Statute

Unofficial automatic translation. Statute of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC, 2025)

APPROVED

By Order No. V-1002 of the Minister of

Education, Science and Sport of the Republic

of Lithuania of 30 September 2025

STATUTE OF THE CENTRE FOR QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Statute of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (hereinafter referred to as “the Statute”) shall lay down the legal basis for the activities of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (hereinafter referred to as 'the Centre'), the areas and types of its activities, its purpose, tasks, objectives, functions, rights and obligations, the organisation and management of its activities, its funds, the procedure for their use and the control of its financial activities.

2. The Centre is a public legal person with its own bank account and stamp bearing the coat of arms of the State and its name. The Centre's legal entity code is 111959192. The Centre's trademark is registered in the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. The abbreviated name of the Centre is SKVC. The address of its registered office is Vilnius, A. Goštauto st. 12. The website where the Centre's public announcements are published is https://skvc.lrv.lt/. Legal form – budgetary institution. In order to achieve the aims and objectives set out in these Statutes, the Centre shall organise its work and take decisions independently, within the limits of its competence.

3. The owner of the Centre is the Republic of Lithuania, and the institution exercising the rights and duties of the owner of the Centre is the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministry”). The competence of the Ministry to exercise the rights and duties of the owner of the Centre shall be determined by the Law on Budgetary Institutions of the Republic of Lithuania, the Regulations of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 21 July 1998 No 914 'On the Approval of the Provisions of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania', and by other legal acts relating to the implementation of the functions of the Ministry.

4. The Centre acts in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Council of Europe and the UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Related to Higher Education in the States of the European Region (hereinafter referred to as the "Lisbon Recognition Convention"), the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, Law on Research and Studies of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Education of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Vocational Education and Training of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Public Administration of the Republic of Lithuania, international treaties, legal acts of the European Union, The Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), other legislation related to the Centre's activities, and this Statute.

5. The Centre shall plan its activities taking into account the strategic objectives of the long-term development of the State and the needs of the implementation of Lithuania's international commitments in the field of research and studies.

6. The Centre's field of activity: public administration in the field of research and studies and vocational education and training.

7. Types of the Centre's activities (according to the Classification of Economic Activities):

7.1. primary – general public administration activities (code 84.11.90), regulation of health, education, culture and other social services with the exception of social insurance (code 84.12.00);

7.2. other – organization of meetings and business events (code 82.30.00), education service activities (code 85.60).

8. The terms used in these Regulations correspond to the terms used in the Lisbon Recognition Convention, the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, the Law on Education, the Law on Higher Education and Research, the Law on Vocational Education and Training, and the Description of the Procedure for the Academic Recognition of Education and Qualifications Acquired under Educational Programmes of Foreign States and International Organisations, approved by Resolution No. 212 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 2 February 2012 “On the Approval of the Description of the Procedure for the Academic Recognition of Education and Qualifications Acquired under Educational Programmes of Foreign States and International Organisations” (hereinafter referred to as the “Description”).

9. Amendments to the Statute of the Centre may be initiated by the Director of the Centre, the Council of the Centre (hereinafter referred to as the “Council”), the Ministry. Draft amendments to the Centre's Statutes shall be discussed at a meeting of the Council. After the Council has discussed the draft at its meeting, the Director of the Centre shall submit the draft amendments to the Statute to the Minister of Education, Science and Sport.

10. Orders of the Minister of Education, Science and Sport approving, amending, or declaring the Regulations of the Centre as no longer in force shall be published in the Register of Legal Acts. The identification codes of such orders of the Minister of Education, Science and Sport in the Register of Legal Acts (hereinafter referred to as the “Identification codes”) shall be submitted to the Register of Legal Entities. The Director of the Centre shall be responsible for submitting the identification codes to the Register of Legal Entities.

CHAPTER II

PURPOSE, OBJECTIVES, AND FUNCTIONS OF THE CENTER

11. The purpose of the Centre is to encourage higher education institutions to ensure the quality of their studies and other activities, to foster a culture of quality and to create conditions for the free movement of persons.

12. The Centre's activities shall be guided by the principles of impartiality, professionalism, openness and cooperation.

