- 2021Design
- 2022Implementation
Background
Before 2020, there was only a contact and dissemination point located in the education ministry in place which was in charge of quality assurance of vocational education and training (VET). An inspectorate carried out mandatory external inspection of VET providers. Self-assessment was also in place, as most VET providers had their own quality assurance approaches.
The Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience called for a quality assurance national reference point for VET to bring together all relevant stakeholders at national and regional levels for both initial and continuing VET, in all learning environments (such as school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeship schemes) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers.
Objectives
The objective of setting up a national reference point for VET is to develop a culture of quality assurance in national systems, for both initial and continuing VET; in all learning environments (such as school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeship schemes) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers.
Description
The Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience calls to develop a culture of quality assurance in national systems, the French-speaking part of Belgium has designated for the first time a National Quality Assurance Reference Point (NRP). A partnership agreement has been developed to formalise the commitment of the project partners to the NRP and to allow the hiring of a project coordinator.
In 2021, preliminary activities for the development of a partnership agreement took place.
In 2022, a partnership agreement has been signed, a Coordinator has been hired and the EQAVET NRP started its work of analysing the EQAVET framework and situating each partner against the framework. The NRP is hosted at the Belgian Erasmus-Plus Agency (AEF-Europe), within the Ministry of the French Community.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of the French Community
- Francophone Agency for Lifelong Education and Training (AEF-Europe)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Adult learners
Entities providing VET
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to further development of national quality assurance (QA) systems for IVET and CVET, for all learning environments (school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeships) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers. These systems are underpinned by the EQAVET quality criteria and by indicative descriptors applied both at system and provider levels, as defined in Annex II of the VET Recommendation. The sub-category concerns creating and improving external and self-evaluation of VET providers, and establishing criteria of QA, accreditation of providers and programmes. It also covers the activities of Quality assurance national reference points for VET on implementing and further developing the EQAVET framework, including the implementation of peer reviews at VET system level.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET underpinned by a culture of quality assurance
Osnabrück Declaration
- Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET