The successful cooperation within the Twinning project continued in March 2023 and was demonstrated through the realization of five activities and the sixth Steering Committee Meeting. The first day of March was reserved for the latter, whereby the Minister of Education and Science Mr. Jeton Shaqiri, the Project Leaders, RTAs, Component Leaders, monitoring officers and other important stakeholders reviewed the project’s progress within the previous quarter. The Committee members discussed the achieved results and agreed on the content of the next Rolling Plan.

Photos (above and below): Sixth Steering Committee Meeting at the Club of Parliamentarians

Most of the activities in March were realized under Component 2 intended to provide support to the further implementation and enhanced capacities of the National Qualifications Framework in accordance with the QA framework. The activity 2.2.1 was organized from 6 to 10 March 2023.  Mr. Paulius Baltokas and Ms. Odeta Kupetienė from Lithuania were invited to develop user friendly guidelines for transparent inclusion of qualifications/occupational standards (all levels) in the digital NQF register for all users. The guidelines are intended to cover procedures for the submission of qualifications and standards and for their revision and inclusion into the register, as well as presentation of information to the public for various purposes, including for recognition of the national qualifications abroad. Both experts also held an awareness raising workshop for the relevant staff on the inclusion of qualifications/occupational standards (all levels) in the digital NQF register and the provision of information to the general public.

Photo: Workshop on the inclusion of qualifications/occupational standards in the digital NQF register

During the same week and in parallel to activity 2.2.1, another activity took place under Component 4 aimed at improving the NQF digital register interconnection and compatibility on national and EU level. The purpose of this mission was to finalize the practical short handbooks on managing and quality assuring the digital input in the NQF register on the basis of the recommendations developed in activity 4.1.1, to include the implementation of the components of the European Union recommendations on NQF digital registers, and the input of the BC representatives during the first mission of the activity. Two Slovenian experts - Ms. Urška Marentič and Ms. Nika Mustar met with relevant stakeholders and finalized the handbooks on managing and quality assuring the digital input in the NQF Register.

 

The third week of March was reserved for the first mission within activity 2.1.4, aimed at providing assistance in drafting of the Referencing report for the country (making a comparison of NQF with the European Qualifications Framework – the EQF in accordance with the new referencing procedures as of 2017). Lithuanian and Slovenian experts: Almantas Šerpatauskas, Lina Vaitkutė, Urška Marentič and Nika Mustar assisted in revising the EQF Referencing Report of the National Qualifications Framework and Self‐Certification to the QF‐EHEA (2016). Meetings were held on 14, 15 and 16 March 2023 with representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and of the Adult Education Center, in order to coordinate the updating of the Referencing report. The meetings were used to review the outputs of activity 2.1.2, discuss the revision of the EQF Referencing report which should take into account the new referencing procedures as of 2017, the criteria and procedures for referencing national qualifications frameworks or systems to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), and quality assurance principles for qualifications that are part of the national qualifications. The working group focused on the changes that occurred after the last Referencing report from 2016.

Photos (above and below): Discussions with stakeholders on updating the Referencing report

Component 2, which continued to be in the focus in March, was further implemented through activity 2.1.3. The purpose of the activity was to train staff trough practical transfer of knowledge and know-how for internal quality assurance (QA) system for higher education at relevant institutions. The two experts Nora Skaburskienė and Ana Tecilazić firstly conducted a survey on the specific institutional needs relating to internal QA. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire which the relevant institutions answered. The answers were used to identify the appropriate topics to be included in the training programme. The training comprised an introductory presentation and discussion on the quality assurance best practices in Lithuania and Croatia (principles, approaches, introduction and implementation issues referring to the experience of the different countries), and mistakes that should not be repeated. The 3-day training sessions from 21 to 23 March 2023 were organized in the region of Shtip, Skopje and Ohrid, whereby representatives of HE institutions involved in the operation of the internal QA system were able to exchange experiences and provide their insight with regard to the topics.

 

Photos (above, middle and below): One-day training of HE institutions involved in the operation of the internal QA system in Shtip, Skopje and Ohrid

The final week of March was reserved for the activity 2.2.3 that deals with the development of qualification standards for the teaching profession for teachers of primary and secondary education, for school support staff and educational service experts (pedagogues and psychologists), and the development of qualification standards for tourism and hospitality sector as a national priority. The purpose of the mission that took place from 27 to 31 March 2023 was to coordinate the development of the draft occupational/qualification standards, in line with the Law on NQF and the Manual for development of new qualifications for NQF. According to their field of expertise, experts Alain Henriet, Isabelle Frochot, Rasa Pilkauskaitė-Valickienė and Leta Dromantienė met with colleagues from HEIs in the area of pedagogy and special education and rehabilitation, in the area of psychology, as well as in the area of tourism, hospitality and business logistics, and discussed the draft of the occupational and qualification standards. The established working groups will continue to work on the draft in accordance with the provided guidance by the experts, in order to reach a version that meets all requirements of the sector.

Photos (above, middle and below): Discussions within the working groups on drafting the occupational/qualification standards in the area of pedagogy, psychology and tourism and hospitality

This Newsletter was created and maintained with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Twinning project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.