Quality Assurance in In-House Continuing Training. Case Studies from Europe.

Nine European Community Member States (Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and United Kingdom) conducted national studies that involved case studies of quality assurance in continuing education. Analysis of findings indicated that many firms regarded continuing training as a central instrument for achieving economic goals and as an investment. Two different forms of cooperation between firms and training providers were identified. Large enterprises systematically planned, designed, implemented, and evaluated their personnel advancement and continuing training procedures as an integral part of corporate strategy. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were dependent for their planning and quality assurance needs on external help. The burden of quality control was increasingly passing from the customers to the suppliers of continuing training. Training institutions had to be able to verify the quality of their offerings credibly. Quality assurance methods would contribute to improved continuing training if the formal training requirements were given a teaching-related content and SMEs received external help from training providers. In addition, self-assessment should be encouraged, and the technical side of learning and teaching should be evaluated. (An appendix contains summaries of the status and future prospects of quality assurance in continuing training in the countries studied.) (YLB)