Abstract:

Quality in Vocational Education and Training (VET) is one of the central issues of the Copenhagen Process towards more trust-based transparency and quality in VET and in the labour market. Due to its discourse-based total quality conception, the EFQM Excellence Model is one of the favourite quality schemes in the pedagogic field, after an initial rush for ISO in the 90's.
The Leonardo Project SAETO (LI-05-B-F-PP-164510) developed a software-supported system for self-assessment in educational and training organisations (ETO) that translates the EFQM model to the educational sector and links it with ISO 9000 in one assessment effort. The solution is supported by e-learning modules.
The project aims at a structured introduction and implementation of a self assesment solution in Liechtenstein (FL) covering more than 50% of the national ETOs, and a piloting in Austria, Germany and Slovenia with at least 8 ETOs in each of these new regions. Moreover, the implementation of SAETO will help to strengthen the deployment of the Common Quality Assessment Framework and will deliver both reference cases throughout the partner regions and a showcase for a fully structured deployment in one country, namely FL.
Target sectors and potential beneficiaries of the project are educational and training institutions in all partnering countries, who could use the new training programmes as a part of their training offer or could actively use the TI-SAETO concept which is focused on the special needs of small ETOs to serve the different customer groups such as internal and external trainers, teachers, apprentices or students concept in their training courses and educational initiatives, other organisations and institutions who could use the final products and trained direct beneficiaries of the training programme in their statutory work, such as social care units, educational organisations and non governmental organisations working with the socially disadvantaged groups (unemployed, homeless, addicted, ex- offenders, children of the streets, etc.) that could use the SAETO delivery style to work more closely with their beneficiaries

The project setting is characterised by increased European efforts of establishing systematic quality policies on all levels of the education and training systems (Common European Quality Assessment Framework) in all member states. The countries participating in this transfer project have very different conditions. While with Liechtenstein for the first time a country will seek to cover its whole education and training system by using the SAETO self-assessment approach based on the former Leonardo project, in Slovenia it will be used for the first time. In Portugal and Austria, existing experience is exclusively based on industrial applications of the basic product GOA, with no experience in using the SAETO education and training-specific application.
The target groups are vocational and educational training organisations (ETOs), that want to improve themselves, want to bring a greater transparency and quality control to the services they offer and who need to be credited according to ISO or EFQM.