Jasmina Orešnik Cunja, Head of activity “Professional support for the development of quality in adult education”
Phone: +386 1 5842 596
E-mail: jasmina.oresnik.cunja@acs.si
Purpose and goals
The Green Quality Logo distinguishes educational organisations that systematically maintain and improve their quality and the quality of their services in the field of adult education. The purpose of the logo is to motivate educational organisations and experts to plan and approach the quality assessment and development of their own work in a systematic way.
By awarding the logo to organisations for adult education we help them establish, maintain and improve their internal quality systems. The SIAE has been awarding the Green Quality Logo for 15 years.
The main objectives of the project are:
To develop external motivation for systematic work on the development of internal quality systems in adult education organisations;
To encourage educational organisations to elevate their quality development from project-level activity to a regular activity;
To develop indicators and measurement to professionally and transparently evaluate whether the work of educational organisations on quality assessment and evaluation really is systematic, planned, and continuous;
To give organisations that participate in the Green Quality Logo process concrete feedback regarding their internal quality systems;
To help implement the public right to be informed which adult education organisations have implemented systematic plans for the assessment and development of their own work quality;
To promote adult education organisations with a systematic and planned approach to the assessment and development of their quality of work.
Description
The Logo is currently used by 38 organisations that offer adult education, including:
3 secondary schools,
1 school centre,
28 adult education centres, and
6 private educational organisations.
Image: Visualisation of the geographic location of Green Quality Logo holders across Slovenia.
The list of all Green Quality Logo holders can be foundhere.
To acquire the right to use the Green Quality logo, an organisation needs to submit a written application and documentation to prove that it meets the standards and criteria (available only in Slovenian) defined in the Regulation for the Acquisition and Extension of the Right to Use the Green Quality Logo. When it is first awarded the right to use the logo, the organisation must also sign the Rules on Logo Use and commit to respecting them.
Organisations can use the logo on their websites, in written communications, in proposals, on informational and promotional materials, on general documents, in advertisements, on desks, on message boards, etc. The Green Quality Logo can only be used in relation to adult education offered by the organisation.
To keep the right to use the logo, the organisation must prove every three years that it systematically implements the processes of a continuous quality assessment and in-depth self-evaluation.
The organisations that meet all the prescribed criteria for the acquisition or extension of the right to use the logo will receive a certificate by the SIAE confirming that they have the right to use the Green Quality Logo.
Any organisation whose right to use the logo has expired, or who wants to acquire this right for the first time, can apply with the SIAE. The applications can be submitted once a year through a web application. The representatives of the organisation can be trained on the use of the application in advance, if required.
The Slovene Institute for Adult Education implements the following activities as part of this project:
Once a year, we publish a public invitation to educational institutions to submit an application to acquire or extend the right to use the Green Quality logo;
We offer content, technical support. and guidance to educational organisations during the process of preparing and submitting the application;
We develop and improve the indicators and measures of quality used to evaluate the activities and achievements of educational organisations that are required to acquire the Green Quality logo;
We appoint the Committee for awarding and extending the right to use the Green Quality logo (short name: Committee for the Green Quality logo);
The Committee for the Green Quality logo evaluates the submitted applications and decides whether the organisation should receive the right or an extension of the right to use the Green Quality logo;
In general, once a year we organise an educational meeting for all organisations that want to re-apply or apply for the first time, before the application process begins.
Standards and criteria to acquire the logo
In accordance with the Regulation for the Acquisition and Extension of the Right to Use the Green Quality Logo applicable since 1 January 2016, an organisation can be awarded the Green Quality Logo if it educates adults and can prove that it meets the required standards and criteria.
The organisation must prove that:
it included internal processes for quality of adult education in its key strategic documents;
it addresses the issues of quality of adult education at adult education conferences or other equivalent meetings of educators within the organisation;
it has a quality committee/group;
it uses different measures for internal evaluation of adult education quality;
it monitors and evaluates different adult education quality factors;
it implements systematic, planned, in-depth self-evaluation as part of regular self-evaluation cycles;
it prepares written action plans for the development of quality of adult education as part of regular self-evaluation cycles;
it implements improvements of adult education quality as part of regular self-evaluation cycles.
To evaluate whether an organisation meets the standard, we use the criteria for awarding or extending the right to use the Green Quality Logo, which are annexed to the Regulation for the Acquisition and Extension of the Right to Use the Green Quality Logo.
Each criterium is worth a certain number of points. To acquire or keep the right to use the Green Quality Logo, an organisation must prove that it meets all the standards of quality and achieve at least 10 points (of the 18 points possible) according to the criteria used for the evaluation of these standards.
Developmental milestones
The Green Quality Logo was developed through the following milestones:
2017
Implementation of the first procedure for the award and renewal of the Green Quality Label under the new Regulation. The right to use the sign is now granted for a period of three years.
2016
Renewal of the Rules on the Award and Extension of the Right to Use the Quality Label We offer adults a quality education - POKI. The policy came into force on October 1, 2016.
2015-2016
Revision of indicators and criteria for the mark, which allow for a professional and transparent external evaluation of whether the work of educational organizations in assessing and developing quality is systematic, planned and continuous.
2013
Analysis of data acquired through the survey of adult education providers served as the basis for further professional development of the Green Quality Logo initiative.
2012
Survey of the logo holders about the importance and role of the Green Quality Logo within the adult education organisations. The online survey was filled-out by 35 organisations.
2006
The first procedure of the application for an extension of the right to use the Green Quality Logo. If the criteria are met, the right to use the logo is extended for two years.
2004
The first logos were awarded. The logo was awarded to adult education organisations who participated in the OQAE project (for the duration of participation in the project and one year after).
2003-2004
Development of the Green Quality Logo initiative – the first SIAE encouragement for the adult education organisations for investments into quality.
Key achievements
So far, the project has accomplished the following key achievements:
We developed external professional support for the Green Quality logo, which rewards educational organisations for systematic work on the assessment or development of adult education quality;
We developed the infrastructure and guidance support for educational organisations that apply for the Green Quality logo;
We achieved a constant or increasing number of educational educations that apply to acquire or extend the right to use the Green Quality logo to prove their planned and systematic care for the quality of their work.
What do the organisations see as the biggest benefit of using or having used the Green Quality Logo?
We surveyed the Logo holders in 2013 and got the following answers.
“The biggest benefit is that we focus more systematically on developing individual areas. The second benefit is that the logo makes us more visible to potential participants – it highlights the work we put into monitoring and ensuring quality of education.”
“The logo is very important for us. It confirms that we are on the right path when it comes to a systematic approach to quality within the organisation. It opens up new opportunities. It is a good reference when we apply to calls for tenders. The entire team – employees and external contractors – participates in the improvement of quality and is more aware of our common values and vision. It encourages many activities we might otherwise not implemented. It brought new knowledge to our personnel.”
“Applying to extend the right encourages us to pay regular attention to the field of quality.”
“Using the Green Quality Logo raises awareness of the importance of the systematic improvement of quality, it introduces regular monitoring and challenges us to prove that we meet the standards, which definitely improves our quality. It also informs the users that we meet the rigorous criteria required to be able to use this logo.”
“The path to quality can be very strenuous, especially regarding the management and development of the organisation, but it is very much worth it in the long term. We need the professional guidance and support of the SIAE to walk this path.”
“We are very happy, as we have been using the logo for several years and every year, we are more aware of its value.”
List of Green Quality Logo holders
A list of organisations that have the right to use the Green Quality Logo can be found here.
In 2020, 38 adult education organisations have the right to use the Green Quality Logo.
