Evaluating the Quality of Italian Local Vocational Training Systems: Towards a Sustainable and Shared Self-Assessment Tool.

In Europe, the aim of achieving a knowledge-based society makes the quality of training systems a topic of crucial importance. Italy is also interested in working out strategies and tools for improving its training supply. To this end the Ministry of Labour asked a public research institute, the Institute for the Development of Workers' Vocational Training (ISFOL), to design a self-assessment tool (SAT) for evaluating the quality of regional training systems. The article tracks the logical and chronological course undertaken to design the SAT, bearing in mind the current conditions of Italian public authorities responsible for the programming, management and evaluation of vocational education and training policies. The SAT methodological choices and its design are described, as well as its application by all Italian central and northern regions. The article concludes by mapping out ways in which the SAT can be used and pointing out some still unresolved issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]