ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE

1.             The educational organization submits an application addressed to the president of the Agency for the accreditation of educational program(s) on the official letterhead of the educational institution (see sample application in Appendix 2). It also provides copies of the state registration certificate, the permit document for conducting educational activities (the institution's license and programs), documents confirming the right to enroll students in the accredited program for the past three years, and a sample diploma for each educational program.

2.             Within 10 working days from the date of registration of the application, the Agency makes a decision on the acceptance of the educational program(s) for independent program accreditation and sends an official letter regarding the decision to the educational organization.

3.             The Agency concludes a contract with the educational organization for the conduct of independent public-professional accreditation of the educational program(s) of the institution.

4.             The accreditation process must last at least 3 months.

5.             The Agency provides the educational organization with a package of documents that includes accreditation standards, a guide for conducting self-assessment, and a recommended list of documents.

6.             The educational organization forms a working group that will conduct the self-assessment of the educational program(s), and one contact person (or several contact persons) must be appointed to coordinate the work and consult with representatives of the Agency regarding the self-assessment procedures and requirements for the self-assessment report, as well as the preparation and organization of the expert commission's work during the visit to the educational organization. In the case of accreditation within a cluster, one or more contact persons must be assigned for each accredited program within the cluster.

7.             The appointed contact person (or persons) must participate in the Agency’s training on conducting self-assessment and writing reports. The person trained by the Agency is obliged to disseminate the acquired information among other members of the working groups formed in the educational organization for conducting self-assessment as part of the accreditation process. These obligations are documented in the contract between the educational organization and the Agency.

8.             The educational organization conducts a self-assessment in accordance with the standards and requirements of the Agency and prepares a self-assessment report within 1 to 6 or more months. It should be noted that all supporting documents mentioned in the self-assessment report must contain corresponding electronic links to the website or electronic platform of the educational organization/program and must be accessible without obstruction.

9.             The self-assessment report should be presented in the official or state language, but according to the approved language of instruction for the program. If the instruction is conducted in a language other than the state or official language, then the language of the self-assessment report is agreed upon with the Agency.

10.         The educational organization has the opportunity to submit a pre-final version of the self-assessment report to the Agency at least 4 weeks before the deadline for the final self-assessment report for comments from the Agency. The Agency is not responsible for the content of the report. Comments from the Agency will include only those relating to the technical requirements for the report's formatting, namely: completeness of information, content of tables, total volume of the report, and thoroughness of filling in with relevant data and analysis of standards, criteria, sub-criteria, appendices, etc.

11.         Within 10 working days, the Agency sends the pre-final version of the self-assessment report to the educational organization/program with comments for further adjustments to the report and preparation of the final self-assessment report. The final version of the self-assessment report is allocated 1-2 weeks for revision.

12.         If the educational organization/program has met all requirements, the program prepares the final version of the self-assessment report, which is sent directly to the Expert Commission. If the self-assessment report requires technical revisions, the Agency returns the report for necessary corrections. If, after the educational organization/program submits the final self-assessment report, the Agency finds that the information has not been corrected, modified, or supplemented, the Agency has the right not to accept the self-assessment report, and consequently, the accreditation of the program may be postponed or canceled.

13.         The final version of the self-assessment report is not subject to comments or content verification by the Agency and is sent directly to the members of the Expert Commission for evaluation. The educational organization bears full responsibility for the content of the final version of the self-assessment report and assumes responsibility for the accuracy and reliability of the information provided. The educational organization/program must understand that any information that is not accurate may adversely affect the accreditation status of the program when the Accreditation Council of the Agency makes its decision.

14.         The analysis of documents from the educational organization/program is conducted online, and an electronic platform is created with temporary electronic access to documentation. This electronic platform may be created by the Agency or the educational organization/program, upon prior agreement. For each educational program or cluster, temporary access to the electronic platform is opened for the educational organization to upload documents according to the list of necessary documentation, where the educational organization/program creates an electronic platform containing all required documentation (see the list of necessary documentation for accreditation of the educational organization/program using remote access technologies and online conferencing). If the educational program has an existing internal electronic platform containing all documents required for accreditation, then, upon agreement with the Agency, the educational program may grant access to members of the external expert commission (EEC) to this platform and ensure proper organization and appropriate placement of all required documents. In this case, documents for accreditation do not need to be additionally uploaded to the electronic platform opened by the Agency. The procedure for submitting online documents may also be considered, which includes a list of all documents in the self-assessment report with links to the educational organization/program's electronic platform or in the table itself (see pages 16-17 and 17-19 of this guide).

15.         In accordance with the approved schedule between the educational organization and the Agency, the educational organization submits the final version of the self-assessment report to the Agency. The report must be provided in electronic format and in hard copy, along with a statement confirming the identity of the content of the electronic format report with the hard copy, while simultaneously granting access to the electronic platform containing documents according to the list and leaving it open until the accreditation process is completed.

16.         The educational organization/program must consider all technical requirements and parameters for the subsequent upload of documents (see the Guidelines for level ). Depending on the electronic platform for forming the electronic platform, the Agency will inform the educational organization in advance about all possible protection methods that the Agency may provide for protecting uploaded files from the educational program. The educational organization may also consider additional protection for its documents.

