Major Milestones

	1990 Founding of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA) as an independent statutory body to provide authoritative advice on academic standards of degree programmes in higher education institutions in Hong Kong First accreditation exercises conducted for City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist College, Lingnan College, Open Learning Institute and The Hong Kong Polytechnic
	1991 Being a founding member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education – the first international network on quality assurance in higher education
	1994 Commencement of qualifications assessment services to the Government for civil service appointment
	1996 Signing of Memorandum of Mutual Co-operation with Shaanxi Education Commission to facilitate collaboration and information exchange Signing of the Intent of Co-operation with the Institution of Shanghai Higher Education Evaluation (ISHEE) to facilitate collaboration and information exchange
	1997 Named as the Advisor to the Registrar of Non-local Courses upon the enactment of the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance to assess programmes to be registered under the Ordinance
	2000 First accreditation exercises conducted for the sub-degree sector and for privately-funded institutions
	2001 Appointed by the Insurance Authority as the sole assessment authority for the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes for insurance intermediaries
	2002 Commencement of professional assessment services on courses under the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) Scheme
	2003 Self-review of the HKCAA Being a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Quality Network – the first network on quality assurance in higher education in the Asia Pacific region
	2004 Becoming the designated body in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Mutual Recognition of Academic Degrees in Higher Education signed during the year to provide professional advice on academic degrees
	2005 Signing of the Memorandum of Co-operation with the Australian Universities Quality Agency to facilitate collaboration and information exchange Commencement of assessment services for the CPD schemes of the Estate Agents Authority
	2006 Signing of the Memorandum of Co-operation with the Shanghai Educational Evaluation Institute, the successor of ISHEE, to facilitate collaboration and information exchange
	2007 Reconstitution of HKCAA as Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) to reflect the expansion of its scope of responsibilities and powers Passing of the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Bill into law which led to the establishment of the Qualifications Framework (QF) and the Qualifications Register (QR) Launching of the QR prototype which establishd the online database of recognised qualifications
	2008 Enactment of the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Ordinance Launching of the QF and QR Signing of the Memorandum of Co-operation with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education of the United Kingdom to facilitate collaboration and information exchange
	2009 Publishing of HKCAAVQ's Vision and Mission and formulation of three year strategic plan Launching of the Pilot Accreditation Exercise for Non-local Learning Programmes to test out the framework for non-local academic qualifications to enter the QR and recognised under the QF
	2010 Commencement of the non-local learning programmes accreditation Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Higher Education Evaluation Centre of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China to facilitate collaboration and information exchange Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation of Japan to facilitate collaboration and information exchange Signing of the Memorandum of Arrangement with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency to facilitate collaboration and information exchange Review of vocational accreditation 20th anniversary of HKCAAVQ

20th Anniversary Events


March - Anniversary Dinner

An annual gathering with key personnel from the higher education sector of Hong Kong, leaders of different professional sectors, practitioners of quality assurance, and related government officials is an event used by the HKCAAVQ to maintain relationships and enhance communication with our stakeholders. During our 20th anniversary year, we held a gala event on 18 March 2010.  The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Michael M Y Suen, Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government. We also invited representatives from the Higher Education Evaluation Centre of the Ministry of Education of the PRC and from the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation of Japan, to complete the establishment of the Memoranda of Understanding with these two organisations. One of the highlights of the event was the reflection on the past 20 years by outgoing Chairman Prof John Leong and outgoing Vice-chairman Dr Herbert Hui as well as the three former Executive Directors Mr Allan Sensicle, Ms Wong Wai Sum and Mr Peter Cheung of the HKCAAVQ.

(from left) Former Executive Directors Mr Peter Cheung, Ms Wong Wai Sum and Mr Allan Sensicle joined Executive Director Prof Yiu-kwan Fan at the anniversary dinner.

June - Anniversary Party

In appreciation of the many years of hard work and dedicated service of our staff, a dinner was held on 10 June 2010. Staff are the most valuable asset of the HKCAAVQ. They are the implementers of all the accreditation and assessment processes and guidelines of the HKCAAVQ. Long Service Awards were presented to staff members who have served in the HKCAAVQ for five years or more. The longest-serving staff has been handling the administration and accounting matters of the HKCAAVQ for over 20 years, even before the formal establishment of the Council!

Long-serving staff were presented with the Long Service Awards.

September - Anniversary Conference

The climax of the year's commemorative events was the Anniversary Conference held on 14 September 2010. With the title Quality Assurance at the Crossroads – A Critical Reflection after Twenty Years, the conference was a reflection on the HKCAAVQ and its counterparts in their work and the development of quality assurance in Hong Kong in the last two decades. It also provided a good platform for quality assurance practitioners, higher education sector, vocational training experts, government officials, professional bodies and HKCAAVQ staff to discuss and explore the possible future pathway of quality assurance in Hong Kong.

Mr Kenneth Chen, Under Secretary for Education, affirmed the past achievements of the HKCAAVQ as the gate-keeper and gate-opener in quality assurance.

To provide participants with more insight into world trends, Mr Peter Williams, former Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education of the United Kingdom, delivered a keynote speech on 'World Trends in Quality Assurance: Where do the signposts point?'. Other academics and quality assurance professionals in Hong Kong were invited to participate in the conference through panel discussions. The panel sessions were followed by floor discussion, so as to provide a frank and open platform for all participants to contribute their ideas and share their views.

This special event was kicked off by opening remarks from Mr Kenneth Chen, Under Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government. The HKCAAVQ also signed a Memorandum of Arrangement with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency during the conference.

Keynote speaker Mr Peter Williams (middle) joined quality assurance professionals who had all participated in the HKCAA conference 20 years ago.