The National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement (NCEQE) had its first online meeting with the newly approved Appeals Council, on March 25, 2020.



The meeting was led by Lasha Margishvili, the Head of Higher Education Quality Assurance Department of the NCEQE. The role and functions of the Appeals Council was discussed during the meeting. Lasha Margishvili highlighted the role of the Appeals Council in terms of safeguarding principles of openness, transparency and accountability in external quality assurance. It was also underlined that appeals process is one of the mechanisms in place offered by the NCEQE enabling higher education institutions to question the formal outcomes of the process, where they can demonstrate that the outcome is not based on sound evidence, that criteria have not been correctly applied or that the process of accreditation or authorization have not been consistently implemented.



The new composition of the Appeals Council was selected by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, as a result of open call, and was approved by the Prime Minister of Georgia On March 18, 2020. The Appeals Council is functionally independent body from the higher education institutions and the government organisations. There are 9 members in the Appeals Council. The current Appeals Council will be operational for one year.