As of July 1, 2024, the Polish Accreditation Committee assumed the presidency of the V4 Quality Assurance Forum for the upcoming term. Poland took over the chairmanship of the V4QA Forum agency group from the Czech Republic; Hungary and Slovakia had also previously held the position.
On October 7, 2021, in Budapest, higher education quality assurance agencies from the four Visegrad Group countries signed a memorandum establishing the Visegrad Quality Assurance Forum (V4QA Forum).
The Forum was established by the Hungarian MAB (Magyar Felsőoktatási Akkreditációs Bizottság), the Polish Accreditation Committee, the Czech NAB (Národní akreditační úřad pro vysoké školstvi) and the Slovak SAAVS (Slovenská akreditačná agentúra pre vysoké školstvo). The overarching goal of the Forum is to ensure the regular exchange of experience in quality assurance, facilitate the development of an international network of experts, and initiate staff exchanges between the agencies. After almost three years of cooperation, it should be emphasized that this initiative has proved to be very beneficial from the point of view of all the constituent institutions, especially because the V4QA Forum has become a platform for multithreaded discussions, sharing of expert experiences and support during external reviews of individual agencies.
As Robert Plaga – Chairman of the Czech NAB agency – mentioned when officially handing over the chairmanship of the V4QA group to the Chairman of the Polish Accreditation Committee: Regional cooperation in quality assurance in Central Europe has immense significance due to the
common opportunities and challenges. Through joint activities, we can foster mutual support and progress.
The PKA Chairman emphasized that it is an honor for the Committee to represent the V4QA group, while ensuring that common goals and values will be effectively promoted for the sake of developing partnership.
The Polish Accreditation Committee, as part of the covered presidency, plans to organize a meeting of the group’s representatives in Poland this fall. This will be an excellent opportunity to discuss future initiatives, share insights and strengthen mutual support.