13. The Centre's objectives are to:

13.1.  to conduct external evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions and their study programs, to advise higher education institutions within its competence, to publicise the results of the evaluation, to carry out the follow-up of the external evaluation and to analyse indicators related to the quality of studies;

13.2.                                                                ;

13.3. to examine applications submitted by providers of vocational education and training regarding the issuance of licences for formal vocational education and training, the addition of licence data, refusal to issue such licences, amendment (clarification) of licence data, suspension of licence validity, lifting of the suspension of licence validity, and revocation of licence validity.

14. In order to accomplish the task referred to in sub-paragraph 13.1 of the Statute, the Centre performs the following functions:

14.1. organises and/or carries out the evaluation of studies of higher education institutions of the Republic of Lithuania;

14.2. evaluates applications submitted by higher education institutions in accordance with the form specified in the Regulations on Teacher Education approved by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, for the purpose of obtaining or extending the status of a teacher education centre, and submit a corresponding proposal to the Minister of Education, Science and Sport;

14.3. evaluates free-form requests submitted by teacher education centres for the revocation of the status of a teacher education centre, and submit a proposal to the Minister of Education, Science and Sport;

14.4. accredits the studies of the study fields carried out by higher education institutions of the Republic of Lithuania;

14.5. carries out annual monitoring of the study fields being implemented;

14.6. organises the external review of higher education institutions of the Republic of Lithuania;

14.7. organises the external evaluation of the performance of branches of foreign higher education institutions;

14.8. accredits higher education institutions of the Republic of Lithuania;

14.9. assesses and provides conclusions on the compliance of a higher education institution or a branch of a foreign higher education institution seeking permission to carry out studies and study-related activities with the conditions laid down in the Law on Research and Studies;

14.10. assesses the readiness of branches of foreign higher education institutions to implement study programmes in the Republic of Lithuania, or cooperates when such an assessment is carried out by another quality assurance agency included in the Register of European Quality Assurance Agencies for Higher Education, or on other grounds as provided for in international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania;

14.11. conducts quality assurance monitoring of non-state higher education institutions that intend to discontinue studies and study-related activities, until all students have completed their studies;

14.12. conducts the evaluation of study performance of research and study institutions for the purpose of allocating state budget incentive funding to science and study institutions based on study performance achievements;

14.13. upon the request of foreign entities, carries out evaluation of activities and studies of foreign higher education institutions, issues accreditation, organises external evaluation of other quality agencies, consults foreign higher education institutions and organisations performing external quality assurance functions or their founders (legal entity participants) on quality assurance issues;

14.14. deals with requests and complaints from individuals concerning the quality of studies;

14.15. prepares and develops methodologies and guidelines for the self-assessment, external evaluation, accreditation and follow-up of higher education institutions, and makes proposals for new legislation or amendments on the evaluation of the quality of studies;

14.16. as part of its follow-up activities, analyses the effectiveness of the implementation of recommendations to higher education institutions;

14.17. analyses the results of external evaluations, performance indicators of higher education institutions and prepares quality reviews of higher education;

14.18. coordinates the preparation and updating of study field descriptors and submits them to the Minister of Education, Science and Sport for approval;

14.19. collects, analyses, and shares examples of best practices regarding quality assurance and evaluation of higher education institutions in foreign countries; advises higher education institutions, institutions responsible for formulating and implementing science and study policies, and other entities in the Republic of Lithuania and abroad; conducts training and organizes other events in the field of higher education quality assurance and internationalization;

14.20. publishes on the Centre's website and in other ways the conclusions, decisions, recommendations and summaries of the evaluation of the activities of higher education institutions and the field of study.

