NEAS is pleased to announce that Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham; Assistant Minister for Education and Training, will be opening the 2015 NEAS ELT Management Conference on the 7th of May, 2015.

In 2014 Simon was appointed to serve as the Assistant Minister for Education and Training in the Abbott Ministry, with specific responsibility for ASQA, vocational education, apprenticeships, training and skills.

Simon Birmingham has served as a Liberal Party Senator for South Australia since May 2007, and in December 2014 he was appointed to position of Assistant Minister for Education and Training.

Simon was educated at government schools before going on to study at the University of Adelaide where he completed a Masters of Business Administration.

Prior to entering the Senate, Simon worked for a number of industry bodies, establishing particular experience in the wine, tourism and hospitality sectors – industries that are critical to South Australia's prosperity.

The first four workshops of the NEAS 2015 Quality Learning Series have been delivered in Sydney and Melbourne, in topics related to strategic management, technology in the classroom and effective standard setting.

Over sixty people and thirty centres have attended the four workshops, with very strong feedback and some sessions selling out.  Mark Raven, Chief executive stated that “NEAS is thrilled to be able to offer the QLS as a free professional development service to NEAS centres for the balance of 2015.”

NEAS would like to thanks Fusion English Melbourne and Melbourne Institute of Technology (Sydney  Campus) for their use of training facilities.

The QLS will also hit Brisbane today, with workshops in Practical Assessment Validation in the morning, and Technology in the Classroom​ in the afternoon.

The Quality Assurance in Language Education Network (QALEN) has been established as a forum for language school accreditation bodies worldwide, aiming to operate alongside counterpart global agency and language school bodies in driving standards in the study travel industry.  The founder members of the association are: NEAS in Australia; Feltom in Malta; English New Zealand; and ACCET in the USA. A broad mapping of the alignment of the standards, principles and processes of the four founder members took place at the Sydney meeting.  The group ultimately hopes to achieve a membership of around 10 or 11 accreditation bodies.

Mark Raven, Chief Executive of NEAS, said, “the Quality Assurance in Language Education Network is a ‘think tank’ of legitimate and like-minded quality assurance and accreditation agencies, seeking global validation and recognition of their quality principles and processes …. the creation of mutual understanding across the group will foster a global community of quality ELT providers.”  Membership of QALEN involves a memorandum of understanding between all parties whereby the signatories agree to cooperate and recognise one another’s processes, principles, standards and activities. 

Read the whole article here, through Study Travel Magazine.

Christine Bundesen AM celebrated her retirement from the University of Queensland last week. She has 30 years in the international education sector and NEAS applauds her contribution to the Australian and global English language training and international education sector. 

Ms. Bundesen made historic contributions to the international education sector through her work in establishing accreditation and quality standards in the Australia’s English Language Teaching sector. In the 1990’s, Ms. Bundesen crafted the first standards known as the National ELT Accreditation Scheme.  Since then, NEAS has been widely acknowledged as maintaining accreditation benchmarks that go beyond the government standards. These benchmarks make a difference in the education and lives of students studying English in Australia, and they are internationally recognized standards for high quality English Language teaching. 

Ms. Bundesen's portfolio includes membership on government and industry boards, councils and working groups all committed to international education in general, and in particular, the ELT/TESOL sector.  Ms. Bundesen's work has not only impacted Australia's ELT sector; it has made a difference to second language English speakers now living all over the world. 

NEAS is truly grateful for Ms. Bundesen's participation as the Convenor to the NEAS Advisory Council, and we look forward to her insight and wisdom in the years to come.

NEAS Quality Endorsement sets out to identify and celebrate a provider's triumphs and promote them to their stakeholders. What’s more, it supports them in a continuous improvement effort.

Langports English Language College, Melbourne Institute of Technology Sydney and South Australian College of English have recently undergone the review process and are to be congratulated on achieving Quality Endorsement.

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