As a centre of expertise, the EASO Training and Professional Development Centre already provides high-quality training aimed at ensuring that Member State asylum and reception officials are equipped to perform their tasks in line with good practice and the Common European Asylum System. This does not mean that we leave any room for complacency! 

Instead, we are striving to create a veritable quality culture. We are in the process of aligning all our processes with European standards in the field of education and training to achieve our goal of becoming an accredited training provider offering certified training programmes. 

A quality culture entails establishing a common understanding of what we mean by quality in the framework of our training activities so that we can maintain our high standards consistently wherever training is delivered. It also requires a system in place which lays out the structure needed to achieve a robust training quality system and to ensure continuous improvement. 

Together with Member States, we defined our EASO Training Quality Assurance Framework. The transition to full implementation is expected to last two to three years.

Changes are being implemented throughout the training cycle and include:

• Remodelling the Training Curriculum so that it is more learner-centred and better responds to the needs of Member States by using the ESQF  competence framework to ensure learning is linked to job tasks. 
• Enhancing the learner experience by revamping the EASO e-learning platform and applying a new visual identity to online components. 
• Introducing assessments. The introduction of assessments is perhaps the biggest change. Existing trainers will be given the opportunity to validate existing knowledge and skills and acquire new competencies necessary to deliver certified training. Assessments will remain a voluntary option, however they offer the opportunity for recognising and affirming that officials have achieved the intended learning outcomes of a module. 
• The development of training courses for trainers-for-trainers and national trainers. This is a process, which will further improve the quality of our training offer. 
• We also believe that learning is a continuous process, and we are planning to expand our training offer to include continuing professional development (CPD) to ensure that officials working in this sector have the opportunity to upskill and receive training throughout their career. 

We continue to rely on external stakeholders including working groups, national contact points, networks and trainers during this process of change and our priority is to keep stakeholders abreast of the important changes that are taking place. 

A number of meetings have been held to inform our stakeholders about ongoing changes, to discuss with them the practical aspects of implementation and to build on their feedback to fine-tune and improve.

11th March 2021 - Training Reference Group Meeting 

The Reference Group was informed of the implementation of the TQAF and the transition process

23rd and 24th March 2021 - 21st Certification and Accreditation Working Group Meeting  

The CAWG have been closely involved in the development of the TQAF and  members will continue to liaise between EASO and their Member States on all issues concerning training quality as our ‘change agents’

13th and 14th April 2021 – Training National Contact Points Meeting 

Our Training National Contact Points will also be key partners as we begin implementing the TQAF and starting the process of certifying trainers to deliver certified modules.

11th-12th May - Trainers Network Meeting

Trainers learnt about the transition process and participative breakout sessions were held to discuss specific areas of change. 

 
A Transition Communication Space has been made available where stakeholders are encouraged to ask questions and discuss the practicalities of transition.

Bilateral meetings have recently kicked off providing Member States with an opportunity to discuss the practicalities of the transition process as it relates to their country-specific context.