid to the problems arising in reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses.

The seminar «The state accreditation procedure of educational activities» was held in the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) on March 14, 2018. The event was organized by the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE).

The seminar was attended by representatives from the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), National Accreditation Agency (NAA), state and independent experts with experience in the state accreditation procedure of HE programs under the auspices of NACBE.

The main seminar aim was to improve the qualification of acting teams of independent experts of NACBE, as well as the preparation and certification of new experts to participate in the state accreditation procedure of study programs in the field of management.

Natalya Evtikhieva, NACBE’s General Director, opened the event with the welcome remarks. She noted that NACBE "is engaged in expanding the pool of experts for accreditation, since Russia now suffers from the lack of competent people in this field." The speaker also presented NACBE’s activities to the participants.

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation on the topic "Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities".

On March 08, 2018 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science conducted a regular meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting the applications were considered and e-testing was conducted for the establishment of experts’ and expert organizations’ powers. More than 70 applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

The practice-oriented seminar “The preparation for the state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out the application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents” was hosted by Moscow State University of Design and Technology (MSUDT).

E.Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, addressed the meeting and made welcoming remarks.

The cluster of speeches was opened by O.Kulkova, NAA’s Chief Legal Adviser of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department, with the report "Normative and legal support for the state accreditation procedure of educational activities". E.Avtenyeva, NAA’s Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, informed the participants on the requirements for filling out various applications for state accreditation of educational activities and the requirements to the package of documents. D.Savelyev, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Technical and Database Support Department, highlighted the participants’ attention to the procedure of formation and submission of the electronic application and to the documents attaching to it for state accreditation; he also gave practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system.

At the conclusion of the seminar, NAA’s leading staff responded to the questions posted by the participants.

The first International medical forum “University Science. Innovations” was held by Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Sechenov University). The event took place on February 28-29, 2018.

The event was held to implement the Strategy for the Development of Medical Science in Russia until 2025 and the Strategy for Innovative Development of the Russian Federation until 2020, with a view to create a unified information, scientific and investment environment, and to introduce mechanisms that stimulate the development of scientific medical platforms.

At the Forum a session was held for Vice-Rectors on scientific work of medical universities and medical faculty staff. NAA’s representatives participated in the event. L.Izmaylova – NAA’s Director, underlined the topical issues of state accreditation for educational activities. During the dialogue with the audience, E.Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, answered the important questions of the Forum participants. E.Zakhvatova, NAA’s Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development, highlighted the main points of preparation for state accreditation of study programs of HE - programs for training highly qualified personnel.

On February 27, a joint panel session of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education and the State Committee for Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus was held in Minsk.

The meeting was attended by O.Vasilyeva - Head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, I.Karpenko - Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus, A.Shumilin – Chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus, A.Muzaev –Deputy Head of the Rosoblnadzor and Lemka Izmaylova – NAA’s Director.

A wide range of issues related to quality assurance of education in the two countries, the implementation of state youth policy, including support for talented youth, children and teenagers were discussed at the panel session.

The Head of the Ministry of Education and Science of RF opened the meeting by noting that the joint panel session is an effective format that allows to develop the agreed decisions on convergence of educational systems and integration of scientific and technological capacity of the two countries.

The participants discussed the implementation of the priority tasks for the Union State development in the sphere of education, science and youth policy. They also reviewed the state policy implementation in educational area in Belarus and Russia, and the perspective directions for the formation of a common educational area.

On February 15-16, the representatives from 31 countries gathered at the Geneva International Conference Center (CICG) to participate in the UNESCO Western European Regional Meeting on "The Role of Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Challenges, Achievements and Prospects".

The main topics of the reports were: identification of the main opportunities and challenges for the development of quality assurance for HE in the region; exchange of views on the role of HE and quality assurance in the context of sustainable development; strengthening a quality assurance system that would respond promptly to requirements and changes; development of a strategy for involving government structures, quality assurance bodies, universities and other stakeholders; exchange of best practices of quality assurance in the region and beyond; preparation of a consolidated regional report.

This meeting was the fifth in a row and was held in partnership with the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) with the support of the Swiss National Commission for UNESCO. The parallel related event will cover Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions and will be organized on April 23-24, 2018 in Moscow.

UNESCO, in cooperation with regional and international partners, will organize the World Conference on Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Paris, France, in November 2018. In various parts of the world, a number of regional events are being held as preparatory to the global conference, the results and reports of which will form the basis of the final conference.

The all-Russian meeting held by Rosobrnadzor "Priority directions for improving control and supervision activities in the field of education: results for 2017" was organized in the Ryazan region. About 400 representatives of specialized agencies from all Russian regions, regulatory authorities, law enforcement establishments, institutions for advanced studies of teaching staff took part in the event.

Mikhail Petropavlovskiy, NAA’s Deputy Director, Director of NAA’s branch, made a report "The technology of automated placment and collection of information received from HEIS’ websites."

Sergei Kravtsov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of RF- Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), outlined the strategic tasks of developing a unified area for control and supervision activities. "Quality education is, first of all, objective results and work with these results," the Head of Rosobrnadzor stressed.

The participants discussed the mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of evaluation procedures and the objectivity of their results, priority directions of state policy in the field of general education and other topics.

February 8, 2018 the Kazan National Research Technical University named after A. N. Tupolev (KAI) hosted the workshop organized by NAA.

The workshop theme was “Update of the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES). Preparation for state accreditation in conditions of switching the procedure into an electronic format”. The representatives from more than 150 HEIs and scientific organizations including 89 State HEIs, 14 Private HEIs, 3 Religious HEIs participated in the event.

The workshop was attended by the representatives of NAA, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan, Saratov Region and Krasnodar Territory, the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The workshop was devoted to the following issues:

• update of the Federal State Educational Standards;
• improvement of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities;
• main stages of preparation for the state accreditation procedure; methodology of the procedure
• switching the state accreditation procedure into an electronic format. The Personal Account of an organization in the CIS SA system.

The discussion forum "The Universities’ experience in preparation and undergoing the procedure of state accreditation" was opened.       

07 February 2018 – the candidates for the establishment of experts’ powers were examined at the National Accreditation Agency (NAA).

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

Today, more than 70 candidates were e-tested and reviewed for the establishment of experts’ and expert organizations’ powers.

NAA’s staff participated in the seminar for the Vice-rectors on educational and methodological work of the Universities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture of RF and the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency. The meeting was held under the theme "The Peculiarities of the Educational Activities Organization for HE Programs in Current Context".

The Seminar was opened on 31st January. The meeting was hosted by the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (RSAU – MTAA).

Ivan Lebedev, the State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, made a welcoming speech. During the meeting, the participants discussed the following issues: the priority areas of education development in Russia; the improvement of legislation in the field of education; the legislative support of staff training for agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation.

Natalia Naumova, the Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), made a report devoted to Rosobrnadzor’s activities on the development of HE. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, highlighted the issues of state accreditation of HEIs under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture of RF.

NAA held the practice-oriented seminar “The state accreditation procedure of educational activities”.

During the seminar NAA’s leading specialists told about the new requirements in the normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure; the methodology for conducting accreditation expertise; the switching of the state accreditation procedure into an electronic format; the preparation of an educational organization for state accreditation when passing to e-document management, interaction of an educational organization and external experts’ group during the state accreditation procedure.

"I would like to express special gratitude to all the speakers for the informative and understandable reports, for explanations on this issue, as well as for answering burning questions," a participant of the seminar noted.

The seminar was attended by more than 50 participants-representatives of HEIs and research organizations from six federal districts of Russia.

Today the Winter School of Pedagogical Excellence has started its work at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

The event was opened with a plenary session on the topic: "Teacher in the digital economy: a new player of the modern university" and a round table "University of the Future: Trends and Perspectives".

This year the Winter School is mainly focused on new challenges and approaches to the quality of HE in the future; teacher training for the digital educational system of the modern university, online learning and virtual environment.

The following speakers will open the Winter School with their reports:

• M. Eskindarov, Rector of the Financial University, Doctor of Economics, Professor, member of the Russian Academy of Education;
• E. Didenko, Director of the Institute for Advanced Training and Professional Retraining of Employees, PhD in Technical Sciences, Associate Professor;
• S. Kalashnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy of the Federation Council, Doctor of Economics, Professor;
• N. Naumova, Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science;
• P. Kondrashov, Head of the State Duma Committee on Science and Education, PhD in Technical Sciences, Associate Professor;
• S. Pilipenko, Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, PhD in Psychological Sciences;
• D. Grishin, Deputy Head of the Federal Treasury, Full State Counselor of the 3rd Class of the Russian Federation;
• B. Nuraliev, Director of "1C" company, PhD in Economic Sciences;
• L. Izmaylova, Director of the National Accreditation Agency", PhD in Pedagogical Sciences;
• U. Zinchenko, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Education, member of the Russian Academy of Education, Dean of the Psychology Faculty of the Moscow State University after M.V. Lomonosov;
• E. Myakotnikova, Corporate Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives;
• B. Slavin, Research Adviser of the Applied Mathematics and Information Technologies Faculty of the Financial University, Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics, Professor;
• A. Khoroshilov, Adviser Director of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Head of the UNESCO Educational Initiative in 2014-2017, Professor.

On January 17, 2018 the Accreditation Commission of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (hereinafter - Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

E-testing was successfully completed by 56 applicants. After testing, the candidates for the establishment of experts’ powers were interviewed.

During the interview, the applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

On January 16, 2018, a public meeting of the Presidium of the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE) was held within the framework of the Gaidar’s forum – 2018 "Russia and the World: Goals and Values". The meeting was chaired by Alexander Zhukov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma. Lemka Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director took part in the event.

The Presidium of the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE) at its meeting summarized the results of the five-year work and outlined the plans for further cooperation with the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor).

The meeting was attended by:

Chairman of the Presidium - Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation;

Deputy Chairman of the Presidium - Sergey Myasoyedov, Vice Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), President of the Russian Association of Business Education.

Presidium Members:

• Alexander Zharkov, Vice-President of the all-Russian non-governmental organization of small and medium business "OPORA RUSSIA" (OPORA RUSSIA);
• Vadim Kovalev, First Deputy Executive Director of the Interregional Public Organization "Association of Managers";
• Alexander Murychev, Executive Vice President of the Russian Association of Employers «The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs» (– RSPP)";
• Nikolay Ostarkov, Vice-President of the All-Russian Public Organization "Business Russia";
• Maxim Fateev, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation;
• Natalia Evtikhieva, General Director of the Russian Association of Business Education, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (IPACS RANEPA).

The guests list:

Sergey Kravtsov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor),

Lemka Izmaylova, Director of the National Accreditation Agency (NAA),

Elena Efimova, Deputy Director of the National Accreditation Agency (NAA).

