ECVET - Application to mobility projects

Why
The Member States and the Commission are establishing a European Quality Assurance Reference Framework (EQARF) to serve as a reference instrument to help Member States to promote and monitor continuous improvement of their Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems, based on common European references. Therefore the Framework should encourage mutual trust in national VET systems within a genuine borderless lifelong learning area.
Thus EQARF supports lifelong learning strategies, European labour market integration and promotes a culture of quality improvement at all levels, while respecting the rich diversity of national education systems. It should therefore underpin every policy initiative in vocational education and training.

What
The reference framework is based on the quality cycle which comprises the four phases:
1. setting of policy goals/objectives and planning
2. implementation phase
3. evaluation phase which deals with the design of the mechanisms for evaluation and the assessment of achievements/outcomes at individual, provider and system levels
4. review, based on a combination of internal and external evaluation results, processing of feedback and organisation of procedures for change.

Who
EQARF is addressed to
- policy makers
- people working in the education & training sector
- stakeholders

Where
They may be applied to initial vocational training (IVT) and/or continuous vocational training (CVT), depending on the relevant individual characteristics of each Member State's VET system and the type of VET providers.

How
The proposed descriptors (Annex I) and indicators (Annex II) are provided as guidance only and may be selected and applied by users of the Framework in accordance with all or part of their requirements and existing settings.
They are to be used on a purely voluntary basis, taking account of their potential added value and in accordance with national legislation and practice. They should be considered neither as benchmarks, nor as a means of reporting on, or drawing comparisons between, the quality and efficiency of different national systems. The responsibility for monitoring the quality of these systems remains entirely with the Member States.

Political mandate
RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2009 on the establishment of a European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (Text with EEA relevance) (2009/C 155/01).