269. Agreement in accordance with Art. 15a B-VG between the Federal Government and the Länder on the recognition of the quality framework for adult education Ö-Cert

The federal government-represented by the Federal Minister for Education, Arts and Culture-and the Länder of Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna, represented by the regional governor respectively. the provincial governor-hereinafter referred to as the contracting party-have agreed to conclude the following agreement on matters relating to the management of the private sector in accordance with Article 15a of the Federal Constitutional Law:

Article 1

Objective and recognition

(1) The quality framework for adult education Ö-Cert (hereinafter referred to as "Ö-Cert") aims to recognise the Austrian-wide recognition of quality management systems and quality assurance procedures in adult education between the individual Countries as well as between the Federal Government and the Länder shall be guaranteed.

(2) Ö-Cert aims to provide clarity for participants in training activities, support providers and adult education organisations as to which quality management systems and quality assurance procedures in the Adult education throughout the Federal Republic of Germany is recognised by the contracting parties, as well as administrative simplification for funding agencies and adult education organisations.

(3) In order to achieve the objectives set out in points 1 and 2, the Contracting Parties undertake to award grants in accordance with their respective provisions, provided that they have a quality management system for adult education organisations. or a quality assurance procedure, in any case, to recognise the fulfilment of Ö-Cert as sufficient proof.

Article 2

Quality framework for adult education Ö-Cert

(1) It shall be agreed between the Contracting Parties Ö-Cert in accordance with the following provisions.

(2) Ö-Cert is fulfilled by an adult education organisation, if the following conditions are met:

1.		Proof of the presence of one of the quality management systems or quality assurance procedures from Appendix 1; the current list of quality management systems recognized by Ö-Cert and quality assurance procedures will be available via the website www.oe-cert.at published;
2.		Fulfilment of the basic requirements of Appendix 2.

(3) The fulfilment of Ö-Cert is indicated by the entry in a directory of the quality providers, with due regard for the data protection. The entry in the directory will be made for the duration of the respective certification plus six months. This directory is published via the www.oe-cert.at website.

(4) A withdrawal of Ö-Cert and a deletion from the list shall be carried out if the six-month tolerance limit is exceeded after the expiry of the respective certificate or if the basic conditions are no longer fulfilled.

(5) The Contracting Parties agree on the criteria for the recognition of quality management systems and quality assurance procedures in accordance with Appendix 3 as the basis for any updates to Appendix 1.

(6) A steering and accreditation group will be set up for the implementation of Ö-Cert.

Article 3

Steering Group

(1) The steering group includes as members a representative or one representative per country and four representatives of the federal government; experts or experts can be consulted with a consultative vote. The representatives of the countries will be nominated by the respective countries. The representatives of the federal government are nominated by the Federal Minister for Education, Arts and Culture.

(2) The tasks of the steering group are:

1.		Update of Appendix 1 in accordance with Art. 2 (5)
2.		Selection of members of the accreditation group in accordance with Art. 4
3.		Accordition of public relations and
4.		To have a point of order for the steering group and the accreditation group.

(3) Decisions pursuant to paragraph 2 (2), (2), (3) and (4) shall be taken in the presence of at least one-half of the voting members with three-quarters majority of the members who are present. Decisions pursuant to paragraph 2 (1) shall require the approval of all members of the steering group. The chairperson or chairman shall elect the steering group from its centre.

Article 4

Accreditation Group

(1) The accreditation group shall comprise five members who are scientifically active in the field of adult education or are experts in the field of adult education. The function period of the members shall be two years. Decisions shall be taken unanimously in the presence of at least four members.

(2) The tasks of the Accreditation Group are:

1.		Examination of the submitted applications for Ö-Cert and the decision on the award of Non-award of Ö-Cert (entry in the list) pursuant to Art. 2 (3) and examination and decision of the extension or recognition of this entry in the register; the decisions of the Accreditation Group should be brought to the attention of the Steering Group;
2.		Review of the semi-annual reports of adult education organisations, which have been provisionally included in the list and
3.		Publication of an annual report.

Article 5

Office and financing

The office is set up and financed by the Federal Minister for Education, Arts and Culture. The office also provides the infrastructure for the activities of the steering and accreditation group. The costs for the accreditation group are borne by the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.

The mission expenses of the country representatives in the steering group are borne by the sending countries.