NACBE’s Presidium Members and invited participants exchanged their views and discussed topical issues in the field of educational activities, training of managerial personnel, and creation of national independent evaluation of the teachers’ professional activity at various levels.

The seminar “Accreditation of Educational Activities. The results of 2017”.

The seminar "Accreditation of educational activities. The results of 2017 "was held on December 15. The event was attended by the certified experts and representatives of expert organizations of Rosobrnadzor, representatives of HEIs, heads of the subordinate bodies of Rosobrnadzor and members of the Accreditation Commission of Rosoblnadzor.

Sergey S. Kravtsov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Head of Rosobrnadzor, welcomed the seminar participants and thanked everyone for their professionalism and responsible approach to work.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, made a presentation devoted to the results of NAA’s activity.

At the end of the seminar Sergey S. Kravtsov awarded commendations to the experts for fruitful and effective work in the process of state accreditation of educational activities.

Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submitting forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation.

The practice –oriented seminar was organized by NAA’s specialists in Moscow.

The following themes were covered:

• topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities;
• general requirements for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation (sVET, Bachelor's, Specialist, and Master’s levels). The analysis of typical mistakes in filling out forms of information;
• the program module for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation.

The seminar was attended by the representatives of educational organizations, interested in obtaining explanations on these themes.

National Accreditation Agency organized a seminar hosted by the Vladimir State University.

The event was attended by more than 70 representatives from HEIs and scientific organizations of all Russian Federal Districts.

The Rector of the University Anzor M. Saralidzhe addressed the participants with a welcoming speech followed by a video presentation of educational, scientific research and innovative activities of the educational organization as a Basic university.

The first day was devoted to the issues of internal quality assessment of students’ training against the updated Federal State Educational Standards.

Describing the requirements for internal quality assessment, Sergey Pilipenko, representative of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, drew attention to the fact that "the quality of measuring materials should be the subject of external review".

Lemka S. Izmaylova, Head of NAA, presented a report on the topic "Quality assurance in the state accreditation system".

"The improvement of the information system of state accreditation for educational activities will be carried out on the basis of applying the technology of external review in electronic format with the use of Internet resources," said Lemka S. Izmaylova.

Ruben Topchyan, Director of the Armenian National Center for Professional Education Quality (ANQA) paid attention to the topic of international accreditation. Sergei Myasoyedov, Vice-Rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Accreditation Council of Business and Management Education (NACBE), spoke about the "Triple Crown" accreditation and the AACSB accreditation as the highest quality mark for management programs of further vocational education internationally.

Furthermore, the representatives of NAA and seminar participants met to discuss the main stages of modeling the internal quality assessment of students’ training on the basic study program. The best practices of internal quality assessment were presented by the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Sechenov University); Rostov State Medical University of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation; Moscow City University (MCU) and Vladimir State University.

The topic "Modeling the internal quality assessment of students’ training on the basic study program" was presented to the participants in the framework of the business simulation on the second day of the seminar.

The representatives of NAA, Main State Center for Education Evaluation, Russian Youth Union and the expert of Rosobrnadzor had an informal meeting with journalists to discuss the forthcoming changes in the work of these structures. Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, told about the innovations in the state accreditation procedure.

Currently, HEIs can submit documents to Rosobrnadzor for obtaining a license or a state accreditation certificate in both paper and electronic formats. The number of electronic applications submitted In 2017 through the applicant's personal account doubled compared to the previous year.

In 2018, licenses and state accreditation certificates will be also issued in the electronic format.

"Switching the state accreditation procedure into an electronic format will significantly reduce not only financial expenses, but also time for logistical operations," said Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director.

The switch to the provision of public services in electronic format is carried out in accordance with the decision of the Russian Government. Moreover, Rosobrnadzor is currently improving the regulatory and methodological support of this activity, and is working at the creation of electronic archives and security measures.

A practice-oriented seminar “The main issues of state accreditation of educational activities. Preparation of educational organizations for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel” was held in Moscow.

The event was organized by NAA for the representatives of educational and scientific organizations interested in learning practical skills on current issues to get prepared for state accreditation.

The following issues were discussed during the seminar:

• The current issues of normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. The main requirements for the documents necessary for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.

• The interaction between the organization that carries out educational activities and the expert group during external review.

• The peculiarities of carrying out state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.

• The practical recommendations on working with the Personal Account of an organization in the CIS SA system, in particular on filling out the application, attachment of electronic versions of the documents.

At the end of the seminar NAA’s experts answered to the participants’ questions.

Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submitting forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation.

NAA organized the seminar for more than 40 representatives of educational organizations.

Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, addressed the seminar participants with a welcome speech.

NAA’s specialists covered the following issues:

• normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure of educational activities;
• the general requirements for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation (sVET, Bachelor's, Specialist, and Master’s levels). The analysis of typical mistakes in filling out forms of information;
• the program module for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation.                         

On November 01, 2017 the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting of the Accreditation Commission on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, the applications were reviewed, and the candidates underwent e-testing to establish the powers of experts and expert organizations. Over 40 applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the operating procedure of expert as well as the methodology of external review.

An educational seminar for the leaders of student government of the Central Federal District “Perspectiva” was held in the Moscow region.

The presentation was organized in the framework of a panel discussion on issues of student government development and students’ participation in evaluation of the quality of educational services. The meeting gathered 114 student leaders from 73 universities and colleges of 16 subjects of the Central Federal District.

Pavel Krasnorutsky, Chairman of the Russian Youth Union, Evgeny Matvienko, Deputy Director of the Center for Student Programs, and Denis Shabanov, Deputy Head of the Expert Relations Department of NAA, took part in the seminar as experts.

Denis Shabanov presented an experimental program for training of student experts.

Within the framework of the seminar “Forming an Effective Model of the Regional Public Observation System”, a second seminar for training of student experts involved in the state accreditation procedures was held in Moscow On 26 - 27 October 2017.

The seminar was attended by 45 listeners from 19 regions of the Russian Federation. All of them study at universities, are engaged in the activity of student government bodies.

The experts of the seminar were: Elena M. Efimova - PhD of History, associate professor, Deputy Director of NAA; Denis M. Shabanov - Deputy Head of the Expert Relations Department of NAA; Artem A. Fortunatov – PhD of Pedagogics, associate professor, acting accreditation expert of the RYU.

Participants analyzed the legislation on accreditation of educational activities, worked with the topic of international education quality standards, studied the procedures of student review. After the training program the listeners underwent the certification procedure, which included a solution of the applied expert task, testing and interview with NAA and RYU specialists. A total of 20 new experts were certified. The next seminar is planned for December 2017.

On October 27, 2017, a meeting was held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris devoted to the organization of regional meetings within the framework of the up-coming World Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education. The Conference will be held on November 21-23, 2018 in France and can gather from 700 to 1,000 participants.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) - Christoph Grolimund (newly elected President of ENQA) and Baptiste Fuez; Erika Soboleva representative of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Career Development; representatives of NAA - Lemka S. Izmaylova and Murad Shishkhanov; Head of the UNESCO Section for Higher Education Peter Wells; Programme Specialists - Hassmik Tortian and Tara Nasrollahi. As a result of the meeting, the final dates of the two regional meetings were agreed upon with due consideration of the work plans of all interested agencies and associations:

• for the countries in the Western Europe, North America and Canada (hosted by the Swiss Agency AAQ, Geneva, February 16, 2018)
• for the countries that are part of the Eastern Europe and Asia (the host party is NAA and AKKORK, Moscow, April 23-24, 2018)

An agreement was reached with UNESCO and partner agencies that for the sake of writing a joint Scoping Study for the regions of Eastern Europe / Asia and Western Europe / North America they will use a draft program of the meeting that is structurally and substantively complete. The main topics of the sections are:

1. Quality Assurance and the Diversification of Provision in HE
2. The Role of QA in Fostering Sustainable Development
3. Relevance of External QA: Accountability and Improvement
4. QA: Internationalization and Mutual Recognition

On October 26-27, NAA’s representatives took part in the regular meeting of the General Assembly of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), which took place in Sevres (France). During the meeting, representatives from 28 European countries approved the work plan of the Association for 2018, voted for the new composition of the ENQA Board and the President. As a result of a secret vote, Dr. Christoph Grolimund, Director of the Swiss Accreditation Agency (AAQ) and a member of the Board was elected the new President of ENQA.

NAA management joins thecongratulations of European colleagues with the best wishes in promoting the quality of higher education in the European area and expresses confidence that the policy of integrating the system of quality evaluation of the Russian higher education will be continued through an active participation of Russian accreditation and quality assurance agencies both in the Association activities and in the international accreditation of study programs delivered by educational organizations.

We would also like to thank the former President of ENQA, Dr. Padraig Walsh, for his longstanding commitment to the principles of quality education and representation of interests of the European professional community of experts in higher education quality at world-wide forums, for his support of developing quality evaluation systems, determination of priorities in forward motion of a close family of ENQA agencies.

On October 24, 2017, a two-day seminar on the topic “Topical issues of state accreditation. External quality evaluation of educational activities and students’ training” finished its work.

The seminar, organized in accordance with the timetable of NAA training activities and in coordination with Rosobrnadzor, was held at the premises of the Ukhta State Technical University.

The second day of the seminar included practical classes.

The Head of the Automated Data Processing Department of NAA, Elena V. Authenieva, spoke about the requirements to the completion of the application for state accreditation and paid special attention to the typical mistakes that occurred while completing the application and also answered the audience questions.

The second session was devoted to the technology of collecting and posting the information on the official website of the educational organization. Olga G. Nefedova, Head of the Information and Methodological Department of NAA’s branch, dwelt upon the practical issues related to the publication of information on the website of the educational organization.

On October 23, 2017 a two-day seminar “Topical issues of state accreditation. External quality evaluation of educational activities and students’ training" was held at the premises of the Ukhta State Technical University.

Among the participants of the seminar there were rectors and pro-rectors of educational organizations, directors of colleges and branches, deputy directors, as well as heads of departments and educational and methodical departments, department specialists, deans of faculties, heads, associate professors and academic staff.

The seminar opened with a speech of the Rector of the Ukhta State Technical University, Nikolay D. Tskhadaya. The participants were also greeted by Valentina V. Zhideeva, Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Komi Republic.

The Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Komi Republic, Minister of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Komi Republic Natalia A. Mikhalchenkova, spoke about the main directions for the development of professional qualifications in the Komi Republic.