17.         The Agency forms an external expert commission to conduct an expert evaluation of the educational program. The expert commission, upon agreement, may include an international expert, a quality assurance expert, and/or a specialist from the academic community in the field of the accredited program, representatives of the labor market, and the student community. In the case of conducting accreditation of programs within a cluster, an expert commission is formed for each cluster separately.

18.         The list of the formed external expert commission is sent to the educational organization for confirmation of the absence of conflicts of interest and agreement with the qualifications of each of the presented commission members. The educational organization, in turn, submits a Statement of Absence of Conflict of Interest and consent for access to the electronic documents of the Education Program (Appendix 5) to the Agency.

19.         If there are valid reasons why the educational organization disagrees with the presence of a certain expert in the commission, the educational organization has the right to ask the Agency to withdraw certain members of the expert commission, clearly indicating the reasons for such a decision. In the absence of conflicts of interest with the members of the expert commission, the educational organization should officially notify the Agency of this and give its consent to the composition of the external expert commission.

20.         Members of the approved external expert commission receive access to the electronic platform within the timeframes designated by the Agency and review all documents uploaded to the electronic platform.

21.         If additional documentation is needed, the Agency has the right to request it and will notify the educational organization in advance. Clarifying documentation and additional evidence must be placed in a separate folder labeled "Additional Documentation" and uploaded to the electronic platform as requested by the Agency, while recording the dates of documentation uploads.

22.         Individual members of the external expert commission, including the international expert, have the right to conduct all work, including interviews, in a remote format. In this regard, the educational organization/program must provide conditions for the work of the expert(s) online during the interviews on the day of the visit to the educational organization. The educational organization/program must ensure uninterrupted internet access for the commission during interviews for online conferencing with the expert(s), providing the necessary equipment (projector, computer/laptop, projection space for broadcasting all participants in the interview process).

23.         The expert commission is accompanied by a coordinator from the Agency, whose functions include:

-     Assisting the expert commission in conducting an objective and comprehensive accreditation in accordance with the Agency's requirements and policies;

-     Coordinating the work of the expert commission;

-     Aligning the work of the expert commission with the staff of the educational organization;

-     Keeping records, audio/video recordings of the expert commission’s visit to the educational organization;

-     Providing certified copies of documents related to the accredited program for the expert commission's further work, upon request from the commission members;

-     Obtaining the expert conclusion from the chair of the expert commission.

24.       The expert commission, according to the previously specified deadlines, conducts a visit to the educational organization, which lasts for one full working day. In the case of multiple educational programs/profiles within a cluster, the interviews during the accreditation process may extend up to two days or more. The educational organization must create appropriate conditions for the work of the expert commission, ensuring physical access for respondents to conduct interviews and preparing a room/auditorium (see Technical requirements for the visit of the expert commission during the accreditation process using remote access to resources and online conferences).

25.       Following the completion of the work, the Agency submits the expert commission's conclusion for review to the Accreditation Council of the Agency within 30 days. The decision regarding the accreditation of the educational program may be as follows:

-                Accreditation for 5 years if all Agency standards are met (partial compliance is allowed for 1 to 2 standards);

-                Conditional accreditation for 3 years if 1 Agency standard is not met, with the possibility of subsequent extension of accreditation (partial compliance is allowed for 3 standards);

-                Conditional accreditation for 1 year if 2 Agency standards are not met, with the possibility of subsequent extension of accreditation (partial compliance is allowed for 4-5 standards);

-                Refusal of accreditation if 3 or more Agency standards are not met, or if 6 or more standards are partially met.

26.       A copy of the Accreditation Council's decision regarding the results of the accreditation is sent to the educational organization within 3 days after the council meeting.

27.       The expert conclusion is delivered to the educational organization within 30 days after the decision is made. The expert conclusion can be provided in electronic or hard copy formats.

28.       In accordance with internal legislation, international standards, and Agency requirements, the expert conclusion is published on the Agency's website.

29.       If there is disagreement with the accreditation decision, the educational organization has the right to submit an appeal to the Agency within 7 (seven) days after receiving the expert conclusion. This appeal will be reviewed according to the Agency's appeal procedures.

30.       After the appeal submission period has expired and/or in the absence of such an appeal, the decision and recommendations resulting from the accreditation cannot be changed by third parties.

31.       A copy of the decision is sent to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic for inclusion in the NAS registry under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic. The full report of the expert commission will be posted on the Agency's website and will be provided to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic upon request. A certificate from the Agency will be issued to the educational program.

32.       If the program receives conditional accreditation, re-accreditation must be conducted 1 or 3 years after the accreditation decision, in accordance with the Agency's guidelines for conducting conditional accreditation.

33.       If the program is denied accreditation, according to the Regulation on the recognition and monitoring of the activities of accreditation agencies in the field of education, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic on the approval of regulatory legal acts for accreditation in the field of education dated May 15, 2024, No. 246, the Agency will notify the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic.

34.       In the case of positive results following the accreditation, the educational organization (EO) / educational program (EP) is guided by the Regulation on the Procedure for Post-Accreditation Monitoring of Educational Organizations and/or Educational Programs in preparation for the mandatory post-accreditation monitoring of the educational organization (EO) and/or educational program (EP), which is conducted in the third year after receiving the accreditation decision.