A journey towards quality

In Angola “Securing Quality in TVET” is a key issue with regard to the national TVET-reform process contributing to sustainable and balanced development of the provinces and the whole country with the aim to guarantee the well-being of all people living in Angola. Therefore, quality and Quality Management in TVET have become increasingly important issues receiving a high level of attention due to several reasons, e.g.:

• paradigm shift from supply to demand driven TVET;
• changes in governance of TVET-System with trends such as devolution of power (giving operational autonomy) to TVET-providers
• increasing requirements regarding accountability and transparency with regard to effective use of limited resources and to proving performance;
• transformation of TVET-providers into demand oriented service providers also offering income-generating services against fees as a means of self-financing;
• increasing competition raising the quality stake;
• quality as a means to improve the reputation of TVET;
• dynamic socio-economic change having an impact on requirements regarding TVET.

As there is no uniform definition of quality, it may be understood differently in different contexts and by different people. With regard to TVET in Angola striving at being demand oriented, the quality of the resultsdeals with the question whether at the end of TVET-programmes requirements and expectations of employers as well as graduates are met. Accordingly the clarification and reconciliation of outcome quality needs to address and reflect these requirements and expectations. They include e.g. employability, reputation and recognition of qualifications (certificates).

Once knowing the expected outcome quality as the starting point with regard to securing quality in TVET, the key question is how to achieve it. Quality aspects in this regard are related to input quality and the process quality of TVET-delivery. For FormPRO Quality Management is a comprehensive and systematic approach covering aspects of:

• philosophy and guiding principles regarding quality;
• how to achieve quality;
• how to maintain and to improve quality.

FormPRO recommends and follows a continuous improvement process: it is a journey of joint responsibility – based on the principle to keep it simple, pragmatic and affordable