NQF inventory Albania

Development and implementation of the Albanian Qualifications Framework is one of the policy objectives of the National Employment and Skills Strategy and Action Plan 2020 (NESS)( https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/resources/albania-national-employment-and-skills-strategy-and-action-plan-2014). NESS is an ambitious reform program that aims to address the unemployment trap in Albania. NESS includes actions to enhance decent job opportunities through labour market reform, actions to offer quality VET for youngsters and adults through VET reform, actions to promote inclusion and cohesion and actions to strengthen governance of labour market and qualification systems. The latter includes the AQF.

NESS links the AQF policy objective to five action lines:

• Review of existing qualifications and qualification development processes by the National Agency for VET and Qualifications (NAVETQ) and under different donor projects as well as qualifications offered by public or private VET providers or universities
• Revision of the system for assessment and certification
• Establishment of sector committees
• Developing the national Catalogue for Vocational qualifications
• Revision of curricula based on AQF qualifications and standards, and referenced to AQF levels
• Selecting bodies and putting in place procedures for the validation of qualifications, skills assessments, certification and the validation/ recognition of prior learning

VET reform is a main pillar of the NESS. The vocational education and training system is still a centralized system with limited involvement of social partners and low responsiveness to local needs. Albania has two separate VET provider systems – the vocational schools and the vocational training centres (VTCs). One of the policy objectives of VET reform under NESS is optimising the provider’s network, streamlining structures by creating multifunctional centres with offers that are better aligned to labour market needs. All providers should deliver qualifications to one common national qualifications framework (AQF). The attractiveness of vocational education is still low (but improving) and perceived as a second best path to tertiary education, rather than a route to labour market entry.

Albania is an EU candidate country. It receives financial assistance from the EU via IPA (Instrument for pre-Accession). IPA II provides budget support to help implement the National Employment and Skills Strategy and Action Plan 2020. The related Sector Reform Contract includes one performance indicator related to the development of AQF legislation.
As an EU candidate country, Albania is implementing actions in line with the RIGA 2015 conclusions on a new set of medium-term deliverables in the field of VET for the period 2015-2020 (Riga is a follow-up of the Bruges process). MTD 3 is related to the NQF: Enhance access to VET and qualifications for all through more flexible and permeable systems, notably by offering efficient and integrated guidance services and making available validation of non-formal and informal learning.
 

The AQF is the national instrument for classifying qualifications in Albania.
Linked to the AQF is the national catalogue of vocational qualifications (NCVQ) that is yet to be developed. Article 16 of the new VET Law states that ‘the national catalogue of vocational qualifications (NCVQ) is a dynamic online instrument that lists and makes accessible all vocational qualifications with the allocated level, which are included in the AQF’.
All vocational qualifications included in the AQF will have a link with a list of occupations, recently been revised to align with ISCO-08 and to better reflect the structure of the occupations/jobs in the Albanian labour market.  This classification of occupations organises 5489 jobs in 480 unit groups, 133 minor groups, 43 sub-major groups and 10 major groups. It is used for statistical purposes and to facilitate dialogue between the labour market and the education and training sector. The revision of the national List of Occupations has been executed by the National Agency of Vocational Education and Training & Qualifications (NAVETQ) who has also embarked on developing descriptions of tasks and duties and other aspects of the jobs which belong to each of the defined groups; these aspects include goods and services produced, skill level and specialisation, occupations included and excluded, and entry restrictions. A total of 666 occupational descriptions have been compiled through in-depth interviews and consultations with private sector companies and representative organisations.
 

The AQF has eight levels. AQF level descriptors have been defined in terms of learning outcomes and use the domains knowledge, skills and competence (AQF Law 2010). These level descriptors are a copy of the EQF level descriptors.
More detailed level descriptors have been defined – and are used – by NAVETQ for AQF levels 2 to 5 and in higher education for AQF levels 5 to 8. These are tailored to education subsectors and are used for development of new qualifications and programmes. However, an AQF for lifelong learning needs a coherent set of descriptors that describe learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and (broader) competences for each AQF level, regardless of types of qualification. Secondary legislation, a Decision of the Council of Ministers has been drafted to define more detailed level descriptors. This decision is expected to be adopted by the end of 2018.
 