She said: "In the period when economy lives in the mode of technological and organizational renewal, constant improvement of production methods and management principles, the employee gets imposed with absolutely new requirements. Employers give preference to creatively active people who master advanced technologies. The desire to improve and expand the knowledge, the ability to constantly learn is highly-prized... In the labor market, the value of an employee is measured not so much by the place he studied at as by what he can do and how qualitatively he does it. Therefore, quality education is extremely important for a good start to a professional career".

The Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Republic of Komi Ilya V. Semyashkin devoted his report to the topic “Professional Standards: Prospects for Labor Market Development”. Sotnikova Olga, Acting Rector of the Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University spoke about their practical experience in improving the quality of education.

The content part of the seminar proceeded with the report of NAA Director Lemka S. Izmaylova “Renewal of the state accreditation procedure as a modern tool for assessing the quality of education”.

Sergei N. Ponomarenko Director of the Federal Institute for the Assessment of the Quality Education devoted his report to the All-Russia Olympiad of professional skills as an element of a unified system for assessing the quality of education.

The seminar program was continued by the leading specialists of NAA.

The seminar was attended by 79 representatives of educational organizations of higher education and 26 educational organizations of secondary vocational education and training.

Representatives of three federal districts of Russia took part in the seminar. They include the Northwestern FD (Republic of Karelia, Saint-Petersburg, Republic of Komi); Central FD (Bryanskaya region, Moscow); Ural FD (the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District).

The seminar gathered together representatives from the following HEIs:

• Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
• Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering
• Bryansk State Technical University
• The Komi Republican Academy of State Service and Administration
• Petrozavodsk State University
•  Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University

• Syktyvkar Forest Institute (branch) of Saint-Petersburg State Forest Technical University named after S.M. Kirov
• Regional Institute for Education Development of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District                                                                                                                     

NAA’s representatives participated in the Erasmus + Information Session

On October 16, 2017 an information session was organized in Moscow by the EU Delegation in Russia.

"Key issues of state accreditation of educational activities. Preparation of educational organizations for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel".

The seminar was organized by NAA for representatives of educational and scientific organizations interested in receiving explanations on the declared theme and was aimed at acquiring practical skills in topical issues of preparation for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.

The seminar program covered the following aspects:

• normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure; review of new documents of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The procedure of an educational organization’s submission of a set of documents for state accreditation;
• the peculiarities of state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel;
• main stages of an educational organization’s preparation for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel;
• the procedure of an expert panel’s work;
• answers to the participants’ questions.                                                                                  

NAA conducted an examination for expert candidates. 

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualification requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualification requirements to experts and expert organizations and those who submit an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

Today over 25 candidates has undergone e-testing and an interview to establish the powers of experts and expert organizations.

During the meeting, it was recommended to grant the All-Russian Public Organization “Medical League of Russia” the powers of an expert organization for carrying out external review of educational organizations.

Attention! For the note of Heads of organizations using e-learning and distance learning technologies when delivering study programs.

The Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) draws the attention of heads of organizations using e-learning, distance learning technologies in the delivery of study programs that the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation has renewed the procedure for application of e-learning and distance learning technologies.

The procedure for application of e-learning, distance learning technologies when delivering study programs approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of 23.08.2017 № 816 (registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia on September 18, 2017, registration №. 48226) becomes effective from October 1, 2017.

At the same time, the prior procedure for applying e-learning, distance learning technologies by educational organizations when delivering study programs approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of January 9, 2014 № 2 (registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia on 04.04.2014, registration № 31823) becomes invalid.

The practice-oriented seminar “The new in the state accreditation of educational activities” was held at the premises of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University.

The seminar was attended by more than 180 representatives of educational organizations of higher education - leading educational organizations, classical universities, national research and federal universities, educational organizations of branch departments.

Among the participants of the seminar there were Rectors and Pro-rectors of educational organizations for educational, scientific, discipline work and distance learning; Directors and Deputy Directors of branches; Heads of educational and methodological departments, departments of postgraduate education, licensing and accreditation of study programs, monitoring of the education quality; Heads, Professors and Associate professors of departments; methodologists, analysts, specialists.

At the opening, the Rector of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University Valery L. Mikheev made a welcoming speech.

The Deputy Head of the Department of State Policy in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Sergey A. Pilipenko devoted his speech to the updating of the federal state educational standards (FSES) . He highlighted the features of the updated FSES developed on the basis of their adaptation to the professional standards.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, touched upon the issues of improving the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities. She said: "In connection with the issuance of new regulatory documents in the sphere of education, it is necessary to improve the state accreditation procedure."

The following issues were on the seminar agenda:

- use of the information published on official websites of educational organizations during state accreditation of educational activities;

- improving the methodology for conducting external review;

- peculiarities of state accreditation of basic professional study programs of higher education delivered by research organizations;

- main stages of preparation of an educational organization for state accreditation of educational activities;

- peculiarities of preparation of documents for external review of basic study programs of secondary vocational education;

- 105 days of state accreditation of educational activities: from application to certificate: Aspects for consideration.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

On December 30, 2017, the updated Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education (FSES HE) come into force. They do not abolish the current FSES HE. In this regard, when submitting an application for state accreditation, educational organizations have to provide information on the standards which their study programs are based on. The information should be presented in the form of an explanatory note signed by the Head of the educational organization.

NAA specialists organized a webinar “How to become an expert” for representatives of educational and research organizations – candidates for establishing the powers of Rosobrnadzor’s experts engaged in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

NAA’s Deputy Director, Elena M. Efimova, opened the webinar. The Legal Adviser of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department, Sergey Ruzaev acquainted the participants with the normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. Svetlana Vekua, Deputy Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures, told about the procedure of expert panel’s work during external review, the powers of the expert panel’s head and members. Elena V. Zabolotskaya, Head of the Expert Relations Department, informed the participants about the qualification requirements to the experts involved in conducting external reviews as well as the Code of an Expert. The report of Olga Zaitseva, Analyst of the Expert Relations Department, was devoted to the procedure for certification of experts engaged in external reviews. Elena Bychkova, Engineer of the Expert Relations Department, spoke about contract relations with experts.

At the end of the webinar NAA’s leading specialists answered the participants’ questions.

On September 8, 2017 a Practice-oriented seminar “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling out and submitting forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation” was held.

68 representatives of educational organizations took part in the seminar.

The Director of NAA Lemka S. Izmaylova addressed the seminar participants with a welcome speech.

Elena Efimova, Deputy Director. opened a series of presentations with the report "Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities".

Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development Elena Zahvatova spoke about the general requirements for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation (sVET, Bachelor's, Specialist, and Master’s levels). She paid special attention to the analysis of typical mistakes in filling out forms of information.

The Deputy Director-Director of NAA’s branch Mikhail Petropavlovskiy gave an on-line presentation on the NAA’s new software "The module for filling out forms of information on the delivery of study programs declared for state accreditation".

On September 06, 2017 the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (hereinafter - Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting of the Accreditation Commission on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations. 

During the meeting, the applications were reviewed, and candidates for the establishment of experts’ powers were interviewed. The applicants responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of Rosobrnadzor Accreditation Commission are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

On August 25, 2017, NAA held a practice-oriented seminar “Preparation for state accreditation of educational activities. Filling in an application for state accreditation. Requirements to the package of documents attached to the application” in Moscow.

The seminar program was devoted to the consideration of the following issues:

- normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure;

- requirements for filling out various forms of applications for state accreditation of educational activities;

-practical recommendations for completing the application for state accreditation of educational activities, identifying typical mistakes;

-practical recommendations for working with the Personal Account of the organization in the CIS SA system: filling out an application, attaching electronic versions of the documents.

- answers to the questions of the seminar participants.

The seminar was attended by 37 representatives of educational and scientific organizations.

On August 25, 2017, the leading specialists of NAA held a regular Skype-meeting for experts soon going on a site visit.

The Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures Vladimir Karpenko reported about the interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization during external review. The Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Department Natalya Sergeeva spoke about the requirements for filling in an expert’s report and conclusion. The speech by Elena Zakhvatova, Head of the Department for Innovative Development, was devoted to the main peculiarities of external reviews conducted against the Federal State Educational Standards of higher education (FSES HE). Elena Bychkova drew special attention to the topical issues of the Expert Relations Department, the Code of an Expert and the problems expert panel members face when getting reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs under civil law contracts.

On 16-17 August 2017 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation conducted a workshop session for the heads of schools located abroad and their academic staff at the premises of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

NAA’s representative was involved in the discussion devoted to the issues of state accreditation of educational activities at the institutions located abroad (organizational, legal, content-related and technological aspects of the procedure).

Within the framework of the All-Russian Student Self-Governance School “The Leader of the 21st Century”, the first group of student experts had a special training for participating in the procedures for state accreditation of educational activities.

This experiment was launched by NAA together with the Russian Union of Youth in January 2017. Besides training seminars, the students listened to the Deputy Head of NAA’s Department Denis Shabanov who gave a presentation on the legal and organizational training for carrying out state accreditation procedures. Also Denis Shabanov took part in the student experts certification which included testing, a practical business game and an interview.

NAA’s leading specialists had a meeting with the delegation of the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAEI), a public organization aimed at organizing international academic exchange and developing cooperation in education.

At the meeting NAA Director Lemka S. Izmaylova, spoke about NAA activities and the Russian system of higher education, benefits of state accreditation. She paid special attention to the importance of transparency in state accreditation procedures.

Chinese colleagues presented their system of work and their experience of international activities.

During the meeting, the participants identified opportunities for cooperation in accreditation and joint research projects with Russian educational organizations.

They noted the importance of exchanging information and experience in higher education.

CEAEI invited NAA to China Annual Conference for International Education and Expo (CACIE) in autumn 2017. Every year this event hosts up to 600 institutions from 40 countries and more than 60 thousand people visit it.

On June 30, 2017, the leading specialists of NAA held a regular Skype-meeting for experts – members of expert panels going to site visits.

Every Friday NAA organizes Skype-meetings for Rosobranadzor’s certified experts going to site visits.

NAA’s leading specialists told about topical issues in state accreditation of educational activities, about the interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization and the role of the expert panel’s head during external review. Much attention was paid to the problems expert panel members face when getting reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs under the civil law contracts.

NAA’s representatives participated in the international Regional Conference on Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Asia‐Pacific which took place on 15‐16 June 2017 in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

The event was organized by UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau Education (Bangkok, Thailand); Section for Higher Education, UNESCO (Paris, France) in cooperation with National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO and UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (UNESCO-ICHEI) in Shenzhen, P.R. China.

The international and national representatives of quality assurance bodies, international organizations and other stakeholders participated in the conference.

The Regional Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific is one of the preparatory event for the International Conference on Quality Assurance to be held in Paris, France in 2018.

