Introduction to ISO 21001 2018 standards

Scope of ISO 21001  

ISO 21001 specifies requirements for a management system for educational organizations (EOMS) when such an organization:

1. Needs to demonstrate its ability to support the acquisition and development of competence through teaching, learning or research;
2. Aims to enhance satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries and staff through the effective application of its EOMS, including processes for improvement of the system and assurance of conformity to the requirements of learners and other beneficiaries.

All requirements of ISO 21001 are generic and intended to be applicable to any organization that uses a curriculum to support the development of competence through teaching, learning or research, regardless of the type, size or method of delivery. ISO 21001 can be applied to educational organizations within larger organizations whose core business is not education, such as professional training departments.

Principles of educational organisation management system

This EOMS entails the following management principles:

• Focus on learners and other beneficiaries;
• Visionary leadership;
• Engagement of people;
• Process approach;
• Improvement;
• Evidence-based decisions;
• Relationship management;
• Social responsibility;
• Accessibility and equity;
• Ethical conduct in education;
• Data security and protection.

1. Focus on learners and other beneficiaries

Statement

The primary focus of the EOMS is to meet learner and other beneficiary requirements and to exceed their expectations. Educational organizations should actively engage learners in their own learning, with consideration of the community needs, educational organization vision and mission, and course objectives and outcomes.

Rationale

Sustained success is achieved when an educational organization can address the requirements of every learner, while at the same time attracting and retaining the confidence of other beneficiaries such as employers, parents and governments. Successful organizations work to ensure that every learner performs to their highest potential. Every activity conducted with an educational organization provides an opportunity to create more value for learners and the other beneficiaries. Understanding current and future needs of learners and other beneficiaries contributes to the sustained success of the organization.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Increased value for learners and other beneficiaries;
• Increased ability to respond to demands of interested parties;
• Increased satisfaction of learners and other beneficiaries;
• Enhanced reputation of the organization;
• Improved learner motivation and engagement;
• Improved acquisition and development of competences;
• Wider access to education for learners with different learning styles, with different needs, and from different backgrounds;
• Enhanced learner personal development, initiatives and creativity.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Understand the current and future needs and expectations of learners and other beneficiaries;
• Link the organization’s objectives to the needs and expectations of learners and other beneficiaries; communicate needs and expectations of learners and other beneficiaries throughout the organization;
• Plan, design, develop, produce, deliver and support educational products and services to meet the needs and expectations of learners and other beneficiaries;
• Measure and monitor learner and other beneficiary satisfaction and take appropriate actions;
• Actively manage relationships with beneficiaries to achieve sustained success;
• Breakdown educational services into modular offerings, with the learner being able to choose their own path;
• Offer courses in a number of different modalities, such as full-time, part-time and via e-learning;
• Create an organizational curricular policy that emphasizes active-learning;
• Create collaborative spaces in facilities;
• Train staff in learning centred learning;
• Create a structure for experimenting with and implementing new curricular techniques.

2. Visionary leadership

Statement

Visionary leadership is to engage all learners and other beneficiaries in creating, writing, and implementing the organization mission, vision and objectives.

Rationale

Creation of unity of purpose and the direction and engagement of people enable an organization to align its strategies, policies, processes and resources to achieve its objectives. Involvement of learners and other beneficiaries in the leadership ensures a continuous focus on their needs, and avoids a disconnect between people engaged by the organization and those served by it.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Increased effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the educational organization objectives;
• Better coordination of the organization’s processes;
• Improved communication between levels and functions of the organization;
• Alignment between the requirements of the people engaged by the organization and those served by it;
• Development and improvement of the capability of the organization and its people to deliver desired results.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Communicate the organization’s mission, vision, strategy, policies and processes throughout the organization; create and sustain shared values, fairness and ethical models for behaviour at all levels of the organization;
• Establish a culture of trust and integrity;
• Encourage an organization-wide commitment to quality;
• Ensure that leaders at all levels are positive examples to people in the organization;
• Provide people with the required resources, training and authority to act with accountability;
• Inspire, encourage and recognize the contribution of people;
• Ensure leaders have the competence to manage change.

3. Engagement of people

Statement

It is essential for the organization that all involved people are competent, empowered and engaged in delivering value.

Rationale

In order to manage an organization effectively and efficiently, it is important to respect and involve all people at all levels. Recognition, empowerment and enhancement of competence facilitate the engagement of people in achieving the organization’s objectives.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Improved understanding of the organization’s objectives by people in the organization and increased motivation to achieve them;
• Enhanced involvement of people in improvement activities;
• Enhanced personal development, initiatives and creativity;
• Enhanced people satisfaction;
• Enhanced trust and collaboration throughout the organization;
• Increased attention to shared values and culture throughout the organization.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Communicate with people to promote understanding of the importance of their individual contribution;
• Promote collaboration throughout the organization;
• Facilitate open discussion and sharing of knowledge and experience;
• Empower people to determine constraints to performance and to take initiatives without fear;
• Recognize and acknowledge people’s contributions;
• Allocate resources for people to learn, improve and keep themselves updated; enable self-evaluation of performance against personal objectives;
• Conduct surveys to assess people’s satisfaction, communicate the results and take appropriate actions.

4. Process approach Statement

Consistent and predictable results are achieved more effectively and efficiently when activities are understood and managed as interrelated processes that function as a coherent system, including input and output.

Rationale

The EOMS consists of interrelated processes. Understanding how results are produced by this system enables an organization to optimize the system and its performance.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Enhanced ability to focus effort on key processes and opportunities for improvement;
• Consistent and predictable results through a system of aligned processes;
• Optimized performance through effective process management, efficient use of resources and reduced cross-functional barriers;
• Enabling the organization to provide confidence to interested parties related to its consistency, effectiveness and efficiency;
• Allowing the organization to demonstrate its compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Define objectives of the system and processes necessary to achieve them;
• Establish authority, responsibility and accountability for managing processes;
• Understand the organization’s capabilities and determine resource constraints prior to action;
• Determine process interdependencies and analyse the effect of modifications to individual processes on the system as a whole;
• Manage processes and their interrelations as a system to achieve the organization’s quality objectives effectively and efficiently;
• Ensure the necessary information is available to operate and improve the processes and to monitor, analyse and evaluate the performance of the overall system;
• Manage risks which can affect outputs of the processes and overall results of the EOMS.

5. Improvement

Statement

Successful organizations have an ongoing focus on improvement.

Rationale

Improvement is essential for an organization to maintain current levels of performance, to react to changes in its internal and external conditions and to create new opportunities.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Improved process performance, organizational capability and customer satisfaction;
• Enhanced focus on root cause investigation and determination, followed by prevention and corrective actions;
• Enhanced ability to anticipate and react to internal and external risks and opportunities;
• Enhanced consideration of both incremental and breakthrough improvement;
• Improved use of learning for improvement;
• Enhanced drive for innovation.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Promote establishment of improvement objectives at all levels of the organization;
• Educate and train people at all levels on how to apply basic tools and methodologies to achieve improvement objectives;
• Ensure people are competent to successfully promote and complete improvement projects;
• Develop and deploy processes to implement improvement projects throughout the organization;
• Track, review and audit the planning, implementation, completion and results of improvement projects;
• Integrate improvement considerations into development of new or modified products and services and processes;
• Recognize and acknowledge improvement.

6. Evidence-based decisions

Statement

Decisions and curricula based on the analysis and evaluation of data and information are more likely to produce desired results.

Rationale

Decision-making can be a complex process and it always involves some uncertainty. It often involves multiple types and sources of inputs, as well as their interpretation, which can be subjective. It is important to understand cause and effect relationships and potential unintended consequences. Facts, evidence and data analysis lead to greater objectivity and confidence in decision making. In particular, decisions on which facts to teach have lasting consequences on learners and society.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Improved decision-making processes;
• Improved assessment of process performance and ability to achieve objectives;
• Improved operational effectiveness and efficiency;
• Increased ability to review, challenge and change opinions and decisions;
• Increased ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of past decisions.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Determine, measure and monitor key indicators to demonstrate the organization’s performance;
• Make all data needed available to the relevant people;
• Ensure data, information and learning resources are sufficiently accurate, reliable and secure;
• Analyse and evaluate data and information using suitable methods;
• Ensure people are competent to analyse and evaluate data as needed;
• Make decisions and take actions based on evidence, balanced with experience and intuition.

7. Relationship management

Statement

For sustained success, organizations manage their relationships with interested parties, such as providers.

Rationale

Relevant interested parties influence the performance of an organization. Sustained success is more likely to be achieved when the organization manages relationships with all of its interested parties to optimize their impact on its performance. Relationship management with its provider and partner networks is of particular importance.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Enhanced performance of the organization and its relevant interested parties through responding to the opportunities and constraints related to each interested party;
• Common understanding of objectives and values among interested parties;
• Increased capability to create value for interested parties by sharing resources and competence and managing quality related risks;
• A well-managed supply chain that provides a stable flow of products and services.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Determine relevant interested parties (see Annex C) and their relationship with the organization;
• Determine and prioritize interested party relationships that need to be managed;
• Establish relationships that balance short-term gains with long-term considerations;
• Gather and share information, expertise and resources with relevant interested parties;
• Measure performance and provide performance feedback to interested parties, as appropriate, to enhance improvement initiatives;
• Establish collaborative development and improvement activities with providers, partners and other interested parties;
• Encourage and recognize improvements and achievements by providers and partners.

