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DEVELOPMENT OF APPROACHES TO ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN RUSSIA
E.A. Tsar'kova
In the context of modernization, the development of a legal framework to govern relations in professional education in Russia is an active process involving the creation of a system of legal and regulatory instruments aimed at improving all aspects of activity of educational institutions. A significant place in this system is taken by acts governing legal and organizational basis for additional education services provided by educational institutions (organizations).
Reforms in Russian laws and adoption of the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation" have specified the ways for development of an additional professional education system in the nearest future. First of all, this covers the procedure for organizing and carrying out educational activities under additional professional programs1. The procedure defines requirements for the content of additional professional education which, according to the Requirements for Content of Additional Professional Education Programs2, "...is defined by an additional professional program developed and approved by an educational institution. taking into account needs of a person or organization who has initiated additional professional education". However, the procedure set forth in the draft order of the Ministry (see footnote 1) for the first time defines that in addition to general characteristics (the program purpose, expected learning outcomes, requirements for qualifications of enrollees, form of training, workload), curriculum and/or course schedule, syllabuses for subjects, courses, disciplines (modules), and program implementation conditions, an additional professional program should include a description of a system for assessing the quality of learning in the program. The draft Order says that the quality of learning under additional professional programs is to be assessed to determine whether: (a) the learning outcomes under an additional professional program match the goals and expected learning results; (b) the procedure (process) of organizing and carrying out the additional professional program is in line with the prescribed requirements for the structure, procedure and program implementation conditions; and (c) the organization is able to provide educational services in an effective and efficient way.
What is currently of special interest among the teaching community is a system for evaluating whether the outcomes of learning under an additional professional program are in line with the goals and expected results, and namely what particular outcomes should form the basis for the development of additional professional education programs in order to plan activities that will help achieve the desired goals. What can be a criterion of the quality of mastering additional 1 2
1 The draft of the Order can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia (February 28, 2013).
2 Order of the Ministry of Education and Science dated June 18, 1997, No. 1221.
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professional education programs? For the first time, the draft regulation has defined that programs for professional retraining are to be developed on the basis of prescribed qualification requirements, professional standards and requirements of relevant federal state educational standards for secondary vocational and/or higher education for the outcomes of learning under educational programs. The structure of programs for upgrading skills should include a description of a list of professional competencies for a given qualification that are to be acquired and/or qualitatively changed through education.
The structure of programs for professional retraining should include: (a) characteristics of additional qualification and related professional activities (qualification levels) and/or work functions; and (b) characteristics of competencies to be improved and/or a list of new competencies to be developed through mastering the program. This means that competencies (either mastered for the first time or improved) are the basis for evaluating the outcomes of learning when upgrading skills and undergoing retraining programs, and it is only mastered competencies that can and should be evaluated upon completion of an additional professional program.
International experience shows that a quality management system in education and training is most effective if there is a system of requirements for knowledge and skills that are part of professional competencies defined by respective professional standards for individual economic activities. This can serve as a basis for building procedures (rules and mechanisms) of recognition (registration) of professional competencies and establishing an appropriate system of evaluation, validation, certification and accreditation of results of education and training on both national and international levels. Procedures for the development of professional standards and the main tasks inherent in this process are listed in the Decree of the President No. 597 of May 7, 2012 "On Activities to Implement the State Social Policy", pursuant to which on January 22, 2013 the Russian Government signed Decree No. 23 "On Rules for Development, Approval and Application of Professional Standards". This document lays the basis for a systematic process which will involve groups of economically active entities, including employers and their associations, self-regulatory organizations and other professional communities interested in the creation of a modern system of qualifications. It is assumed that like in foreign countries, Russian standards will serve as an intermediary between the system of staff training and its use in particular economic activities, and as a mechanism for harmonization of mutual interests of all stakeholders.
A number of legislative acts have been currently adopted to create conditions for meeting challenges in the development of a national system of qualifications and competencies1. 1
1 Federal Law of 03.12.2012 No. 236-FZ "On Amendment of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Technical Regulation";
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 22, 2013 No. 23 "On Rules for Development, Approval and Application of Professional Standards";
Plan for Development of Professional Standards in 2012 - 2015 approved by the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 29, 2012 No. 2204-r;
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As per item 3 of the Rules for Development, Approval and Application of Professional Standards, professional standards are drafted by employers' associations, employers, professional communities, self-regulatory organizations and other non-commercial organizations in cooperation with educational institutions of professional education and other stakeholders. This means that in order to ensure harmonization of requirements of the professional community for performance of personnel of businesses and organizations in different sectors of the economy and efficiency of educational organizations in training relevant specialists, all stakeholders should be in due time involved in the preparation of documents to define qualitative characteristics of the economic potential of Russia.
Today, educational institutions of secondary vocational and higher education can provide conditions for the following activities: (a) organizing industry-specific coordination centers for identifying more specific requirements placed by businesses on their staff for the purposes of developing professional standards; (b) conduct monitoring research to define the scope and directions of development of professional standards; (c) create conditions for meetings of working groups to define procedures of standardization and unification of job functions and establish uniform requirements for the content and quality of professional activities, agree on names of titles, types of labor activity, etc.; (d) prepare proposals on amending Russian classifications of blue-collar and white-collar professions, the lists of professions and occupations based on proposals and rationale provided by social partners; (e) define the basic mechanisms for organizing joint programs in human resources management, including the development of a system for personnel development and encouragement of professional retraining and upgrading skills under additional professional education programs in educational institutions of secondary vocational and higher education; (f) define the scope and amount of staff training (retraining, skills upgrading) for businesses on the basis of predictive research of demand of businesses for human resources in regions; (g) develop a model of operation of certification centers for recognition of previously received training, define evaluation procedures and create all necessary resources.
It is only a proactive approach of educational organizations to determining criteria for requirements for programs of basic and additional professional education that can ensure the quality of learning under these programs in line with the real (and in the future, forward-looking) requirements of the Russian economy.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
Schedule for Development of Professional Standards in 2013-2014 approved by the Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation of November 30, 2012 No.565.
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