Reconfirmation of National Accreditation Agency’s Membership in European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)

The Board of ENQA agreed to reconfirm NAA’s Membership of ENQA at its meeting of 4 May 2017.

NAA has been received ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Membership.

According to the results of a partial review carried out against European Standards for Quality Assurance Agencies, the ENQA Board concluded that NAA is in substantial compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.

NAA organized the workshop “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities. The requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) to the design, implementation and evaluation of a study program” on May 29-30, 2017. The event was hosted by Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, CFU.

More than 100 representatives of HEIs; executive authorities, responsible for preparation and conduct of state accreditation; candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations took part in the event.  

The workshop was chaired by Rector Sergei Donich, who welcomed the participants of the meeting. The rector said: "On behalf of CFU staff I would like to welcome you at our university. It's nice that the Crimean University has become a venue for such a large-scale all-Russian meeting. This is a very honorable and important event for our university”. He also added that due to the entry into force of FSES 3 ++ and the amendments introduced in a number of legal acts regulating the state accreditation procedure, there is an urgent need for competent clarification of the requirements and conditions for the standards implementation.

Ms. Lemka Izmaylova (NAA’s Director) noted the high level of the workshop’s organization, comfortable working conditions and responsible attitude of all the involved services and organizations created by the host party.

Ms. Elena Efimova, Deputy Director of NAA, highlighted that it was very pleasant to hold the workshop on the Crimean land. She summed up: “Our agency is a subordinate organization of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor). The Crimean University has already had its first experience of transition to the Russian educational standards. Now our education system is going to transfer to the updated standards FSES 3 ++, so this experience of optimal and efficient work is very useful and interesting. Moreover, the CFU already has its own experts certified by Rosobrnadzor, who are successfully qualified and conduct external reviews. I am sure that this workshop will be effective and useful for everyone, as a lot of work has been done in the higher education, a certain level has been set in the accreditation procedures, and this bar should not be lowered".

The workshop agenda included the following issues:

Normative legal support of the state accreditation procedure

Updating FSES (Federal State Educational Standards) in accordance with professional standards.

The requirements of FSES to the study program and its documents. Peculiarities of the external review of study programs for secondary vocational education and PhD programs.

Assessment materials: FSES requirements, site visit in state accreditation procedure.

FSES requirements to the conditions for the implementation of study programs (system-wide, material and technical, personnel).

Peculiarities of the implementation of study programs with the use of e-learning and distance education technologies

Assessment   of competence level in the state accreditation procedure

More than 100 representatives of HEIs; executive authorities, responsible for preparation and conduct of state accreditation; candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations took part in the event.  

The workshop participants received a set of methodological materials and certificates.

On May 19, a practice-oriented seminar “Requirements to the package of documents submitted by an educational organization for state accreditation” was held.

The theme of the seminar on 19 May was “Requirements to the package of documents submitted by an educational organization for state accreditation”. According to the conducted analysis, this theme is the most urgent for representatives of educational organizations preparing for state accreditation of educational activities.

The seminar was attended by 22 representatives from educational organizations of higher education.

Following a brief welcome by Dr. Elena Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, speakers gave their presentation in accordance with the program. Ms. Olga Kulkova, the Chief Legal Adviser of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department, presented the report “Normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure”.

Ms. Elena Avtenieva, the Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, spoke about the compilation of the set of documents for state accreditation by an educational organization that carries out educational activities.  Ms. Avtenieva also conducted a practical training workshop devoted to the specifics of completing the application for state accreditation drawing special attention to typical mistakes made when doing it.

Ms. Elena Zakhvatova, the Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development, made the presentation “General requirements for filling out the forms of information on the implementation of study programs declared for state accreditation”.

Mr. Denis Savelyev, a programmer of the Database Support Department, gave practical recommendations to the participants on working with the Personal Account of an organization in the CIS SA system, in particular on filling out the application, attachment of electronic versions of the documents.

At the end of the seminar NAA’s leading experts answered the participants’ questions.

A NAA’s representative took place in the discussion devoted to teaching Russian for students from foreign countries. The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on 17 May 2017.

The members of the World Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad (WCC), the Chairmen of the Regional Coordinating Councils of compatriots, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, Rosobrnadzor, NAA, the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs participated in the event.

P.Zenkovich, the Official Secretary - Deputy Minister of Education and Science, noted in his speech: “It is very important for us that our compatriots living far from the Motherland will be able to share our culture, language and our values. And it can be done only through the education and upbringing of compatriots' children”.   

During the meeting, the main challenges foreign specialists face were identified. The representatives from foreign communities discussed the issues of promoting new forms of work with young people from abroad, the development of Russian language schools abroad and the expansion of Russian speaking area, the role of compatriots in intensifying trade and economic ties between foreign communities and Russia.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the issues of attestation of schoolchildren studying abroad and the prospects for passing the USE (Uniform State Exam) and admission to Russian HEIs in accordance with the corresponding quota specified in the documents of the Ministry of Education and Science.

Summarizing the meeting results, P.S. Zenkovich noted that joint work with the members of the World Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad will be continued both in the format of face-to-face meetings, and through the collection of topical issues and the publication of answers to them in a wide access.

NAA’s representatives participated in 7th ENQA Members’ Forum which took place on 4-5 May 2017 in Oslo, Norway. The event was hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT). Participants of the ENQA Members’ Forum got familiar with comprehensive presentations devoted to the Bologna Process developments in Iceland; UNESCO's vision of common tools for improving the quality of HE in Europe; unexpected results of external reviews in Norway; changes in the public administration of HE in France and Finland and the related reformatting of QAAs’ activity both at the institutional and program levels.

 Additionally, the ENQA Board held its regular meeting, which, among others, considered the question of returning the NAA’s full membership status in the Association, which was suspended for the period of undergoing the procedure of external evaluation against the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015). The ENQA-coordinated external review was held on 22-24 January 2017 in Moscow, following which a report was prepared for the ENQA Board consideration. An official decision is expected in the near future and will be available on the NAA’s web-site.

On April 28-29, 2017 Elena M. Efimova – NAA’s Deputy Director – took part in Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance – CEENQA annual meeting in Zagreb (Croatia).

The event was hosted by the Agency for Science and Higher Education (ASHE) Croatia, Zagreb.

About fifty participants from Europe took part in the two-day meeting. The issues related to the higher education quality enhancement were at the heart of the discussion.

The workshop “Topical Workshop for certified expertsissues of state accreditation of educational activities. The requirements to the external review procedure” was held on April 28, 2017 at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov.

The event was organized by the National Accreditation Agency (NAA) and Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov (KBSU).

Mr. Artur G. Kazharov (Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Youth Affairs of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic) opened the workshop with a welcome address.

Lemka S. Izmaylova (NAA’s Director) made a report “The requirements to external experts and expert organizations”.

On April 27, 2017, the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) conducted a meeting of the Accreditation Commission on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, 44 applications were reviewed. The candidates responded to the questions covering normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review. After the interview, 29 applicants received affirmation for the establishment of experts’ powers.

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of expert and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

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On April 27, 2017 the Workshop “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities. The requirements to a study program (based on the intergraded group of specialties Agriculture and Agricultural sciences as an example)” was held in Nalchik city, the North Caucasian Federal District.

The Workshop was hosted by the Kabardino-Balkarian State Agricultural Academy after V.M. Kokova.

The program of the workshop covered the issues of a HEI’s preparation for state accreditation using the example of agricultural universities and external review of study programs from the intergraded group of specialties and fields of training Agriculture and Agricultural sciences.

The workshop was attended by a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture of the RF in the person of Tatyana Y. Chausyanskaya – the Head of the Education Department of the Science and Technology Policy and Education Department; NAA’s heads and leading specialists; universities’ rectors.

The workshop participants received a set of methodological materials and certificates.

During the workshop the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor held its meeting on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

                                                                      Новости КБР от 27-04-2017 г

April 26 – Workshop at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov (Nalchik city, the North Caucasian Federal District)The workshop “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities. The requirements to a study program (based on the intergraded group of specialties Agriculture and Agricultural sciences as an example)” began on April 28, 2017 at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov (Nalchik city, North Caucasian Federal District).

The seminar was organized in light of the amendments introduced to some normative and legal acts regulating the procedure of state accreditation, in accordance with the NAA’s scheduled plan for conducting training activities and with the agreement of Rosobrnadzor.

The event was attended by Lemka  Izmaylova – NAA’s Director, Elena Zima – an external expert, Nina Emuzova – Vice-Prime Minister of the Kabardino-Balkarian Government - Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Affairs, Yuri Altudov –Rector of Kabardino-Balkarian State University.

Nailya Bagautdinova – Director of the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of Kazan Federal University, Olga Mikhailenko – Director of the Pedagogical Institute of Kabardino-Balkarian State University, Maria Petrovskaya – Department of Accounting, Audit and Statistics of the Russian University of Peoples' Friendship made the reports at the round table held within the framework of the seminar.

More than 100 representatives of HEIs and scientific organizations from different Russian regions took part in the workshop.

The first day of the event was devoted to the preparation of an HEI for the state accreditation procedure. 

On April 21, 2017, Lemka S. Izmaylova, the NAA’s Director, participated in the discussion of modular academic programs (developed in Herzen University) for professional retraining of faculty members providing education for disabled people. The event was attended by the representatives from social and professional societies.

Inclusive education is one of the most important directions of modern education.

Currently, an active work is done to develop scientific aspects of inclusive education and their application in practice: international conferences are held; special attention is paid to the development of legal and methodological framework and support for proactive projects; conditions are created for obtaining secondary and higher education, including using distance educational technologies.

The social-professional discussion (seminar) of modular academic programs for professional retraining of faculty members providing education for disabled people took place on April 21, 2017. The event was hosted by the Institution of Defectological Education and Rehabilitation of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (Herzen University).

Lemka S. Izmaylova, the NAA’s Director, made the report “The requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards to the implementation of study programs for disabled people”. She noted that Herzen University holds key positions in defectology education and solves the most important tasks of staffing support in the field of education for disabled people. Ms. Izmaylova emphasized “The State pays much attention to the issues of personnel development. The Program of Education Development for 2016-2020 sets a challenge to increase the number of disabled people receiving higher education, as well as to increase the proportion of faculty members who have undergone further training”.

Mr. V. Kantor, Director of the Institute of Defectological Education and Rehabilitation of Herzen University, mentioned in his speech the need for discussion as well as subsequent implementation of retraining programs for university teachers in order to fully implement the idea of inclusion in HE system.

During the seminar, the programs of retraining university teachers engaged in training of disabled people were presented. They included methodological recommendations considering the goals, concept of design, structure and content of these programs, as well as the peculiarities of invariant and elective modules included in the programs. Special attention was paid to the issues of retraining teachers of physical training.

