Transcript G.I.R.C. - Kutsekoda

Quality assurance in IVET in
Romania
Lucian Voinea
Mihai Iacob
Otilia Apostu
4th Project Meeting
Prague, 21st -22nd October 2010





Legislative framework
Government Ordinance no. 75/2005 on QA in education;
approved through Law no. 87/2006.
Order of the Ministry of Education no. 6308/2007 for the
approval of the instruments used in QA;
Government Ordinance nr. 1534/2008 approving the
reference standards and performance indicators in QA at
pre-university level;
The accord on the establishment of GNAC (National Group
for QA) and its rules of conduct.

Institutional framework



ARACIP (Agency for Quality Assurance in Preuniversity Education)
CNDIPT, (The National Centre for the
Development of VET)
GNAC – National Group for QA (interinstitutional entity, comprised of: the Ministry
of Education, Ministry of Labour, National Adult
Training Board, ARACIP, CNDIPT, National
Centre for Teacher Training)
The main tasks of ARACIP are:







elaborates, updates and proposes to the Ministry of Education the standards,
reference standards and performance indicators for quality evaluation and
assurance (which are approved through Government Decision)
elaborates and proposes to the Ministry of Education the institutional evaluation
and accreditation methodology (also approved through Government Decision)
accomplishes the evaluation and accreditation of education providers
accomplishes, together with the School Inspectorates and the specific directions
of the Ministry of Education the activity of quality monitoring and control
elaborates manuals of quality internal evaluation and guides of good practices
elaborates, at least at every 4 years, system analysis of the quality of
preuniversity education and elaborates reccomandations for quality improvement
elaborates the Professional Ethics Code of the experts in evaluation and
accreditation

The National Group for Quality Assurance:




Began work at national level in 2006, in compliance with the
recommendations of the European Network for Quality Assurance
in VET (ENQA-VET).
It is acting as National QA Reference Point in vocational
education and training.
It is an inter-institutional coordination structure with the role
of applying in a coherent way the European and national measures
for quality assurance in vocational education and training.
The National Group for Quality Assurance includes experts of
national institutions who have certain attributions regarding QA for
VET

Quality Assurance principles
The aspects focusing on the performance of the
TVET providers and
of their
learning
programmes are structured in 7 areas, called
quality principles.
1. Quality management
2. Management responsibilities
3. Resource management
4. Design, development and revision of learning
programme
 5. Teaching, training and learning
 6. Assessment and certification of learning
 7. Evaluation and improvement of quality





Instruments used in QA:

Using a Phare project, a self- assessment manual and an external
inspection manual were developed.From 2003 to 2006 the manuals
were used by 122 IVET schools, and adopted by all IVET providers
starting with the 2006-2007 school year.

Within the Phare TVET programmes, inter-assistance networks
comprising 172 TVET providers were established between 2004 -2006.
Due to the encouraging results of these networks, starting with the
2006 – 2007 school year, all (1376) TVET providers were associated in
inter-institutional cooperation networks.

All TVET providers are associated in inter-institutional assistance
networks, so that they could cooperate in activities such as
monitoring, collecting evidence, sharing experience, or staff training.

Indicators used in QA refer to the following
categories:
1) Quality management:
 strategies and procedures for quality assurance
 procedures regarding the initiation, monitoring and periodical updating of
programmes and activities developed
 objective and transparent procedures of learning outcomes assessment
 procedures for the periodical evaluation of the teaching body (corp
profesoral) quality
 accessibility of the resources adecquated / suited to learning
 systematical / continuous updating of the database regarding internal
quality assurance
 transparency of the public interest information regarding study
programmes, qualifications, certificates or diplomas granted to students
 functionality of the quality assurance structures
2) Institutional capacity, defined through the following criteria:
 institutional, administrative and management stuctures
 material resources
3) Educational efficiency




content of the training programme
learning outcomes
the methodical or research activity
the financial activity
Example of descriptors used for the indicator „Partnerships
development”
Quality
standards
Indicator
Partnerships
development
NATIONAL QUALITY ASSURANCE
FRAMEWORK IN TVET
Performance descriptors
effective partnerships and networks with external
stakeholders are developed, maintained and regularly
reviewed
 information about internal and external stakeholders
(especially employers) and their needs and expectations for
the future is systematically gathered
partnerships with other VET providers are developed and
monitored;
liaison with other partners and local government
departments makes programmes and learning more
accessible (e.g. transport, child care)
 partnership projects and learning programmes contribute
to local, regional, and where possible to national and
European development in learning participation and
employment
The process of QA:
1) Internal procedures:
► planning all activities to establish the main objectives in quality of TVET offer, as well
as the necessary resources and means; the results of this phase appear within the
School Action Plan.
► internal monitoring – verifies whether the planned activities are carried out
according to the agreed terms and responsibilities, and evaluates the teaching and
learning process through lessons observations.
► self-assessment: the main process in quality assurance, through which TVET
providers evaluate their performance based on evidence and produce the selfassessment Report.
► identifying necessary revisions and developing the improvement plan.
► developing the Quality Manual, that includes the quality policy, the procedures for
quality assurance, The Commission for Quality Assurance and Evaluation
documentation, decisions to allocate roles and responsibilities etc.
2) External evaluation procedures:
► coordinated by school inspectorates (performed by its representatives,
under the coordination of the deputy general inspector responsible for
quality assurance):
► external monitoring of TVET providers’ and programmes’ quality –
offering guidance and support to TVET providers in the quality assurance
process, quality control to verify the fulfilment of the quality requirements,
and proposals for quality improvement measures;
► validation of TVET providers’ self-assessment reports;
► approval of TVET providers’ improvement plans
The activities performed by the inspectors are:
a) observe the teaching-learning process;
b) observe the training process and discuss with employers and with workbased learning trainers;
c) evaluate the data on rates of retention, progression and achievement;
d) discuss with representatives of students, teachers and trainers,
management, Commission for Quality Assurance and Evaluation ,
employers and parents.

The external evaluation is coordinated by the Romanian Agency for Quality
Assurance in Preuniversity Education

external evaluation of TVET providers’ and programmes’ quality, is
carried out by independent experts, under the coordination of ARACIP,
every 5 years.
Strategic and operational
planning
Revision
Improvement plan
QA Manual;
procedures,
regulations etc.
Self assessment
Teaching and learning
process
Internal monitoring

Good practices in QA can be grouped in
several areas of content:








Information systems
Teacher and trainer professional development
Involvement of beneficiaries in QA
Cooperation with economical agents
Integration of beneficiaries with special needs
Evaluation and monitoring of learning achievements
International partnerships
Continuous VET

QA and assessment:




In Romania IVET final assessment is systematically
carried out by accredited centres
Inspection of the assessment centres is done on a
regular basis
Assessment is done based on qualification standards,
which define competences to be achieved and
performance criteria
ARACIP produces a yearly synthesis report with key
indicators, national trends and best practices, which
is externally available.
The QA process in Romania is based on:





Authorization/accreditation of VET providers and
programmes;
Self-evaluation on all levels of education;
External validation of the self-evaluation;
External auditing of VET providers;
Collecting and disseminating the data regarding
educational and training programmes.

Challenges to QA




Funding, which some times is inadequate
Synergy between educational levels (preuniversity,
university and postgraduate)
Some assessment standards are not clearly
formulated
The QA process leans towards a prescriptive and
highly regulated model, rather than a cooperative
model.
Thank you for your attention!
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]