The qualification term in the context of LQF and EQF
According to the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning adopted by the European Parliament and Council in April 2008 "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".
And "learning outcomes means statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a learning process, which are defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence".
Thus, the term "qualification" covers all education sectors (vocational, general and higher education), all educational levels (basic, secondary and higher education, continuing education), as well as all education forms (formal, non-formal and informal learning).
Hence the Latvian qualifications framework includes not only professional qualifications (from basic to higher education level) but also general education and academic higher education qualifications.
