AA

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Self assessment tool

Instructions: Mark the appropriate coloured circle: Green - yes/to a significant extent; Amber - more or less/partially; Red - no/needs to be initiated
  • Questions
  • Answers

  • Sustainable institutional arrangements

    Planning and review of existing institutional arrangements

  • Is there a clear concept and implementation plan for reforms?
  • Have institutional functions and roles been mapped and existing capacities assessed?
  • Are there new functions that did not exist before?
  • Are existing institutional capacities and competences sufficient for effectively performing all the identified functions?
  • Are the roles of stakeholders institutionalised, e.g. through stakeholder involvement in a coordinating council, or through specific roles allocated to specific stakeholders?
  • Comments

  • For reflection:
    ● What are the main obstacles to changing or strengthening existing institutional responsibilities in your country? How could these be overcome?
    ● How can international assistance or cooperation with other countries improve the role of institutions in your country?

  • Ensuring clear allocations of responsibilities
  • Is coordination, quality assurance and communication across all stakeholders ensured?
  • Is it clear which governmental body has the policy lead on qualifications reform?
  • Is the division of responsibilities between ministries of education and labour clear, and are there arrangements to manage overlapping and competing remits?
  • Is there a balanced distribution of responsibilities for policymaking and implementation?
  • Has a coordinating body for the qualifications framework been designated or established?
  • Is there ownership of actors at different levels for the responsibilities that they are expected to fulfil?
  • Are all permanent roles covered by professional staff?
  • Have these people been trained for their jobs?
  • Do the institutional arrangements have a direct impact on users and final beneficiaries of the qualifications?
  • Is it clear who is responsible for gathering systematic feedback from end users and that it reaches the central body?
  • Comments

  • Identifying institutions performing key functions

    Are the following key functions clearly allocated to specific institutions:

  • 1. Coordination, system development and review
  • 2. Development and maintenance of standards and qualifications
  • 3. Establishing and managing a national register
  • 4. Communication and career information and guidance
  • 5. Validation of non-formal and informal learning
  • 6. Summative assessment and certification
  • 7. Development of provision and learning including curricula and programme development and learning methods
  • 8. Quality Assurance and regulation
  • 9. Recognition of qualifications issued elsewhere
  • Comments
  • Making efficiency gains
  • Are current institutional arrangements effective (fit-for-purpose)?
  • Are institutional arrangements efficient (best value for money)?
  • Are there efficient IT solutions (such as a shared information system, databases, etc.) to facilitate cooperation between managers, developers, users and beneficiaries of the qualifications?
  • Does the current set up of roles and responsibilities support coherence of approaches to qualifications between sub-sectors of the education system (general, vocational, higher, adult learning), between economic sectors, or between regions?
  • Are national institutions coordinating the cooperation between different sub-sectors of the education system, economic sectors and regions efficiently?
  • Are responsibilities sufficiently devolved to institutions that are closer to users and final beneficiaries?
  • Comments

  • For reflection:
    ● How could outsourcing more executive functions to implementing bodies speed up implementation?
    ● How can synergies be developed by combining different functions (e.g. for external quality assurance of assessment and certificating bodies and managing the qualifications register, and recognition, or e.g. development of standards and qualifications, summative assessment and certification and validation of non-formal and informal learning) under a single institution?
    ● How can cooperation between institutions be improved and accelerate impact for final beneficiaries?

  • Reviewing institutional roles during implementation
  • Institutional roles often change over time. On the basis of the implementation plan is it clear when institutional functions need to be reviewed?
  • Comments

  • For reflection:
    Are there any existing institutions, which do not have an essential role anymore, that could be abolished or redirected towards priority needs?

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