A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Turkish Higher Education Quality Council and the British Council on Higher Education Quality Assurance in the UK and Turkey

ANKARA – A memorandum of understanding between Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) and British Council, aiming to establish a strategic partnership based on cooperation in the field of higher education quality assurance in the United Kingdom and Turkey, was signed on 20 October 2021. The signing ceremony held at the THEQC was attended by Turkish Higher Education Quality Council President Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas, Turkish Higher Education Quality Council Vice President Prof. Dr. Sibel Aksu Yıldırım, British Council Country Director Cherry Gough and British Council Education Director Ayşen Güven.

The memorandum of understanding aims for the two institutions to share expertise in the field of quality assurance in higher education, to disseminate good practices and to cooperate on quality assurance projects, to develop involvement and cooperation to ensure the sharing of research, training and expertise, and to share information within the scope of quality assurance in higher education between the UK and Turkey.

The two-year agreement made between Turkish Higher Education Quality Council, which evaluates the quality levels of higher education institutions’ education and research activities and administrative services according to national and international quality standards, carries out internal and external quality assurance, accreditation processes and authorization of independent external evaluation institutions, and British Council, which is responsible for cultural relations and the educational opportunities of the United Kingdom also includes cooperation in other fields of activity that provide mutual benefit to the institutions.

Turkish Higher Education Quality Council President Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas, in his speech at the signing ceremony, stated that the rapid change in the world is very effective in the field of education and that they want to increase education and cooperation in two issues that have gained great importance as a result.       Mr. Elmas said, “We want to increase the number of teaching and learning centers of excellence in universities. In this context, we will provide training to more than a thousand academicians, especially on change in learning and teaching. We aim to spread the outputs of this cooperation with British Council to these institutions. Microcredentials have gained great importance as a result of the direct effects of the change in the world. In the past, there were not many institutions providing qualifications other than universities, but recently this situation has completely changed and the quality assurance of these qualifications has gained importance.”

British Council Country Director Cherry Gough said, “The British Council aims to build positive long-term relationships between the UK and other countries in the fields of education, English, arts and culture. Our partnership with Turkish Higher Education Quality Council has been a great example of a relationship that benefits both countries through the exchange of expertise and good practice in areas essential to the creation of high quality, successful higher education systems such as quality assurance, teaching. Starting with a collaborative project on quality assurance in English in 2018, we have expanded our collaboration beyond English in key areas such as teaching excellence and accreditation. I am pleased that this ongoing close relationship between the two institutions is now included in a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Turkish Higher Education Quality Council that will lead to stronger relations, greater engagement and even closer cooperation.”