The recently published a management system standard ISO 21001:2018 outlines the requirements for educational organizations. It is intended for for a more focused application in such organizations over the more commonly used ISO 9001:2015 quality management system.
These standards have their similarities and differences. You will notice that the terms used in the ISO 21001 are very specific for education using such as curriculum, learner, learning outcomes, courses, grades, assessment, and more. It is worth noting that in this standard, the customers of education are seen as actively involved in the process of learning and therefore intensive communication becomes critical to the quality of education. With the advent of this standard, it would seem logical that educational organizations should adopt an integration of their legacy ISO9001 QMS and the new ISO 21001 EOMS.
Since the standard is very new, if it would follow the normal path of maturity of the typical management stand, it would take a while for analysis of this standard come out from the different areas of the academe.
ISO 9001 has always been the go-to system that educational organizations have adopted since 2000. With the advent of IWA 2 in 2003 (and then again in 2007), more focus was placed on trying to integrate the unique elements of education into the originally manufacturing/production designed ISO 9001 standard. With the advent of Annex SL to guide the development of the recent crop of management systems standards, the integration has become easier. Quality assurance models have been implemented by many university managements and even regional and national regulatory bodies have included them in their requirements for recognition or accreditation of these institutions. ISO 21001 specifies their responsibilities to the government, students, and society over ISO 9001 which was implied. The model of quality assurance in universities towards autonomous status is actually compatible with QMS ISO 9001 and 21001 even national education standards and international standards.
The system of both ISO 9001 and 21001 follow PDCA and is mapped out by the 21001 standard as follows:
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle can be applied to all processes and to the EOMS as a whole as shown in the figure above. Note how Clauses 4 to 10 can be grouped in relation to the PDCA cycle.
EOMS Principles
As with a QMS, the EOMS focuses on certain guiding principles. However, instead of 7, it has 11 management principles. These are:
- focus on learners and other beneficiaries
- visionary leadership
- engagement of people
- process approach
- improvementp
- evidence-based decisions
- relationship management
- social responsibility
- accessibility and equity
- ethical conduct in education
- data security and protection
The EOMS and QMS policy statements are both framed by the organization’s culture (the complete set of beliefs and values that condition the organization’s behavior) and by the ISO principles governing each standard. In turn, these policy statements provide the framework for the establishment of the organizational objectives at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, revised regularly to ensure the organization’s mission is effectively and efficiently accomplished while on the path towards the achievement of the organization’s vision. Some call these elements “strategy”.
Similarity between both ISO 9001 and ISO 21001
It must be pointed out that ISO 21001:2018 is a stand-alone management system standard like ISO 9001however it is aligned with ISO 9001. It focuses on the way educational organizations manage their organization as well as the impact of the system on learners and other relevant interested parties. Since it is a new standard, it (just like ISO 9001) follows Annex SL’s High Level Structure and therefore has an identical core text and common terms with core definitions all designed to benefit users implementing multiple ISO management system standards. It can therefore be implemented alongside other standards and requirements whether regional, national, open or proprietary.
Difference between both ISO 9001 and ISO 21001
As mentioned earlier almost all the context of the clauses of ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001:2018 are similar. The key difference though is ISO 9001:2015 focuses on CUSTOMER satisfaction while ISO 21001: 2018 focuses on the satisfaction of learners AS WELL AS other beneficiaries like government, labour market, parents and guardians, etc.
Integrating the two standards
In order to be certified to the ISO 9001 standard, a company must obviously comply with the requirements of the standard. The basic requirement is that the organizations demonstrates their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements and demonstrate continual improvement. If ISO 9001 is applied verbatim to education, some issues may become evident such as the lack of focus on the society at which the educational institution operates on or the lack of focus on the interaction between the learner and the provision of learning where the learner is actively participating in the exercise of producing learning.
Therefore, it would be best to integrate ISO 9001 and ISO 21001 into an IMS (Integrated Management System) so the system becomes stronger and more efficient in education. The requirements of both 9001 and 21001 intends to meet this challenge by defining the requirements of a management system that will help education providers better meet the needs and expectations of their learners and other beneficiaries at the same time demonstrate greater credibility and impact. ISO 21001:2018 focuses on the specific interaction between an educational institution, the learner and other beneficiaries so they can deliver a more relevant learning experience aligned with the organization’s own mission and vision. The education service they receive can then be more suited to their needs and in the end lead to better learning outcomes. By making them into a single integrated system, there would be more efficient identification of instructional objectives and activity plans, giving the learners an opportunity to self-learn, personalize their learning and have access to enhanced assessment instruments to build credibility in the teaching process. It would give the learners a more equitable (not equal) chance at learning.
From a business standpoint, educational institutions can adopt industry best practices and raise the level of education, iIncrease consumer loyalty because of the transparency of administration, enhance the capacity of faculty, eliminate process errors and limit risks to teacher reputations, institutionalize continual improvement by guaranteeing better learning programs that redound to increased profits for the institution.
The goal of any organization certified to either ISO 9001:2015, ISO 21001:2018 or both is to ensure that the learning needs of the students and other relevant benefactors are consistently being met. Both ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001:2018 are valuable for a wide range of educational institution scenarios from basic to post graduate education as well as the administration of the institution. Joining ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001 will provide the institution with the proper tools to help build a stronger education sector and stimulate innovation and the economy. The new ISO 20101:2018 Standard much like ISO 9001:2015 can empower educational institutions ensure the quality of education, strengthen social responsibilities, and ultimately provide the best in education for all.