The Register - a major step forward

These days people expect quality as a matter of course. From having drains unblocked by 'registered' plumbers to arteries unblocked by 'registered' medical practitioners people seek out assurances of quality in all areas of life.

Very soon the public will have access to the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications. A valuable tool to be consulted whenever people are considering their educational options in New Zealand, the Register will provide assurance that qualifications are nationally approved and will be one way of benchmarking New Zealand qualifications internationally.

The official launch of the Register took place at the Beehive in August this year and development is on track for availability on a new website in 2002.

The Register is being created by listing all qualifications offered by the full range of secondary and tertiary providers, including universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. The National Qualifications Framework will still exist as a subset of the Register to provide benefit for learners associated with the setting of national standards and credit accumulation.

The introduction of the Register is a major step forward for New Zealand. It will provide a comprehensive list of all quality assured qualifications in New Zealand and will significantly enhance New Zealand's capacity to benchmark qualifications internationally.

What will the Register do?

Key purposes of the Register are to:

The following information will be publicly available:

Until now there has been no comprehensive list available. The NZQA website has listed all approved qualifications outside universities but the Register will provide the first complete list using a common language and currency so that qualifications can be compared to one another.

On the Register qualifications will be described in terms of levels, credit and learning outcomes. A clear set of common definitions for qualifications has been developed. These definitions are online via the "Register".

The Register will have 10 levels comprised of qualifications that are registered in accordance with an agreed set of title definitions.

All qualifications will be classified on the Register according to New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED)

Who will use it?

Learners will be able to check that the qualification they want to do is listed on the Register and is therefore quality assured. They will be able to compare qualifications and make informed choices about which educational pathway they will pursue.

There may be a number of educational pathways a person could take in order to pursue a particular career. For example someone interested in tourism will be able to access the Register, see all the qualifications available throughout the country from ITOs, polytechnics, private training providers and universities.

Outcome statements for each qualification will give learners a chance to pinpoint more specifically what they will learn from each qualification and make choices accordingly.

They will also more easily be able to assess their ability to cross credit across qualifications and across providers.

Employers will be able to keep up with new qualifications as they become registered. They will be able to benchmark potential employees' qualifications with others on the Register.

The Register will also be a useful resource when considering appropriate options for training for existing staff or when considering assistance and subsidies for individual staff who wish to further their education.

Providers will now also have a simple way of keeping track of what other organisations are offering and a valuable data-base to use when assisting students who need to cross credit or transfer to other providers. It will also greatly assist foreign students planning a course of study in this country.

International Significance

The broader aims of the Register are twofold. Firstly to bring clarity, transparency and quality assurance to New Zealanders, but also importantly to meet the requirements of a global education market that demands quality and clarity.

Launching the Register at the Beehive in August this year, Associate Minister of Education (tertiary), Steve Maharey, noted that 'Register' was an appropriate name for the resource. "To be registered means having met quality standards, been acknowledged by peers and being subject to ongoing scrutiny and accountability."

"If a country is to operate effectively globally, it helps to get the home scene in order first. The Register does that - it brings order and clarity to our national qualifications environment. From there on the international scene is far more manageable. Most importantly, we can portray ourselves overseas as an innovative and flexible but coherent and understandable education and training community."

Frank Wood, NZQA board chairperson, said the Register of qualifications provides the sort of product specification and assurance of quality that New Zealand needs to advance our international profile in education and training.

"Other countries are working toward exactly the sort of national system for exactly the same reasons. In New Zealand we have got our Register together and other countries are watching us. That gives us a huge advantage."

"The Register gives the ideal foundation for more international agreements that can only benefit our education export industry and New Zealand graduates seeking to work or study overseas."

Widespread Support for Register

While the Register has been developed in line with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority's NQF, it is very much a result of partnership and consultation with extensive educational interests.

The consultation process in developing the Register has been exhaustive and the Register has the support of the New Zealand Vice Chancellors Committee (NZVCC), the Association of Polytechnics in New Zealand (APNZ), and the Association of Colleges of Education in New Zealand (ACENZ).

During the launch at Parliament, Steve Maharey applauded the organisations and individuals in tertiary education and training who "had the breadth of vision to see that academic integrity need not be compromised by an initiative such as this, one with the greater national good in view.

"I believe the Register to be a sign of genuine and relaxed consensus", he said.

Work is ongoing on implementation issues with quality assurance bodies working closely together to agree on processes that minimise compliance costs.

How to find out more

As part of the August launch a booklet was released explaining the register, the framework and detailing the definitions and classification systems behind it. This booklet is on line at NZQA along with other information about the Register.

A brochure explaining the Register and outlining what providers need do to have their new qualifications listed on the register will be widely circulated to all stakeholders later this year.