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Patrick Werquin reports back from the:
Continuity, Consolidation and Change, Thessaloniki, CEDEFOP, 16 March 2009
I went to Thessaloniki on 16-17 March 2009, to participate in one of the conferences of the Czech EU Presidency’s programme, organised by CEDEFOP, to talk about recognition of non-formal and informal learning: Emerging Issues, Costs and Benefits. The conference focused on progress in VET and, in particular, on how to resolve the tension between consolidating progress to date and continuing to strengthen European cooperation while keeping up with changing labour market demands and tackling a severe economic crisis. I was invited to talk about recognition of non-formal and informal learning because it is always – and more and more often – viewed as a key component of the overall strategy for VET, among others. About 140 persons attended, from 30 countries. The following paragraphs provide a brief summary of the purpose and findings of the Conference , they are extracted from the CEDEFOP Briefing Note on “Continuity, Consolidation and Change” (May 2009).
During his speech, Commissioner Ján Figel stated that: “European cooperation in education and training has produced results in three areas: national reforms of lifelong learning and qualification systems; the modernisation of higher education and vocational education and training (VET) systems; and the establishment of European instruments supporting quality, transparency and mobility. However, this is not enough; most of the benchmarks for 2010 will not be reached”, which I find crisp and enlightening.
Countries seem to agree on the areas to work on to improve VET. All want to improve the quality of training provided and make it more relevant to labour market needs. Countries also want to improve the take up into VET. According to CEDEFOP analysis based on Eurostat population projections made in 2004, there will be 600 000 fewer young VET graduates in 2030 than in 2005.
All countries have been busy introducing reforms and programmes that often combine financial incentives with greater flexibility to move between general education and VET. Access to higher education through VET studies is also being made easier. And special initiatives have been introduced to support vulnerable groups to ensure access to VET for all. Examples of policy reforms are:
- Expansion/development and implementation of national qualifications frameworks;
- Implementation/realisation of lifelong learning strategies for special target groups (disadvantaged, older workers, women);
- Simplification of recognition of non-formal and informal learning;
- Development of accreditation systems for VET and/or higher education;
- General education as part of all VET programmes (ISCED 3 and 4);
- VET as optional part of general education;
- Modularisation/double (combining general and VET) qualification; and
- Financial incentives (examples are tax incentives, subsidies, vouchers, learning accounts, savings schemes, cheap loans, training funds and combinations of these instruments)
The European Qualifications Framework has acted as a catalyst for reform, not least because it is based on learning outcomes, such as recognition of non-formal and informal learning, which measure what a person can do at the end of any type of learning experience. This is a radical shift from the current emphasis on learning processes (curricula, duration and place of learning).
Although there is progress and many examples of good practice, the conference emphasised that reforms still need to be translated into results. Progress in reaching the EU’s education and training benchmarks is disappointing. For example, only around 9.7% of the adult working population participate in lifelong learning (much of which is vocational), well below the EU’s benchmark of 12.5% by 2010. European tools have been developed, but still have to be implemented. Qualification frameworks do not yet make a real difference for people’s job or geographical mobility. Member States are working to link national qualifications frameworks to the EQF and to develop national VET quality assurance frameworks.
In that context, I stressed that recognition of non-formal and informal learning is not free, not even always cheap and that it cannot be considered a universal solution. Nevertheless, it is clearly an option for a certain category of the population (skilled people without qualifications or people willing to resume formal study (access) typically).
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