NAQAA
National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority, NAQAA, is a part of the reform agenda of the Gambia government in Tertiary and Higher Education, the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) was established by an Act of Parliament (NAQAA AACT) in April 2015.) NAQAA’s main responsibilities include
Quality assurance and accreditation of all tertiary and higher education institutions and programmes
Registration of education and training providers, trainers and assessors, in line with the National Qualification Framework
Coordination of internships and apprenticeships
Conduction of training needs assessments and educational research to inform policy and ensure fast readjustment of the TVET (Technical and vocational education and training) system to economic needs, Link, Link
(NAQAA is the backbone of the TVET system, providing the institutional framework for vocational skills development.)
Institutional framework for vocational skills development.
Engagement in curriculum development to ensure å smooth transition between pre-vocational, vocational and technical education and training.
NAQAA is a highly significant collaborator and advisor for GambiaPartner SkillCenter. Particularly concerning the revision and development of local curricula at the center, NAQAA's national plans for vocational education are of crucial importance in creating robust local curricula. NAQAA has developed plans for all vocational subjects offered by GP, providing a strong foundation for creating high-quality local curricula. By basing our plans on NAQAA's, we ensure that we maintain a national standard while being able to tailor our plans to local needs. GP also envisions further collaboration where NAQAA can ensure the quality of GP's local curricula.
We also seek collaboration for further teacher training, focusing not only on teaching methods but especially on assessment. NAQAA's mandate includes the training of teachers in assessment, as outlined in the text below. GP strongly desires the development of a national vocational exam to ensure the quality of education. This will provide employers seeking to hire new craftsmen with assurance that they are getting qualified professionals.
The Assessment and Certification Unit is established for the planning, implementation, coordination and management of assessment of Gambia Skills Qualification Programmes (GSQP) in collaboration with an established and functioning Assessment Centre. However, in the absence of an Assessment Centre, the unit has taken up the supervisory responsibilities of recruiting and training of Assessors and Verifiers on the practices and principles of assessment and verification. These dual responsibilities of the Unit require diligent documentation leading to printing of certificates.
In the ideal setting, each training provider and employer should have a trained and accredited assessor-trainer associated with their institution or organization to carry out the continuous assessment of the unit standards.