Article 6

Relationship with legislation

§ 8 of the Federal Act on the Professional Tyre Test, BGBl, remains under this agreement. I n ° 68/1997, as amended by the BGBl version. I No 45/2010 is unaffected.

Article 7

In-force pedals

(1) This Agreement shall enter into force for all Contracting Parties whose communications on compliance with the provisions of the Federal Republic of Germany or in accordance with the national constitutions for the in-force meeting, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture has reached the necessary conditions until that date, and in force on 1 December 2011, provided that until that date the Federal Communications and at least six countries have received information. If this is not the case, it shall enter into force at the following month's year, in which the communications of the Federal Government and of at least six countries have entered into force.

(2) For each other Contracting Party, this Agreement shall enter into force on the month after the date of receipt of the notification.

(3) The Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture informs the countries about the in-force treks.

Article 8

Duration

The agreement will be concluded for an indefinite period of time and may be terminated in writing by each Contracting Party at any time, subject to a period of twelve months. In the event of a termination, the agreement shall remain in force for the remaining Contracting Parties, provided that the Federal Government and at least six countries remain Contracting Parties.

Article 9

Deposit

This Agreement shall be drawn up in a single original. The Urschrift is deposited with the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. This has to transmit certified copies of the agreement to all the contracting parties.

The agreement is for the countries of Carinthia, Niederöstereich, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria and Vorarlberg with 1 December 2011, for the Land Vienna with 1. January 2012, for the Land Tirol with 1. March 2012 and for the country Burgenland entered into force with 1 April 2012.

Faymann

Appendix 1

List of quality management systems and quality assurance procedures recognised for the quality framework for adult education Ö-Cert

1.	ÖNORM EN ISO 9001:2008	Austrian Standard, European Standard, International Organisation for Standardization 9001:2008
2.	EFQM	European Foundation for Quality Management: "committed to", "recognised for excellence"
3.	LQW	Learning-oriented quality development in continuing education
4.	QVB	Quality development in the network of educational institutions
5.	EduQua	Swiss quality certificate for further education institutions
6.	OÖ-EBQS	Quality seal of the Upper Austrian adult and continuing education institutions
7.	CERT-NÖ	CERT-Lower Austria, certification body for education and training providers Donau-Universität Krems
8.	SQS	Salzburg Quality Assurance/Quality Development Procedure
9.	Vienna-cert	Quality marks for Viennese educational institutions. Wiener Employees Förderungsfonds-a fund of the City of Vienna

Appendix 2

Basic requirements for inclusion in the quality framework for adult education
Ö-Cert

A.) General basic conditions-Guiding Paradigms of the Adult Education Institution

1. Basic educational philosophy Education has its own value in all phases of life: it has a positive effect on political participation, social coexistence, professional performance and personal identity. Education is more than instrumental learning, as qualification and training. 2. Lifelong learning Lifelong learning encompasses all formal, non-formal and informal learning at various learning locations from childhood to including the phase of retirement. Lifelong learning is defined as any goal-oriented learning activity that serves as a continuous improvement of knowledge, skills and competences. Learning is understood as the processing of information and experience on knowledge, insights and competences. 3. Adult education/training Adult education (synonym: further training) covers all forms of formal, non-formal and targeted informal learning by adults after the end of a first phase of education of different types, irrespective of the one in the first training phase. Process reached level. Adult education/training includes all professional, general, political and cultural teaching and learning processes for adults, which are controlled in the public, private and economic context by others and/or self-education. Adult education is based on educational policy strategies and social responsibility, organisational structures as well as legal and financial foundations. 4. Vendor Definition As a provider of adult education/training, all forms of organization (associations, companies, institutions, coordinating organisations of networks and collaborations) apply to adult education/continuing education in the sense of the above mentioned Offer definition.

B.) Organization-related basic requirements

1. The organisation * requires at least one offer in Austria, which is regular, planned and systematic and has to be communicated publicly; there is supply transparency. 2. Adult education/continuing education is the core task of the organization. 3. The organisation must have carried out adult education/training measures at the time of application for at least 3 economic/calendar years. 4. The head of the organization, or at least one employee, or a member of staff, must have a pedagogically sound form of training. Further training and a 2-year relevant professional practice. 5. The terms and conditions of the organization must be publicly transparent or to be generally accessible. *As a result, organization is also understood to mean organizational units that have a high degree of autonomy, financial and quality-relevant responsibilities and action powers. The organization units must therefore have essential elements of a stand-alone organization.