Vanuatu Institute of Teacher Education (VITE) Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Bachelor of Education (Secondary) have been evaluated by an external quality assurance evaluation team on Monday 4 to Tuesday 20 November 2018.
Following the processes to assure the quality of Post-school education and training established by the Vanuatu, VITE has applied for the accreditation of the two Bachelors and apply for approval to deliver.
A team of four external evaluators who are appointed by the VQA conducted an external evaluation of the two Bachelors of VITE: Bill Olivier, from the Department of Higher Education Research, Science and Technology in Port-Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Dr Elisapei Manson Head of Faculty of Education at the Pacific Adventist University in PNG, Ruben Markward, Campus Manager of the USP Emalus Campus, and Fremden Yanhambat, Director of Vanuatu Skills Partnership. The evaluation team undertook desk assessments of the contents of the two Bachelors against Accreditation Standards and Vanuatu Qualifications Framework requirements, from 7th-16th November 2018. They later carried out a site visit on the 19th-20th November 2018 against nine registration standards to find out if VITE is ready to deliver the two Bachelors or not. The evaluation team held a meeting on 21 November to collate their findings, consider conclusions, finalise feedback to the Acting Principal of VITE and his team, and advance the drafting of the report.
During the site visit, interviews were held with: VITE council members, the heads of departments related to the two Bachelors, the lecturers teaching the Bachelor of Education, the Quality Assurance Manager, two males and two females students representatives, the Finance Officer, and the librarians. A range of supporting documents was requested to confirm evidence.
The final outcomes of the evaluations from the evaluators will produce three reports that will highlight their findings and recommendations to VQA Board in regards to Bachelor of Education Primary and Bachelor of Education Secondary accreditations and the approval for VITE to deliver the two Bachelors.
The evaluation team was given 10 working days to finalise the three reports and submit back to VQA. And under the process, VITE was be given 10 working days to comment on any factual errors on the report. After comments from VITE, the report will be submitted to VQA Board for decision making.
VQA CEO, Mr David Lambukly explained that this is to get independent and external views on the quality of our PSET providers and courses they deliver. And the process will help providers to improve on the quality of services they provide to our students.
The same process will apply to existing registered providers when their registration will be about to elapse.
VQA is responsible for ensuring that post-school education and training (PSET) providers are registered with VQA and continue to comply with the statutory policies and criteria after course accreditation, provider registration, and approval to deliver is granted.
Stay tuned for the outcome of the evaluation!