- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
Due to the great interest in projects under the Erasmus+ programme, there is a need to provide support to beneficiaries in implementing EU tools related to vocational education and training (e.g. EQAVET framework, EU basic profiles, graduate tracking).
Objectives
- setting up a national team of experts for vocational education and training;
- providing support to beneficiaries in implementing EU tools related to vocational education and training (VET).
Its mission is to improve the quality of VET and to support the cooperation of vocational schools with employers in Poland and Europe. The team also serves higher education, especially State higher vocational schools in practical studies.
Description
In 2021, the Foundation for the Development of the Education System began providing organisational services to the Team of Experts for Vocational Education and Training (EVET) nominated by the Ministry of Education and Science. They work closely with the National Europass and Euroguidance Centre, also run by the Foundation. The Team's main tasks include promoting and advising on the practical application of EU instruments related to supporting educational mobility, ensuring high-quality learning outcomes, and the recognition of competences and qualifications.
The Action Plan of the Team of Experts is an integral part of the Erasmus+ Work Plan. The objectives are implemented through consultations, seminars, conferences, workshops, training sessions, lectures, debates, study visits, and analytical work, and expert advice is provided to the Erasmus+ programme beneficiaries and other entities active in the VET system in Poland.
In 2021, the National Team of Experts for Vocational Education and Training (EVET) consisted of seven experts in higher education and 11 in education nominated by the Ministry of Education and Science.
In cooperation with this expert group, seminars, thematic conferences, workshops, training courses, lectures, debates and study visits were organised for the beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ Programme.
During that time the team, supported and led by FDES, organised four meetings that gathered over 500 stakeholders and included 15 different presentations (face-to-face, hybrid and online, due to Covid-19 limitations) and four articles were prepared to be published in 2022.
The National Team of Experts for Vocational Education and Training (EVET) consisted of seven experts in higher education and 10 in education all nominated by the Ministry of Education and Science.
In cooperation with this expert group, seminars, thematic conferences, workshops, training courses, lectures, debates and study visits were organised for the beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ Programme. At the beginning of April 2022, the EVET Team website was launched. In 2022, Directions of development of vocational education and training Volume 1 was published, containing a selection of texts prepared by the National Team of Experts for Vocational Education and Training.
The Team continued its work. Team members participated in over 30 seminars, conferences and thematic meetings promoting the Erasmus+ Programme and the VET sector. They delivered 5 training seminars, 7 webinars for VET teachers and 50 hours of consultations on VET-related topics, as well as 2 advisory meetings for learners, with over 1300 participants altogether. The experts organised the III Europass and Euroguidance VET Forum (over 600 participants) and took part in 5 international events. The outcomes of experts' activities were also 4 articles, 9 presentations and the second edition of the publication 'Directions of development of vocational education and training'.
The Team, consisting of 23 experts, continued its work. Team members participated in over 40 seminars, conferences and thematic meetings promoting the Erasmus+ Programme and the VET sector. They delivered 21 training seminars for VET teachers and career counsellors, 11 webinars and 58 hours of consultations on VET-related topics, plus 10 advisory meetings for learners, with over 3 000 participants altogether. The experts organised the IV Vocational Education Forum (over 580 participants) and participated in 4 international events, including 2 study visits. The outcomes of the experts' activities were also 15 presentations and 10 articles, out of which 7 were published in the third edition of the publication 'Directions of Development of Vocational Education and Training".
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of National Education
- Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE)
- Ministry of Education and Science (from 2021 until 2024)
Target groups
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- School leaders
- Adult educators
- Guidance practitioners
Entities providing VET
- VET providers (all kinds)
Other stakeholders
- Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
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 both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
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.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to initiatives that promote VET and lifelong learning implemented at any level and by any stakeholder. It also covers measures to ensure and broaden access to information about VET to various target groups, including targeted information and promotional campaigns (e.g. for parents, adult learners, vulnerable groups). Among others, it includes national skill competitions and fairs organised to attract learners to VET.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET as an attractive choice based on modern and digitalised provision of training and skills
Osnabrück Declaration
- European Education and Training Area and international VET
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). National Team of Experts for Vocational Education and Training (EVET): Poland. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/45017