8. Social responsibility

Statement

Socially responsible organizations are sustainable and ensure long-term success.

Rationale

Based on the definition of social responsibility in ISO 26000, an educational organization is responsible for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society, economy and the environment, through transparency and ethical behaviour that:

• Contributes to sustainable development, including quality education for all, health and safety, as well as the welfare of society;
• Takes into account the expectation of interested parties;
• Is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour;
• Is integrated throughout the organization and practices in its relationship.

This implies the willing inclusion by business of social and environmental concerns in the commercial (economic) activities and their relation with their interested parties.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Improved reputation across society;
• Enhanced relationships with all interested parties;
• Cost-savings due to more responsible and efficient resource use;
• Improved risk-management due to sustainable practices;
• Ability to attract, retain and maintain satisfied staff.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Raising awareness and building competence for social responsibility;
• Including in the organization’s strategy a reference to the way in which it intends to apply social responsibility;
• Adopting written codes of conduct or ethics that specify the organization’s commitment to social responsibility by translating the principles and values into statements on appropriate behaviour;
• Ensuring established management practices reflect and address the organization’s social responsibility;
• Identifying the ways in which the principles of social responsibility and the core subjects and issues apply to the various parts of the organization;
• Taking account of social responsibility when conducting operations for the organization;
• Incorporating social responsibility into organizational functions and processes, such as purchasing and investment practices, human resources management.

9. Accessibility and equity

Statement

Successful organizations are inclusive, flexible, transparent and accountable, in order to address learners’ individual and special needs, interests, abilities and backgrounds.

Rationale

Educational organizations need to ensure that the widest possible pool of people can have access to their educational products and services, subject to their constraints and resources. They also need to ensure that all learners can use and benefit from those products and services in an equitable manner.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Wider pool of potential learners;
• Increased satisfaction from learners with special needs;
• Enhanced ability to meet the requirements of other beneficiaries;
• A diverse learner population which through cross-fertilization of ideas improves innovation and learning.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Introducing learning and learner-centred learning and teaching;
• Working with community organizations to improve attractiveness of educational products and services;
• Collecting data on access, participation and completion of learners with different backgrounds, and using this to empower decision-making;
• Providing cultural, linguistic, psychological, educational and other support to learners as necessary to aid their performance.

Access to educational products and services implies that the same conditions will be applied to all persons seeking access to those products and services, even though not all persons who seek access will be granted it.

10. Ethical conduct in education

Statement

Ethical conduct relates to the ability of the organization to create an ethical professional environment where all interested parties are dealt with equitably, conflicts of interest are avoided, and activities are conducted for the benefit of society.

Rationale

For sustained success, organizations need to project an image of integrity (honesty and fairness) in dealing with all interested parties. Staff of the organization should hold themselves up to the highest standards of professionalism in all their dealings.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Reduced losses from corrupt activities;
• Enhanced image of the organization;
• Improved staff motivation and morale;
• Enhanced relationships with all interested parties;
• Ensure integrity of research process and results.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Institute an organizational ethical conduct policy, to which all members of the organization subscribe;
• Align all policies with ethical principles;
• Include ethics as a management review input;
• Follow ethical guidelines for research and implement appropriate structures to do so;
• Awareness sessions on benefits of ethical conduct;
• Institute a system of discipline for breaking ethical conduct rules;
• Encourage staff to report unethical conduct to managers;
• Institute measures for avoiding bribery and conflicts of interest.

11. Data security and protection

Statement

The organization creates an environment where all interested parties can interact with the educational organization in full confidence that they maintain control over the use of their own data, and that the educational organization will treat their data with appropriate care and confidentiality.

Rationale

Successful organizations will create confidence by ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by identifying threats and vulnerabilities of their activities, and setting controls to prevent and mitigate those threats and vulnerabilities.

Key benefits

Some potential key benefits are:

• Protecting documented information from deletion or unauthorized modification or deletion;
• Preventing losses due to need to reinstate deleted data;
• Gaining confidence from learners and other interested parties, due to clear disclosure policies;
• Enhanced evidence-based decision making, due to confidence in data sources;
• Ease of retrieval of information when needed;
• Improved response to emergency situations.

Possible actions

Possible actions include:

• Establishing, implementing and maintaining a data security policy which outlines roles, responsibilities and authorities with respect to data security;
• Establishing, implementing and maintaining rules regarding confidentiality, integrity and availability of data;
• Publish clear policies to interested parties as to how the organization handles their data;
• Establish multi-stage backup systems, continued availability systems and recovery systems for data;
• Identify threats and vulnerabilities regarding data security and establish controls to mitigate them;
• Educate learners, staff and other interested parties as to how to ensure data privacy and security, as well as on how to avoid potential threats to data security and how to mitigate these.