Education Standards Board (IAESB) has released amended versions of
its International Education Standards 1-8, the Framework for
International Education Pronouncements, and the Introduction to
International Education Standards.
The IAESB said the amendments are editorial and result in more
consistent use of terminology. They also provide a clearer
description of the IAESB’s role, standard-setting process and
oversight.
IAESB chair Henry Saville explained: “[We have] re-issued
documents to conform everything to current working practices,
document titles and so on, eliminating inappropriate references.”
Given the editorial nature of the changes, no public consultation
was held.
The clarification project came about after the IAESB began
discussing a review of the framework about a year ago. Saville said
the board decided both an editorial review and a substantive review
were necessary.
The project to substantively revise the framework and
introduction is still in its early stages. A task force has been
working on the review for about 12 months. The activities have
included an electronic survey, which had more than 1,000
respondents. An initial draft paper on the work to date will go
before the IAESB in its September meeting.
The objective is for a second draft to go before the board by
the end of this year, with the hope it will be approved for public
exposure.
All the amended publications were issued between 2003 and 2006,
so the oldest are just five-years-old. Saville said that because
this is the first set of international education standards, the
board felt it was appropriate to conduct a substantial review after
such a short period.
The IAESB is an independent standard-setting board within the
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The clarified
standards can be downloaded free-of-charge from the IFAC
website.
Carolyn Canham
