On July 27, 2020 11am at (Shanghai Time), the 8th online forum was successfully held through an online meeting platform named Webex Meet. 32 representatives from 9 countries and regions around the world attended the 8th Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) Online Forum, discussing the topic of "Influence of COVID-19 on Quality Assurance: the new normal of Higher Education 4.0".

The forum was focused on six themes:

• Governments as a key player for higher education quality assurance under the impact of COVID-19; (2) The new normal of internationalization of quality assurance;
• Quality assurance of outcome-based teaching and learning: the influence of COVID-19;
• Digitization of quality assurance: will this be the new normal for quality assurance?
• Innovations in HE accreditation in an era of disruptive technologies;
• Reflections on new normal and strategies for quality assurance in emerging out of COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of the online forum, a simple opening remark was from Prof. Jianxin Zhang, the 5th and 6th President of APQN. In the presentation, Prof. Jianxin Zhang elaborated on the damage COVID-19 has done to the quality assurance of higher education around the world and summarized the activities of APQN in fighting the pandemic. After the opening remarks, six APQN board members, Prof. Jianxin Zhang, Prof. Galina Motova, Dr. Jagannath Patil, Dr. I-Jung Grace Lu, Ms. Farida Nurmanbetova (ECAQA’s Adviser), and Prof. Deepthi C. Bandara, respectively gave presentations on the 6 sub-topics of the online forum.

The six board members' presentations sparked heated discussion during the online forum.

There were also two open discussions in which attendees expressed their views and insights.

https://www.apqn.org/media/library/news/APQNews--Issue-22-2020.pdf (страница/page 16-17)

In December 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between The Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care (Republic of Kazakhstan) and The State Organization “Testing Board for Professional Competence Assessment of Higher Education Trainees in Medicine and Pharmacy at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”. The main aim of the Memorandum is to ensure the quality of medical and pharmaceutical education and the participation in the accreditation of educational institutions in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

ECAQA Memorandum and Testing Center of Ukraine 2020 russ

Меморандум про співпрацю signed 2020

In December 2020, the Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Association of Medical Societies for Quality (ASMOK), Russian Federation http://asmok.ru/ in order to introduce international principles and best practices for quality assurance in higher education in health care and improve the quality of medical care.

ASMOK is the first Russian professional medical organization focusing on quality issues in healthcare and medical education.

ECAQA News Higher and Postgraduate Education in Kazakhstan: Accreditation Process under conditions of the pandemic

https://www.ceenqa.org/wp-content/uploads/CEENQA-Newsletter_December_2020_version_12-07.pdf