As it is declared in the Act on Adult Education, in order to continuously improve the quality of the training activities of the adult education providers, it operates a quality management system specified in a government decree and ensures its external evaluation.

Government Decree 11/2020 (II.7.) on the implementation of the Act contains detailed regulations on the quality management system of adult education institutions.

The quality assurance of adult training is primarily reflected in the licensing procedure of training providers. Training providers are only eligible for organizing training programmes and service provision related to adult education activities if they are included in the register of adult education institutions.

The adult education institution must establish its own quality assurance system, which must meet the quality assurance framework’s demands, and it is also a condition for granting the authorization.

According to the law, adult training activities can only be carried out with the possession of an official license. The preconditions for organising adult trainings are divided into two categories:

1. The conditions for acquiring the licence,
2. The condition system required for operation.

Adult training licenses can only be given to an organization that has:

• a training programme developed for the training included in its application, which has been pre-qualified by adult education experts or programme specialists,
• the human and material resources necessary for carrying out the training in their applications, in accordance with the government decree,
• a quality assurance system that complies with the quality assurance framework specified in the ministerial decree,
• the conditions required for the operation of the adult training informational system
• the conditions required for the operation of a customer service and complaints management system,
  • quality objectives that can be verified and quantified,
  • has a property security specified in the government decree, and can prove it, and
  • education or training as one of its activities in its deed of foundation, operation license or register of sole proprietors.

The condition of authorization is subject to inspection by an expert committee and an on-site examination.

The Pest County Government Office, as a public body, keeps an electronic record of licensed training institutions.

The terms of the authorization must be fulfilled not only before the start of the activity but also during operation.

The vocational programme requirements set out the content requirements of the participants, defining the learning outcomes that the participant must attain by the end of the training and of which professional qualification certificate the participant is entitled to obtain. The vocational programme requirements should be formulated in the context of the qualification characteristics of the Hungarian Qualification Framework, The European Qualification Framework and the Digital Competence Framework. The training programme should be developed according to the registered professional programme requirements.

Functional conditionality

The use of a quality management and quality assurance system, which focuses on the key factors and the valuable and verifiable content requirements of the training is a mandatory element of the operating condition. Institutions are given freedom to set up their own quality assurance systems in accordance with the approved quality assurance frameworks or to choose one of the already approved frameworks and customize the standards for their organization. The Minister responsible for vocational qualifications decides if a framework is appropriate to the standards.

The quality management and quality assurance system of the institution extends to the overall institutional regulation of operation-related activities and is based on the PDCA-logic – design, implementation, evaluation, feedback – the regulation of change management tasks.

Adult training activities can be carried out with an approval for an indefinite time period, which license is issued by the Pest County Government Office The license is valid until withdrawal. The Pest County Government Office keeps an electronic register of licensed institutions. The register contains, in addition to the institutional data, information on the provided trainings. An adult training license can only be awarded to those who have a pre-qualified training programme, suitable personal and material conditions, and a quality assurance system in accordance with the quality assurance framework, and define verifiable and quantifiable quality goals.

Responsible bodies

In parallel with the vocational education and training, adult training is undergoing a significant transformation.

The Minister responsible for VET and adult education fulfils the duties related to adult training through the Innovative Training Support Centre (IKK).

An important milestone for the acquisition of modern professional competences is the definition of new approach of programme requirements for vocational qualifications. The Minister responsible for VET in cooperation with the Innovative Training Support Centre (IKK) registers the programme requirements for vocational qualifications. Ministries responsible for the sector and economic operators involved in the work of the Sector Skills Councils are also comment on the documents. The programme requirements shall be classified to the levels of the Hungarian Qualification Framework, The European Qualification Framework and the Digital Competence Framework.

The Minister responsible for VET revises the requirements in the register by the end of November each year. Based on the decision made during the revision procedure, the Minister with the consent of the member of the Government responsible for the sector deletes the programme requirement from the register, if its vocational competences are built-in to an other vocation’s competences.

The adult training provider develops its training programme according to the programme requirements and publishes it on its website.

Approaches and Methods for Quality Assurance

Adult training regulations have different requirements for training activities and training institutions with the intent of differentiating the purpose and content of the training. The Act LXXVII of 2013 on Adult Education and its implementing regulations detail the quality assurance system and its elements of adult training. These tools include registration, licensing and related official and professional control, and also continuous professional self-development, implementation-based quality management system and related self-evaluation and publicity. The role of the programme accreditation and institution accreditation in the previous system was taken over by the operating license, of which number one criterion is an adequate and continuously maintained quality assurance system.

To provide adult training activity covered by the law, prior authorization is required. When submitting a permit to advance adult training activities, quality objectives (e.g. exam scores, estimated drop-out rates, average scores of satisfaction surveys) are needed to be determined each year by the organization that conducts the activity.

The quality assurance system is built on self-evaluation and provides continuous improvement in training, tools and human resources, where developments are based on publicly available data and feedback. Adult training providers must meet - within the framework of quality assurance - the following requirements to achieve high quality:

• Develop a comprehensive quality policy and a related strategy to ensure the quality of its training activities,
• Establish formal internal mechanisms for the approval, follow up and regular internal evaluation of its training programmes,
• Develop procedures to ensure continuous training and qualification of trainers,
• Provide the resources needed to realize all of its training programmes,
• Provide collection, analysis and use of information to ensure the effectiveness of its training activities,
• Regularly publish updated, objective quantitative and qualitative information on its training activities on its website.

Adult training providers should establish their own internal quality assurance system in accordance with the quality assurance framework. The quality assurance system is, on the one hand, a quality policy document containing the institution's relevant strategy and responsibilities. On the other hand, a quality assurance document containing various procedures: the procedure for planning and content review of training programmes and curricula, the procedure for providing human and technical resources and the procedure for feedback of training participants and other labour market players. For the latter, adult training participants fill out a questionnaire of satisfaction which contains statutory elements. The results of the satisfaction survey will be stored in the adult training information system in the future.

It is important to note that the government dedicates great importance not only to vocational training but also to adult training, given that there is a significant need of professional resource in the Hungarian labour market. This can be remedied by enhancing the quality and availability of adult training.