The definition of ‘’qualification’’ in the AQF law is: "Qualification" is a formal result of an evaluation and validation process, obtained by an accredited competent body / educational institution, which determines that the individual has achieved a certain level of knowledge, skills and competences in accordance with a provided standard.
The definition in the new VET law (2017) is: ‘’Qualification” covers different aspects: (a) formal qualification: the formal outcome (certificate, diploma or title) of an assessment and validation process which is obtained when a competent body determines that an individual has achieved learning outcomes to given standards and/or possesses the necessary competence to do a job in a specific area of work. A qualification confers official recognition of the value of learning outcomes in the labour market and in education and training. A qualification can be a legal entitlement to practice a trade (OECD); (b) job requirements: knowledge, aptitudes and skills required to perform specific tasks attached to a particular work position (ILO).
The new higher education law  does not give a definition of qualification. The law uses the term qualification in connection with the Albanian qualifications framework. The law defines AQF levels against study programmes based on cycle, European credit transfer system (ECTS) credits and length of the programme.
 

Qualification standards

NAVETQ develops descriptions for all qualifications on the national list of qualifications, which are the standards of vocational qualifications. Currently, 100 vocational qualification descriptions/standards have been developed, all accessible online through the NAVETQ website (http://www.akafp.gov.al/lista-kombetare-profesionale/). Each includes information on:
(a) qualification title and code;
(b) duration (in hours to get this qualification);
(c) level of qualification;
(d) scope of qualification;
(e) admission criteria;
(f) further qualification and employment possibilities;
(g) approval date;
(h) information on previous versions;
(i) learning outcomes expressed in knowledge, vocational skills and broader competences.

A qualification description/standard is the basis for developing a national frame curriculum for that qualification.
Higher education institutes (HEIs) have considerable autonomy in developing and providing study programmes but MoESY grants final approval for opening a new study programme, based on State quality standards, which also include institution- related criteria and can be considered as HE qualification standards.

Development process of qualifications

The National Agency for VET and Qualifications (NAVETQ) develops occupational descriptions and qualification descriptions for all qualifications in the national list of vocational qualifications.
The Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth develops State standards for both pre-university qualifications and higher education qualifications. Based on these standards, the Institute of Educational Development (IED) develops pre-university education programmes and higher education institutes (HEIs) develop higher education programmes.

Access to qualifications and progress and transfer within the AQF is defined by the combination of different arrangements in the education subsectors, regulated by respective laws on higher education, VET and pre-university education:

(a) Law No 80/2015 On higher education and scientific research in the Republic of Albania;
(b) Law No 8872 On vocational education and training in Republic of Albania (29.3.2002), amended by laws No 10 011 (30.10.2008); No 10 434 (23.6.2011); No 63 (6.6.2014);
(c) Law No 69/2012 On pre-university education system in the Republic of Albania.

The AQF Law defines increasing access to qualifications and progress between qualifications as aims of the AQF. Progression between the education and training subsectors is not (yet) defined. The higher education law does not mention progression.

The AQF Law states that the AQF aids accumulation and transfer of credits. The ECTS credit system in higher education is operational but VET does not yet have a credit system. General/ pre-university education programmes and subjects in upper secondary education are expressed in credits (one teaching hour in classroom equals one credit), which are being used for assessment as well. With the changes to be introduced in pre- university curricula and assessment, only grades, not credits, will be used for student assessment, but the programmes will continue to be expressed in credits.
 

Learning outcomes are the backbone of the AQF, whose one of the main objectives is ‘encouraging development of qualifications based on learning outcomes that are comparable with international standards for knowledge, skills and broader competences’.
The new VET Law states that: ‘national vocational qualifications are defined by learning outcomes and derived from qualification descriptions and occupational standards’ (Article 15.4); ‘assessments and tests are done to determine whether learning outcomes have been achieved to given standards’ (Article 17.1); ‘vocational curriculum determines (among others) learning outcomes’ (Article 32.2).
VET qualifications are totally based on learning outcomes. Higher education (HE) qualifications are not yet based on learning outcomes but according to The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MoESY) all HE learning programmes will be expressed in learning outcomes.
 

