The politically responsible bodies in the German-speaking Community consider that the amount of financial resources invested each year by the Community in its school system makes it necessary to guarantee quality in order to correct undesirable developments and remedy shortcomings.
The principle of freedom of education means that schools and their providers themselves bear the primary responsibility for the quality of teaching and education in their establishments. An internal evaluation is therefore indispensable and is made compulsory for mainstream schools in the decree of 31 August 1998 on the mandate to the school authorities and school staff and on the general pedagogical and organisational provisions for mainstream and special schools.
On the other hand, an external evaluation is equally important because society also has a right to know whether the considerable financial resources invested by the public authorities in education are being used for the intended purpose and whether they are being used successfully in the form of optimal education and training for our young people or adult education that meets their needs. This external evaluation therefore concerns both the educational tasks of the school and adult education in schools, as well as certain administrative aspects.
This is why the politicians made these two important evaluation instruments compulsory for all regular primary and secondary schools in the decree of 31 August 1998 on the mandate to school authorities and school staff and on the general pedagogical and organisational provisions for regular and special schools. Both are of great importance in the endeavour to ensure and increase the quality of school work and the school system.
As mentioned above, the evaluation of schools and the education system is addressed in the decree of 31 August 1998 on the mandate to the school authorities and school staff and on the general pedagogical and organisational provisions for regular and special schools in Chapter VII (Evaluation and monitoring of the school).