In 2010 we celebrated our 20th Anniversary to mark 20 years of dedicated service in the quality assurance of academic and, more recently, vocational providers and qualifications in Hong Kong. To mark this milestone we organised a conference titled Quality Assurance at the Crossroads: A Critical Reflection after Twenty Years to look back over the past two decades and also look forward to the challenges that face us in the years ahead.

As we continue to establish strong partnerships with various stakeholders, we have developed a theme “Partners in the Quality Journey” for this Annual Report to highlight the concerted efforts and support our partners have given us over the years. We have also changed the reporting period from academic year to financial year to capture a more comprehensive picture of our work in both academic and vocational sectors. I hope you will enjoy reading this report and reviewing the range of activities across our many partnerships.

Enhancing the Gate-keeping and Gate-opening Roles

In the past year, the HKCAAVQ continued its efforts to act as both a ‘gate-keeper’ and ‘gate-opener’ for education and training provision in Hong Kong. The rapid expansion of post-secondary education has resulted in increased demand for our services. To manage the increase, we have taken proactive steps to streamline the procedures in our accreditation and assessment services. By developing a collective approach, we are able to handle accreditation requests in a more efficient and cost effective way. Over the past year, we also organised over 40 capacity building events to prepare our key quality assurance partners for accreditation exercises.

The HKCAAVQ will continue to meet the challenges posed by a dynamic and complex market in post-secondary education. In order to ensure that we understand our key partners better, starting from December 2010, we conduct an annual Operators’ Survey to collect feedback from panellists and stakeholders. This survey serves as part of our own internal quality assurance process for continuous improvement; and the findings and follow-up actions are shared with respondents during Council activities such as the training workshops.

New Dimensions in Quality Assurance Services

With the expansion of our accreditation and assessment services, we received requests this year for services from new operators both locally and overseas, and in more diverse disciplines. In June 2010, we officially launched our new service for Non-local Learning Programmes (NLP) accreditation. In the reporting year, we conducted the collective exercise for the Art and Design discipline, involving 25 programmes provided by institutions from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. The NLP accreditation service is in support of the Government’s plan to develop Hong Kong into a regional education hub, and we expect that the demand for the service will continue to grow in the coming years.

We have also conducted a number of new and innovative consultancy services, such as the comparative study of veterinary qualifications for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and a benchmarking study on a new educational programme known as the “Yi Jin Diploma” for the Education Bureau. The provision of multiple articulation pathways for students is an important key to the expansion of further education, and the HKCAAVQ will continue to work closely with the Government, industry and programme operators to build a more accountable and transparent quality assurance system to support the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework.

Reaching Out for Success

The changing education landscape around the world calls for more international coordination and collaboration between different quality assurance bodies. This year, we entered into a Memorandum of Arrangement with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) to enhance mutual collaboration and support. We also actively engaged in various international quality assurance activities, such as the Australian Quality Forum in June 2010 and the Asia-Pacific Quality Network Conference in March 2011, to strengthen our international networks with other quality assurance agencies in the world.

During the year, the HKCAAVQ colleagues were also invited to participate in audit exercises conducted by the MQA and the Australian Universities Quality Agency. This exchange activity helps us benchmark our approaches with the latest international practices and standards. The knowledge and experience we gain from these international exchanges, together with the latest developments in our services, are shared with our specialists and other stakeholders through QALink – our bi-monthly e-newsletter launched in August 2010.

Meeting the Challenge of Changing Times

Hong Kong’s education landscape is undergoing significant changes: we are on the cusp of the 334 Education Reform; new private universities are being formed; and the demand for vocational training and lifelong learning is growing rapidly.

In December 2010, the University Grants Committee (UGC) issued a report Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong which highlights the importance of robust frameworks for quality assurance to help maintain and enhance the international competitiveness of the entire post-secondary education sector. The HKCAAVQ welcomes the UGC’s report, and agrees that there must be better coordination and integration so that efforts made by the current three quality assurance bodies, namely the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) of UGC, the HKCAAVQ and the Joint Quality Review Committee (JQRC), can be synergised and leveraged to take higher education in Hong Kong forward. However, we think that it is important that any consideration of integration of quality assurance bodies takes into account the issues of diversity, fitness for purpose, as well as the relative maturity of institutions. Also, we need to build consensus on the scope and levels under discussion to achieve harmonisation of standards.

Quality assurance is a continuous journey. It should be the means to the ends rather than an end in itself and be embedded in the culture of the post-secondary education sector. With the support from the Government, programme providers, as well as our Council of devoted scholars, professionals and industrialists, the HKCAAVQ will continue to pursue our mission of enhancing the quality assurance of higher education and vocational education and training in Hong Kong.




Prof Yiu-Kwan FAN, BBS, JP
Executive Director