National evaluation produces information about the quality, content and outcome of education and training in relation to the objectives of society, working life and the individual. Thus it provides information for social and education policy-makers. On the other hand, the chosen education policy must be evaluated in relation to social development and changing individual aims. Educational institutions and their owners evaluate their own activities with a view to developing them and producing data for national evaluation. Evaluation and relevant discussion play an important part in reconciling the objectives of the national education system and local objectives and in identifying and clarifying common objectives.
Evaluation also forms part of the internationalisation of education and training.
National evaluation projects must be coordinated with international evaluations. The statutes and norms governing educational provision and the objectives set in curricula for educational institutions create a basis for defining the objects and criteria for evaluation. Evaluation criteria are thus based on decisions and opinions issued at different levels of the education system. National evaluation produces information and evaluation tools which help education providers in their self-study. Another aim for national evaluation is to promote educational diversity and institutional self-regulation by assessing the impact of different experimental and development projects.