Mr. Padraig Walsh:

Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, would like to thank the joint committee for its invitation to make this presentation. We have also put in a submission. By way of context, QQI has a legislative responsibility for the external quality assurance of the 14 institutes of technology included in this draft legislation. The Qualifications (Education and Training) Act of 1999 allowed for the institutes of technology to be granted delegated authority by the then Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, to make their own awards within the National Framework of Qualifications. By 2006, all 13 institutes of technology, following individual external evaluations, were delegated awarding powers up to the level of honours bachelor degree in the NFQ. Since then, all the institutes have been granted delegated authority for postgraduate taught programmes, and many institutes have received delegated authority for postgraduate research programmes within prescribed disciplinary areas.

Between 2008 and 2011, all 13 institutes of technology underwent institutional quality reviews, which incorporated evaluations as to whether the institutes were operating quality assurance procedures in line with the 1999 Act and the 2005 European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. These evaluations also examined how well the institutes were managing their delegated authority responsibilities. The outcome of all these reviews are publicly available. With the establishment of QQI under the Act of 2012, the autonomy of the institutes was extended further with the clarification of the institutes' status as awarding bodies with powers, for example, to award joint degrees.

The journey I have described is one of institutions being given more autonomy and more responsibility balanced by periodic evaluation and public accountability. That is entirely in keeping with the central principle of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance whereby the primary responsibility for the quality of education and its assurance lies with individual higher education institutions. All global rating and ranking systems for higher education are led by countries and systems characterised by high levels of institutional autonomy.

The general scheme of this Bill further proposes that any technological university so established will become a designated awarding body under the 2012 Qualifications and Quality Assurance Act.

While there is a legislative difference in the relationship with QQI, Quality and Qualifications Ireland, and the universities, Dublin Institute of Technology and RCSI, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, all designated awarding bodies in their own right, and the other 13 institutes of technology, QQI’s policy approach since our establishment in 2012 has essentially been the same for all. We act as the external quality assurance agent for awarding bodies.

QQI is aware that it is not the intention of some of the institutes of technology to pursue technological university status at this time. The general scheme is silent regarding any change to the awarding status of these institutes. QQI believes it is important for these institutes to have clear ownership of their own awarding activities. This proposed legislation may provide an opportunity to solidify an appropriate designation in that regard for institutions, many of which have been operating with delegated authority to make their own awards for more than a decade.

The mission of a self-awarding public higher education institution is largely shaped by the institution itself within the framework of national policy. Well-functioning and successful higher education institutions are well led and well governed. The governance specifications in the general scheme are consistent with the system wide findings in a review recently combined by QQI into the institution quality review process conducted by its predecessor’s bodies which found the need to decrease the size, range and complexity of governance structures.

As the body responsible for ensuring higher education institutions establish and operate access, transfer and progression procedures consistent with the 2012 Act, the inclusion of the nominees of the newly established education and training boards in the proposed governance structure is welcomed by QQI. The competency-based outline of the governance system is also clearly consistent with best international practice.

QQI is committed to extending its current model of annual dialogue visits for the self-awarding institutes to the institute of technology sector after this year, reflecting a relationship between QQI and higher education institutions that is more appropriate to a maturing sector. QQI will seek to collaborate with the institutes to support the design of quality assurance that enables the developmental trajectory. We are pleased to be providing input to the aforementioned technological university quality framework which is being designed by all 14 institutes of technology.

QQI would also be happy to suggest some technical changes that would make the general scheme more consistent with the terminology of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012.