The Samoa Qualifications Authority (S.Q.A.) is celebrating a major milestone this week.

In comes in the form of the international recognition of Samoa qualifications as well as the S.Q.A itself as a national Quality Assurance Agency, approved by the Asia Pacific Quality Network Council (APQRC) to be included on the Asia Pacific Quality Register in July 2022.

"Having being recognized by esteemed standard setting Bodies and Networks responsible for Quality Assurance Agencies is a major achievement for Samoa, the Post School Education and Training sub-sector and the SQA as an External Quality Assurance Agency nationally and internationally. The APQR process required the Samoa Qualifications Authority to initially conduct a Self-Review against the Criteria by the APQR in 2021," a statement from SQA said.

"They submitted their Self Review Report (SRR) with all supporting documents earlier this year after receiving approval from APQN which prompted the submission of the necessary documents following the procedures.

"An acceptance criteria based on an External Quality Assurance Assessment found SQA to have fulfilled most of the criteria. Full Compliance or Substantially Compliance with each Criterion is mandatory to meet the requirement of overall ‘Substantial Compliance’."

The Self-Review report is a thorough and detailed examination that has taken in to account all its Quality Assurance functions and activities within the last 15years since its founding. 

The Review was led and facilitated by Dr. Jagannath Patil, APQR Chair and Review Facilitator of the APQN Council as well as a Review Panel of three experts from the APQN Members including Prof. Dr. Jianxin Zhang, Chair of the APQN from China, Dr Tariq Al Sindi from Kingdom of Bahrain and Ms Malini Nair from the Fiji Islands.

SQA is elated to have received this International Recognition from one of the Quality Assurance Networks in which it has been a member for a number of years.

Gatoloaifaana Tilianamua Afamasaga, Chairperson of the S.Q.A Board, said: "It has been a difficult task trying to substantially satisfy the Criteria however we’ve successfully addressed and met all requirements and We are Included! Indeed a milestone! We are now on par with the International QA Agencies in the Asia Pacific Region."

So far 5 Quality Assurance Agencies (QAAs) in the Asia Pacific region have successfully completed the review process to be included on the APQR. Another 4 QAAs are at various stages of the review process. SQA is the sixth EQAA registered on the APQR from the three-hundred plus memberships of the APQN which is valid until July 2027.