Quality management system in vocational education of the Republic of Belarus: Improvement strategy
Authors: Golubovsky V. N. 
Published: December 2023

Introduction. In contemporary sociocultural conditions of the state and society development, the opinions about education quality among employers, teachers, students, parents and education authorities are polar opposite. This leads to a peculiar goal-setting crisis in strategies and programmes for the development of vocational education. The contradiction between the declaration of goals in the field of quality of education in strategic programme documents and the attempt to achieve them exclusively through the control function determines the need to improve the quality management system of vocational education in the Republic of Belarus in modern conditions.

Aim. The present research aims to theoretically justify and develop the strategy for improving the quality management system of vocational education in the Republic of Belarus in contemporary conditions.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework is based on the provisions of the holistic approach to examine the problem of ensuring the quality of labour force training from all angles, to determine the techniques of forecasting and planning the development of the vocational education system holistically. A comprehensive study of quality management in vocational education was carried out using the methods of scientific and methodological literature analysis, international practice, including the European model for quality assurance of vocational education and training, national and sectoral development programmes, survey methods (questionnaires, interviews) and foresight sessions with the participation of educational institution representatives, employers and sectoral government bodies. To achieve the goal of the study, an analysis of the existing system for ensuring the quality of vocational education was performed through a survey by the following groups: 17 representatives of Republican Institute for Vocational Education (hereinafter referred to as RIPO) and the Ministry of Education, 21 representatives of the head education departments of regional executive committees, under whose subordination the surveyed colleges operate. Apart from that among the participants were 532 heads of 266 educational institutions implementing educational programmes of vocational and secondary special education (hereinafter referred to as the college). In addition, 75 representatives of the mechanical engineering, construction, and agriculture sectors took part in the foresight sessions. The results of the survey and foresight sessions became a source of information for developing the structure and content of a strategy for improving the quality management system of vocational education in the Republic of Belarus.

Results. In the course of the research, the determinants of improving quality management system of vocational education were identified: established practice for ensuring the quality of vocational education, expressed exclusively by the functions of monitoring the implementation of state requirements of educational institutions and specialities inspected during accreditation every five years; lack of criteria and indicators absence in college development plans that would allow determining the effectiveness of educational activities taking into account the requirements of the state, as well as the future expectations of employers and students from various target groups (school graduates, adults, people with disabilities); diversity in the goal setting of participants in educational relations and ideas about the quality of education. The strategy for quality management improvement of vocational education, including a set of criteria and indicators of the quality of vocational education in the context of its modernisation, was theoretically substantiated and developed.

Scientific novelty. Empirically, the fundamental ideas of a holistic approach to the quality of professional education management in the context of its modernisation was identified and articulated. The provisions of the system-activity approach were supplemented with a motivational, value-based and semantic component in relation to the participants in educational relations activities in the process of modelling and implementing an integral quality management system for professional education. A set of indicators was developed and decomposed into criteria and indicators of the quality of vocational education.

Practical significance. The developed methodological foundations and strategy for improving the quality management system of vocational education including a set of criteria and indicators will be used by the Ministry of Education and regional education authorities in the process of collecting and processing data on the effectiveness of educational activities of vocational education institutions of the Republic of Belarus in real time. The further application of the developed approaches will facilitate the adoption of management decision-making to ensure and guarantee the vocational education quality at the levels of educational institutions, local and republican government bodies, taking into account students’ and employers’ expectations.