The introduction of a EUR-ACE based system for Quality assurance and accreditation of Engineering Education in Central Asia: outcomes and lessons learnt

The introduction of easy comparable practices for the accreditation of programmes in the Engineering/Technology field is the main change at national level the QUEECA project is aiming at. The self-sustainability (and consequently the success) of this strategy is being assured thanks to a massive involvement of relevant actors in all consortium members countries. Partner countries' Ministries are actively involved in the project in order to comply with legislation obligations as far as higher education (HE) institutions system changes are concerned. Given the project structure it is evident that the involvement of academics, and students, at large scale is being ensured mainly through the active participation of ENAEE and SEFI. These European associations can in fact be listed among the main actors in the field of Engineering Education with a direct involvement in the accreditation issues. With specific reference to the main priority (governance reform) of the QUEECA project, which is the introduction of quality assurance, this is to report (April 2015) about a general correspondence between the project activities and the actual needs and priorities of the concerned partner higher education institutions. The creation of national, self-sustainable Engineering Education (EE) societies and strictly connected accreditation centres in charge with quality assurance and accreditation issues has been a very ambitious goal of the project impacting directly the local (Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik) university management and governance. The autonomy and the self-sustainability of such bodies will be among the most ambitious goals of the project as the QUEECA project has to solely transfer know how and encourage capacity building in the concerned countries. This is believed to be the main added value of the whole initiative and a great asset for the involved Central Asia (CA) partners.