Completion of the EQAVET NRP SLO 2021 project

The concept of quality assurance and of improving quality assurance processes is becoming increasingly important throughout Europe, for vocational and professional education providers and school authorities alike.

EQAVET (European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training) is a European network that involves all European Union Member States, including Slovenia. The network’s mission is to support Member States at VET level as well as at the level of providers. EQAVET is the European reference framework for quality assurance in vocational education and training (VET) which the European Commission recommends that all Member States follow. Members of the network bring with them expert knowledge and institutional capacity, thereby contributing to the network’s activities and disseminating its results to actors in the VET field. EQAVET and the EQAVET NRP (National Reference Point) in Slovenia support VET providers, as well as stakeholders in the national VET system.

We have been carrying out EQAVET projects in Slovenia since 2016 (EQAVET 2016/2017, EQAVET 2017–2019, EQAVET 2019–2021 and EQAVET 2021–2023). On 1 October 2023 we completed activities under the EQAVET NRP SLO 2021 project. Activities under the EQAVET NRP SLO 2023 project began on 1 November 2023.

As part of the systematic quality assurance process and of efforts to improve quality assurance processes within the EQAVET Framework, the EQAVET NRP SLO 2021 project dealt primarily with the needs of VET providers and stakeholders in the national VET system. Another of the aims of the project was to contribute to the development of quality assurance at EQAVET network level and, via EQAVET, to help develop VET in Europe.

While the project was a logical continuation of activities within previous EQAVET NRP projects (EQAVET 2016/2017, EQAVET 2017–2019 and EQAVET 2019–2021), the objective was to upgrade those previous projects in the following ways:

1. SUPPORT FOR VET PROVIDERS

• The further provision of the support for VET providers developed in the course of previous calls for applications, as well as for new VET providers in the EU.
• Further development of support for VET providers.

1. SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL VET SYSTEM

We followed the objectives set out in the EQAVET 2021 call, which were:

• Objective 5 – ‘Engage in EU level peer review to enhance the transparency and consistency of quality assurance arrangements, and to reinforce trust between Member States’
• Objective 4 – ‘Provide updated descriptions of the national quality assurance arrangements based on EQAVET’
• Objective 2 – ‘Inform and mobilise a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to the implementation of the EQAVET Framework’
• Objective 3 – ‘Support self-evaluation …’
• Objective 1 – ‘Implement and further develop the EQAVET Framework’.

In planning the EQAVET 2021 project activities, we referred to the priority tasks of the relevant EU-level policy context (as well as the national-level policy context) and to the tasks set out in the Erasmus+ NRP EQAVET call for 2021–2023.

Our work and the main achievements of the EQAVET NRP SLO 2021 project were:

1. Upgrading the EQAVET NRP website
2. Producing a bulletin for VET providers, ‘Novičnik 2023’, and regular new updates in the public media (Facebook and other websites)
3. Producing a self-evaluation handbook for VET providers (self-evaluation of digital readiness and graduate tracking)
4. Designing guided online self-evaluation for VET providers in 2023 (EPoS 2023)
5. Drafting a development plan for a modern online application with a specification of functionalities for online self-evaluation for VET providers
6. Drafting a conceptual plan for the development of an online platform for quality assurance peer review for VET providers
7. Providing online training for assessors
8. Carrying out an international quality assurance peer review for a Slovenian VET provider (Rogaška Slatina)
9. Delivering peer learning activities (PLA) in relation to the impact of quality assurance peer reviews for VET providers (online seminar)
10. Providing training for VET providers
11. Producing a self-evaluation report on the national quality assurance framework and selected measures within the VET system in Slovenia
12. Producing a final report on the national quality assurance framework and selected measures within the VET system in Slovenia by international quality assurance assessors
13. Producing a report on the national quality assurance systems based on the EQAVET Framework

Representatives from EQAVET NRP in Slovenia took part as assessors in peer reviews of quality assurance systems in other European countries. They tested new methods and tools at pilot VET providers and in parts of the VET system, and subsequently offered them to all VET providers and the wider segment of the system in Slovenia. An assessment of the training programmes carried out showed that training for quality assurance management staff and team members had encouraged them to make changes.

For VET providers we further developed and carried out peer reviews, guided them through the online self-evaluation process (EPoS 2023) and provided tailored training. A peer review was conducted at system level and a detailed description produced of national quality assurance arrangements based on the EQAVET Framework.

The feedback from the assessors of the international system-level peer review was an important resource for the planning and delivery of improvements to our national system of support for vocational and professional schools in formulating a unified quality assurance framework. It will foster further development and promote a culture of systematic quality assurance and development for vocational education.