National EQAVET implementation plan

ŠIOV, in cooperation with the Trencín self-governing region, decided to pilot a quality assurance model based on international experience (European peer review manual for initial VET and the 2017-18 Erasmus+ project Mobility for quality).

In July 2019, quality coordinators in schools were trained, and in October 2019, 32 schools from this region learned how to apply peer-reviewing in the quality check. The first two pioneer schools (one grammar school and one secondary VET school) have already submitted their self-evaluation reports for assessment and peer-reviewing is already in progress.

In January 2020, ŠIOV and the Trencín self-governing region signed a Memorandum on cooperation. All 32 schools involved in this activity submitted their self-evaluation reports. Online training of assessors was held on 10-11 December 2020 and teams of four of the 24 retrained assessors were created who will perform the school visits in 2021.

During the European Vocational Skills Week 2020, ŠIOV organised a webinar on using peer review as an instrument in quality assurance. Two additional regions (Prešov and Košice) declared their interest in joining this peer review activity.

Within the Erasmus+ project QUAlity Networks: fine-TUning Monitoring systems for better performances in VET (QUANTUM), 2020-22, quality networks will be created. Territorial and/or cross-country quality networks will include VET providers, enterprises, local authorities, social partners and other stakeholders. A monitoring system based on feedback loops, including reinforcing the 'peer review' approach among the various key actors, should be adopted.

36 secondary schools from the Trencín region completed their final self-evaluation reports by June 2021. After obstacles caused by the pandemic, assessment visits by quality assessors were postponed to February 2022. Online training of quality assessors in the Banská Bystrica and Prešov regions was held in relation to the Catching-up regions initiative in June and October 2021.

Within the QUANTUM project, a seminar, Let's speak about quality, was held in Bratislava on 21 October 2021 to start the creation of the national network of education quality ambassadors.

The national ESF project, Introducing quality management in VET, is under preparation aiming to establish a comprehensive quality management structure, with a clear division of responsibilities among State bodies including the State School Inspectorate, self-governing regions as major maintainers of secondary schools, schools and employers.

In February 2021, a National quality award in VET was announced. Publishing the results and awarding winners in four categories - excellence in the provision of VET, innovation in VET, cooperation with community, and personality in VET - is a feature of the Month of quality organised in April in cooperation with the education ministry, the Employer Council for VET and the State Institute of Vocational Education.

The peer review initiative of the State Institute of Vocational Education (ŠIOV) is in progress. Quality coordinators were appointed in the schools concerned in Trencín self-governing region, and further activities are coordinated by regional educational authorities. Two schools from the neighbouring region of Trnava joined the initiative and an initial phase focusing on the training of coordinators started. Training on quality assurance and peer review continued for staff from the Banská Bystrica and Prešov regions. The QUANTUM project continued with the establishment of the Quality Network of VET providers, enterprises, education and training policy-makers, and other stakeholders to share VET quality assurance practices. A training for 24 representatives of VET providers and public authorities was held on 28 June 2022 by the EQAVET team focusing on quality assurance principles and the peer review methodology.

The Erasmus+ mobility project, run by the ŠIOV with a consortium including the Association of Secondary VET Schools and 3 self-governing regions (Banská Bystrica, Žilina and Prešov) and open to other regions in the future, was launched in June 2022.

The national ESF project Introducing quality management in VET is in the final phase of preparation, supported by both the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30 and the National implementation plan.

In February 2022, a National quality award in VET was announced in four categories: excellence in the provision of VET, innovation in VET, cooperation with the community, and personality in VET. Three VET schools and a long-serving director of a VET school were awarded at the conference „Excellence in VET- future challenges", held in April as part of the Month of quality, organised in cooperation with the education ministry, the Employer Council for VET and the State Institute of Vocational Education.

To implement quality assurance in VET, a national ESF+ project, Introducing quality management in VET and adult education, funded by Programme Slovakia 2021-27 and run by the State Institute of Vocational Education was approved with a budget exceeding EUR 6.96 million in December 2023. The project builds on previous experience with the EQAVET application and the piloted peer review methodology. The main aim of the project is to propose principles of a comprehensive quality management system in VET and adult education. The main output will be the development of a National VET and adult education quality strategy, including recommendations for quality management at all levels, from the education ministry, and self-governing regions to individual schools as well as adult education institutions.

Throughout 2024, a working group conducted an analysis of current legislation to assess its coverage of quality assurance. The core principles relevant to all segments of education, regional schooling, higher education, and adult education were identified. The working group proposed five quality areas for certifying providers of adult education, considered the first filter for submitting educational programmes for accreditation. Establishing procedures and criteria for institutional accreditation (certification of quality) is envisaged.

In September 2024, a manual for a mutual quality assessment in the initial VET was completed. 99 VET schools nationwide committed to forming teams of three schools for mutual quality assessment using a peer-reviewing framework. In November, the State Institute of Vocational Education (SIOV) organised a webinar for participating schools to retrain school quality assurance staff and prepare them for signing a memorandum on cooperation. There are 33 memoranda envisaged bringing together the SIOV and, as a rule, three schools. They are obliged to comply with the peer review reference framework and methodology promoted by the SIOV, and fulfil duties allocated within the process of peer reviewing.