Bosnia & Herzegovina 2024

The BQF comprises eight levels, designed for 1-to-1 referencing to the EQF levels. It does not have the sub-levels commonly found in other countries in the region. Three domains of learning outcomes are used: knowledge, skills, and competences (responsibility and autonomy). According to the Action Plan the level descriptors may be further developed to better represent the country context, and to serve the EQF referencing process. No decision has been taken yet to adapt the level descriptors.

The NQF is a comprehensive framework, which includes all types of qualifications from general education, VET, and higher education. As indicated at Section 2.2, a QF in HE was integrated by law into the BQF.

According to the 'Action Plan for the Development and Implementation of the Qualifications Framework', a qualification is defined as 'a formal title of the result of a process of assessment and validation obtained once a competent body determines that an individual has achieved the learning outcomes as per the defined standards'. In practice, however, the distinction between curriculum and qualifications is not always clear.

Different types of qualifications distinguished are:

1. general education qualifications.
2. VET qualifications.
3. higher education qualifications.

Qualifications awarded outside formal education and training can be included, but criteria and procedures for inclusion and levelling these are yet to be defined. A methodology for such allocation was developed as part of the EU project 'Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning'.

ETF conducted an inventory of vocational qualifications in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017, covering qualifications from Levels 2 to 5. It revealed that of the 1 155 qualifications reviewed, most were not based on learning outcomes. Moreover, more than half were developed in 1995 and 1996, and required revision. Based on this analysis, the decision was made to include only newly-developed and learning outcomes-based VET and higher education qualifications in the Qualifications Framework.

The process of populating the qualifications framework with qualifications is currently too slow to ensure that the qualifications framework adequately encompasses all quality-assured and outcomes-based qualifications in the country.

Learning outcomes are central to secondary education reforms. The EU-funded project for the Development of the Qualifications Framework for General Education 2014-2017 developed guidelines for teaching and learning but did not manage to develop an external Matura diploma at the end of secondary education for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The OECD Education Review of 2022 showed that significant numbers of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to leave school without mastering basic competencies and there are signs of inequities in the learning outcomes.

The Common Core Curriculum (CCC) for cross-cultural and intersubject areas, based on learning outcomes and Life Skills was adopted in 2018. The CCC is based on the EU key lifelong learning competences (2018) and two additional competences for creativity/productivity and for physical/health competences. The State Agency for Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education, APOSO, has also been working on achievement standards for all subjects and grade levels in cooperation with educational authorities and pedagogical institutes. Principles for assessing key competences have been defined by specifying these in more detailed learning outcomes that can be assessed accurately and meaningfully. Standardised questions and assessment topics have been defined that can be used.

Unfortunately, the CCC is not yet adopted by all entities, although adoption is progressing gradually. Sarajevo Canton adopted pedagogical standards and norms in 2022 that integrate the principles, outlined above, but today there are still only a few examples of standardized external assessments. This lack of consistent implementation across the country limits people's progression opportunities and reduces their chances of achieving positive outcomes.

Vocational Education and Training

The inventory of VET qualifications, already mentioned above, carried out in 2017 with ETF's support identified 1,155 vocational qualifications of which 836 were formal and 310 for lifelong learning programmes. 43 % were based on learning outcomes.

The EU-funded project 'Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning' developed a Manual for the Enhancement of Vocational Qualifications intended for all institutions and bodies involved in developing the basic elements of the qualifications framework such as occupational standards, qualification standards, curricula and programmes and use of learning outcomes. The project also developed a manual for quality assurance in VET which includes guidelines, including standards and criteria, for external evaluation and self-assessment based on best European practice and models. However, its take-up and use by authorities and providers has been partial.

The new VET strategic document, 'Improvement of Quality and Relevance of VET in Bosnia in the light of the Riga conclusions 2021-2030', outlines many relevant developments for the use of learning outcomes. The document recommends the establishment of sector-specific partner committees. It states that occupational standards that have been developed with relevant partners are the basis for qualification standards, learning outcomes and curricula. APOSO coordinates the current development of occupational standards.

A common template for occupational standards has been adopted for vocational education and for higher education which provides consistency and helps occupational standards be easily understood by different users, employers, HR managers, teachers, and students. It includes a description of key tasks and required knowledge, skills, and competence.

Better monitoring of VET graduates and student performance is necessary to collect feedback on the relevance and feasibility of learning outcomes of current qualifications and programmes. Pedagogical institutes should establish procedures for occupational standards and qualification standards development. They also play an important role in supporting employers and providers in developing occupational standards, qualification standards and curricula. Curricula need to be adapted to students with special needs, supporting gradual acquisition of qualifications. For this, it is important to group learning outcomes into units and breakdown qualifications into units.

Many VET graduates in Bosnia and Herzegovina lack key competences and perform more poorly than their peers from general education. All the ministries of education (including the department of education at Brcko District) have agreed that key competences descriptions in subject and modular curricula should be connected to learning outcomes and contextualised, taking into account the specific tasks and occupations as defined in related occupational standards and qualification standards.

Higher Education

With support of the EU-funded project, 'Strategic Development of Higher Education and Qualification Standards (2013-2015)', qualifications standards in five different subject disciplines and occupational standard for two disciplines were developed as well as a manual for further development and use of qualifications and occupational standards for higher education, and a curriculum development good practice guide. The project also trained a core group of national experts from higher education in the development of occupational standards and qualification standards.

The Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance issued in 2009 the Instruction on the Form and Content of Diploma and Diploma Supplement Issued by Accredited Higher Education Institutions (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 86/09). This Instruction is obligatory for all competent education authorities and accredited higher education institutions. In 2023, a revision of Instruction on the Form and Content of Diploma and Diploma Supplement was published in the Official

Gazette following a process in 2022 led by the Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance. Learning outcomes, the ECTS credit value, and level of the qualifications are part of the instruction. Each higher education programme needs to be designed for the labour market and for further learning.

Adult Education

The document 'Principles and Standards in the Field of Adult Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014)' was drafted in the framework of the EU project 'Strengthening the Capacity for Human Resources Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina'. It outlines the basic principles on which adult education is based, considering international agreements and best practice. It distinguishes between different approaches for formal and non-formal programmes. For formal programmes, it describes the process of certification based on assessment and validation of learning outcomes and refers as well to the recognition of non-formal and informal learning. The principles are gradually integrated in legislation at entity level i.e. the Cantons, Brcko District and Republika Srpska. In 2022 the government of Herceg-Nova Canton adopted a rulebook on standards and norms for adult education programmes.

Quality assurance in qualifications is underdeveloped in the country, so undermining trust in qualifications. Systematic monitoring of the quality of provision and of the achievement of learning outcomes does not take place at state level, while there is no real coordination between entities to ensure comparability. The only countrywide instruments are international comparative studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS).

In higher education, the institutional lead lies with the Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance (HEA). In recent years, it has conducted accreditation of higher education institutions, private and public, of which a few offer short-cycle, level 5 qualifications, which are VET-oriented. To date, this has involved accreditation of providers and accreditation of programmes, but not validation of individual qualifications. The Agency has also been updating quality assurance procedures in higher education, to meet the Bologna Process' European Standards and Guidelines. However, the EU progress report 2023 stresses that a fully functional system of accreditation of higher education institutions and, in particular, study programmes, is still lacking.

In VET, quality assurance arrangements between the various entities are unconnected. Significant challenges in quality assurance of VET qualifications are lack of comparable education or occupational standards, absence of agreed criteria for development and validation of qualifications, minimal external assessment, and fragmented functions among the many actors.