Establishment Law of the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE)
Official Newspaper – Issue 32 (R) – July 6, 2006
Law No. 82 for the Year 2006 Regarding the Establishment of the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE)
In the name of the people,
President
The Parliament decided on the law whose clause is as follows, and we passed it:
Article (1): “A public Authority called the National Authority for Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation is to be established. This agency is characterized by its autonomy and body corporate. The authority is under the control of the Prime Minister. It is located in Cairo, and may have other branches in other governorates.
Article (2): In application of the rules of this law, the following terms will have the meaning attached to them:
Authority: the authority established by virtue of this law. Educational Institutions: the universities, faculties, institutes and schools, whatever their denominations may be, which are controlled or supervised by the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, Al Azhar AL-Sharif, or other governmental or non-governmental authorities. Educational Program: the curricula, courses and activities which help students acquire knowledge, skills and values necessary to achieve an educational goal, or a specific field of specialization for which the student is awarded a degree of certificate when its components and requirements are met. Curriculum: the cognitive, skill and affective component for achieving desired educational outputs in a specific period of time. Evaluation: Analysis of the performance of educational institutions, programs and assessment of performance quality level, and identification of shortcomings and what is needed to avoid them in order to achieve the required quality level. Quality Assurance: It means that quality meets all the elements of the educational process, including curricula, institutions, students, teachers and the different activities related to the educational process. Accreditation: It means that the Authority acknowledges that the educational institution or program meets a certain level of quality standards pursuant to the rules of this law. Benchmarks: They are the bases set by specialized committees in collaboration with all concerned authorities and beneficiaries of the educational service guided by international standards, retaining the cultural identity of the nation. They represent the minimum level of the quality elements of educational institutions or programs. Approved Standards: They are the standards set by the educational institution for itself and approved by the Authority, provided that they are not below the benchmarks.
Article (3): The Authority aims at assuring the quality of education and its ongoing developing through:
Disseminating quality culture.
Coordination with educational institutions to ensure reaching an integrated system of standards, development comparison rules and performance assessment mechanisms, guided by international standards and in a way that fits with the nation’s identity.
Supporting the capacities of educational institutions so that they can undertake selfevaluation.
Emphasizing confidence in the quality of the outcomes of the educational process at the local, national and international level and in a way that fits with the nation’s identity.
Comprehensive evaluation of educational institutions and their programs against the benchmarks and approved standards for each educational stage and each type of educational institutions.
Article (4): In order to achieve its goals, the Authority can take all necessary measures and decisions, especially the following:
Making policies and setting strategies regarding education quality assurance; preparing evaluation and accreditation reports and the measures for carrying this out; and informing society of the level of educational institutions and their programs and their ability to provide educational service according to their declared mission.
Setting mechanisms for disseminating awareness of quality culture and of development in educational institutions and society.
Setting standards and measures for assessing the extent to which educational institutions meet accreditation conditions.
Setting guiding foundations and mechanisms for educational institutions’ self-evaluation.
Setting the foundations, rules and procedures of periodical control and monitoring of accreditation, and its continuous revision and development in the light of educational and scientific changes.
Evaluation of the programs and performance of educational institutions in terms of the infrastructure, student and community activities, educational climate, and teaching/learning and scientific research culture.
Issuing and renewing accreditation certificates and suspending and revoking them when minimum accreditation conditions are not met.
Giving advice to the educational institutions which have not achieved required quality levels through written reports indicating the shortcomings and the measures which must be taken to avoid them in order to achieve the required quality level.
Reviewing and developing the benchmarks and indicators of the elements of education quality in coordination with all stakeholders and beneficiaries of the educational process.
Authorizing the individuals and civil organizations and others who meet the conditions and specifications set by the Authority to do evaluation work and pay revision visits to educational institutions and to help the Authority with these tasks.
Suggesting the modifications in the goals and work system of the Authority in the light of new developments.
Having exchange relations with counterpart quality assurance and accreditation organizations at the regional and international levels with the aim of the mutual recognition of accreditation certificates in accordance with national verities.
Participating in international conferences and organizing local, regional and international conferences on educational quality and accreditation systems and activities.
Article (5): The educational institutions in Egypt which are not subject to the rules of this law can ask the Authority to do evaluation and accreditation work for them. The Authority may do evaluation and accreditation work for Arab and foreign educational institutions not working in Egypt at the request of these institutions.