The event was attended by leading specialists from more than 30 HEIs of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Rostov-on-Don, Saransk, Ekaterinburg and other cities, who are engaged in the development and delivery of study programs adapted for the education of disabled people. Mr. A.Kolosov, the Chairman of Regional Organization (St. Petersburg) of the All Russia Association of the Blind (VOS), also took part in the discussion.

All speakers highly appreciated the program of professional retraining developed by the scientists of Herzen University, noted its practical importance and recommended it for introduction.

On 13 April, 2017, the webinar «The structure of an educational organization’s official website. Use of the information presented on the website during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system» was held.

The webinar «The structure of an educational organization’s official website. Use of the information presented on the website during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system» was held on April 13.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, opened the meeting.

The leading specialists of NAA’s branch in Yoshkar-Ola made the following reports: implementation of the legislation requirements set to the structure and content of the official website of the educational organization in the Internet; software "Data collection module for a special section of the educational organization’s website" (Mikhail V. Petropavlovskiy, Deputy Director - Director of NAA’s branch in Yoshkar-Ola); requirements  to the format of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website (Svetlana U. Vinokurova, Leading Analyst of the Analytical Department of NAA’s branch).

Furthermore, the issues devoted to  the use of methodological recommendations for presenting information on the website in terms of using an html-markup (Alexey V. Koshkin, Programmer of the Analytical Department of NAA’s branch); typical violations and shortcomings in the structure and content of the information posted on the educational organization’s official website in the Internet (Olga G. Nefedova, Head of the Information and Methodological Department of NAA’s branch) were also considered during the event.

At the end of the webinar the leading specialists of NAA”s branch answered the participants’ questions.

On April 11, 2017, the NAA’s director Lemka S. Izmaylova took part in the meeting of the Council for Cooperation in Education of the CIS member states.

The agenda included issues initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on the preparation of a multilateral agreement on state accreditation of educational activities of CIS educational organizations / institutions and on the internal harmonization of the draft Agreement on granting equal rights to CIS citizens.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Lyudmila M. Ogorodova said: "We can not talk about improving the education quality without having regard to international cooperation."

Taking into account the relevance and importance of using the experience of national accreditation systems in education, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States proposed preparation of a multilateral agreement on state accreditation of educational activities of CIS educational organizations / institutions.

The proposal implementation with the joint participation of the CIS state educational bodies will effectively contribute to the implementation of the provisions of the Cooperation Agreement on the establishment of the CIS integrated (common) educational area.

Lemka S. Izmaylova in her speech "NAA International Activities in Education Quality Assurance" paid special attention to the creation of a Coordinating Body of the CIS national agencies. She said: "Over the past two decades, the issue of education quality assurance has been gaining more power around the world. Countries of the post-Soviet period have much in common, e.g. common language, growing demand of the population for a higher quality level of HEIs’ services, the need to improve the graduates’ level of training that will allow them to manage national economies... This requires the creation of an integrated system of quality assurance and regulatory framework with the participation of all stakeholders. Quality assurance can be effective only when all stakeholders can understand and admit their problems and advantages".

The meeting chairperson Vladimir M. Filippov approved of the NAA’s proposal and offered to include 2 representatives from each national education quality assurance agency of the CIS countries to the CIS Council for Cooperation in Education so that they establish the Coordination Commission.

On April 07, 2017, NAA organized a regular Skype-meeting with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts soon going to an external review site visit.

On April 07, 2017, the leading specialists of NAA held a regular Skype-meeting for experts – members of expert panels.

The meeting was opened by the Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures Vladimir Karpenko who reported on the interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization and on the role of the expert panel’s head during external review. Elena Zakhvatova, the Head of the Department for Innovative Development, drew special attention to the main peculiarities of external reviews in terms of the compliance with the Federal State Educational Standards of higher education (FSES HE). At the end of the meeting, the Head of the Information and Analytical Department Ludmila Kapralova told about the proper filling of the forms of a report and conclusion.

On April 7, a practice-oriented seminar “Requirements to the application for state accreditation. Procedure for the formation of a package of documents attached to the application” was held.

The seminar was attended by 29 representatives of educational organizations of higher education.

The leading experts of NAA presented their reports. The seminar was devoted to the following issues: the procedure of submitting an application for state accreditation of educational activities, including the reissuance of the state accreditation certificate; regulatory requirements; cases and grounds for refusal of the application submission; the procedure for submitting a set of documents for state accreditation by the organization carrying out educational activities and recommendations for the filling out of the application for state accreditation of educational activities. The presentations also demonstrated typical mistakes in filling out the forms of information on the implementation of study programs declared for state accreditation, and provided practical recommendations for working in the Personal Account of the organization carrying out educational activities (registration, preparation of the application, monitoring of the application processing).

05 April 2017 – meeting of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor on certification of experts and expert organizations engaged in external review of educational activities

On April 05, 2017 the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (hereinafter - Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting of the Accreditation Commission on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, applications were reviewed and candidates for the establishment of experts’ powers were interviewed. The applicants responded to the questions covering the normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

On April 5, 2017, NAA took part in the TRAINING SEMINAR "ORGANIZATIONAL AND METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF AN EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR EXPERTS OF THE MEDICAL LEAGUE OF RUSSIA".

Lemka S. Izmaylova and Gennady G. Onischenko  were the moderators at the training seminar.

The President of the Medical League of Russia Gennady G. Onischenko opened the seminar. The NAA’s director Lemka S. Izmaylova made the speech on the legal framework in accreditation. The plenary part of the seminar also included reports by Tatyana M. Boytsova (Russian Educational Research and Methodological Center for Ongoing Education in Medicine and Pharmacy, Moscow), Elena F. Turovinina (Tyumen State Medical University), Tatyana A. Oleynikova (Kursk State Medical University) and Natalya S. Andriutsa (Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow).

Experts of the Medical League of Russia and experts of Rosobrnadzor discussed the issues of conducting external review, as well as the importance and the need in regular enhancement of exprets’ knowledge in the field of accreditation.

In the end, Gennady G. Onishchenko thanked the experts for their work and noted the merits of the best experts by awarding letters of commendation.

On April 3-7, 2017, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University hosted the All-Russian Conference with international participation "The Week of Medical Education in Russia". The conference was attended by more than 1500 people. Among them, there were representatives of medical universities and organizations of secondary professional education from different regions of Russia, representatives of the professional community and government institutions. During the week, they discussed topical issues of development, quality assessment, accreditation, development of professional standards for medical specialists.

On March 20-21, 2017, the VIII International Ecology Forum was held as a part of the Year of Ecology in Russia.

NAA’s Deputy Director Elena M. Efimova took part in the working session "Current Issues, Problems and Future of Professional Education in Ecology in Russia" at the VIII International Forum "Ecology". She made the report "State accreditation of educational activities as a tool to control the quality assurance of environmental education".

The forum was organized by the ANO "Public Forum" Ecology ". The event is traditionally held with the support and participation of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Supervision of Nature Resources and other relevant ministries and departments.

The seminar «How to become an expert» took place on March 17.

Lemka S. Izmaylova, NAA’s Director, opened the event. Olga N. Kulkova, General Counsel of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department, acquainted the participants with the normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. Elena V. Zabolotskaya, Head of the Expert Relations Department, told about the qualification requirements to the experts involved in conducting external reviews as well as the Code of Expert. Olga V. Zaitseva, Analyst of the Expert Relations Department, gave a report on the procedure for certification of experts taking part in external review. Vladimir I. Karpenko, Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures, presented the procedure of panel’s work during external review, spoke about the powers of the panel’s head and the powers of the members of the expert panel. At the end of the webinar Elena V. Zakhvatova, Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development informed about the requirements for conducting external review of study programs.

Elena M. Efimova, NAA’s Deputy Director, summarized the webinar results.

On March 10, 2017, NAA organized a regular Skype-meeting with Rosobrnadzor’s certified experts soon going to an external review site visit.

Every Friday NAA organizes Skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor‘s certified experts soon going to site visits to educational institutions under external review.

On March 10, 2017, the leading specialists of NAA held a regular Skype-meeting for experts – members of expert panels.

The meeting was opened by the NAA Deputy Director Elena Efimova who told about the challenges in the state accreditation procedure.The Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures Vladimir Karpenko reported on the interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization and on the role of the expert panel’s head during external review. Elena Zakhvatova, the Head of the Department for Innovative Development, drew special attention to the main peculiarities of external reviews in terms of the compliance with the Federal State Educational Standards of higher education (FSES HE). The speech of the Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Department Natalia Sergeeva was devoted to the report on external review. The Head of the Department for Innovative Development Tatyana Bibik presented a report “Expert’s conclusion drawn up by the external review results”. The Deputy Head of the Department Denis Shabanov told about the current issues of the Experts Relations Department, as well as the Code of the Expert. Nikita Dvore  ts, a leading economist of the Experts Relations Department, paid much attention to the experts’ difficulties in reimbursement of expenditures for transportation and accommodations under civil law contracts on conducting peer review.

On March 10, 2017 a practice-oriented seminar "Preparation of educational and scientific organizations for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel" was held.

A practice-oriented seminar on the topic "Preparation of educational and scientific organizations for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel" was hosted by NAA and gathered together 31 representatives of educational and scientific organizations.

The seminar opened with a welcoming speech made by the Director of NAA Lemka S. Izmailova.

Olga Kulkova, the Chief legal adviser of the Regulatory and Personnel Support Department presented the report “Normative and legal support of the state accreditation procedure. The review of new documents of the Ministry of Education and Science”.

The Head of the Automated Data Processing Department, Elena Authenieva spoke about the procedure of applying for state accreditation of educational activities, including reissuance of the state accreditation certificate, and noted the specifics of completing the application for state accreditation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel.

The Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development Elena Zakhvatova gave practical recommendations on filling out the forms of information on the implementation of study programs for training of highly qualified personnel declared for state accreditation of educational activities and conducted an analysis of typical mistakes in filling out the forms of information.

The Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures Vladimir Karpenko reported on the interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization during external review.

Denis Savelyev, a programmer of the Database Support Department gave practical recommendations to the participants on working with the Personal Account of an organization in the CIS SA system, in particular on filling out the application, attachment of electronic versions of the documents.

At the end of the seminar the leading experts of NAA answered to the participants’ questions.

On March 01, 2017 the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (hereinafter - Rosobrnadzor) conducted a regular meeting of the Accreditation Commission on evaluation of qualifications of candidates applying for the establishment of the powers of experts, involved in carrying out external reviews of educational organizations.

