Minister for Education and Skills publishes the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill, 2011 [education.ie]
- Published: 28 July 2011
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., today published the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill, 2011, which provides for the amalgamation of bodies dealing with qualifications and quality assurance in education and training.
In approving the Bill, Government decided not to proceed with the implementation of the decision of the previous Government to dissolve the National University of Ireland.
The Bill provides for the amalgamation of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) and the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC). The amalgamation is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and an important part of the Minister's reform agenda in the education sector. The new body will have the official title of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland (QQAAI) but may have a different operational title.
The new organisation will also take responsibility for the external quality assurance review of the universities, a function which is currently performed by the Irish Universities Quality Board. This means that QQAAI's quality assurance role spans all areas of further and higher education and training.
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