Cedefop newsletter

The European Commission initiative brought together schools, EU agencies including Cedefop, national and regional authorities to celebrate all things vocational education and training (VET) from 1 September till the end of the year.

Cedefop has contributed with various events and active input in November’s Brussels showstopper. It started with the policy learning forum on apprenticeships (7-8 September), followed by the first European guidance week, organised jointly with the Estonian EU Presidency and Foundation Innove (25-29 September), a peer conference on the impact of the national qualifications frameworks, organised jointly with the European Commission (9-10 November) and ReferNet’s annual plenary meeting (29-30 November).

In addition, the first-prize winners of the #CedefopPhotoAward 2017, Edita Aleksandravičienė and Irena Masandavičiūtė from the Siauliai Vocational Training Centre in Lithuania, received their trophy from European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Marianne Thyssen at the week’s closing ceremony in Brussels on 24 November. Their model, young barber Svajūnas Pranaitis, and their photography teacher Lina Masandavičiūtė were also honoured at the ceremony.

The Brussels events included a conference on promoting the vocational skills agenda, the first European business-education summit, and the closing awards presentation.

At a session on a sector skills alliances blueprint for cooperation, Cedefop expert Stelina Chatzichristou gave a keynote speech on skill needs identification. She stessed the impact on skills of ‘megatrends’ such as demography, technological developments, automation and climate change, focusing on the sectors of the second phase of the blueprint: additive manufacturing; construction; green technologies and renewable energy; maritime shipping; the paper-based sector; and steel industries. Ms Chatzichristou also highlighted the value of sources such as the Skills Panorama portal and other related Cedefop work.

A third vocational skills week has already been announced, to take place in Vienna (5 to 9 November 2018) in the framework of the Austrian EU Presidency.

Welcoming participants, Cedefop Director James Calleja highlighted the rapid increase of NQFs worldwide (now over 150): ‘During the last decade we have witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of qualifications frameworks; for some this indicates a policy learning process promising to improve transparency and communication while for others it signals a potentially negative policy copying.’

Mr Calleja argued that qualifications frameworks play an important role in the modernisation of vocational education and training (VET) and increase its standing. But, he added, they still have a long way to go to fulfil their potential. However, employers and training institutions work better with NQFs because they speak the same language.

Cedefop Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions Loukas Zahilas also talked about the NQFs' ability to make a difference to end users, but added that ‘the combination of countries with long experience and newcomers makes things interesting and complicated.’

European Commission’s Koen Nomden said that the concept of a peer learning conference was introduced for the first time. He also stated that 39 countries participate in the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), i.e. all 28 EU Member States and 11 non-EU countries.

Country experiences

Cedefop expert Slava Pevec Grm presented the European experience based on the agency's evidence. She stressed that countries have followed the EQF's overarching character and moved towards comprehensive frameworks encompassing VET, higher education and general education.

QQI’s John O'Connor described the Irish experience, saying that 'while the effects of NQFs are not well understood, they are likely to be indirect and diffuse, sometimes positive but also potentially insignificant or even harmful.'

South African Qualifications Authority CEO Joe Samuels presented his country’s qualifications framework. He said that ‘NQF stands for no quick fix and is a contested, living object; in South Africa, where there was racial discrimination in the past, it has been used as a tool of reform and has made a difference.’

Working group sessions on the first day approached the conference theme from policy-maker and research perspectives.

The second day started with a presentation of Cedefop's new European handbook on learning outcomes, followed by a debate on the workshop key findings.

The closing panel sought answers to three questions posed by Mr Zahilas: Why do we need NQFs and the EQF? Which are the basic ingredients for success? How can we evaluate impact?

Participants agreed that NQFs can be a key tool for supporting lifelong learning and recognition of learning outside the formal system.

Need for more research

Summing up the conference conclusions, Cedefop expert Jens Bjornavold listed the positives and the negatives.

On the positive side: NQFs have an influence on cross-sectoral cooperation, have benefitted VET, have strengthened the learning outcomes approach and are a link to validation.

As for the negatives: few NQFs reach individual citizens, in some cases learning outcomes are only implemented 'on paper', and the approach can't be taken for granted.

Mr Bjornavold stressed the importance of carrying out a literature review to evaluate NQF impact.

On the Commission side, Mr Nomden agreed that there is little research on the impact NQFs have and measuring it is challenging. He asserted that the EQF has been a successful tool.

In her closing remarks, Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia said that the NQFs are important tools to help make VET more visible and guide learners through what seems to be an increasingly complex lifelong learning process. She added: ‘There is an urgent need to develop and implement new education and training maps that speak directly to learners and employees, but also to employers and education and training providers.’