15. In order to accomplish the task referred to in sub-paragraph 13.2 of the Statute, the Centre performs the following functions:

15.1. conducts the academic recognition of qualifications related to higher education under the conditions laid down in the Description;

15.2. continuously collects and, as necessary, provides information to natural and legal persons on the education systems of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign states, with a view to ensuring academic recognition of qualifications, academic and professional mobility, and international cooperation;

15.3. examines reports submitted annually to the Centre by the Research Council of Lithuania, authorised higher education institutions, vocational education and training institutions, and other vocational education and training providers, in accordance with the time limits and periodicity established by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, in the form approved by the Centre, concerning the academic recognition procedures and results applied by the aforementioned organisations;

15.4. annually submits to the Ministry a free-form report on the academic recognition of qualifications carried out by the Centre, the Research Council of Lithuania, authorised higher education institutions, vocational education and training institutions, and other vocational education and training providers, and, where necessary, propose improvements to the practice and legal regulation of academic recognition of qualifications;

15.5. hears the appeals against decisions taken by higher education institutions on academic recognition of foreign qualifications;

15.6. provides training and consultations related to the assessment and academic recognition of foreign qualifications, the education systems of foreign countries and the Republic of Lithuania;

15.7. provides information and/or recommendations to higher education institutions, providers of vocational education and training, general education schools, employers, and other interested legal and natural persons regarding the assessment and recognition of Lithuanian and foreign qualifications and partial studies, as well as the assignment of higher education qualifications to the relevant field of study where the field of study is not indicated in the educational documents and there is no higher education institution that awarded the qualification to assign it to the relevant field of study, or where the qualification has been acquired abroad;

15.8. collects, analyses and shares good practice in the assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications;

15.9. takes decisions on the determination of equivalences of learning subjects and the conversion of grades for persons who have obtained foreign qualifications and intend to apply for short-cycle, first-cycle or integrated studies, and who are competing for state-funded study places or study scholarships, and also provides related information and recommendations;

15.10. develops and shares methodological and information tools on the assessment and academic recognition of qualifications, the transfer of grades, national education systems, and other related internationalisation issues, and issues proposals for legislation improvement within its remit;

15.11. makes proposals to the Ministry for wider automatic recognition of qualifications.

16. In order to accomplish the task referred to in sub-paragraph 13.3 of the Statute, the Centre performs the following functions:

16.1. reviews applications submitted by legal or natural persons seeking to obtain a licence to provide formal vocational education and training;

16.2. makes decisions on the issuance, supplementation, amendment, revocation, or refusal to issue a licence.

17. The Centre, in cooperation with the Centre for the Development of Qualifications and Vocational Training, shall participate in the implementation of the Lithuanian Qualifications Framework, within its competence as defined in Chapter II of this Statute.

18. In order to accomplish the tasks, the Centre shall also perform other functions set out in the Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, Decrees of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Orders of the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, the Statute of the Centre, and other legal acts related to the activities of the Centre, including participation in the preparation of drafts of international treaties, Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, Decrees of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union, as well as submission of comments and proposals on drafts of legal acts being prepared by other state institutions, bodies and organisations.

CHAPTER III

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

19. In the exercise of its functions, the Centre shall have the right to:

19.1. to take appropriate, transparent, proportional and non-discriminatory actions and/or measures to achieve the objectives and tasks set out in paragraphs 11 and 13 of this Statute;

19.2. be a member of international non-profit organisations and networks active in fields related to the Centre's activities, participate in national and international projects, as well as in international events dealing with issues related to higher education;

19.3. represent the Centre in international organisations and networks and at international events on issues related to higher education;

19.4. to set up working or expert groups, commissions, and engage experts to carry out the functions of the Centre;

19.5. to remunerate the members of working or expert groups, commissions and experts for the work carried out;

19.6. to receive from the Ministry, state and research and study institutions, as well as from other persons, all the information necessary for the implementation of its tasks and the performance of its functions;

19.7. to enter into contracts with natural and legal persons of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign states, which are necessary for the implementation of the tasks of the Centre or to ensure the working conditions;

19.8. to issue information publications, to publish information in mass media and in other ways.

20. The Centre shall have other rights established by the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania.

21. The Centre shall have the following duties in the implementation of its tasks:

21.1. to perform the functions assigned to it in a timely and proper manner;

21.2. to submit to the Ministry annually the following information: the activity plan for the current year (which is discussed with the Council), not later than 31 January; the report on the Centre's activities for the previous calendar year not later than 31 March; the summary of the evaluation of the quality of studies results for the previous calendar year not later than 30 September;

21.3. to provide the Ministry, research and study institutions, as well as other legal entities with information related to the Centre's activities;

21.4. to be externally evaluated once every five years, to improve its activities on the basis of the self-assessment and the recommendations of the evaluation, and to make this public.

