Adult education has become increasingly important in recent years. However, according to the 2022 Adult Education Survey, the share of adults aged 25-64 with learning experience in the last 12 months stands at 21.2%, while the EU average is 39.5%. Since 2023, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has promoted adult education through financial vouchers for both employed and unemployed individuals, a development that underscores the need for quality assurance mechanisms to ensure effective and efficient learning outcomes.
The challenge of quality assurance
One of the key challenges in adult education is establishing a quality assurance system. Currently, in the Czech Republic, accreditation is only available for specific educational programmes (such as retraining courses or courses for regulated professions), but there are no accreditation of adult education providers. Although a qualification standard for Further Education Lecturers at EQF level 7 was introduced in 2013 in the National Register of Qualifications, this initiative was never integrated into a broader oversight or evaluation system that assures the quality of providers or learning outcomes.
With the growing need for upskilling and reskilling, and the implementation of microcredentials, the issue of quality assurance and the effectiveness of learning programmes is re-emerging, as adult education is considered a matter of public interest. Learners, employers, and public bodies face difficulties when evaluating and choosing high-quality providers.
An attempt to address continuing education comprehensively at a system level was the ESF project Koncept (2009–2012), which aimed to design a comprehensive framework for continuing education, but it was never implemented in practice.
New developments: towards quality-oriented systems
QUALTRACK: this is a quality rating system for adult education providers co-funded by Erasmus+ (2022–2024), developed by the Association of Adult Education Institutions (AIVD ČR) with partners from Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Slovakia. It promotes excellence in adult education and supports the development of educational institutions. Qualtrack builds on the ideas of the Koncept project and introduces an evidence-based, internationally validated methodology suitable for various types of institutions, including private entities, NGOs, language schools, and libraries.
QUALTRACK assesses providers in five core dimensions, each with its own criteria:
- Institutional background
- Lecturers’ qualifications
- Educational process and effectiveness
- Material and didactic resources
- Customer service
All criteria must be met for certification.
Institutions first complete a detailed online self-assessment questionnaire describing their status and processes. Trained external evaluators who have to meet demanding criteria and ethic codex then visit the institution and verify the information. Based on this, institutions may be awarded a quality certificate valid for 3 years, with an optional badge for excellence in specific areas. The tool provides customers with clear information about the quality of the institution.
Thanks to Erasmus+ co-funding, the assessment of an institution costs approximately EUR 1 100. To date, nine certificates have been awarded in Czechia and 36 in partner countries.
Rating of adult education (RATEA): this tool was developed in 2022 by the private company Firemní vzdělávání in collaboration with learning and development (L&D) managers, educators, and HR professionals. It is designed to evaluate the quality of all types of adult education institutions.
The tool assesses institutions using 25 criteria, covering:
- Educational content and lecturer qualifications
- Implementation quality
- Infrastructure and participant support
- Evaluation methods
- Impact of learning activities
RATEA places unique emphasis on customer satisfaction, with evaluations from managers, HR professionals and learners, selected according to the methodology. It enables institutions to engage in regular self-reflection and quality improvement based on direct feedback. The team of assessors consist of trustworthy experts in the field with at least ten years of experience in adult education. The entire evaluation process takes 4–6 weeks, including an on-site visit.
The evaluation reflects activities conducted over the previous six months and requires at least 200 hours of teaching delivered to a minimum of five clients. While the standard is public, the methodology is provided to interested parties only upon request. Ratings are:
- A (71–80% satisfaction, meeting the basic standard)
- A+ (81–90%)
- A++ (91%+)
The certificate is valid for 3 years and costs around EUR 1 500. The first RATEA certificate was awarded in 2025 to Threshold Language School.
Read more
- QUALTRACK website
- Firemní vzdělávání website
- Eurostat. Adults (25-64 year-olds) with a learning experience in the last 12 months (%) - AES (excl. GOJT). (retrieved on 26.6.2025)
| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Czechia, & Cedefop (2025, August 26). Czechia: quality of adult education – are better times ahead? National news on VET. |