Evaluation of the outcomes of the European Training Foundation Peer reviews

Type of project/activity:
The EIESP has been commissioned to undertake an external evaluation of the Peer Review Programme of ETF, focusing on the South East European countries that are preparing, or already running, European Union-funded CARDS projects in the field of Vocational Education and Training. The programme was launched in 2002 and peer reviews were carried out in Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia in 2002 and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Turkey in 2003.

Objectives:
The overall aim of the evaluation is to:

• assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of the peer review process as an instrument for policy determination in VET and as a contribution to capacity-building and a learning process.
• improve the design of the peer reviews, refining methodology, and taking forward recommendations from the reports
• present and discuss outcomes at a high level regional conference in November 2004.

Background:
The peer reviews were designed by ETF to contribute to an exchange of policy experience and enhance learning processes among national stakeholders, and thus improve mutual knowledge and understanding of VET systems, issues and developments in South East European countries. The peer reviews make an essential contribution to evaluating recent progress in VET policy development in the countries involved and to the process of policy advice, in so far as they recommend actions that could be undertaken as part of the next stage of reform processes. They were designed to contribute to the broader process of the Stabilisation and Association Agreements in the Western Balkans. The intention was to promote effective regional co-operation and networking among actors involved in similar activities (VET experts, stakeholders and policy-makers); contribute to developing policy analysis capacities and therefore to the CARDS programming cycle.

Partners:
The evaluation is undertaken by the EIESP with a team of two EU experts and two experts from the Western Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania).

Main activities:
The evaluation methodology includes:

• Analysis of the available documentation which underpinned the peer review process and each review and any follow up documentation.
• Interviews with ETF staff and a feedback group meeting
• An e-mail questionnaire to all team members
• Interviews with the main stakeholders in six countries (and questionnaire to stakeholders in the remaining countries)
• Analysis and reporting
• Presentation of the results to the conference in February 2005 and follow-up drafting of a Note

Name of programme, funder or client:
Evaluation commissioned and funded by the European Training Foundation

Expected outcomes, reports/documents:
Evaluation report to the client.