During the meeting, applications were reviewed and candidates for the establishment of experts’ powers were interviewed. The applicants responded to the questions covering the normative and legal regulations of state accreditation, the procedure of expert panels’ work as well as the methodology of external review.

Certification of experts is conducted in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2014 № 556 “On approval of qualifying requirements to experts, the requirements to expert organizations, the procedure for their certification, including the rules of maintaining the Register of experts and expert organizations, the procedure of selection of experts and expert organizations for carrying out external review”.

The meetings of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor are held at least once a month. The event is open for everyone who meets the qualifying requirements of experts and expert organizations and who submits an application and the attached package of documents in the prescribed manner.

A review panel of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) carried out a partial review of the National Accreditation Agency of the Russian Federation (NAA) for awarding the Full Member status.

On 6 March 2015 based on the external review results, NAA was awarded the status “ENQA full member under review”.  The agency was given two years to undergo a new review process that took place on January 23-24, 2017.

The review panel included a quality assurance professional, an academic and a student representative: Tue Vinther-Jørgensen (Chief Consultant, Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Denmark), Mati Heidmets (Professor, head of Educational Innovation Center, Tallinn University, Estonia), Beate Treml (Master’s student at University of Graz, International Officer at Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH), Austria). Agne Tamosiunayte (ENQA Reviews Manager) supported the Commission's work and ensured the compliance of evaluation procedure to ENQA requirements, not taking a direct part in the review.   

The Review procedure consists of the following steps:

Formulation of the Terms of Reference and the Minutes of partial review;

Nomination and appointment of the review panel;

Self-assessment by NAA including the preparation of a self-assessment report;

A site visit by the review panel to NAA;

Preparation and completion of the final evaluation report by the review panel;

Scrutiny of the final evaluation report by the ENQA Review Committee;

Analysis of the scrutiny by the ENQA Board and their decision regarding ENQA membership;

Follow-up of the panel’s and/or ENQA Board’s recommendations.

ENQA visit began with the meeting of NAA’s executive management where NAA’s Director Lemka S. Izmaylova gave a short insight into the NAA’s history and introduced NAA’s heads of departments as well as their activities to the ENQA experts. The interview started with the issues devoted to the inclusion of international specialists into the Expert Register, students’ role in the declared state accreditation procedures and to the transparency and public availability of the results of external reviews of study programs. These positions were found as substantially or partially compliant during the previous visit in 2014. The panel also was interested in interaction with expert and educational organizations during external reviews as well as distribution of powers between the authorities responsible for making the accreditation decision.

The program of the site visit was continued by interviews with the representatives of the Accreditation Board, three Higher Education Institutions (which study programs underwent NAA reviews in 2016), with NAA reviewers / experts (including student experts).

The panel also met with the representatives of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science: Sergey A. Bannikov (Head of State Services Department), Olga N. Yakimchuk (Deputy Head of State Services Department) and Alexander V. Troitsky (Head of State Accreditation Department).

At the end of the site visit, the review panel held a wrap up session outlining its preliminary findings. The panel discussed the positive changes made in the Russian education system for the last two years. They mentioned a large amount of work done to bring the Russian system of state accreditation in compliance with the selected requirements of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The inclusion of the international experts into NAA’s pool of experts and involvement of students as full members of expert panels were noted as positive results.

The NAA’s review report will be sent to ENQA in March 2017. The ENQA Board will make its decision regarding NAA’s membership in April, 2017.

Additional Information

On the basis of the review panel’s findings, the review secretary will draft the report in consultation with the review panel. The report will take into account the purpose and scope of the evaluation as defined under article 2 of the Terms of Reference of the review. A draft will be first submitted to the ENQA review coordinator who will check the report for consistency, clarity and language and it will be then submitted to NAA for comment on factual accuracy. If NAA chooses to provide a statement in reference to the draft report it will be submitted to the chair of the review panel within two weeks after the receipt of the draft report. Thereafter the review panel will take into account the statement by NAA, finalize the document and submit it to NAA and ENQA.

NAA will consider the expert panel’s report and will publish it on its website once the ENQA Board has made its decision. The report will also be published on the ENQA website, regardless of the review outcome and decision by the ENQA Board. This review report will be annexed to the latest full review report.

The conference “QUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM. ENHANCING STUDENTS ASSESSMENT” was held on 20-24 February, 2017 in Erevan (Armenia). NAA’s Director – Lemka S. Izmaylova participated in the event at the invitation of the Director of the National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance (ANQA) – Ruben Topchyan.

The conference was aimed at attracting the attention of education, management and public representatives to the quality assurance issues. At the event, the participants discussed the current matters of quality assurance in higher education and student assessment, shared best practices, forming a common vision of the future education system.

Students, academicians, representatives from the quality assurance agencies in higher education of Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Russia as well as the representatives from all Armenian HEIs took part in the conference.

Lemka S. Izmaylova presented the experience of accreditation procedures in Russia, which caused a lot of interest among the foreign colleagues. The discussion of topical issues and exchange of experience were continued after the presentation in private conversations.

Additional information

On February 14-15, Denis M. Shabanov (Deputy Director of the Expert Relations Department, NAA) participated in the All-Russian School of Student Government “Leader of 21^st century” as a member of the Expert Board in nominations “The Best Chairman of the Students’ Council” and “The Best Leader of the Education Quality Commission”.

D. Shabanov also held a roundtable with leaders and principals of the student government, leaders of student commissions and councils on education quality on the topic "Assistance of student government bodies during state accreditation of educational activities". The issues of students’ involvement in the procedures of professional-public accreditation and state accreditation were discussed. The experiment with the Association of Students and Student Organizations were represented on the roundtable. As part of the experiment, the student groups of public assistance in state accreditation carried out a questionnaire survey among students and prepared independent conclusions on education quality. The results of the survey were presented to the ENQA experts and received their positive assessment.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The 72 session of the All-Russian School of Student Government “Leader of 21^st century”, held on 14-17 February in Rostov-on-Don city, brought together 216 students from 70 educational organizations. The aim of the School is to prepare and train the administrative board of the student government for Russian educational organizations.

Экспертная комиссия Европейской Ассоциации гарантии качества в высшем образовании (ENQA) провела внешнюю частичную экспертизу деятельности ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» для подтверждения его полноправного членства в ассоциации.

6 марта 2015 года ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» по результатам прохождения внешней экспертизы ENQA был присвоен статус «полноправного члена под рассмотрением». Агентству было предоставлено два года для прохождения новой экспертной процедуры, которая состоялась 23-24 января 2017 года.

В экспертную комиссию вошли представители академической общественности, студенчества и представитель агентства гарантии качества. Туэ Винтер-Йогенсен – главный консультант Министерства высшего образования и науки Дании (принимал участие в предыдущей экспертизе), Мати Хэйдметс - глава образовательного инновационного центра Таллиннского Ун иверситета (Эстония), Беата Тремл - студентка магистратуры в Университете Граца, специалист по международным вопросам Австрийского союза студентов. Работу комиссии сопровождала координатор экспертиз Секретариата ENQA, Агне Тамосиунайте, которая обеспечивала соответствие проходящих процедур требованиям ENQA, не принимая непосредственное участие в работе.

Процедура экспертизы состоит из следующих этапов:

Формулирование условий проведения и протокола частичной экспертизы;

Номинирование и назначение членов экспертной комиссии;
Самообследование ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство», включая подготовку отчета по самообследованию (сосредоточить внимание только на критериях и подкритериях, упомянутых в части 2 данного документа);
Визит экспертной комиссии в ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство»;
Подготовка и написание окончательного варианта отчета экспертной комиссией;
Рассмотрение окончательного варианта отчета Экспертным комитетом ENQA;
Анализ результатов Советом ENQA и решение относительно членства в ENQA;
Процедуры последействия в соответствии с рекомендациями экспертной комиссии и Совета ENQA.

Визит экспертов ENQA началcя встречей с руководством ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство», на котором директор агентства Лемка Султановна Измайлова провела краткий экскурс об истории учреждения, а также представила экспертам начальников отделов и их деятельность. Интервью началось с вопросов о включении в реестр международных экспертов, роли студентов в процедурах государственной аккредитации, а также об открытости и доступности широкой общественности результатов проведенных экспертиз образовательной деятельности по заявленным образовательным программам. Именно по этим позициям были сделаны замечания в ходе предыдущего визита. Также экспертная комиссия интересовалась взаимодействием с экспертными организациями, взаимодействием Агентства с образовательными организациями во время проведения аккредитационной экспертизы, а также распределением полномочий между органом и организацией, ответственными за принятие решения об аккредитации.

Далее эксперты провели беседу с представителями Аккредитационной комиссией, образовательных организаций, которые прошли аккредитацию в 2016 году, а также с аккредитованными экспертами, в т.ч. из числа студентов.

Закончив работу в ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство», эксперты встретились с представителями Федеральной службы по надзору в сфере образования и науки – начальником Управления государственных услуг Рособрнадзора Банниковым Сергеем Александровичем, заместителем начальника Управления государственных услуг Рособрнадзора Якимчук Ольгой Николаевной и начальником отдела государственной аккредитации Рособрнадзора Троицким Александром Витальевичем.

На заключительной встрече для подведения итогов и информирования о предварительных результатах эксперты констатировали положительные изменения в российском образовании в последние два года. Они отметили большой объем работы, проделанной для приведения российской системы государственной аккредитации в соответствие с новой редакцией стандартов ESG 2015 года (Стандарты и рекомендации для гарантии качества в Европейском пространстве высшего образования). Эксперты признали также позитивным результатом деятельности ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» включение международных экспертов в реестр аккредитованных экспертов Рособрнадзора, а также вовлечение студенческого сообщества в процедуры государственной аккредитации образовательной деятельности.

Отчет по внешней экспертизе ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» будет направлен в ENQA в марте 2017 года, по итогам рассмотрения его Советом в апреле будет вынесено решение.

Справочно:

Согласно процедуре, на основе полученных экспертной комиссией данных, секретарь экспертной комиссии после консультации с экспертами комиссии составит проект отчета. В отчете должны приниматься во внимание область и цели, как это определено в части 2 данного документа. Проект отчета будет сначала представлен координатору экспертизы ENQA, который проверит отчет на предмет логичности, ясности и точности представленных формулировок, а затем выслан в ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» для комментариев и исправления фактических ошибок. Если ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» захочет сделать какие-либо заявления по поводу проекта отчета, то они должны быть отосланы председателю экспертной комиссии в течение двух недель после получения агентством проекта отчета. Затем экспертная комиссия рассмотрит ответ ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство», составит окончательный вариант отчета и вышлет его ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» и ENQA.

ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство» рассмотрит отчет экспертной комиссии и опубликует его на своем сайте, как только Совет ENQA примет решение относительно членства ФГБУ «Росаккредагентство». Отчет будет также опубликован на сайте ENQA независимо от результатов экспертизы и решения, принятого Советом ENQA. Данный отчет экспертов будет приложен к последнему полному экспертному отчету.

On 23 January, NAA undergoes a partial review to confirm its ENQA full membership status. The Review panel is represented by Tue Vinther-Jørgensen (Denmark), Beate Treml (Austria), Mati Heidmets (Estonia). Agnė Grajauskienė, ENQA Reviews Manager, is responsible for the compliance of the conducted procedure to the established norms.

The external review procedure includes meetings with representatives of Rosobrnadzor, Accreditation Commission, representatives of three educational organizations accredited in 2016, certified experts, including students.

ANPO “Center for Education Quality Development and Enhancement in the field of Culture and Arts” was granted the powers of an expert organization by the order of Rosoobrnadzor № 2141 of 22.12.2016 “On certification of the expert organization for carrying out external reviews”. It is authorized to conduct external reviews in relation to the following fields of training of secondary vocational and higher professional education: art studies, cultural studies and socio-cultural projects, dramatic art and literary creation, musical art, fine and applied forms of art, screen arts. The powers of an expert organization are valid for 3 years.

On December 21, the Head of Rosobrnadzor Sergey Kravtsov held a meeting with the team of NAA. He thanked the staff of the Agency for the work in 2016, mentioned a large amount of tasks carried out by the institution, as well as outlined the new challenges for the education quality evaluation in 2017.

Sergey Bannikov, Head of the Public Services Department of Rosobrnadzor, spoke about the innovations in the regulatory framework and noted the coordinated work of Rosobrnadzor and NAA.

Director of NAA Lemka Izmaylova presented the Agency’s performance results of 2016, describing the results of external reviews, certification of experts and expert organizations, training activities, the work of the branch, international activities, as well as the prospects and challenges for 2017.

At the end of the meeting Sergey Kravtsov noted the work of the Deputy Director-Director of NAA’s branch Mikhail Petropavlovskiy, Chief accountant Larissa Davydova and Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures Vladimir Karpenko, outlined their personal contribution and active participation in solving the problems entrusted to the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science.  She thanked each Agency staff member personally for his/her work and congratulated everybody on the coming New 2017 Year.

On December 19, NAA held the seminar “Accreditation of educational activities. 2016 in review” with participation of certified experts and expert organizations of Rosobrnadzor, representatives of educational organizations-hostesses of NAA’s workshops, heads of organizations subordinate to Rosobrnadzor, members of the Accreditation Commission of Rosobrnadzor, as well as representatives of the ministries - Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters.

The Head of Rosobrnadzor Sergey Kravtsov gave a welcoming address to the seminar participants.

Sergey Bannikov, the Head of the Public Service Department of Rosobrnadzor, spoke on the results in the sphere of state accreditation.

Another welcoming speech was presented by Valery Belgorodskiy, Rector of the Russian State University after A.N. Kosygin, where the seminar was held.

The representatives of educational organizations-hostesses of NAA’s  workshops summed up the results of these workshops:

On December 09, 2016, the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia in cooperation with the National Accreditation Agency held a workshop “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities”.

The workshop was moderated by V.A. Rabosh - Acting Vice-Rector for Educational Work of the Herzen University, Ph.D., professor, N. A. Vereshchagina - Head of the Educational Department of the Herzen University, Doctor of Sciences (in Pedagogics), professor, I.E. Kondrakova - Head of the Department for Organizational and Methodological Support and Co-operation in Teacher Education of the Herzen University, PhD, Associate professor.

The workshop was attended by the leading specialists of NAA. The Deputy Head of the Innovative Department Elena V. Zakhvatova spoke on "Methodological support of state accreditation of educational activities". Mikhail V. Petropavlovskiy, Deputy Director - Director of NAA’s Branch informed the participants about the requirements to the structure of official websites of educational organizations: use of the published information during state accreditation and monitoring of the education system. He also presented a software product "Data collection module for a special section of HEIs’ websites".

On October 20-21, the 7^th ENQA General Assembly took place in Gloucester, United Kingdom. It was attended by representatives of all European national accreditation agencies - ENQA members that promote ESG 2015. The NAA Head Lemka Izmaylova participated in the discussion of the ENQA growth areas, election of the ENQA Vice-Presidents and Board.

At the beginning of the ENQA General Assembly, Dr. Zita Mohd Fahmi spoke about the development of ASEAN Quality Assurance Qualification Frameworks and gave the examples of cooperation between countries with different levels of social and economic development.

Then the representatives of expert panels who took part in recent ENQA external reviews shared their experience, told about the lessons learnt and gave recommendations on the improvement of external review procedures and writing of impartial reports.

The second part of the GA included the Secretariat’s presentation of the Annual Report 2016, election of the ENQA Vice Presidents and Board.

At the event, the ENQA members had the opportunity to make poster presentations about their topical issues and challenges and to share their good practice in quality assurance.

Within the framework of the GA, the NAA representatives had some meetings and consultations with colleagues from CIS and Europe and discussed challenges that the expert organizations community faces. They spoke about the exchange of experts and their participation in external reviews, as well as holding co-operative activities and sharing information for publications.

Every Friday the National Accreditation Agency organizes Skype-meetings with Rosobrnadzor certified experts to site visits to educational institutions under external review.

On October 21 2016, leading specialists of NAA held a regular Skype-meeting with experts – members of expert panels.

The meeting was opened by the NAA Deputy Director Elena Efimova who told about the challenges in state accreditation procedures. The Head of the Accreditation Support Department Vladimir Karpenko reported on the interaction between expert panels and educational organizations during external review. Elena Zakhvatova, the Head of the Department for Innovative Development, drew special attention to the main peculiarities of external review in the part of the compliance to the Federal State Educational Standards. Nikita Dvorets, a leading economist of the Experts Relationship Department, paid much attention to the experts’ difficulties in reimbursement of expenditures for transportation and accommodations under civil law contracts on conducting peer review. At the end of the meeting a leading engineer of the Database Support Department told the participants how to use the expert’s personal account in the Complex Information System of State Accreditation (KIS GA).

On October 14, 2016 the Director of NAA Lemka Izmaylova took part in the Fourth International Conference "The practice of recognition: bonding continents", dedicated to cooperation in the field of recognition of foreign education. The conference was organized by the Main State Center for Education Evaluation in cooperation with the People's Friendship University of Russia that was the conference premises. Among the participants there were over 100 professionals and experts in the field of recognition from the leading universities of Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Italy, Spain, China, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

The Director of NAA Lemka Izmailova made a presentation on "The system of education quality evaluation in Russia in light of the new version of the ESG". There she told how the Russian model of the education quality evaluation and assurance, regulated by the legislation, correlates with the ESG provisions of. Special attention was paid to the expert community (certified experts and expert organizations, involved in external review of educational activities), the mechanisms of external quality assurance, in particular the procedures of state accreditation, as well as internal quality assurance, e.g. conducting student surveys on their satisfaction with the quality of education and the use of students’ standards of quality education. At the end of her speech, Lemka Izmaylova focused on the international activities of NAA in cooperation with foreign partner agencies - signatories of the agreements on cooperation and interaction with NAA.

The conference participants discussed the issues of academic mobility, foreign students’ attraction, elimination of bureaucracy and facilitation of procedures for the recognition of  foreign education, transition to e-document management and other challenges of the systems of professional recognition in different countries. They also made up recommendations for further improvement of the international recognition system.

On October 12, 2016 the Sochi Institute (branch) of the People's Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) hosted a scientific and practical conference “Strengthening the role of employers in developing study programs at universities” within the framework of the Program “5-100” for enhancing the competitiveness of PFUR. The conference was aimed at improving the efficiency of interaction between educational organizations and employers, strengthening the role of employers in developing university study programs and was supported by the Administration of the Sochi-City, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Education and Science of the Sochi Administration.

The issues addressed at the conference included directions of interaction between educational organizations and employers; development of methods for creation and coordination of funds of assessment tools (FATs) with the consideration of the employers’ requirements; challenges of the system for assessment of graduates’ qualification and competences; updating of study programs.

The conference was attended by representatives of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Novosibirsk State University, Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don), Sochi Institute (branch) of Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. The conference also brought together heads and representatives of the organizations - partners, future employers of graduates. Thus, the conference became a professional platform for establishing two-way communication between universities and employers and for developing new efficient mechanisms of interaction.

Sergey Karnilovich, the Head of the Department for Organization of Internship and Employment of Students at People's Friendship University, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Education of Moscow Chamber of Commerce, acted as a moderator of the plenary session of the conference. The Director of the Sochi Institute (branch) of PFUR, Nadezhda Kozlova greeted the conference participants and wished them interesting and fruitful work. She emphasized the importance of efficient interaction between higher school and employers in the development of Sochi and the country as a whole.

The report of Oleg Ignatyev, Vice rector on Informational Analytics of the PFUR reported about the directions of interaction between educational organizations and employers in the modern context.

Elena Zakhvatova, Deputy Head of the Department for Innovative Development of NAA spoke on future development of state accreditation of educational activities. Vladimir Morozov, Vice President for Personnel Policy of MGIMO, made a report covering the problems of graduates’ employment monitoring and issues of legal registration of students’ practical training periods. The theme was further developed by Elena Lotova, Head of AILC (AL) of PFUR, in her report “The methodology and technology for building-up a student’s portfolio to increase the graduate’s competitiveness”. Director of the Career Development Center at Novosibirsk State University Svetlana Dougal presented the University experience of interaction with  business organizations as a solution to the problem of training competitive specialists and future development in this field.

The report of Inga Ignatyeva, Associate Professor of the Department of Information Technologies in Continuing Education, addressed the issues of students’ competences assessment when implementing federal state educational standards of high education (FSES of HE).

At the end of each presentation, the conference participants had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions and discuss the issues relevant to educational organizations and employers. The round table on “Directions of interaction between educational organizations and employers in the modern context” was intended to continue the constructive dialogue in this field.

Another round table devoted to the issues of organization and conduct of students’ practical training, including the legal aspects related to the internships of foreign students was held on October 13, 2016. The round table discussion centered around the problem of monitoring graduates’ employment.

On October 14, the conference participants visited key practices sites of the Sochi Institute of PFUR.

The conference identified the challenging aspects of interaction, made suggestions on improving the internship process with due consideration of the employers’ views, as well as on introducing a special supplement to the graduate’s diploma designed in the form of a questionnaire for a future employer.

