Detailed roadmap for the eqf referencing of the nqf in fyrom

Criterion 6 (EQF)

The referencing process shall include the stated agreement of the relevant quality assurance bodies
Representatives of the external quality assurance bodies: the National Examination Centre, the State Educational Inspectorate and the Board for Accreditation and Evaluation of Higher Education have been actively involved in the process of referencing the National Qualifications Framework to the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning.

In June – July 2015 special sessions were held with officials of the Board for Accreditation and Evaluation of Higher Education, the State Education Inspectorate and the National Examination Centre. Their comments and suggestions were incorporated in the Referencing Report.

The written agreements of these bodies on the Report are presented in Annex 4.

Criterion 7 (EQF)

The referencing process shall involve international experts.
The country decided for a mixed expertise, governed by the following principles: familiarity of the experts with the qualifications system, origin from a country with a similar/different qualifications system, expertise in higher education/VET, work in international organisations as well membership in the EQF Advisory Group (thus acquainted with the contemporary trends in the area of qualifications).
The pool of international experts consists of:

• 
  Eduarda Castel Branco - European Training Foundation, Senior Specialist in VET Policies and Systems - Country Desk Morocco. Member of the EQF AG.
  
• 
  Prof. Mile Dzelalija, PhD – University of Split, Faculty of Science, Croatia and member of the EQF AG.
  
• 
  John O’Connor – Head of Qualifications and Skills Policy at Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and member of the EQF AG. Responsible for leading policy development and review of the Irish NFQ. Co-ordinates activities as Irelands designated EQF-NCP with responsibility for national development and implementation of the European Qualifications Framework.
  

It is important to stress that Ms. Eduarda Castel Branco and Prof. Mile Dzelalija have been involved in the EQF referencing since the beginning, therefore their written statements contain comments concerning both the inputs, the process and the output of the EQF referencing process. The opinion of Mr. O’Connor will address the output of the EQF referencing process.

The role of international experts has been to make the Report transparent and understandable for other readers. Ms. Eduarda Castel Branco and Prof. Dzelalija have been substantially involved in the preparation of the Report (knowledge sharing, capacity building workshops and meetings with nationals and international experts, guiding the development of the draft Report, providing comments and recommendations. By participation to meetings of the EQF AG and international conferences they have contributed to raising awareness and transparency of this process).
Mr. O’Connor was invited to read the draft Referencing Report and to provide comments and recommendations.
The short CVs and opinions of the international experts Ms. Eduarda Castel Branco, Prof. Mile Dzelalija and Mr. John O’Connor are provided in Annex 6 of this Report.
Upon initiative of the MS Project Leader of the IPA Twinning project Further Improvement of the System for Development and Implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (MK 13 IB SO 02) Ms. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak from the Educational Research Institute from Poland, the draft EQF Referencing Report of the Macedonian Qualifications Framework and Self-Certification to the QF-EHEA was submitted for opinion of the project team. The members of the project team Ms. Aileen Ponton – member of the EQF AG, Ms. Brigitte Bouquet – member of the EQF AG and Ms. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak – member of the EQF AG have read the draft Referencing Report and have prepared a joint Note which is provided in Annex 6 of this document. The joint Note has also been endored by Ms. Erzsebet Szlamka, member of the EQF AG. The national team for referencing expresses appreciation and gratitude for the intiative and for the opinion of the EQF AG members presented in the Note.

The national team uses this opportunity to thank Ms. Zora Bogicevic from the Ministry of Education of Montenegro and EQF AG member, for having shared the Montenegrin experience, having provided advices during the referencing process, has read the draft Report and has provided comments and recom­mendations for its’ improvement.

Criterion 8 (EQF)

The competent national body or bodies shall certify the referencing of the national qualifications framework or system with the EQF. One comprehensive report, setting out the referencing and the evidence supporting it shall be published by the competent national bodies, including the National Coordination Point, and shall address separately each of the criteria.
The referencing of the Macedonian Qualifications Framework with the EQF was presented and agreed with the National Board for the Macedonian Qualifications Framework. The Referencing Report is undergoing a Governmental procedure for adoption.
The Report is published on the official site of the Macedonian Qualifications Framework http://www.mrk.mk.

Criterion 9 (EQF)

The official EQF platform shall maintain a public listing of member states that have confirmed that they have completed the referencing process, including links to completed referencing reports.
Following the approval of the Referencing Report by the EQF AG, the Ministry of Education and Science will request the European Commission to include it on the official EQF platform.

Criterion 10 (EQF)

Following the referencing process, and in line with the timelines set in the Recommendation, all new qualification certificates, diplomas and Europass documents issued by the competent authorities contain a clear reference, by way of national qualifications systems, to the appropriate European Qualifications Framework level.
Following the referencing process, all new qualification certificates, diplomas and Europass documents issued by competent bodies will contain a clear reference to the NQF and the EQF level. In order to implement the requirements of Criterion 10 for all levels of education, legislative amendments, including the rulebooks and the formats of the respective documents will take place. For the higher education sector this requirement has been covered with the format of the Diploma Supplement which in use.
Example of Diploma Supplement issued by the University “Goce Delcev” - Shtip is provided on the website: http://mrk.mk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Diploma_supplement_UGD.pdf.