Opening Ceremony of the INQAAHE Biennial Conference 2011

"Royal Highness, Secretary of State for the European Union, Secretary of State for Research, Presidents of INQAAHE –current and future-, dear colleagues.

As the director of ANECA, the Spanish quality assurance agency, it is my pleasure, to welcome you, here to Madrid to the Biennial Conference of INQAAHE.

For us, it is a real delight to host this event for three main reasons.

First of all, the theme of the Conference is higher education quality, and higher education is one of the most important concerns for Spain nowadays. The presence of the Prince of Asturias, here, today, is clear evidence of the commitment to the work done by Spanish universities.

Thank you very much, Royal Highness for your attendance. It is a privilege to have you here, among us.

The second reason is the number of people attending the Conference coming from all corners of the world. In 2009, when ANECA won the bid  for the organization of the Conference, one of our objectives was to use the Conference as a meeting point for higher education. A meeting point, where people from different regions could dialogue, exchange experiences and, eventually, learn from each other. Actually, Spain wants to be the bridge connecting the quality assurance community in:

-    Europe, through ENQA, the European Quality Assurance Network.

-     Latin-America, where the accreditations network, RIACES, plays a very active role.

-    And, last but not least, the Mediterranean Area, an emerging region with close links with Europe and the Arabian countries.

Our proposal was based on the promotion of dialogue among regional networks. If we look around the venue this morning, we can see that this goal has been achieved: More than three hundred and fifty people attending the conference, representing more than seventy countries, from the five continents.

I would like to thank you for the confidence shown in ANECA by giving us the opportunity  to organise the Conference. We hope we will meet your expectations. I can assure you that the staff of ANECA is at your disposal during the event.

For ANECA, this Conference means the completion of hard work devoted to the quality enhancement of Spanish universities. Over the last three years, we have evaluated more than five thousand programmes adapted to the Bologna Process. 

But, at the same time, we have maintained  an active international focus, and put a lot of energy into cooperation with other quality assurance agencies from all over the world, in order to learn from their practices and to share our knowledge.

Our active participation in ENQA and in the projects led by the European Consortium for Accreditation has been continuous, and oriented to develop trust and mutual recognition among the higher education systems.

Finally, our last reason of delight is that the Conference gives us the opportunity of celebrating  the twentieth anniversary of INQAAHE, which we commemorate this year. Congratulations Mr. President.

Looking back over the past twenty years, we can be proud of the achievements in higher education quality. Now, most countries have developed an external quality assurance system based on agencies. But, more important than the number of agencies, is the activity that they do and have done. During this period of time, the quality of higher education has undergone a radical change. Twenty years ago, it was not a concern in universities; now, quality, enhancement, excellence are all part of the normal academic conversation, and an essential element of modernization of the higher education systems.

University is no longer the ivory tower  that it used to be. Now, it has to work in a very challenging world. During the last few years the demand for higher education  has grown a lot. Since society is increasingly knowledge-based, higher education is becoming more and more important for the progress of both individuals and countries.

As a result, the number and variety of HEIs  have grown enormously everywhere. Now, we have a wide range of HEIs, and this causes, at least, two kinds of problems.

On the one hand, more transparency and public accountability are demanded from the institutions. Stakeholders do not have enough information about HEIs. That implies HEIs need to differentiate themselves as well as to signal the quality of their activities. On the other hand, many HEIs and systems need references for quality, technical support or resources to set up a quality assurance system.

Both problems can be solved by quality agencies. Transparency, trust, advising are some of the contributions of agencies.

The purpose of quality agencies is to enhance higher education quality; but quality is a moving target; there is always room for improvement. Quality assurance is a basic element of improvement, but it could never be an end in itself, only a means. The concern about the procedures and routines should not become a ritual. The current quality trend is to focus on continual improvement and effectiveness; rather than focusing just on fulfilling specific standards.

 In short, there is a shift from compliance to performance. The HEIs and agencies  have to use quality assessment as a management tool to monitor, promote and sustain continual improvement. Our concern for efficiency should not allow us to forget about effectiveness.

At this point, we have to acknowledge the role played by INQAAHE in the consolidation of a quality culture. It has implemented different initiatives, of which, I will mention the following

Firstly, acting as an agent for knowledge accumulation and transfer.

Secondly, working on capacity building with QA agencies in emerging countries, and exchanging know how and experts, always taking into consideration the local context.

Thirdly, being a pioneer in the definition of The Guidelines for Good Practice, a small number of criteria that identify the nature of quality assurance agencies, building up mutual understanding.

And, finally, and above all, INQAAHE has fostered the interregional collaboration  of networks of quality assurance agencies from Europe, Latin-America, Asia-Pacific, Arabian and African countries.

Summing up, INQAAHE has contributed to the promotion of transparency and trust  among higher education systems that includes both universities and agencies.

But, overall, INQAAHE has also worked as a propeller for new ideas and quality related issues. And this is, precisely, the purpose of this Conference, here in Madrid.

We have ahead of us two and a half days of hard work, but, I am sure  that you will be able to enjoy the city of Madrid. I assure you that Madrid is a truly cosmopolitan city, where you can easily discover splendid museums, good food, a variety of cultural activities and, above all, kind people.

Let me finish with the words of Emilio Lledó, a Spanish philosopher who, talking about the university of paper compared to the university of masters and scholars, stated: “No educational system works without pursuing  the utopia of enhancing the human being. No educational policy works without pursuing the utopia of enhancing society”.

I hope  your experience at the conference will be very useful and you will consider it to be a job well done.

Thank you very much for your attention."