The AQF is designed as an inclusive/comprehensive framework for classification of all quality assured qualifications. The AQF Law distinguishes between three categories of qualifications: general/traditional qualifications, vocational/professional qualifications and qualifications for lifelong learning (LLL). The Annex  shows for each category and AQF level the types of qualifications as defined by appendix 1 of the revised AQF law.

The term “qualifications for LLL” in the AQF Law is used to distinguish between the formal qualifications that are automatically included in the AQF, based on existing legislation (e.g. VET Law, HE Law) and all other qualifications. LLL qualifications is an umbrella term that covers very diverse types of qualifications. These can be short courses for adults, special courses for continuous professional development, and qualifications provided by universities or other public or private institutes for continuing education. The AQF Law stipulates that LLL qualifications can in principle be included in the AQF, whereas criteria and procedures need to be defined in secondary legislation.

Law No 10 247 on the Albanian qualifications framework (AQF)  was adopted by parliament in March 2010. A revision of this Law (23/2018) was adopted on 18.05.2018. Secondary legislation under the AQF Law is being prepared, among others about more detailed level descriptors, the establishment of sector committees and inclusion of Lifelong learning qualifications in the AQF. Adopted AQF legislation, both primary and secondary, are indicators for the EU IPA II budget support programme.

The management of the AQF is divided by educational subsectors between two ministries. The Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth is responsible for the subsectors pre-university, general and higher education as well as for the qualifications for lifelong learning for these subsectors; the ministry responsible for VET, currently the Ministry of Finance and Economy, is responsible for the sub-sector vocational education and training and for the lifelong learning qualifications for this sub-sector. A coordinating NQF body is not foreseen in the Law.
The Law defines three implementing institutions:

1. The National Agency for Education, Vocational Training and Qualifications for Vocational Education and Training (NAVETQ)
2. Higher education institutions cooperate with institutions responsible for employment and ability to carry out periodic labour market assessments and employment of graduates.
3. Ministry responsible for education and its subordinated agencies, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the applicable legal framework

Functions of the responsible ministries for the subsectors they cover are:

• Strategic planning of the development and implementation of the AQF;
• Overseeing institutions with specific responsibilities for the development and implementation of the AQF;
• Approving documents related to the AQF;
• Drafting and adopting policies related to the AQF and co-ordinating the activities of the institutions responsible for the implementation of the Albanian Qualifications Framework;
• Periodic reporting to the Council of Ministers on issues related to the Albanian Qualifications Framework;
• Approval of the criteria and procedures for the inclusion of qualifications in the AQF for the sub-sectors of vocational education and training. Procedures for the approval of the National Catalogue of Vocational Qualifications of the sub-sector of vocational education and training are determined by instruction of the minister responsible for vocational education and training;
• Establishing the principles for the development of qualifications of vocational education and training and setting priorities for their development;
• Drafting and proposing the legal and sub-legal basis in the Albanian Qualifications Framework;
• Conducting a review of the criteria and procedures for the quality assurance of qualifications included in the AQF.
• Competences of NAVETQ are:
• Carry out periodic evaluation reviews of qualifications and compare them with international qualifications;
• Conduct periodic assessments of the labour market;
• Consult with stakeholders on the development, implementation and review of procedures for inclusion of qualifications in the AQF;
• Propose changes in criteria and procedures for securing the quality of qualifications included in the AQF;
• Design, maintain and propose the National Catalogue of Vocational Qualifications in Vocational Education and Training in cooperation with sector committees;
• Follow the procedures for the qualification quality of qualifications, part of the AQF, in cooperation with sectoral committees.
• Competences of the Ministry responsible for education and its subordinated agencies:
• Consult with stakeholders on the development, implementation and review of procedures for incorporating qualifications into the AQF;
• Certify study / qualification programs in accordance with the AQF;
• Ensure the standards and quality of qualifications in compliance with the applicable legal framework;
• Periodically carry out evaluation reviews of qualifications and compare them with international qualifications;
• Advise institutions responsible for the recognition of foreign qualifications, for academic or employment purposes, for comparative and / or equivalent issues;
• Design and maintain qualifications records for each sub-sector of education.
   

