Improving quality assurance mechanisms in IVET

In 2019, ASOO supported 193 quality and self-assessment coordinators in VET schools who participated in six workshops on self-assessment methodology, e-Quality online tool and best-practices in self-assessment. ASOO also supported self-assessment through school visits and consultations, as well as an updated e-Quality tool, also launched in 2019. In 2019, ASOO organised one peer-learning activity in Croatia on ICT tools in quality assurance and participated in five international peer-learning activities at other EQAVET national reference points (NRPs) in Europe.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, support in annual self-assessment was offered to VET providers individually and online, through individualised feedback and guidance on their self-assessment reports, as well as methodological guidelines on writing self-assessment reports. Additionally, ASOO prepared guidelines on quality assurance and monitoring of distance learning under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. A professional development module on self-assessment of VET providers was published to support individual learning and professional development of VET teachers and quality assurance coordinators.

The first national online conference on quality assurance for VET was organised with 345 participants from 205 VET providers. The conference was intended for coordinators of self-assessment and quality, and also for members of quality commissions from VET providers. The conference was designed as a platform for networking, exchange of experiences and examples of good practice in self-assessment implementation and activities focused on quality assurance. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, personalised feedback and guidance on the self-assessment reports was given individually online.

In line with the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET, Croatia participated in the EQAVET system-level peer reviews in 2022, based on the methodology prepared by the EQAVET network with the objective to support the improvement and transparency of quality assurance arrangements at system level in EU Member States. ASOO hosted peer review in December 2022 on the national model of self-assessment in IVET. EQAVET Network members from Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Spain acted as peer reviewers. Since 2012, self-assessment was mandatory for all IVET providers in Croatia, based on the EQAVET quality assurance cycle. After ten years of practice, internal evaluation conducted by ASOO showed that it was time for a review. The peer reviewers contributed to the evaluation of the self-assessment system by providing an external perspective on its achievements and areas for development. Discussions focused on the efficiency of the self-assessment model, supporting VET providers in self-assessment, and linking self-assessment to external evaluation of VET providers in the future. The peer reviewers remarked that the experience and capacities of VET providers in self-assessment provided a great basis for further development, as well as the e-Quality tool that supplied relevant information on the quality of VET provision. It was also observed that complementing the self-assessment process with external evaluation would contribute to the effectiveness of the quality assurance system in Croatia.

Within the framework of the EQAVET national reference point (NRP) activities, a mapping of quality indicators in VET was completed in 2023 as the initial step towards defining national quality indicators linked to EQAVET. The mapping exercise relied on provider input and analysis of the national self-assessment model, resulting in the identification of key performance indicators benchmarked to EQAVET indicators. The EQAVET NRP also produced guidelines for VET providers on internal QA incorporating best practices gathered from provider input and self-assessment experiences. These guidelines describe indicators, criteria and quality standards in VET, differentiating between internal and external quality assurance processes. They specifically address the national framework for self-assessment, strengthening the culture of quality and encouraging stakeholder involvement, with best practices from VET providers. The internal quality assurance concept was presented at the 2nd national VET QA conference in May 2023 which gathered one-third of all IVET providers in Croatia.

The 3rd national VET QA conference was held in April 2024, traditionally gathering one-third of all IVET providers in Croatia. Conference sessions highlighted the role of VET provider curricula in internal quality assurance, new mechanisms for self-assessment and external evaluation mechanisms in adult education (including CVET), and workshops for quality coordinators at VET providers based around the quality cycle: planning, implementation (specifically data collection methods for gathering stakeholder feedback) and defining improvement goals based on the self-assessment results.