KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

From September 24 to 27, representatives of Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) were at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. The working visit was held within the framework of the Erasmus+ “Establishment of National framework of Key Performance Indicators for good governance and quality towards inclusive, digital and green oriented higher education in Armenia” (KPI4HE) project.

The ASPU delegation led by Marianna Harutyunyan, Vice-Rector for Human Resources and International Cooperation, was composed of Hakob Tadevosyan, Advisor to the ASPU Rector, Samvel Asatryan, Head of the Department for Education Management and Reforms, and Sirine Shogheryan, Acting Head of the Chair of Ecology and Sustainable Development.

The purpose of the visit was to familiarize the delegation with the processes of implementation of key indicators of proper management and quality towards inclusive, digital and green oriented higher education, and their application at institutional and national levels at the EU partner universities of the Erasmus+ KPI4HE project: Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (UOL) – Germany, Technische Universität Dresden (TU DRESDEN) – Germany and Università di Genova (UNIGE) – Italy.

Let us remind that the KPI4HE project is aimed at improving higher education system governance, university strategic planning and management contributing to quality and inclusive, digital and green oriented higher education in Armenia through development and implementation of National framework of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for higher education (NF-KPI), operationalization of Institutional Research and Planning Services (IRPS) and revision of State Institutional Accreditation Standards in line with NF-KPI.

While in Germany, the ASPU representatives held a number of working discussions and seminars which were also attended by representatives of partner universities and organizations from Armenia, Italy, and Germany.

During the group work, a number of important topics were discussed, including the implementation and application of key performance indicators for good governance and quality towards inclusive, digital and green oriented higher education, international research, and the practice of implementing a synergy strategic planning model of universities in Europe.

Also, the experience of the internationalization of Riga Technical University (Latvia), research-based strategic planning at the universities of Oldenburg, Dresden and Genova, and higher education financing in Italy were presented.

On the last day of the program, the participants singled out the main achievements of the training through discussions, and outlined further actions.

ASPU Vice-Rector Marianna Harutyunyan is sure that the final results of the project will contribute to the development of higher education in Armenia, increase the efficiency of internationalization of universities, and establish a national framework of key indicators for quality education.

ASPU is a key participant and coordinator of several "Erasmus+" projects. Since 2013, the University has been involved in three projects: KPI4HE, DeSIRe (Development of Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions of Armenia and Georgia in Compliance with the 21st Century Labour Market Requirements and T4GREEN (Transforming Teacher Education for Green and Digital Transition in Armenia and Moldova).