On September 21 Elena Zabolotskaya, the Head of NAA’s Expert Relations Department, took part in the round table “Aspects of work on the enhancement of operational efficiency of experts and expert panels conducting external review” held by the Moscow Department of Education.

Among the participants of the round table there were Nina Tishchenko, the Deputy Head of Moscow Division of State Supervision and Control, Elena Smirnova, a consultant of Moscow Division of State Supervision and Control, Nataliya Rubanova, the Head of the Department for the Support of Accreditation Procedures of the Moscow Center of Education Quality, Vladimir Lazarev, the Chairman of the Moscow Expert Association, Alexader Pastushenko, a Counselor of the Moscow Division of State Supervision and Control.

The attendees discussed topical issues concerning work of expert panels conducting external review, interaction between an expert panel and an educational organization in particular, as well as the mechanisms of quality enhancement of experts’ work. NAA’s representative Elena Zabolotskaya told about the Code of expert professional ethics and its main principles.

The round table ended up by adopting the resolution with the main decisions:

1. To enable interaction with NAA in the practice of external reviews, sharing experience in involvement of qualified specialists as external review experts;
2. To suggest the Moscow Expert Association developing the Code for experts and expert organization that shall include ethical standards for experts conducting external review;
3. To hold seminars, workshops and round tables on a regular basis with the involvement of specialists of Moscow Department of Education, NAA, accredited experts and representatives of educational organizations to discuss topical issues on the contents of education, quality of student training and external review procedures.

The seminar “Challenges and future development of the education quality in the sphere of health care” was held on 13-14 September 2016 at the Rostov State Medical University. The seminar was attended by Tatiana Semenova, Director of the Department of Medical Education and Personnel Policy in Health Care of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Sergey Bannikov, Head of the State Services Department of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), Elena Efimova, Deputy Director of the National Accreditation Agency (NAA), Natalya Kitaeva, Head of the Subdivision for Secondary and Higher Professional Education of the Department of Medical Education and Personnel Policy in Health Care of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

The seminar gathered representatives of 32 educational and research organizations subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Health, representatives of classical universities delivering study programs in the sphere of health care, vice rectors, faculty deans, chairpersons, heads of departments, centers and divisions, experts of Rosobrnadzor and Medical League of Russia, Chairmen of the Board of Students – participants of the research and educational medical cluster of the SFD – “South”.

The seminar participants discussed the following topical issues: quality assurance of medical education, personnel policy in the sphere of health care, initial certification of healthcare specialists, experience of participating in a pilot project on independent evaluation of the education quality, implementation of licensing requirements by educational organizations, implementation of requirements of the federal legislation in the field of education, formation of a unified educational area by participants of scientific and educational medical clusters of Russia.

The seminar opened with a welcoming address of the Rector of Rostov State Medical University, Professor S. Shlyk. Then followed the presentation by Tatyana Semenova devoted to the issues of quality of medical education and personnel policy in the system of health care. She gave the data related to the target-oriented learning, the transition to the system of specialists’ certification, the implementation of the project on continuing medical education. Tatyana Semenova especially emphasized the role of the professional medical community, namely professional non-profit organizations, main external experts, specialized commissions of the Ministry of Health and national scientific and practical medical centers in the staffing of the quality health care.

The Head of the State Services Department of Rosobrnadzor, Sergey Bannikov in his report touched upon the issues of state policy in the sphere of education, the participation of educational organizations in the experiment on independent evaluation of the education quality. The seminar participants were informed about the infringements identified during the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities, and about the measures taken by Rosobrnadzor to enhance the quality and objectivity of accreditation, characteristic features of licensing of study programs of medical and pharmaceutical education.

The report of Elena Efimova, Deputy Director of NAA, covered the issues of the education quality evaluation, the procedure of accreditation of educational activities. It was noted that the on-line mode of study programs’ delivery made it possible to use the resources of several organizations engaged in educational activities, including foreign HEIs. Elena Efimova also focused on the future development of state accreditation of educational activities in light of the integration of FSES of HE with professional standards.

Colleagues from RostSMU shared their best practice in improving the quality of educational services. During a tour of the campus the seminar participants visited the University Hospital, classrooms designed for training surgeons, had the opportunity to observe the surgery in real time mode.

You can learn about the schedule and content of the upcoming events on topical issues of state accreditation conducted by NAA in the section “Webinars and Seminars - Calendar of events”.

On 24-25 May 2016 a working seminar “Topical issues of state accreditation of educational activities under reorganization: affiliation, merger. Design and external review of assessment tools” was organized by NAA at the premises of Voronezh State Technical University (VSTU).

The hosting side was represented by the acting Rector of Voronezh State Technical University, Sergey Kolodyazhniy and acting Rector of the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Construction, Dmitriy Proskurin. Colleagues presented the experience of merging regional educational organizations into a base multidisciplinary university.

The Expert Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the RF has identified the first 11 educational organizations of higher education that will become base universities by merger with other higher education institutions in their regions. Among the winners there was Voronezh State Technical University which was reorganized by merger with Voronezh State University of Architecture and Construction.

The seminar was attended by the Head of the State Accreditation Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science, Alexander Troitskiy who made a report on the approaches used by Rosobrnadzor to the procedure of state accreditation of educational activities in the modern context.

The leading experts of NAA represented by the Deputy Director Elena Efimova, the Head of The Innovative Development Department Tatyana Bibik, the analyst of the Innovative Development Department Elena Zakhvatova spoke on the preparation of an educational organization for state accreditation of educational activities, in particular, on the system-wide requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education (FSES of HE), requirements to the application for state accreditation and the attached documents in the context of reorganization of educational organizations.

Alexander Maslennikov, the Head of the Analytical Department of NAA’s branch in Yoshkar-Ola, informed the seminar participants about the design and review of assessment tools funds of educational organizations in the process of state accreditation.

The seminar participants noted the professionalism of speakers, a high degree of relevance of the issues discussed during the meeting. NAA is planning to continue organizing offsite seminars in federal districts of the RF.

 13-14 May in Krakow, at the premises of the Jagiellonian University, with the support of the Polish Accreditation Committee and the Polish University Accreditation Comisson there was a workshop and General Assembly of the European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe - CEENQA. The event was attended by about 50 representatives of CEENQA member agencies.

At the workshop "Quality Assurance of Transnational Higher Education" the participants presented and discussed the issues on transboundary education, transnational accreditation of quality assurance agencies, the experience of transnational accreditation in the UK and the practice of joint accreditation of Master’s programs.

The General Assembly was devoted to organizational issues of CEENQA activities, election of a new Board, approval of amendments to the Statutes regarding the admission of  new organizations to membership in the network. Then the participants voted for the Latvian Quality Agency for Higher Education as a new CEENQA member.

The participants of the workshop told about the changes in their national education and quality assurance systems. NAA representatives reported on the peculiarities of the Russian education quality assurance system and provided information on the current processes in the system of non-state accreditation.

NAA was offered to tell about the Russian higher education accreditation system in the CEENQA newsletter.

CEENQA President Iring Wasser expressed his desire to visit Russia and to learn about processes currently going on in the Russian education evaluation system.

The 2016 ENQA Members’ Forum took place on 28-29 April, 2015 in Budapest (Hungary). National Accreditation Agency was represented by Ms Lemka Izmailova, the Director.

The event was organized in cooperation with the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (HAC). More than 90 participants from Europe, Russia, Armenia, Kazakh Republic and others took part in the meeting.

The Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), the ENQA membership, the adoption of the new version of the ESG, as well as the conduction of the forthcoming workshop on the ESG 2015 (to be held on 9-10 May in Vienna, Austria) were discussed at the meeting. NAA is to visit this workshop to submit its 3 years progress report in accordance with the new ESG for consideration of ENQA’s Secretariat.

On April 13-16, 2016 in Hall 75 at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements (VDNKh) there was the Moscow International Education Fair (MIEF) organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

MIEF is an annual open platform for exchange of experience on challenging questions in the Russian education system. As usual MIEF was attended by representatives of Russian and international professional community, as well as school students, school leavers, students and their parents.

Every day at Rosobrnadzor’s stand at MIEF, NAA’s specialists consulted attendees on state accreditation issues. On April 13 the stand was visited by the head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) Sergey Kravtsov, the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Livanov and the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets.

On April 15 the International Department of the Ministry of Education and Science organized the round table “Russia- Council of Europe: 20 Years of cooperation”. The welcome speech was made by the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Livanov and the deputy Director-General of UNESCO. The deputy director of the International Department Igor Ganshin was the host of the round table.

The round table was attended by the head of the Program Office of the Council of Europe in the Russian Federation Petr Zikh, experts of the Council of Europe Maria Louisa de Bivar Black, Thomas Foltynek, Ekaterina Dolgova-Drier, the director of Main State Center for Education Evaluation Vera Skorobogatova, Deputy Director of NAA Elena Efimova. Elena Efimova’s report “Education Quality Evaluation in Russia” was focused on the mechanisms of education quality evaluation, and tendencies in higher education quality assurance in Russia. “Today the system of federal state control of education quality is becoming more and more transparent”, said Elena Efimova and invited Russian and foreign colleages for cooperation.

We would like to inform you that the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) in cooperation with NAA organizes the seminsr “External review of study programs delivered in accordance with the federal state educational standards in higher education”.

Representatives of Rosobrnadzor and NAA will participate there.

The seminar is for experts qualified by Rosobrnadzor who are to undergo the accreditation procedure according to the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of 20.05.2014 № 556 “On approval of qualification requirements to experts and expert organizations, procedures of their accreditation, inter alia the maintenance of the register of experts and expert organizations, selection of experts and expert organizations for external review” (registered by the Ministry of Justice on July 31, 2014, registration number 33374).

Rosobrnadzor’s Accreditation Commission that accredites experts and expert organizations involved in  external reviews of educational activities will work at the seminar.

Venue: Moscow State University of Design and Technology, address Moscow, 1 Malaya Kaluzhskaya.

Dates: September 8-9, 2015

Attendees: experts qualified by Rosobrnadzor invited to Rosobrnadzor’s Accreditation Commission for experts and expert organizations involved in external reviews of educational activities.

The seminar starts at 11:30, the registration is from 10:30

Mode of study: full time two-day seminar.

Seminar’s issues:

1. The main derections for the development of the procedure of external review of educational acyivities. Educatioan quality evaluation.
2. About Rosobrnadzor’s approach to the state accreditation of educational activities in the modern context. Problems of state accreditation of study programs in accordance with the federal state educational standards of higher education.
3. Rosobrnadzor’s procedure of the provision of the state accreditation service. Requirements to experts.
4. Legislative environment of the state accreditation procedure.
5. Special aspects of external review of study programs in accordance with the federal state educational standards of higher education.