EX.PER.O - project Expectations and Perceptions of Quality
in Vocational Educational Training (VET)

http://www.expero.org

Overview | Partners | Background | Activities | Results | Press release | Duration

Overview

As it is necessary to increase adequateness of the Vocational Educational Training (VET) to the demand of the territory, this project aims to create a model of analysis and comparison between expectations and perception of the received service. The model ServQual (Parasuraman Berry , LL; and Zeithaml, GOES (1988) is considered a basic theoretical approach to the model, intensively adopted by Public Administration (from health service to public services in order to measure significant pointers for the received quality service. The ServQual model has been the first to establish a base for measurement of the service quality correlated not only to the perception itself, but to the customer expectations. The main limit is a higher displacement of the scale of the expectations. Expectations are consequence of former experiences compared with information, passed along by word of mouth, about the same or similar services, somebody else's experience, more or less reliable sources that supply elements to determine an outline about the service that we are considering.

If, on one side, the comparison between expectations and perception of the service could be a valid pointer of quality, on the other one it gives the opportunity to the service supplier (school) to adapt his own offer in order to implement more suitable expectations. The term “stakeholder” is used to distinguish all those subjects (persons or agencies) that are policy makers in the considered service. In a preliminary analyses of VET results evident as they cannot be ignored as category: the students, the families, the companies, the public agencies of reference to territorial and supranational level (DSR, Ministry, EC), teaching and non teaching school staff (inner customers), universities and so on. In order to focus interest in needy people (Disabled, immigrated drop-outs), their specific associations will be involved as STKs. The analysis of the expectations of these categories will allow a more adequate service both to let them enter the VET and later the work market. One of the main targets is to locate stakeholders for the considered VET and measure their weight. One of the first analysis, called Helen project, about the consolidated systems will be carried out by the Turin Polytechnic. They have already been creating a data base. These results will be complemented with those obtained by VET partners in the project. The first task will be to outline which stakeholder will be considered. During the first meeting the collected data will be compared and in a very first common work session in order to decide the common denominator among the Countries involved. Eventual important stakeholders not present in all partners' realities will be considered in a model according a common EU agreement. In order to focus interest in needy people (Disabled, immigrated drop-outs), their specific associations will be involved as STKs. The analysis of the expectations of these categories will allow a more adequate service both to let them enter the VET and later the work market.

Partners

• I.T.I. Malignani
  Udine - Italy
  
• Political Science Dep. - Univ. Trieste –
  Trieste - Italy
  
• Torino Polytechnic
  Torino, Italy
  
• IRRE Veneto
  Venice - Italy
  
• IPPSAR Borsellino –
  Palermo - Italy
  
• Officine Danieli Spa –
  Buttrio - Italy
  
• IREL D.D. –
  Ljubljana – Slovenija
  
• Mechanical Engineering Faculty – Alternative technologies dept.
  Univ. Ljubljana – Ljubljana, Slovenija
  
• Tecniski soski center
  Nova Gorica - Slovenija
  
• Srednja poklicna in tehnicna kmetijsko zivilska sola
  Nova Gorica - Slovenija
  
• Kaunas University of Technology –
  Kaunas, Lithuania
  
• Kauno Rysininku Mokikla –
  Lithuania
  
• Stucom Centre d' Estudis. –
  Barcelona - Spain
  
• Govaq –
  Barcelona - Spain
  
• DIA Sport –
  Sofia - Bulgaria
  

Needs

•  School Service far from national system necessities
•  Lack of comparison in the allocated service at national and supranational level
•  Lack of reliable information about STK expectations
•  STK subjective limit as reference
•  Lack of reliable monitoring service parameters
•  Incomplete information decisions

Aims

•  Adapt VET service to STK demand
•  Create a system to compare the quality of service
•  Consider all the components (internal and external) to define a system
•  Provide VET with service monitoring parameters
•  Provide policy makers with standard criteria to orientate decisions (Ministry, EC, Principals)

Activities

· First partner meeting in Udine, Italy
7-8 October 2005
Gallery
For more details please click here

· Second partner meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenija
23 - 24 January 2006
Gallery
For more details please click here

DIPLYAN_EXPERO.pdf (204 KB)

Results

•  School: reliable parameters in order to better define and orient the service to the STK expectations

•  Avoid self-referential and self-evaluation services.

•  The social system can consider social expectations to define the VET school policy

•  The policy makers can get validated pointers regarding VET service and reliable indications to orient Ministry actions.

•  EC: international cooperation, reciprocal knowledge of VET systems in EU, involvement of newcomer Countries in
a spirit of cooperation and shared project system, integration in EC, divulgation of supranational dimension in EC.

Duration

2005 - 2007