Responsible bodies

The ways of quality assurance in the institutions providing adult education depend on the type of individual educational institution. There are three types of adult education provisions:

A/ adult education programmes provided by basic schools (základní školy), upper secondary schools (střední školy), tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy); adult education provided by basic art schools (základní umělecké školy), language schools authorised to organise state language examinations and by institutions for the further education of education staff;

B/ adult education programmes provided by higher education institutions (vysoké školy);

C/ adult education programmes provided by different types of commercial institutions, various professional associations, non-profit associations and other private subjects.

Ad A/ The body responsible for the evaluation of basic, secondary and vocational secondary schools, basic art schools and language schools authorised to organise state language examinations is the Czech School Inspectorate (Česká školní inspekce, ČŠI). The evaluation and accreditation (in tertiary professional education) in programmes for adults are carried out according to the same rules and using the same tools (such as inspection reports, inspection records, thematic reports etc.) as in the case of education of younger age groups, based on the Education Act.

The institutions for the further education of education staff concerns the registration into the Schools Register is provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Other educational institutions which offer the further education of education staff according to the Act on Education Staff, are accredited by the Ministry of Education (they are not registered in the School Register). The Ministry also performs accreditation and control of educational programmes aimed at further education of education staff.

Ad B/ The higher education institutions providing the adult education programmes (for example within lifelong learning courses) carry out evaluation within the system of quality assurance and internal evaluation of the HEI, according to the Higher Education Act. Accreditation only applies to study programmes, not to lifelong learning programmes. However, universities may apply for accreditation of an educational programme aimed at further education of pedagogical staff - see B.

Ad C/ Evaluation of adult education programmes / courses provided by private subjects, commercial institutions, various professional associations, non-profit associations and other private organisations is not formally controlled. Moreover, these adult education provisions are not centrally monitored.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

For approaches and methods for quality assurance please see the above Responsible bodies. For information on international evaluation activities aimed at the education of adults, see following section.

Other evaluation activities in adult education and training

PIAAC

Between 2010 and 2013 the Czech Republic participated in an international survey on knowledge and skills of adults as part of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). An initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), PIAAC provides a survey of skills in: literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

The survey through tests and questionnaires examined adults between the ages 16 and 65. A total of 6,102 respondents participated in the Czech Republic, which was 66% response rate. The Czech Republic achieved above-average results in numeracy. Both the problem solving in technology-rich environments and reading literacy took the average values.

For more information see www.piaac.cz.

TALIS

The OECD´s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the first international survey asking teachers and schools about their working conditions and the learning environments. The survey follows a five-year cycle and covers themes such as initial teacher education and professional development; what sort of appraisal and feedback teachers get; the school climate; school leadership; and teachers’ instructional beliefs and pedagogical practices.

The Czech Republic participated in TALIS for the first time in 2013, for the data collection and its realization is responsible the Czech School Inspectorate (CSI). The National report and the Analytical report from TALIS 2013 are available on the websites of the CSI (in Czech).

The latest survey for TALIS took place in 2018. The National report and selected results for the Czech Republic (Country Note) are available on the website of the CSI (in Czech).