Qualifications frameworks are not the solution to everything, but, seen from the VET perspective, they do make a difference, concluded Ms Brugia.

The conference was a European vocational skills week 2017 event.

Social media: #NQFimpact

Cedefop launched the TCRs in 2014 to support cooperation among Member States at European level and to interact with individual countries wishing to develop quality apprenticeships in line with EU policies.

Opening the forum, which gathered 60 participants from 10 countries, Cedefop Head of Department for Learning and Employability Antonio Ranieri stressed that the improvement of Europe's economic context has had a favourable impact on apprenticeship schemes. He warned, however, that apprenticeships are not a shortcut to fighting unemployment – long-term planning is required.

European Commission’s Helen Hoffmann talked about inspirational cases of successful apprentices, pointing out the increasing importance of investing in apprenticeships as young people’s CVs now transcend borders.

Country representatives presented the main findings of the TCRs in their countries and ways of improving the reviews were discussed.

There have been three rounds of TCRs:

• the first round, in Malta and Lithuania, was concluded in 2015;
• the second, in Greece, Italy and Slovenia, finished in mid-2017;
• the third kicked off in early 2017 in Cyprus and Croatia. As part of this round, Cedefop is piloting a light version called flash TCRs in Belgium (French-speaking Community) and Sweden.

The forum workshops examined apprenticeships’ place in education and training systems, governance, training content and learning outcomes, and participation of, and support to, companies.

Cost-benefit analysis of apprenticeships and a lively exchange of views and recommendations for policy-making were on the menu on the second day.

In her closing speech, Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia said that 'promoting interaction among national and regional actors and supporting it with in-depth analysis is at the heart of the agency's thematic country reviews.'

Ms Brugia argued that 'apprenticeships have experienced a revival in EU policy-making in recent years.’ She presented Cedefop’s work in the field, saying that it extends to much more than the TCRs: ‘Our mosaic of initiatives forms an integrated picture where knowledge and evidence inform our activities in a circular manner.’

According to Ms Brugia, due to their inclusive potential, apprenticeships risk being perceived as a cheap labour tool and it takes a joint effort to change this mindset: ‘Apprenticeships are vocational education and training programmes that promote various talents; they can lead to successful careers and can be a pool of talent for enterprises.’

The Cedefop Deputy Director stressed the need for companies to be involved, noting that ‘even the best-designed apprenticeship systems and governance structures will not work if companies do not buy in.’

The forum was a European vocational skills week 2017 event.

Speaking on the first day, Cedefop Director James Calleja argued that ‘guidance, which is like oxygen to learners, must leave its natural home, the school, and penetrate workplaces; it must ride on the potential of ICT and must not lose its humanistic approach dealing with individuals on a one-to-one basis.'

In an age of technology and automation, career guidance is indispensable to the employability of both young people and older workers, said Mr Calleja.

He added that the Presidency theme ‘unity through balance’ when applied to career guidance assumes a worrying reality faced with at least three common imbalances: the imbalance between the weight of technology and the burden of unskilled potential, the weight of success against the burden of school failure or early leaving, and the potential of ICT and the burden of inaccessibility to information, especially on trends to future jobs and skills.

‘No skills equals no jobs,’ Mr Calleja affirmed. Therefore Cedefop’s contribution to career guidance is not only significant but also developing through various initiatives that provide policy-makers with valuable information and policies, such as Skills Panorama, the online toolkit for early leaving and the recently launched CareersNet, a new network to share best practice support in career guidance.

New reality

In his welcome speech, Estonian Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Education Mart Laidmets said that guidance plays an important role in reaching the Europe 2020 benchmarks. He added that, as all communication is moving to the internet, relevant services to the citizens, such as lifelong guidance, must make the most of this new reality.

Over 40 experts, researchers, hands-on specialists and policy-makers from across Europe made presentations and participated in discussions at the conference. Both days also featured workshops, aimed at identifying the most important lines of action.

Cedefop expert Stelina Chatzichistou presented Skills Panorama, the skills portal set up by the European Commission and powered by Cedefop, at the session on better career mobility and labour market functioning.

Call for action

In the conclusions presented by Mr Laidmets at the final session, which included six recommendations, it was stressed that 'development of ICT in guidance and e-governance provides an opportunity for the Member States and the EU to provide better access and coherence of the services to all citizens. Lifelong guidance needs to be repositioned across the policy fields at national and EU levels, in particular taking into account the future of work and in preparing citizens for scenarios of employment, underemployment or no employment in a segmented labour market.'

