The leaders of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA) and the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASCAL) in Albania, during a meeting held in Tirana agreed to cooperate in the field and improvement of quality in higher education between the two countries.

KAA delegation, consisting of the Head of the State Council of Quality (SCQ), Professor Hasnije Ilazi; The director of KAA, Naim Gashi and the member of the SCQ, Professor Dukagjin Zeka, were hosted in a meeting by the director of ASCAL in Albania, Xhiliola Bixheku and Erjon Xhako, Secretary of the Board of Accreditation.

Representatives of the two countries have identified relevant areas of cooperation, to increase the capacity of KAA and ASCAL to improve the quality of higher education.

The President of the SCQ, Professor Ilazi said that during this year the Strategic Plan of the Agency has been drafted, the monitoring methodology and post-accreditation procedures have been created, as well as the detailed plan of the general digitalization of the accreditation processes.

The head of the SCQ said that to meet the recommendations of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the methodology of thematic analysis has been created, a manual for external experts has been created and procedures for ensuring quality internally at the KAA.

Head of the SCQ Ilazi informed Director Bixheku that in the autumn of next year KAA will organize a regional conference of accreditation agencies which will address topics of quality improvement in higher education.

ASCAL Director, Xhiliola Bixheku said that Kosovo has made progress in the field of quality assurance in higher education and expect cooperation for the exchange of documents and successful experiences.

KAA and ASCAL have agreed to initiate procedures for drafting a cooperation agreement at the level of the two agencies. Both institutions have agreed to immediately start the process of exchanging information for the verification of academic staff in both countries.