22. The Centre shall have other duties established by the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.

CHAPTER IV

GOVERNING BODIES OF THE CENTER

23. The governing bodies of the Centre are the Council and the Director.

24. The Council shall be a collegial governing body composed of 11 members. One member of the Council for a term of 6 years shall be delegated by the Committee on Education and Science of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, two members for a term of 6 years shall be delegated by the organisations uniting universities and colleges (2 members for each sector), four members for a term of 6 years shall be delegated by the organisations uniting social partners, and one member shall be delegated by the organisation of students for a term of 2 years. A member of the Council delegated by the Committee on Education and Science of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania must be an international expert living and working outside the Republic of Lithuania. The composition of the Council shall be announced by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport.

25. A member of the Council shall hold office until the expiry of his/her term of office, except in the following cases:

25.1. a member of the Council resigns;

25.2. the member of the Council is recalled by the appointing entity;

25.3. the Council member does not properly perform the duties of a Council member;

25.4. a court verdict was issued against the Council member;

25.5. a member of the Council dies or is unable to perform the functions of a member of the Council due to other objective reasons.

26.  Where the term of office of a member of the Council ends prematurely, a replacement member shall be appointed at the initiative of the Chair of the Council to serve until the end of the term of office of the member whose term has ended.

27. The Centre shall contact the entities empowered to delegate Council members no later than 2 months before the end of the Council member's term of office. The entities empowered to appoint members of the Council shall appoint them within one month from the date of the Centre's request. After the appointment, the Centre shall apply to the Ministry for the publication of the composition of the Council. The Chairperson of the Council shall be elected for a period of 3 years by a simple majority of all Council members. The Vice-Chairperson of the Council shall be elected in the same manner on the proposal of the Chairperson of the Council.

28. If a new member of the Council is not appointed in due time after the expiry of the term of office of a member of the Council, the outgoing member of the Council shall hold office until a new member of the Council is appointed, but not longer than 2 months.

29. The Council shall draw up and adopt its rules of procedure. Decisions shall be taken by a majority of all members of the Council. Meetings of the Council shall be valid if at least 8 Council members are present.

30. The remuneration of members of the Council shall be paid in accordance with the procedure established by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Remuneration of Employees of Budgetary Institutions and on Remuneration for Work of Members of Commissions.

31. The conditions for the work of the Council shall be provided by the Centre.

32. The Council shall perform the following functions:

32.1. consider and approve the vision and mission of the Centre, and the strategic plan submitted by the Director;

32.2. provide proposals to the Director regarding the expectations formulated by the institution exercising the rights and obligations of the owner for the Director’s term of office;

32.3. provide proposals to the Director regarding the annual activity plan of the Centre and consider it;

32.4. consider and approve the annual activity report of the Centre submitted by the Director, and submit proposals to the Ministry if it decides not to approve the annual activity report of the Centre;

32.5. provide proposals on the improvement of the organisation of the institution’s activities, quality assurance of studies, academic recognition of foreign qualifications, and other issues in the field of higher education;

32.6. prepare and publish the Council’s annual activity report on the Centre’s website.

33. In carrying out its functions, the Council shall have the right to receive from the Centre and the Ministry the information necessary for the performance of its functions, as well as to organise extended meetings of the Council, to which the Centre's civil servants and employees, experts, representatives of state institutions, research and study institutions, and representatives of other social partners are invited.

34. The members of the Council shall duly and timely perform the functions assigned to the Council. A member of the Council shall remain politically neutral in relation to participants in the political process and, in the event of a change in political power, shall ensure the continuity of the public interest. In their activities, members of the Council shall be guided by the principles of accountability for decisions taken, efficiency, legality, objectivity, transparency, equal treatment, and proportionality. When taking decisions, members of the Council shall comply with ethical requirements, avoid conflicts of public and private interests, not disclose confidential information, and not publicly comment on the voting of individual members of the Council.

