Research

In accordance with the Law on Higher Education, Article 13a, ACQAHE is obliged to propose measures for quality improvement of higher education. Additionally, in accordance with the standard 3.4. European standards and guidelines (ESG), ACQAHE is obliged to prepare thematic analyses that describe and analyze external quality assurance activities.

The bases for research are:

    • Accreditation and re-accreditation procedures that, by filtering data, identify good and bad practices, and give recommendations for improving the situation;
    • Comparative analysis of the quality assurance system in the EHEA area;
    • Topics of importance for the current context and improvement of the higher education system.
  1. In order to fulfil the ESG standard 3.4. “Thematic analyses”, ACQAHE launched a set of new ideas in the second half of 2023 in order to develop research activities, both related to evaluation procedures and related to proposing measures for improvement of the higher education system.

In June 2023, the Department for Quality Assurance and Research started the preparation of the Internal analysis on the compliance of the Montenegrin quality assurance system with European standards and guidelines (ESG) in order to identify the status of the fulfilment of  ESG standards and therefore prepare for membership in ENQA. The mentioned document represents a clear guide with identified deadlines for the fulfilment of recommendations by ACQAHE on the one hand, as well as a quality base of arguments that indicate the necessity of changing the legal framework and by-laws, on the other hand.

The basis for the preparation of the Internal Analysis is based on the results of the evaluation carried out by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and its experts, in 2020, which resulted in the adoption of the document entitled “Review of the Quality Assurance System against European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Montenegro“

  1. In the second half of 2023, ACQAHE initiated the idea of ​​conducting the research on the aspirations of high school graduates regarding their transition from high school to higher education.

Taking into account the lack of quality information when making a decision on the continuation of education by high school graduates, ACQAHE initiated the idea of ​​preparing the Questionnaire which was distributed to graduates in April 2024. The Questionnaire was prepared based on an analysis of related research in countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. Namely, the team of employees in the Department for Quality Assurance and Research, defined categories, i.e. areas of research within which related questions were grouped, in such a way that the Questionnaire includes the following categories: student predispositions and socioeconomic aspects, plans and beliefs, reasons for continuing education, characteristics of higher education institutions, as well as sources of information and ways of making decisions.

The obtained data will be used for the analysis of plans, motives, reasons, socioeconomic influences, personal predispositions and preferences of the graduates, as well as instruments that would support the best possible decision-making when it comes to the continuation of education.

  1. In order to contribute to the solution of one of the most pressing issues facing our society, which is the problem of the mismatch between supply and demand on the labor market, ACQAHE began activities on the preparation of the Analysis of the results of labour market research carried out by institutions of higher education in Montenegro.

The Article 44 of the Law on Higher Education stipulates that higher education institutions are obliged to conduct a labour market survey once every five years, and their results are considered when preparing a self-evaluation report, and later during the preparation of an expert report. The same Article of the Law also stipulates that institutions of higher education are obliged to publish the results of the aforementioned research on their website.

In this regard, the subject of the mentioned research is the analysis of the answers of the expert commission in relation to criteria f, Standard 7 of the reaccreditation reports, in order to find out whether, and to what extent, the results of the labour market research were used when evaluating the fulfilment of the criteria.

  1. ACQAHE devotes a significant part of its research activities to the preparation of comparative analyses related to certain topics, with the aim of transferring good practice. In this regard, ACQAHE prepared:
    • The Comparative analysis of the implementation of ESG standard 3.3, which provides an overview of the fulfilment of the standard related to agency independence, based on the example of 11 agencies from different countries.
    • The Comparative analysis of the implementation of the ESG standard 3.6, which provides an overview of the methodology related to the existence of internal procedures in different agencies, using the example of five agencies.
    • Comparative analysis of the fulfilment of ESG standards during the external evaluation by ENQA using the example of the countries such as: Netherlands, Slovakia and Latvia.
  1. ACQAHE participated in the drafting of the Bologna Process Implementation Report 2024 through the analysis and collection of data among all relevant stakeholders, on the status of the implementation of the Bologna Process reforms in Montenegro. Additionally, ACQAHE contributed within all stages of the improvement of the mentioned Report, by sending comments to the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG).
  2. ACQAHE conducts activities related to maintaining the database of current accreditations of study programs, i.e. reaccreditation of higher education institutions, and therefore carries out the following regular activities:
    • Updating the database of accredited study programs and reaccredited institutions;
    • Updating the database of study programs that were reaccredited through the reaccreditation procedures of higher education institutions;
    • Updating the common database of accredited study programs and institutions of the Western Balkan countries;
  1. In order to monitor and quantitatively review the higher education system in Montenegro, ACQAHE annually updates the internal database of enrolled and graduated students in Montenegro, the database of higher education institutions and study programs, and monitors the general change in data over time.
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