Review - Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Any comments related to the evaluation of effectiveness of the mechanisms were included in the
country overviews, if the contacts included them. Otherwise discussions around effectiveness have
been dealt with in the analysis section of this report.
Each nation overview was reviewed by the in-country contacts to ensure that the technical details
were accurate and reflect practice. These contacts did not review the findings and analysis of the
research.
For Canada, a brief overview was documented but the focus was on Ontario rather than Canada as a
whole. Because Canada has no identifiable and consistent national education or training systems it
was necessary to concentrate on the VET systems at a provincial level. Ontario, with 44 per cent of
Canada’s population, is by far the largest province and also has some of the most prominent system
characteristics, such as a qualifications framework.
Quality assurance systems
Definitions
The OECD (2006) defined a qualifications system as including:
All aspects of a country's activity that result in the recognition of learning. These systems include the
means of developing and operationalising national or regional policy on qualifications, institutional
arrangements, quality assurance processes, assessment and awarding processes, skills recognition and
other mechanisms that link education and training to the labour market and civil society. Qualifications
systems may be more or less integrated and coherent.
Within this definition, it is the aspect of quality assurance to which this report relates.
Quality assurance is a component of quality management and is ‘focused on providing confidence that
quality requirements will be fulfilled’ (AS/NZS ISO 9000:2006: Quality management systems—
fundamentals and vocabulary, June 2006, p.9).
In relation to educational services, quality assurance refers to planned and systematic processes that
ensure confidence in educational services provided by training organisations under the remit of
relevant authorities or bodies. It is a set of activities established by these relevant authorities or bodies
to ensure that educational services satisfy customer requirements in a systematic, reliable fashion.
However, quality assurance does not guarantee the quality of educational services—it can only make
them more likely.
The Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials defines quality assurance as the
achievement of educational-program standards set by institutions, professional organisations,
government, and standard-setting bodies established by government (Canadian Information Centre for
International Credentials, fact sheet 5) http://www.cicic.ca/510/fact-sheet-no-5.canada
International developments in VET quality assurance
In 2001, the European Ministers of Vocational Education and Training set out a policy agenda for
quality assurance in VET within the process of promotion of enhanced European cooperation in VET.
As such, a Common Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF) was developed. This framework was
designed to support the development and reform of the quality of VET at system and provider levels
while fully respecting the responsibility and autonomy of member states to develop their own quality
assurance systems 3 . This framework was endorsed in 2004 but it was recognised in 2006 that there
was a need to progress from the CQAF to that of a ‘culture of quality improvement’. 4
3 European Commission, 2005, p.3.
4 Commission of the European Communities, 2008, p.3.
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