On 11 April, 2013, the International conference on “Quality Assurance System of Higher Education in Kazakhstan: New Challenges and Opportunities in the Bologna Process”, devoted to the prospects of education development in the context of the international integration trends, was held in Astana. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility Center hosted the Conference, with support from the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR).

The representatives of Kazakhstan and international agencies on quality assurance, the Bologna Process Working Group, EQAR Secretariat, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA), and representatives of Kazakhstan universities participated in the work of the Conference. 
Within the plenary session there were covered the main provisions of the Bucharest communiqué in quality assurance, universities of Kazakhstan were informed about the possibility to be accredited by foreign agencies registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR). Agencies registered in EQAR also learned more about the quality assessment system in Kazakhstan. As a result there were defined the development priorities of independent quality assurance system of Kazakhstan within reforms of the Bologna process. 
The Agency was presented by the project manager of institutional and specialized accreditation, Inara Mukhtarova with the report on “Accreditation of Kazakhstan educational institutions in a new format: experience of the IAAR”, focused on standards and criteria of accreditation for universities, colleges and schools, and new parameters of the accreditation system in Kazakhstan.

The significance of this Conference is in the opportunity to exchange information and experience between Kazakhstan and European accreditation agencies, and universities. There should be mentioned the active position of Kazakhstan universities. And they proposed the idea of the formation of the Association of accredited universities of Kazakhstan, which helps to share experience in the accreditation procedure.