On Sept. 30th (Thu), NIAD-UE hosted the 'Japan-ASEAN Information Package In-House Seminar' at the National Center of Science Building in Tokyo.

In response to the growing interaction between Japan and the ASEAN region in the field of higher education, this Seminar was organized as the first step in sharing information and facilitating cooperation/exchange between NIAD-UE and the ASEAN quality assurance agencies with an aim to strengthen the cooperation of quality assurance agencies and encourage quality-assured exchanges.

Participants were invited from quality assurance agencies from five countries, i.e., Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, based on past exchange experiences with NIAD-UE. From the Japan side, NIAD-UE President Shin-ichi Hirano, Vice-President Kazuo Okamoto, Vice-President Takeo Fukushima, Specially Appointed Professor Akihiko Kawaguchi, and other staff members, as well as a representative from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), took part in the Seminar.

The Seminar began with a presentation from each agency concerning an overview of the national quality assurance system, as well as the roles, challenges, and policies of quality assurance agencies, in order to gain a deeper mutual understanding about the quality assurance systems of each country. On the basis of the presentations, NIAD-UE and the ASEAN quality assurance agencies discussed future possible cooperation, and the participants shared some ideas - it is of great importance to recognize the diversity of the originality and cultural and historical background which each country possesses and to fully respect them when carrying out cooperative activities; cooperation can be encouraged by means of signing an MoU; and mutual understanding and human resource exchange among agencies can be further facilitated. Furthermore, various other suggestions were raised regarding possible cooperation, and the participants vigorously engaged in discussions.

NIAD-UE intends to continue to enhance dialogue, cooperation, information-sharing, and human resource exchange in the field of quality assurance with the ASEAN quality assurance agencies, including the five invited agencies, and will continue to make a contribution to quality-assured inter-university exchange.


Participating Institutions in the Japan-ASEAN Information Package Seminar
(Indonesia)
National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (BAN-PT)

(Malaysia)
Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA)

(Philippines)
Philippines Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities（PAASCU）

(Thailand)
The Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA)

(Vietnam)
General Department of Education, Testing and Accreditation（GDETA）, Ministry of Education and Training

(Japan)
NIAD-UE and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

 

Photos

Speech by NIAD-UE President Shin-ichi Hirano

Participants in the In-House Seminar

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