From October 1 to 3, 2024, as a part of the project “Enhancements in the Quality of Education and Training in South Eastern Europe – EQET SEE, a study visit was organized to the Portuguese Inspectorate for Education and Science (IGEG), in Lisbon. The event gathered National Coordination Points (NCPs) for Quality Assurance from South Eastern European countries and ERI SEE representatives.

During the visit, participants had the opportunity to explore Portugal’s education system, with a focus on both external and internal school evaluation processes. Through meetings with IGEC representatives and visits to local schools, discussions centered on the implementation of evaluation practices. The visits to 2 local schools were organized – Bento de Jesus Caraça Vocational School and Laranjeiras Vocational School Cluster, where the focus was on the internal organization of work, internal evaluation, integrating findings of external evaluation into the regular work of schools and improvement cycle,  monitoring the results and progress, inclusion and student support.

A part of the visit also focused on the use of data in education and for evaluation purposes, and the impact of the PISA program on improving educational standards. Key areas of interest included best practices in vocational education and training, as well as the use of performance indicators to track student achievement and school quality.                                                                                                                       This study visit facilitated the exchange of knowledge and experiences between representatives from South Eastern Europe and Portugal, with the goal of enhancing education quality assurance mechanisms in the region. The visit also provided a foundation for further cooperation in adapting successful Portuguese models, such as, for example, implementation of inclusion elements in the system, to the needs of education reform in the Western Balkans and Moldova.                                                             The event agenda can be downloaded here, and the presentations can be accessed here:                              

• Ana Márcia Pires, inspector, “Introduction of the Portuguese Education System and sharing the programmes and activities developed by IGEC”- download
• Ana Cláudia Valente, Agência Nacional para a Qualificação e o Ensino Profissional – ANQEP, Quality assurance in Vocational Education and Training – good practices. Benchmarking Quality in Adult Education – download
• Anabela Serrão, Instituto de Avaliação Educativa, I.P – IAVE, “Portugal’s improvements in PISA over the last decade. Methods of quality control through PISA” – download
• Joana Duarte and Patrícia Pereira, Direção-Geral das Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência – DGEEC, InfoEscolas indicators used in the External Evaluation of Schools. Graduate Tracking Systems – download
• Preparation material for the Study visit – download