The Government of Albania and social partners signed the Initial agreement on vocational education and training in Albania in April 2010. The agreement covers the following issues:

(a) social partners agree that the Albanian qualifications framework serves as the basis for the VET system;
(b) the AQF will organise Albanian qualifications in an eight-level structure aligned to the European qualifications framework (EQF). This will make it easier for Albanian citizens with education and training qualifications to gain employment in other countries. It will also assist Albanian companies with qualified employees to win international contracts;
(c) all qualifications will be subject to a quality checking process before being registered in the AQF. This will ensure that qualifications are up-to-date, relevant to the needs of the labour market and in line with international standards.
It will also ensure that social partners and other stakeholders are involved in the development of standards and qualifications;
(d) all assessment leading to the award of AQF qualifications will be subject to external quality assurance. This will ensure the consistent application of national standards and promote public confidence in the quality and reliability of qualifications;
(e) all education and training institutions offering AQF qualifications will be subject to some form of accreditation or academic assessment, to ensure that they meet certain minimum standards for physical and human resources, systems and procedures. This will eliminate unacceptable differences in quality across the country;
(f) the AQF will develop learning pathways and systems of credit accumulation and transfer which will make it easier for people to progress in education and training to the highest level of which they are capable. It will make the education and training system more flexible and encourage adult learning (Government of Albania and social partners, 2010).

The AQF taskforce has a two-year mandate from two ministries: the Ministry of Finance and Economy (responsible for VET) and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (responsible for General and Higher Education). The mandate includes preparing revision of the AQF law and secondary AQF legislation and referencing the AQF to the EQF. The taskforce is co-chaired by the Director of the department for Integration of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth and the director of the National Agency of VET and Qualifications (NAVETQ). Members of the taskforce are representatives of Business Albania (director), trade unions, Qualification department of NAVETQ (Head), Higher Education and Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth. Working groups of technical experts support the taskforce, which started its work in November 2015. The mandate of the Taskforce was renewed in 2017 until the end of 2019.

The revised AQF Law stipulates the establishment of sectoral skill councils (SSCs). . These councils are considered a key element for revising/designing new qualifications. They will review which qualifications are required within a sector, participate in revising the national list of professions and in developing occupational standards, thus supporting NAVETQ in  of occupational and qualification standards development. The sector councils will be regulated as part of the AQF Law and its complementary secondary legislation, namely the decision of the Council of Ministers. Swiss-funded Risi Albania project will support the establishment of sector skill councils with a pilot in three sectors. The first pilot SSC is expected to start in the beginning of 2019, after adoption of the decision. 

The IPA II Sector Reform Contract for the employment and skills sector (2016-2019) includes one performance indicator related to AQF development. However, in essence, the Ministries of Finance and Economy and of Education, Youth and Sports do not allocate any additional funds to this task, over and above the ordinary allocations to NAVETQ and AQAHE.

The AQF Law stipulates that all qualifications in the AQF shall be quality assured.  The AQF includes qualifications from the different education subsystems, each with their own arrangements for quality assurance.

Vocational education
Even though there is a well-structured internal quality assurance of the development of vocational qualifications, there is not yet a coherent system of external quality assurance of development, provision, assessment and certification of vocational qualifications.
Donor-funded pilot projects have introduced methodologies for quality assurance, including self- evaluation by public vocational schools, but they have not gone beyond the pilot stage.
The new VET law and related sub-legal acts regulates quality assurance of VET provision in a new and more comprehensive way. To implement this law, a coherent quality assurance model to cover all VET provision must be built.

Higher education
Before a HEI can issue any diploma, both the HEI and the programme itself must be accredited by the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AQAHE). AQAHE monitors and assesses the quality of HE institutions and programs.
Improvement of quality assurance in HE is high on the agenda of education reform. The new HE law foresees a higher independency in Quality Assurance. Previously the accreditation decisions were taken by the MoESY (based on AQAHE proposals), while this is now a responsibility of the Accreditation Board, an independent collective decision making body.
Furthermore, the Albanian government contracted the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK (QAA) to ensure the quality of the Quality Assurance arrangements. The QAA will perform an external evaluation of the accreditation process of all HEIs. The institutional accreditation of all HEIs was finalized in 2017 and is a continuous process. The accreditation of Higher Education programmes in line with a national template, which specifies also knowledge, skills and competences to be acquired, also is a continuous process.
 