There was a call to the European Commission to 'take the lead in such repositioning and in developing an implementation strategy, taking into account the six recommendations of this Estonian Presidency conference, and using the EU guidelines for policies and systems development for lifelong guidance.'

According to Foundation Innove’s Margit Rammo, within the scope of the Presidency, this was another great opportunity for Estonia to draw more attention to e-solutions for career guidance because international cooperation is key and a source of inspiration for generating innovative solutions. ‘This entire event is one of the outcomes of international cooperation: although Estonia is presiding in the EU, it would not have been doable without our partners and counterparts from European networks,’ Ms Rammo said and listed the European Commission, Cedefop and University of Jyväskylä in Finland as major partners.

Improving services

Cedefop guidance expert Pedro Moreno da Fonseca, who was in charge of the project on behalf of the agency, said of the need to organise a European guidance week: ‘This week of activities provided a unique opportunity for the guidance community to discuss ways to increase the relevance of its work to the ones who need it the most, such as the unemployed and the educationally disengaged. The potential of labour market intelligence (LMI) and ICT as elements to improve services to the citizen were key discussions. Cedefop’s tools to support the integration of LMI and ICT in guidance practices were piloted and results allow foreseeing good uptake and development. We also had positive reactions to CareersNet and the indication that its role in supporting peer learning and innovation will be successively achieved.’

New network

In the framework of the week, Mr Moreno da Fonseca organised the first meeting of Cedefop’s new CareersNet network in Tallinn. EU Member States experts had the chance to exchange best practice in career guidance and come up with new ideas for cooperation. Addressing the participants, Cedefop Head of Department for Learning and Employability Antonio Ranieri underlined the fundamental role of experts in the network in increasing the quality of Cedefop’s research in lifelong guidance. He noted that CareersNet will decisively contribute to widening the contribution of this work in informing developments in other policy fields such as validation and adult learning.

The European guidance week events are part of the 2017 European vocational skills week (#EUVocationalSkils), which is organised by the European Commission with Cedefop as a partner.

Cedefop Director James Calleja welcomed the participants, saying that ‘ReferNet is our reference point for VET in the EU Member States.’ He added: ‘The connectivity the network has established enriches VET. ReferNet helps to portray the right image of VET.’

The event was part of the European vocational skills week, organised for the second time in 2017. Mr Calleja noted that the week is an initiative showing European Commission’s ‘strong commitment to give VET proper visibility.’

In a video message, European Commission’s Dana Bachman thanked ReferNet partners for their contribution to European VET policy, adding that ‘ReferNet input is critical for two publications: the Education and Training Monitor and the forthcoming Cedefop and ETF Riga mid-term report.’ She argued that the European vocational skills week ‘enhances the feeling of a strong VET community in Europe.’

Ms Bachmann concluded: ‘We are moving to a reflection on VET beyond 2020 and we are expecting the results of the Cedefop project on VET's future.’

Cedefop expert Eleonora Schmid presented the ‘great work’ partners did in policy reporting in 2017.

Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions Loukas Zahilas spoke about VET's future: ‘We are all changing the way we are learning. The challenge is to persuade people to change the way they perceive learning and VET. In theory, human beings are open to change; in reality it is not an easy task.’

Mr Zahilas noted that, as we are entering the age of the robots, we need to think out of the box in many cases: ‘Some 65% of children going to primary school now will find themselves in occupations that don’t exist today.’

Cedefop expert Anastasia Pouliou presented the ongoing project on the future of VET, which ‘will help shape a new landscape for vocational education and training.’ Project results will be communicated at a big conference in autumn 2018.

ReferNet coordinator Sylvie Bousquet and Cedefop’s Head of Library and Documentation Marc Willem presented the results of the ex-post evaluation report 2017, the main recommendations and an action plan.

Participants highlighted the network’s importance in providing information and agreed that it is an effective platform for exchanging ideas.

The idea of this travelling exhibition was to showcase European programmes and initiatives to the Greek public and education and training stakeholders, especially young people who are looking for learning and working opportunities in Greece or abroad.

Representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, Erasmus+, EURES, EU Careers, the European Solidarity Corps, liaison offices from the universities of the various cities and other organisations were present at the events.

Cedefop was on the road for the whole week with an information stand and presented Europass at the Thessaloniki event.

The 2017 jobs and mobility roadshow was part of the European vocational skills week. It helped strengthen Cedefop’s image in its host country and opened the door to further cooperation with some of the co-organisers.

Considering the roadshow’s success and the declared interest of several cities to host it, plans to enlarge it in 2018 to include other Greek regions and cities have already been tabled.