Introduction
Accreditation is an approval of the Council granted to an institution on account of having programmes and quality assurance system that ensures the provision of set qualifications and educational standards. Accreditation is a continuous process, the heart of which lies in periodic self-appraisal by each institution. Accreditation is renewable after every five (5) years. Institutions are required to process for accreditation within six months after being granted Full Registration and must be accredited within five years,otherwise their registration will be withdrawn by the Council
Accreditation requirements
A. Compliance with Accreditation Standards
- Institutional Vision and Mission
- Governance and Administration
- Institutional Integrity
- Institutional Effectiveness
- Educational Programmes
- Student Support and Development
- Information and Learning Resources
- Teaching and Supporting Staff
- Physical Resources
- Financial Resources
B. Establishment of a QA System
The institution is required to also ensure that it has in place a Quality Control(QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) mechanism. This entails having a sound Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) policy, Quality Management Plan and QC/QA committee for coordinating the QC and QA activities of the institution. This is a basic requirement for ensuring that the institution offers training leading to quality assured qualifications, a necessary condition for national and international recognition.
C. Adoption of National Technical Awards
The institution is further required to ensure that its training programmes leading to the National Technical Awards (NTA) are supported by curricula, which are developed by following the NACTE requirements for the same. These include but not limited to conducting a labour market demand survey, developing outcomes/competence-based modular schemes and adopting a semester system. Curricula should have stakeholders’ endorsement and institutional approval before they are submitted to NACTE for validation.
D. Recognition of Department
The candidate institution is required also to ensure that it prepares itself for departmental recognition, which is a certification that institution’s department has the capacity to deliver a curriculum prepared or approved by NACTE. This entails having the capability to evolve, design, deliver or manage a course programme at a level and standard expected. The institution should therefore submit particulars of its departments that can be assessed for the same.
E. Self-evaluation Study Report for Institutions
The Council has prepared a self-evaluation guide for technical institutions. The self-evaluation is part of the accreditation process that aims at improving institutions effectiveness in achieving its stated purposes. The self-study examines every aspect of institutional functioning against NACTE’s standards of good practice. These lf-evaluation guide requires the institution to present to NACTE a self-evaluation study as a step towards accreditation. The self study report is supposed to include, among other things, a description of what the institution is doing, an assessment of how the institution is doing and an action plan to address issues raised in the appraisal exercise.
Accreditation Awards
NACTE has three accreditation Award categories, namely:-
Accreditation Candidacy Status: Granted to an institution once it attains full registration award upon fulfillment of some NACTE Academic Qualification Standards.
Provisional Accreditation: The Council grants provisional accreditation award to an institution when the Council is of the opinion that there are some requirements to be fulfilled by institution with pending fulfillment of the identified requirements within a specified time frame.
Full Accreditation: The Council grants full accreditation award to institutions which meet adequately the above stipulated accreditation requirements.
For more information; click the link below to download the accreditation requirements documents.
Accrediting Technical Institutions in Tanzania