The internationally prominent Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), UK announced on its website on 13 February 2014 that Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) has achieved “confidence”, as judgement of its Institutional Review conducted in November 2013. This is the first internationally recognised institutional review ever undertaken by a higher education institution in Macao.

MPI has engaged itself in preparations for an institutional audit since as early as 2003 when it set out to study the practices adopted by various universities and academic accreditation agencies/departments in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Portugal and the UK. Since then it has been adhering to the highest international standards established for higher education including the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, enhancing its procedures and processes, and establishing its development principles, policies and direction accordingly. In 2013, in response to the Government’s higher education policy of promoting academic accreditation, MPI proposed to its supervisory body that QAA be invited to conduct an Institutional Review, and the proposal was approved immediately.

QAA adopts international standards in its Institutional Review and looks at multiple aspects of an institution in order to make fair judgements. In MPI the review team examined a number of different things such as the Institute’s educational aims, vision and objectives; specialities and self-enhancement endeavours; programme design and delivery; students’ learning and student support; and career opportunities. QAA Institutional review reports confidence in the standards of MPI.

MPI noted that it will continue to implement the Government’s policies and higher education planning as well as adhere to QAA’s rigorous standards in all its educational endeavours in terms of curricula, teaching materials, pedagogy, research performance, administration etc. Following this Institutional Review MPI’s engagement in programme validation will be further intensified. Since 2011 several of its academic programmes have already been professionally validated. Examples include the computing programme validated by the UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the e-Commerce programme by the US’s Institute of Certified E-Commerce Consultants, and the Accounting programme by the Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) Australia and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK. In the future MPI will persist in its endeavour to ensure all its programmes are professionally validated, optimising its education provision in anticipation of its students graduating with “knowledge, expertise and global vision”, and thus contributing to the wider society in Macao and beyond.

The QAA review team inspects research work of the Computing programme

The QAA review team meets with senior academic staff of the Institute.

Dr Stephen Jackson (right), Director of Review of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, UK, tries out the IT facilities in MPI’s library.