Inside NZQA

• The Authority's three Quality Assurance Advisers have started work on their regional responsibilities. Brett Williams deals with Auckland and Northland. Bill Toole looks after Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Hawkes Bay and Taranaki. Marjorie Elwin-Taylor has the rest of the country: Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Rotorua/Taupo, Gisborne and the South Island. Catherine Bennett, former manager of NZQA Quality Assurance, left the Authority in March.
• NZQA no longer has a dedicated International unit but the Authority continues to meet overseas dele-gations to describe New Zealand's qualifications scene. Recent contact has been with Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Egypt and Germany.
• Record numbers of overseas qualifications are being evaluated by the NZQA Qualification Recognition Service (QRS). Some of the increase is due to the Immigration Service's recently introduced "front loading" policy. The QRS application form is now available on the NZQA Internet site. On page 10 of this QA News, QRS answers some of the questions commonly asked by applicants.
• An NZQA Quality Assurance Evaluator spent time recently in the Cook Islands, where schools are seeking Framework accreditation. And in Fiji, Ministry officials are drawing on New Zealand's experience to set up a series of vocational training and assessment centres.
• The growth in registration of new unit standards is leveling out, but NZQA's work in registering new National Certificates and National Diplomas has reached new highs. In February, for example, a record 83 qualifications were evaluated, the greatest number since NQF registration began in the mid-nineties.