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2.2 Assuring quality in higher education
All qualifications included in the IQF must meet an agreed standard established by all relevant stakeholders. Since the nature of vocational education and skills training is closer to the world of work, it
is understandable that this sector was the first in implementing agreed competency standards for sectors. In many countries, for example those implementing the British system for post secondary
education, academic learning has tended to be the last in implementing agreed learning outcomes for disciplines.
2.2.1 Accreditation
The Law 202003 on the National Education System stipulates that accreditation is mandatory for all education providers. Currently the accreditation process is carried out by the following agencies:
• National Accreditation Agency for Basic and Secondary Education BAN-SM; • National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education BAN-PT;
• National Accreditation Agency for Non Formal Education BAN-PNF; and • Independent Accreditation Agency LAM
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.
TRAINING COURSE PROVIDERS
SKILLS TRAINING PROVIDERS
SKILLS TRAINING PROVIDERS
MINISTRY OF MANPOWER
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
CULTURE
BNSP
SKILLS TRAINING PROVIDERS
BAN SM
BAN PNF
MINISTRY OF RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, HIGHER
EDUCATION
BAN PT
LAM SCHOOLS
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
UNIV, COLLEGES, INSTITUTES
POLYTECHNICS
Figure-2: Accreditation agencies for education, training andor assessment providers In addition to the accrediting agencies illustrated in Figure-2, there are a limited number of providers
under other line Ministries which operate outside the system. Just to mention a few: the college of aviation, the college of maritime, the police academy, and the military academy.
In the higher education sector, the accreditation process is conducted by BAN-PT using the National Standards on Education as the main reference. The National Standards on Education is developed by the
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LAMs are currently established to accredit the professional education, such as medical education and engineering education. In the medium term, the mandate of LAM will be expanded to cover accreditation of all study programs, whilst BAN-PT will
focus its attention to conduct institutional accreditation.
7 Board of National Standards on Education BSNP and is enacted by the MoEC regulation. Although
learning outcomes have been included in the national standards, the current assessment process does not assign significant weight to the outcomes. One of the possible reasons is that assessors are not yet
sufficiently trained to assess educational outcomes.
In addition to government accreditation, some study programs in more established universities also acquire international accreditation, mostly from international professional associations such as the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ABET. In ASEAN, the ASEAN University Network AUN provides services to assess the quality of an education provider. Some university study programs
have benefitted from such optional external services.
2.2.2 Professional certification