Legal basis of QA Framework
Quality Assurance of the AQF is regulated in chapter IV of the revised AQF law. This chapter has articles about qualifications in the AQF, institutional accreditation and assessment and certification.
All qualifications in the AQF are to be quality assured, including internal and external quality assurance of development, delivery, assessment and certification of professional qualifications. Qualifications in the AQF should be consistent with best international practices, including compliance with the levels, tools, criteria and processes of the EQF, the European Credit System for VET (ECVET) and the European Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (ECTS). Vocational qualifications are based on relevant occupational standards and professional qualification standards, based on learning outcomes.
The new VET Law (2017) regulates Quality Assurance of VET providers with stipulations for licensing and accreditation of VET providers, accrediting institutions and procedures and inspection.. The VET law refers to the AQF law; AQF legislation sets quality criteria for the development of qualifications, for their validation, assessment and certification.
The new Law on HE regulates Quality Assurance of Higher Education (chapter X). The law regulates internal quality assurance by the institutions for Higher Education and external quality assurance by the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AQAHE). AQAHE is a public legal institution that monitors and evaluates the quality of the HE institutions and the programs offered. By law all QA processes and procedures in Higher Education are based on a Quality Code that is developed by AQAHE and compatible with European standards and quality guidelines in the European area of higher education. The Accreditation Board within the AQAHE, is a collegial decision-making body and independent in its activity. The Board takes the final decision on the accreditation of higher education institutions and the programs they offer. An important element of the new HE Law is the inclusion of student’s representatives in the decision-making bodies and the institutionalisation of the students’ parliaments.
In quality assurance, the AQF has three regulating bodies:

• (a) Ministry of Education, responsible for qualifications quality assurance in general/pre- university education;
• (b) NAVETQ, responsible for vocational qualifications quality assurance (AQF levels 2 to 5);
• (c) AQAHE, responsible for quality assurance in higher education programmes and HEIs.
• The Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AQAHE, formerly APAAL) is an affiliated member of the European Association of Quality Assurance in Higher education (ENQA) since 2010.
• The main issues and challenges for AQF and qualifications quality assurance are:
• (a) NAVETQ is responsible for development of qualifications but lacks resources;
• (b) currently, there is no structured social partner engagement in the governance of quality assurance related to VET qualifications and quality assuring qualifications standards in terms of relevance and attainment in general;
• (c) VET provision (public and private) is not directly linked to delivering qualifications developed by NAVETQ;
• (d) in VET, frame curricula are traditionally subject- based and prescribe the number of lessons per subject. Schools are free to adjust parts of the curriculum to local needs (mainly conditions in schools);
• (e) methodologies for developing qualifications are not shared by VET and higher education actors;
• (f) testing of VET students is carried out under arbitrary conditions in vocational schools and vocational training centres. Industry representatives are meant to be involved but this rarely happens. Appropriate assessment of practical skills is not universal practice and certificates verify attendance rather than skills acquired.
   

The Albanian VET and qualifications agency NAVETQ compiles a national list of vocational qualifications that includes all vocational qualifications at AQF levels 2, 3, 4 and 5. Design of a public interactive, searchable web portal/database on qualifications, curricula and training offers by VET providers is one of the deliverables in the action plan (B3.2) of the National employment and skills strategy (NESS) 2020. An instruction of the Minister of Finance and Economy on the approval of the national catalogue for vocational qualifications has been drafted and will be adopted soon. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth is creating a national register of higher education programmes, each of which will be coded according to the field of study.

Mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of AQF implementation have not yet been defined.

A revision of the 2010 AQF Law has been adopted in May 2018. Bylaws to regulate operational details are being prepared. An action plan for the implementation of the AQF has yet to be developed. An online Qualifications database to be established. Meanwhile the existing national list of Vocational Qualifications is published on the NAVETQ website.