A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya

98

July 2020

Last Friday (3 April), the directors of all the higher education quality assurance agencies that form part of the Spanish Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (REACU), including AQU Catalunya, held a meeting via video link to deal with the state of emergency declared as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and to establish a series of agreements in order to cooperate with the education authorities and higher education institutions in facing and coping with this important challenge.

Briefly, these agreements recognise: the efforts being made by higher education institutions; the readiness of QA agencies to cooperate in establishing a framework for action that safeguards the quality of higher education, the acquisition of skills and competences, and learning outcomes; the limitations of the physical resources and communication systems of HEIs; the changes introduced in teaching and assessment methodologies and in relation to experimental face-to-face class-based activities and work experience/placement; the motivation to step up coordination between all of the bodies concerned; and it was also established that changes made during this period of exceptional circumstances to validated and approved procedures will not require the formal modification of degree programmes.

 REACU Agreement, dated 3 April 2020, on the state of emergency caused by COVID-19