Mandatory self-assessment of vocational training centres

In December 2017, NAVET published an analysis of the ex-post control of the activities of the licensed centres for vocational training (CVTs) for the period January to November 2017. The ex-post control was carried out in accordance with Art. 49c. of the VET Act and under the terms of the 'procedure for ex-post control of the activities of the CVTs' adopted by the agency's management board; this was prepared in accordance with the main principles and indicators of EQAVET.

1 024 licensed CVTs submitted self-assessment reports to NAVET for 2017.

998 licensed CVTs submitted self-assessment reports for 2018.

932 licensed CVTs submitted self-assessment reports for 2019.

High percentage (92.44%) fulfilment of the obligation of the CVTs to provide data, defined in art. 22, para. 8 of the Vocational Education and Training Act (VETA).

The highest percentage of quality was achieved in area 1. 'Access to vocational education and training', with approximately the same percentage of implementation are area 2. 'Acquisition of professional qualification' and area 3. 'Realisation of persons who have acquired vocational qualification'.

For 2020, 928 licensed centres for vocational training (CVTs) submitted an annual quality self-assessment report.

The quality self-assessment reports for 2020 presented by the CVTs were summarised and an analysis was prepared. CVTs stressed in their reports the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their activities over the self-assessment reference year, and in particular the impact on the areas of 'Acquisition of vocational qualifications' and 'Realisation after acquired professional qualification'. The main difficulties that hindered the normal operation of the CVTs were related to the decrease in the number of candidates for inclusion in vocational training, refusal of students to complete training, obstacles to practical training and difficulties in organising and conducting state exams.

Since January 2020, the self-assessment of CVTs was further supported by the project 'Improving the quality and efficiency of vocational training services', implemented by NAVET.
The project was implemented in partnership with the labour ministry and the employment agency under contract BG05M9OP001-3.020-0001-C01 of Operational programme (OP) Human resource development 2014-20.
The aim of the project was to modernise NAVET's activities to improve VET provision with the establishment of a more effective monitoring system. Implementation of the relevant legislation was also included in the monitoring activities.

In 2020, the 'Analysis of the activities for monitoring and quality control of vocational training services in VET' was prepared. A model for monitoring and quality control of vocational training provided by CVTs was developed. A model for monitoring the acquired competences of the graduates of vocational training was proposed, through an external independent evaluation of the outcomes of training activities.

In 2020, 92 inspections of the activities of the licensed CVTs were performed, 33 as part of the project activities.

In 2021, NAVET was collating the information on the self-assessment reports received by CVTs.

In the protocols for monitoring of CVTs and the licensed Centres for information and vocational guidance (CIVGs) in 2021, the self-assessment of quality became a mandatory requisite for reviewing their reports.

In 2022 NAVET took action to update the indicators and criteria used for self-assessment of quality by the CIVGs, which remained unchanged since 2018. At the beginning of December 2022, the Management Board of NAVET adopted indicators for the presentation of annual information on the activities of CIVGs under Art. 22, para. 8 of the VETA, as well as amendments to the package of documents for monitoring and control of the activities of the licensed CIVGs.

The updated indicators and criteria for self-assessment of quality focus on the quality of the services, the results of the lifelong guidance/career orientation and development processes and the impact of guidance services to the individuals who used them.

In 2023, the following conclusions were reached from the analysis of the quality self-assessment reports submitted by the licensed VET centres for adults:

1. the average level of quality for 2023 was Good (75.31%) and according to the self-assessment made by the CVTs, the majority of them (79.25%) achieved a Good level of quality;
2. CVTs still have difficulty in tracking the progress of their graduates. This type of information could help them in defining measures that would modernise provision and improve the quality of services. Regarding graduate tracking, new modules were built and put into operation in the Information System (IS) of NAVET in 2023.

The measure was operational and ran as regular practice.