Kalle Toom Head of Vocational Division Department of Vocational and Adult Education Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia Accreditation in VET. Estonian case

Why accreditation? National monitoring system for conformity of education and training activities to legislation VET-institutions Quality Award Model (based on EFQM) for organisational excellence (voluntary) Mandatory internal assessment for continuous improvement of educational institutions Core curricula (VET programmes) for homogenising learning content Qualification requirements for pedagogical staff to be well prepared … 2

Lot of attention to management and organisational issues of VET-institution Lack of feedback on quality of implementation of study programmes But education and training is core process of the educational institution! 3

Time line Full conception and materials of the accreditation Preparations for implementation and piloting 2011 Implementation the model to whole initial VET and carrying out full round of accreditations

Pilot round Voluntary! Two curriculum groups: - accommodation and catering - construction and civil engineering Number of engaged VET institutions24 Number of single accreditations37 5

Principles Active involvement of employers/industry Homogenised approach to all VET institutions Fulfilment of legislative requirements is prerequisite to go for accreditation Accreditation by curricula groups Based on self-evaluation and followed with external evaluation 6

Focus of evaluation … … is on the quality and sustainability of … 1. Teaching and training 2. Leadership and management 3. Management of human resources 4. Partnership and co-operation with stakeholders 5. Management of resources 7

Evaluation of teaching and training - Development of teaching and training process - Provision of training, incl. practicing - Pedagogical approach and activities - Guidance and support for students - Completion rate (drop outs) - Share of graduates working in occupations relevant to studies - Share of graduates who continue studies - Results of professional examinations - Creation of training opportunities for different target groups 8

Evaluation aspects 9

Accreditation process Self-evaluation by VET-institution and report Approval to start with accreditation Forming of ad hoc evaluation commission Work with documents and site visit (interviews etc.) External evaluation report Decision of Evaluation Council (of VET) Issuing the act of Minister for pro-longing the right to conduct training 10

Results 11 Educational licence (right to conduct training and issue diplomas) Full accreditation for 6 years Educational licence for 1-3years (right to conduct training and issue diplomas) Conditional accreditation 1–3 years No educational licence – no right to conduct training in curriculum group No accreditation

Accreditation in VET is a quality assurance tool used to create a confidence on educational quality of VET for stakeholders – primarily for students, for those who order training and for employers/industry 12

Thank you!