Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education

Methodology and instruments 2019

Based on Law no. 80/2015, "On Higher Education and Research in Higher Education Institutions in the Republic of Albania" and DCM no. 109, dated 15.02.2017, "On the organization and functioning of the Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education (ASCAL) and the Accreditation Board (BA) and on the setting of tariffs for quality assurance processes in Higher Education", one of the main external quality assurance mechanisms is the evaluation of teaching quality through the National Student Survey (SKS). This methodology is widespread in many countries with consolidated higher education and is used not only for this purpose but also to extract information necessary for the functioning of higher education as a whole or specific aspects of its functioning and operation.

Through SKS, ASCAL and BA will assess to what extent institutions meet student satisfaction according to their own perspective. The process is anonymous and is based entirely on individual student opinions of the institutions where they attend. The data and information obtained will be processed statistically by computer software and shall be used in such a way for the above purposes without individual reference to the answers given.

The Accreditation Board (BA) has made the decision and adopted the manual “Assessing the quality of teaching through the national student questionnaire”, which describes all the methodology to be followed for SKS.

Measuring student satisfaction through SKS is based on a questionnaire designed by a group of experts. By answering the questions, students will give their opinion and assessment of the following 6 (six) categories:

  1. Organization of the institution, its management and functioning
  2. Resources for teaching
  3. Curricula, content and update
  4. Teaching, learning, assessment
  5. Research activity, projects, studies, publications
  6. Students and their support

At the end of the process, an analytical report with the results of the questionnaires for each HEI is compiled, together with the respective analyzes as well as comparative analysis for different indicators of public interest or policy-making. This report is made public and made available to the Accreditation Board (BA) and the Ministry responsible for Higher Education in decision-making and policy-making.

The implementation of SKS is a legal obligation in the framework of quality assurance and therefore all HEI-s operating in the Republic of Albania or affiliates of foreign institutions licensed in our country will be subject to this process.

  • VBA No. 14, dated 01.02.2019
  • The manual “Assessing the Quality of Teaching through the National Student Questionnaire”
  • Action Plan