The Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education was the holder of the Erasmus + project EQAVET National Reference Point (EQAVET NRP) for quality assurance in vocational education, which supported the work of the Agency as a national reference point for EQAVET in Croatia, in accordance with the functions and responsibilities defined in the EQAVET Recommendation (2009).

The project focused on the priorities set by the EQAVET Strategic Plan for 2018-2019. and the Council Recommendation on Monitoring Persons with Qualifications (2017), ie on strengthening cooperation between national reference points, further development of the national framework for quality assurance in vocational education and training with emphasis on monitoring persons with qualifications and deepening VET quality assurance through cooperation with stakeholders.

Strengthening cooperation for the purpose of knowledge exchange, joint learning and innovation transfer was organised through study visits to reference points of other EU member states and two cooperative learning activities in Croatia on the use of ICT tools in quality assurance and mechanisms to promote better access to vocational education.

In addition, cooperation continued on the improvement of the European peer review (peer review) with the reference points of Finland and Slovenia established within the previous EQAVET NRP project, to which Estonia is joined as a new partner. The project envisioned modernisation of the existing procedure and tools for peer review with the purpose of active promotion of peer review as an external evaluation on a voluntary basis that significantly contributes to quality assurance in schools.

The project also launched a new cooperation with reference points of Finland, Greece and Slovenia with the aim of joint learning and exchange of good practices on the introduction and implementation of monitoring mechanisms for persons with qualifications after the completion of vocational education programs. This activity significantly contributed to the further development of the national model of monitoring students after graduation, designed and tested within the previous EQAVET NRP project.

Further development of the national model for monitoring students after graduation was one of the most important activities of the project, and was carried out in cooperation with vocational schools. Monitoring was carried out with the aim of obtaining information on the careers of persons who have completed vocational education and training programs and obtaining feedback on the content and performance of the educational process, which is why it is extremely important for both the system and schools. A new monitoring cycle was implemented in 2020 in eight vocational schools targeting the generation that completed schooling in 2019.

For the first time, as part of the project, the Agency organized a conference for representatives of secondary vocational schools on quality assurance. The conference was organised with the purpose of promoting a culture of quality and strengthening the capacity of vocational schools in the process of self-evaluation.

The project also continued to inform a wide network of stakeholders in vocational education about the process of establishing national quality indicators and further strengthening the capacity of vocational schools in the process of quality assurance through self-evaluation and complementary tools. The project lasted from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, and the total value of the project was EUR 149.987,00, 85 % of which was funded by the Erasmus + program.

Website of the project: https://qavet.hr/en/homepage/