35. The activities of the Council shall be public. Closed meetings may be held in the cases provided for in the Council's Rules of Procedure.

36. The Director shall be the sole governing body of the Centre and shall be appointed to and dismissed from office in accordance with the procedure established by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Civil Service.

37. The Director of the Centre shall perform the following functions:

37.1. act on behalf of the Centre;

37.2. represent the Centre in relations with legal and natural persons of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign legal and natural persons, or delegates a part of these functions to civil servants or employees of the Centre in accordance with their competences;

37.3. organise the work of the Centre in such a way as to ensure the fulfilment of the Centre's purpose, objectives and functions;

37.4. ensure compliance with laws, regulations and the Centre's Statutes

37.5. report to the Council and the Ministry;

37.6. submit to the Council for approval the mission and vision of the Centre, and the strategic plan;

37.7. disagreeing with the Council's decision, may apply to the Council with a reasoned request to reconsider the decision. The Council must consider the request within 30 days of receipt of the Director's request. At the request of the Director, the Council's decisions shall be reconsidered once;

37.8. approve the organisational structure of the Centre, the regulations of structural units, and the list of positions;

37.9. approve the job descriptions of the civil servants and employees of the Centre;

37.10. recruit and dismisses civil servants and employees of the Centre working under employment contracts, promotes them, and imposes official or disciplinary penalties, lump-sum payments and allowances on them, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on the Civil Service, the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and the legal acts implementing them;

37.11. establish, within the limits of the approved annual wage fund and in accordance with the procedure laid down in the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, the remuneration and incentive system for civil servants and employees of the Centre;

37.12. shall ensure, in accordance with the procedure established by the Civil Service Law, the qualification development of the Centre's civil servants and the evaluation of their professional performance;

37.13. organise the examination of complaints concerning the actions of civil servants and employees of the Centre;

37.14. organise and coordinates the activities of the Centre, takes decisions on all matters related to the activities of the Centre, or delegates part of these functions to civil servants and/or employees of the Centre in accordance with their competence in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

37.15. issue orders and approve other documents of the Centre, and supervise their implementation;

37.16. approve the annual activity plans and submit them to the Ministry after consideration by the Council;

37.17. attend meetings of the Council;

37.18. take care of the intellectual, material and financial resources of the Centre;

37.19. ensure that the sets of accounts and statistical reports submitted in accordance with the Law on Public Sector Accountability of the Republic of Lithuania are correct;

37.20. ensure the rational and economical use of funds and assets, the effective establishment, operation and improvement of the internal control system of the budgetary institution;

37.21. perform other functions established by the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania.

38. The Director of the Centre is responsible for:

38.1.  the compliance with the laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts in the activities of the Centre;

38.2.  the preparation of the Centre's activity report for the previous year and its submission to the Council, the Ministry and the public;

38.3   the implementation of the tasks set for the Centre, for the performance of its functions and duties, and for the Centre's economic and financial activities;

38.4.  the safety of work at the Centre.

39. Where the Director of the Centre is temporarily unable to perform his/her functions due to illness, leave or other reasons, such functions shall be temporarily performed by the Deputy Director of the Centre (one of the Deputy Directors) in accordance with the substitution procedure approved by order of the Director of the Centre, and, in the absence thereof, by another civil servant of the Centre.

CHAPTER V

FUNDS, PROCEDURES FOR THEIR USE AND CONTROL OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

40. The Centre shall be financed from the State budget of the Republic of Lithuania. The Centre may receive income from the costs of evaluations, activities and quality agency evaluations of foreign institutions, events and other services, projects carried out at the request of foreign entities, as well as from other legally obtained funds.

41. The Centre shall be financed from the State budget of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the Law on Budget Structure of the Republic of Lithuania and legal acts regulating the accounting of budgetary institutions.

42. The Centre may receive support in accordance with the procedure established by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Charity and Support and shall use such support in accordance with the procedure established by that Law.

43. The Centre shall be subject to the control of the authorised state authorities over its activities, financial and economic activities.

CHAPTER VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

44. The Centre shall be reorganised or liquidated on the grounds, in accordance with the procedure and under the conditions laid down in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Budgetary Institutions and the legal acts implementing them.

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