Summer 2016 was a special for Center of Excellence of Healthcare and Pharmacy Specialists: the Center has been awarded the European Quality Mark (EQM).

What is EQM?

The EQM is a quality assurance mark for all providers of non-formal learning throughout Europe. It is a system for quality assuring non-formal learning providers and their activities, services and work. EQM measures how effectively the organisation understands what systems and activities are required to provide and support quality learning in relation to the European standards for quality assurance of adult learning. It is designed to help learning providers meet the emerging European and national requirements for quality. It can also be used to support quality development and quality assurance in any other kind of learning provider's.

The EQM is a quality mark initially jointly developed by partners from eight European countries. Autumn 2014 four partners from Nordic and Baltic countries started a development project with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers under the Nordplus adult program on improving and developing the quality accreditation system EQM, European Quality Mark, for providers of non-formal adult learning. The project ended in 2016 with renewed versions of the EQM products: Application form, Guidelines and Self-Assessment Form, Assessor Guidelines, Training program, Leaflet, the role of National EQM Authority.

Why is the EQM cost effective?

The EQM offers support to identify areas for development and improvement, if the provider cannot meet the criteria set out in the EQM Assessment Form. Providers meeting the criteria set out in the EQM Assessment Form are encouraged to share their good practice with other learning providers throughout Europe for improving quality of non-formal learning on transnational level. The EQM is a tool for implementing quality in one’s work through a dialogue between all partners involved. The EQM is not a competition, it is a club of excellent learning providers aiming for a better quality within the non-formal learning sector.

Who is using the EQM now?
As for now, several Life Long Learning providers are using the EQM for improving the quality of their work. Some of them have been accreditet, others are using the EQM tools to work for a better quality of their learning provisions. Here you will find a list of the providers using the EQM in their work with quality. The leader of the EQM  use in Europe is currently Iceland: sixteen non-formal adult education providers have already EQM. In other countries the project EQM are just starting their way: in Lithuania is one EQM institution, in Estonia are three adult learning providers using the EQM tools to work for a better quality of their learning provisions,. 

National EQM Authority

The main role of the National EQM Authority is to establish the EQM quality mark on a national level and participate on a European level in the development of the quality mark. The National EQM Authorities for now are:

• Education and Training Service Centre (Iceland, http://www.frae.is/) coordinator
• Estonian Folk High Schools Union (Estonia, http://www.rahvaulikoolideliit.ee/)
• Lithuanian Association of Adult Education (Lithuania, http://www.lssa.smm.lt/)
• The Norwegian Association for Adult Learning (Norway, http://www.vofo.no/)  

More information abou EQM:  www.europeanqualitymark.org