AIKA carries out a study field assessment visit in Uzbekistan

On 8 – 9 April 2024 the Quality Agency for Higher Education (AIKA) carried out a site visit at the ISMA University of Applied Sciences branch in Fergana, Uzbekistan. The site visit was organised jointly for the study fields “Management, Administration and Management of Real Property” and “Information Technology, Computer Hardware, Electronics, Telecommunications, Computer Management, and Computer Science”.

According to the principles established for quality assurance of cross-border higher education, it is important to ensure that the study process implemented at the main campus and branches both in the home country and abroad is comparable and adheres to the same standards. This enables confidence in the quality of education and ensures the grounds for issuing higher education diplomas recognised by the Republic of Latvia that are further recognised accross the European Higher Education Area.

The site visit took place in a hybrid format, by joining the forces of expert groups responsible for assessing both study fields. In total 10 experts representing 4 countries took part in this assessment – 5 experts were present in Fergana and 5 participated remotely. The expert group was supported by AIKA coordinators, also participating both in person and remotely.

This is the first experience for AIKA in organising an assessment of a branch of a Latvian higher education institution that operates abroad.

Since the COVID-19 period, AIKA has achieved significant proficiency in the use of online tools, both for organising fully online and hybrid site visits. This experience is still important in specific cases when the participation of all involved parties in person would require disproportionate resources. This experience was especially important during the site visit to Fergana to ensure that the experts could obtain a comprehensive overview of the study process management and provision as well as formulate recommendations relevant to the specific context in Fergana. AIKA expresses its gratitude to all experts involved in the assessment of both study fields and to the ISMA University of Applied Sciences for their responsiveness, professional attitude and successful execution of the site visit to Fergana.