Improving VET graduate tracking

Policy development
Practical measure/Initiative
Latvia
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Timeline
  • 2020Design
  • 2021Design
  • 2022Implementation
  • 2023Implementation
  • 2024Implementation
ID number
39664

Background

A brief overview of the context and rationale of the policy development, explaining why it is implemented or why it is important.

The match between VET qualifications and labour market needs is crucial. Lack of information on VET graduate employment does not allow for proper skill needs analysis and targeted planning of the VET offer.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

To establish the VET graduate tracking system and make the annual data/analysis available online.

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

The policy development envisages creating a coordinated approach to VET graduate tracking. It involves stakeholders, especially those dealing with statistics and taxation systems, and is based on the experience accumulated by the higher education graduate tracking and international experience.

The concept proposed by the education ministry is based on the analysis of available administrative data regarding the employment and income of VET graduates. The framework for graduate tracking describes the responsibilities and data exchange between the ministry and the Central Statistics Bureau.

2020
Design

In 2020, a taskforce was established within the education ministry to design a concept for the development and implementation of a graduate tracking system in VET. Consultations with VET stakeholders took place. Work on the design of the concept started. The education ministry prepared the report On the establishment of a graduate tracking system in VET. The ministry received the 2018 data and started analysing them.

2021
Design

In January 2021, the education ministry submitted the report On the establishment of a graduate tracking system in VET to the government for approval and initiated discussion on the necessary amendments to the legislation.

2022
Implementation

Amendments to the Vocational education law came into force in April 2022, including a delegation for graduate tracking.

In May 2022, the education ministry's report to the government On Establishing a VET graduates tracking system was accepted. Amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation were made in July, defining the scope and coverage of VET graduate tracking and publishing graduate tracking data.

As of 2022, the education ministry has received the data from the Central Statistics Bureau on:

  1. the 2018 VET graduates in 2019; 2020; 2021 (one, two and three years after graduation);
  2. the 2019 VET graduates in 2020; 2021 (one and two years after graduation);
  3. the 2020 VET graduates in 2021 (one year after graduation).
2023
Implementation

In 2023, the education ministry developed digital tool for VET graduate tracking.

The digital tool can be used as an instrument for VET policy planning, development of VET programmes, forecasting demand of labour market, quality assessment, and choosing career. The digital tool covers data on:

  1. the 2018 VET graduates in 2019; 2020; 2021; 2022 (one, two, three and four years after graduation);
  2. the 2019 VET graduates in 2020; 2021; 2022 (one, two and three years after graduation);
  3. the 2020 VET graduates in 2021; 2022 (one and two years after graduation);
  4. the 2021 VET graduates in 2022 (one year after graduation).
2024
Implementation

In 2024, the VET graduate tracking digital tool was published on the State Education Information System (VIIS) portal for data-based decision-making both at the individual and VET institution level, as well as at the municipal, regional and national levels.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.
  • Ministry of Education and Science
  • Central Statistics Bureau

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Learners

  • Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices

Entities providing VET

  • VET providers (all kinds)

Other stakeholders

  • Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
  • National, regional and local authorities

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several 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.

Establishing and developing skills intelligence systems

High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.

European priorities in VET

EU priorities in VET and LLL are set in the Council Recommendation for VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, adopted on 24 November 2020 and in the Osnabrück Declaration on VET endorsed on 30 November 2020.

VET Recommendation

  • VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges

Osnabrück Declaration

  • Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.
IVET
CVET

Country

Latvia

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.
Practical measure/Initiative
Cite as

Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Improving VET graduate tracking: Latvia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].

https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/nl/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/39664