The Recommendation on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (hereafter referred to as the "Recommendation on the establishment of the EQF), of 23 April 2008, invites the member states to reference their national qualifications systems to the EQF levels. The process is conditional on fulfilment of ten criteria and procedures approved by the EOF Advisory Group. One of the criteria is to elaborate the Report on the Implementation and the Results of the Referencing Process and submit it to the European Commission. The Report on the Referencing of the National Qualifications Framework of the Czech Republic to the EQF, which was elaborated in the EQF Coordination Point with the participation of experts from various areas of education and discussed with the various interested parties involved, describes the result of the referencing process in the Czech Republic, taking into consideration all conditions stipulated by the Recommendation on the establishment of the EQF and by the EQF Advisory Group.
The Czech Republic has referenced the Czech educational and qualifications system to the European Qualifications Framework. The National Qualifications Framework, whose common descriptors would describe the levels of all qualifications, has not been developed yet. The currently used system of classification of the qualifications acquired at the stage of initial education (Classification of Core Branches of Education, hereafter referred to as the CCBE) and the qualifications levels used within the register of the National Qualifications System (hereafter referred to as "NQS") make the referencing to the EQF levels possible – due to the fact that both the curriculums for initial education and the descriptors of the levels and the standards for qualifications listed in the NQS follow from the principles and the objectives of the results of learning.
The text of the report, in the introductory part, explains the reasons why the report was elaborated and what its purpose is. The second part describes the educational and qualifications system in the Czech Republic and the quality assurance. The third part provides a detailed description of fulfilment of the ten criteria and procedures stipulated by the EQF Advisory Group. In the fourth, final part, possible future development is indicated, in terms of the convergence of qualifications frameworks for educational areas already established and currently formed, in particular, for the initial primary and secondary education, for tertiary education (formed within the Q-RAM project) and for further education (the framework of the NQS system). There are several appendices which provide more detailed description of the procedures, or provide citations from supporting materials and documents in order to demonstrate the eligibility of the referencing process results according to the glossary included in the Recommendation on the establishment of the EQF, where "qualification" means "a formal outcome of an assessment and validation process which is obtained when a competent body determines that an individual has achieved learning outcomes to given standards". The usage of the term "qualification(s)" in this report is in compliance with the definition despite the fact that comprehension of the term within the Czech environment may vary.
Elaborated in the EQF Coordination Point of the National Institute of Technical and Vocational Education, following source documents prepared within the EQF NCP project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Centre for Higher Education Studies and the Research Institute of Education.