Within the TST project, the Centre for Information and Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education (CIP) passed the external evaluation procedure with representatives of ENIC/NARIC centres of Italy and Lithuania in the role of experts who did a peer review site visit in the premises of the CIP based on a self-evaluation report done by the management of the CIP. This was just a confirmation of CIP's commitment to reach the highest standards in the field of recognition and to implement the Lisbon Recognition Convention in Bosnia and Herzegovina fully. Additionally, CIP is one of the rare ENIC/NARIC centres which passed three rounds, out of five rounds from the beginning of this concept of ENIC/NARICs evaluation. After the site visit, the peer review team published a report with key recommendations for further improving the CIP domestic and international procedures and activities which will improve an already achieved excellence of the CIP and its staff.
The peer review concept with Standards & Guidelines for improving the recognition procedures of the ENIC-NARIC centres has been developed as a quality assurance instrument since 2012 for the ENIC-NARIC networks and is based on the criteria of the Lisbon Recognition Convention. Individual ENIC-NARIC centres can use it on a fully voluntary basis to review and improve their practices towards compliance with the LRC, in areas they themselves find most fitting.
The instrument consists of 6 Standards & Guidelines, and a protocol for conducting a self-evaluation (including SWOT) and an external peer review by two other ENIC-NARIC centres. The self-evaluation and a peer review have a formative approach focused on continuous improvement in areas chosen by the centre under review. An external peer review is recommended every 5 years or in case of major changes to the centre.
A project application for a new round of peer reviews in 2023-2025 has been submitted to the European Commission in June 2022. The Standards & Guidelines were adopted by the centres of the ENIC-NARIC networks during their Annual Joint Meeting 2019 in Cologne, Germany.
