Proceedings of The International Conference on Applied Research in Education
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/areconf.2019.07.353
Internationalization of Higher Education as a Priority of Quality Assurance Service in Georgia(On the example of universities in Adjara)
Ms. Natia Mikeltadze, Mrs. Tamar Gvianishvili and Mr. George Gabedava
ABSTRACT:
Implementation of Higher Education Quality Assurance System in Georgia started 13 years ago. After the end of the post-Soviet education system, education needed fundamental reform, the integrity and the most important part of which was the quality system implementation in Georgian educational space. Today, when the higher education reform has already moved to the second stage, and in Georgia, the authorization and accreditation standards and procedures harmonized with a “European Higher Education quality assurance standards and principles” (ESG-2015) are operates, important issues such as internationalization of higher education with special importance came out, in the foreground.The presented paper presents an overview of the existing trends of internationalization, European opinion on the internationalization process. Also, on the basis of the results of the blitz survey conducted in the higher universities in one region of Georgia hindering and supportive conditions for external and internal internationalization are discussed and the role and place of quality assurance service is highlighted in the process of implementing necessary processes for internationalization of higher education and effective integration of Georgian higher education into the world education system.
Coordination of external and internal internationalization processes, development of basic procedures for their implementation and development of efficient mechanisms for evaluating results became one of the most important priorities of modern Georgian universities’ quality assurance services. As a result, complex internationalization that became an integral part of the higher education quality system will lead to complete disruption of educational borders and the full openness of Georgian university space on the World Education Map.External internationalization is very effective in shaping the culture of international relations and the necessary competences for their conduct, however, this does not mean that the skills of international values and intercultural dialogue should be merely the ones involved in the mobility process.Consequently, internal internationalization is of a substantial character. The international experience dictates that one of the key priorities of the Education Quality Assurance Service in the process of developing, improving and the improving the quality of teaching- learning is the emphasis on the orientation components of the development of intercultural competence.
Keywords: Higher Education; Internal and External Internationalization, Impact Factors on Implementation, Quality Assurance.