Article (6): The executive regulation of this law determines the rules and procedures of issuing, renewing, suspending and revoking accreditation certificates, and the rules which ensure the privacy of circulating any data or information about these procedures.
Article (7): The certificates awarded by the Authority are valid for the period specified by the executive regulation of this law. The Authority’s board of directors may renew, suspend or revoke the certificate in the light of the results of the periodical monitoring and revision during the specified period of time in accordance with the rules set by the executive regulation of this law. Petitions may be submitted to complain of the decisions made by the Authority regarding awarding, renewing, suspending or revoking accreditation certificates. These petitions are submitted to the Petition Committee formed by virtue of a decision made by the Chairman of the Authority. The executive regulation organizes the procedures of forming the Petition Committee and its work system.
Article (8): The Authority’s board of directors determines the fees of issuing the accreditation certificate to the educational institution so that they do not exceed L.E. 50,000 (fifty thousand Egyptian pounds) according to the nature of each certificate and institution. The board of directors determines the fees of the petitions complaining of the decisions made by the Authority as mentioned in the second paragraph of the above article provided that these fees do not exceed L.E. 5,000 (five thousand Egyptian pounds) for every decision.
Article (9): Evaluation and accreditation processes are undertaken in an objective and transparent way. The results of the evaluation and accreditation processes reached in each stage may not modified unless it has been proven that they have not been done in accordance with the bases of evaluation and approved standards. Any one having an interest with the educational institution as set by the executive regulation of this law is not allowed to participate in evaluation and accreditation work. Also, any one who participated in evaluation and accreditation work is prohibited from giving consultation or advice or training courses to the institution being evaluated or disclosing data and information about evaluation work before the issuance of the Authority’s decisions.
Article (10): The Authority is committed to inform the institution in writing of the evaluation report within nine months after the institution submits its application. A copy is given to the ministries and competent governmental authorities and all are given a chance to read it, provided that the report states all the elements of evaluation and accreditation and the reasons for the decision. The accreditation certificate is awarded if the evaluation indicates that the educational institution and program meet the approved standards. This is done within sixty days after receiving a written notification from the Authority. If the institution fails to meet these standards, it determines the period of time needed to fend off and correct the shortcomings and notifies the Authority to re-evaluate it. The certificate is not awarded until correct these shortcomings.
Article (11): The Authority is committed to submit an annual report about the results of its work and its recommendations to the President, the Chairman of Parliament and the Prime Minister.
Article (12): The educational institutions subject to or governed by this law are committed to apply for an accreditation certificate. The Ministers, each in his/her field of competency, determines a period of time within which the institutions existing at the time this law is enforced or those to be established after that time must meet the approved standards and apply for the accreditation certificate. If the institution does not apply for this certificate during the specified period of time, the competent minister, after consulting the Authority, has the right to take an appropriate measure to correct the conditions of the institution in according to the rules of the law governing it. This includes rehabilitating the institution at its own expenses or obliging it to change its management or stop admitting new students in the different departments of the institution until it meets all standards during one academic year.
Article (13): The State’s and educational institutions must assist the Authority in performing its tasks, facilitate its performance of the work necessary to achieve its goals, and provide it with all the relevant data and information it needs.
Article (14): The Authority has a board of directors formed by virtue of a presidential decree and consisting of fifteen members from among educational experts who are knowledgeable and experienced in the field of performance evaluation and assurance of the quality of education in all its fields, and whose interests do not conflict with the goals of the Authority. The decree appoints, from among the members of the board, a chairman and three vicechairmen, one for higher education affairs, one for pre-university education affairs, and one for Al-Azhar affairs. The decree determines their rewards and allowances as well as the rewards and allowances of other members of the board. The first vice-chairman in the formation decree replaces the chairman of the board of directors in undertaking his/her competences in case of his/her absence. The term of the board of directors’ membership is 4 years renewable for one similar period.
Article (15): The Authority’s board of directors is the top authority having the upper hand and in managing its affairs. It has the right to take all decisions it sees necessary to achieve its goals, especially:
Setting the general policy, plans, programs and activities of the Authority, this ensures achieving its goals.
Approving of the organizational structure of the Authority and the table of its job specifications.
Setting the financial, administrative and technical regulations as well as the regulations regarding the system of the Authority’s staff and other regulations without adhering to governmental rules and systems.
