Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Agency for the Assurance of Higher Education Quality

29 November 2019 y.

On November 27, the Kharkiv IT Cluster signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Agency for the Assurance of Higher Education Quality (NAAHEQ). The aim of the further cooperation is to improve the quality of educating IT-specialists and researching the procedure for accrediting educational programs with the co-participation of representatives of education and business. The main idea of the cooperation is that business representatives should participate in the development of educational programs at universities, as they can help to update the content of education. Kharkiv IT Cluster companies already have successful cases of cooperation with specialised departments of universities. Today, the goal is to systematize the process so that the business can directly affect the quality of theoretical and practical training of students for their following successful employment. Within the Memorandum, NAAHEQ is expected to create and support the activities of collaborative commissions, committees, working groups, as well as attracting representatives of the IT-industry to agree on standards and develop quality criteria for higher education. In its turn, Kharkiv IT Cluster will ensure the participation of the core business in these processes and facilitate the formation and providing information materials at the request of the agency. Education is chosen as one of the main vectors of Kharkiv IT Cluster's activity, as industry growth rates and the development of IT ecosystems in the region directly depend on its quality standards. The memorandum of cooperation with NAAHEQ is another step towards providing students with access to better education at Ukrainian universities, as well as partnerships between educational institutions and private companies.