THE-ICE and UK NARIC sign a Memorandum of Understanding promoting quality and unity in tourism and hospitality education worldwide
Australia-based international accreditation agency The International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE) and the United Kingdom’s National Recognition Information Centre (UK NARIC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to explore possibilities for mutual collaboration in the areas of accreditation, quality enhancement, and recognition.
Established in 2004 by the Australian Federal Government and becoming a not-for-profit organisation in 2008, THE-ICE has developed into the global organisation for accreditation, benchmarking, and quality enhancement in tourism, hospitality, events and culinary arts (TH&E) education, currently with a global network of more than 40 members in 19 countries across 4 continents.
THE-ICE’s vision is to significantly and sustainably enhance the quality of higher education in TH&E globally and it strives to achieve this vision by assuring institutional quality, promoting and developing excellence in and amongst member institutions, and supporting and facilitating the development of global quality assurance.
UK NARIC is the United Kingdom’s National Recognition Information Centre, and as such is responsible for providing information and expert opinion on academic, vocational, and professional qualifications from across the world. As a national agency managed on behalf of the United Kingdom government, UK NARIC provides the only official UK source of information on international education and training systems, and qualifications and skills attained outside the United Kingdom. The organisation offers products and services in four main areas:
- Evaluation of individual qualifications
- Information provision services to member organisations
- Benchmarking and accreditation of international qualifications
- Benchmarking and accreditation of Transnational Education operations and TVET providers
The objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding are to pursue mutual understanding of processes, exchange information and expertise, and collaborate for the benefit of both parties. Through the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, UK NARIC and THE-ICE commit to building a strategic partnership that facilitates and promotes cooperation in accreditation and benchmarking activities and paves the way for combining accreditation procedures.
Dr Craig Thompson, THE-ICE CEO, is delighted by the signing of the MoU and the opportunities it presents:
“Faced with an increasingly challenging and complex higher education landscape, a sustainable and manageable future can only be achieved by intensive and meaningful cooperation. In this context, a partnership between THE-ICE and UK NARIC is logical as it offers significant benefits to both organisations, and, most importantly, to all the members of both organisations.”
Dr Cloud Bai-Yun, CEO of UK NARIC, commented:
“UK NARIC’s global work is increasingly focused on the benchmarking of quality standards and quality enhancement, and this is especially so in the areas of vocational education and training. We look forward to working with THE-ICE to further develop standards in the specialist education and training for this important sector.”
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