Ratifying and approving of the awarding, renewal, suspension or revocation of accreditation certificates.
Approving of the annual draft budget of the Authority and its final account.
Determining the categories of the fees of issuing accreditation certificates and the charges of the services requested by educational institutions within the limits set by this law and its executive regulation.
Accepting the grants, donations, gifts, advice and unconditional subsidies provided for the Authority from institutions other than the educational institutions being evaluated, provided that these do not conflict with its goals.
Endorsing the annual reports on the results of the Authority’s work.
Considering the issues related to the Authority’s activity which the ministries, competent government authorities or the chairman of the board of directors ask to have them presented to the board. 10. Approving of the establishment of branches of the Authority in the governorate.
Article (16): The Authority’s board of directors meets at least once a month, and when necessary, with an invitation extended by its chairman. The board can also hold a session at the request of seven members. In all cases, the session is not valid unless eleven members, including the chairman or one of his deputies, attend it. The decision of the board is taken by the majority of votes and if the votes are equal, the vote of the president’s side will outbalance. The board of directors can form one or more committees from among its members, to which it temporarily delegates some of its competences or which are assigned to do a certain task. The board can also invite those experienced in the field of the Authority’s work to attend its meetings without having the right to vote.
Article (17): The chairman of the Authority’s board of directors supervises its work in a way that ensures achieving the Authority’s goals, especially:
Managing the Authority and its affairs within the framework of the policy approved by the Authority’s board of directors.
Monitoring the carrying out of the decisions of the board of directors.
Suggesting the general policy of the Authority and its work plans.
Issuing, renewing and revoking accreditation certificates after having the consent of the Authority’s board of directors.
Suggesting the financial, administrative and technical draft regulations as well as the regulations regarding the system of the Authority’s staff and other regulations without adhering to governmental rules and systems.
Preparing periodical reports on the Authority’s activating and presenting them to the board of directors.
Supervising the preparation of the annual draft budget of the Authority and its final account and presenting them to the board of directors.
Preparing a program for training the human cadres charged with carrying out the Authority’s plans and policies and doing the tasks assigned to them.
Having necessary coordination with the ministries, government authorities and other competent authorities regarding affairs of common interest.
Article (18): The chairman of the Authority’s board of directors represents the Authority before courts and in its relations with others.
Article (19): In doing its work, the Authority employs an adequate number of qualified personnel. It establishes technical departments and forms specialized committees necessary to achieve its goals. The Authority’s organizational structure especially includes the following departments:
The Development and Monitoring Department.
The Specifications and Quality Standard Setting Department.
The Accreditation Department.
The Information Department.
The Financial and Administrative Affairs Department.
The Petitions Department.
The Training Department. The executive regulation of this law determines the competences of each department.
Article (20): The Authority’s resources consist of the following sources:
The funds allotted by the State in the first five years after the initiation of its activity unless otherwise necessary.
The charges of the services and consultations provided by the Authority in the context of achieving its goals.
The fees of issuing accreditation certificates to educational institutions and the fees of the petitions complaining of the decisions made by the Authority.
The grants, donations, gifts, advice and subsidies approved by the board of directors, provided that these do not conflict with its goals and that they fit with the rules of the law.
The investment return of the Authority’s funds.
The fines stipulated in Article (23) of this law.
Article (21): The Authority has an independent budget that is prepared at the model of economic organizations’ budgets. The Authority’s fiscal year starts at the beginning of the State’s fiscal year and ends at its end. The Authority’s funds are deposited in an account with the Central Bank, and the surplus of this account is carried over from one year to another.
Article (22): The Authority’s funds are public funds and the Authority has the right to take administration confiscation measures in order to have its rights.
Article (23): Without violating any harsher penalty stipulated by any other law punishing violating the prohibition mentioned in Article (9) of this law with a fine of no less than twenty thousand pounds and no more than fifty thousand pounds.
Article (24): The executive regulation of this law is issued by virtue of a presidential decree within six months after the enforcement of this law.
Article (25): This law is to be published in the official newspaper and enforced one day after its issuance. This law is to be stamped with the State’s seal and enforced as one of its laws.
Issued by the presidency on 9 Jomada Awal, 1427 H. (July 5, 2006 A.D.)
Hosny Mubarak
https://naqaae.eg/en/about_us/law
