The NVAO is the accreditation organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). The organisation was set up by international treaty by the governments of The Netherlands and Flanders.
The NVAO is your host for this workshop
Although the governments of the Netherlands and Flanders fund the NVAO the organisation is totally independent in procedures, methodologies and decision-making. The NVAO is responsible for an area where 22 million people live. There are over 150 higher education institutions where almost one million students are enrolled.
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Karl Dittrich, chairperson of the NVAO
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The quality assurance system before the Bologna Declaration (signed in 1999) had a
focus on programmes and was essentially an external assessment of a programme by an assessment panel (of peers). After the Bologna Declaration was signed the governments of the Netherlands and Flanders wished to increase the international transparency
of its higher education. Furthermore, in the context of the new European bachelor and master qualifications a need arose to benchmark these new bachelor and master degrees.
The Netherlands and Flanders are among the most open economies in the world and in the light of the internationalisation of the labour market, the governments also wanted to internationally guarantee the quality of its higher education.
The Netherlands and Flanders therefore introduced programme accreditation and made accreditation a precondition for public funding, for the right to award officially recognised qualifications (diplomas) and for granting study finance to students e.g. grants, social services, ...
Apart from its role as an accredition organisation, the NVAO plays a proactive role in higher education issues and policies. In the international arena, the NVAO sees itself as an active member of its 'umbrella' organisations: globally (INQAAHE), regionally (ENQA) and topically (ECA).
More information:
http://www.nvao.net
http://www.highereducation.be
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