Cooperation with Bulgarian partner institution

The National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (Nacionalna agencia za profesionalno obuchenie i obrazovanie, NAVET) in Bulgaria is a government authority that is subordinate to the Education Ministry. As a legal body, the NAVET is funded by the national budget. The main tasks of the NAVET include:

• the certification of vocational schools and vocational education and training institutions;
• the development of occupational profiles, professional standards and the relevant quality assurance;
• the provision of occupational guidance and dissemination of information regarding the topic of vocational education and training.

NAVET and the BIBB signed a co-operation agreement in September 2007. It provides for the exchange of information on topics pertaining to vocational education and training. The main area of co-operation so far was

• the development and utilisation of learning results. This particularly involved the illustration of qualifications as a result of learning, the measurement of individual learning results as well as the validation and certification of knowledge, skills and competences that are attained by non-regulated and informal learning.

Other key areas of co-operation included:

• the implementation of occupational standards in curricula and examinations;
• the development of sectoral qualification frameworks;
• opportunities for involving the social partners in vocational education and training;
• procedures and instruments for quality assurance in the field of vocational education and training.

A workshop on the topic of "Instruments of the dual system of vocational education and training against the background of the European Qualifications Framework" took place in 2013. The workshop focused on the topics of "Development and utilisation of learning results" and "Transferability of elements of the dual system of vocational education and training based on the German model".