Upper secondary
Post-secondary non-tertiary

Apart from the Leonardo programmes (until 2013) and henceforth ERASMUS+, there is no initiative in Belgium geared specifically to Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET), except those run on a very small scale by the four existing training operators for apprentices and small business owners under a partnership agreement with a neighbouring country/company, or what is known as mentoring for certain occupations. For future business leaders, whether they attended one of these operators’ programmes or an institution of higher education, there are also initiatives pursued by chambers of commerce, and more specifically initiatives that promote each region abroad (Bruxelles Export, for instance; AWEX in Wallonia, etc.).

Conversely, there have long been public and private structures in Belgium, in each of the Communities, and even regions, which organise language exchanges, volunteer programmes and even internships, but for all, i.e. without focusing on specific target groups like IVET learners. This policy is generally pursued in the “culture” or “youth” departments/agencies of the ministries in each Community.

Every ministry of education also has its general division or department of international relations which, under bilateral agreements geared more to culture, language, but also to training at times, undertakes mobility activities for students and/or professors, instructors, or researchers. Here, with the possible exception of certain students who are still in school (including IVET), we are dealing more with CVET.

In each Region (Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia), there are international relations services in the departments of employment or within the PES which manage the EURES and EURODYSSEE networks or which, through a consortium with Belgian and foreign VET partners and companies, can introduce Erasmus+ mobility projects. They also promote mobility (internships and jobs abroad). Although the aim is geared more to employment, an internship can nonetheless also be seen as an opportunity to undergo further training. This offer is geared to every person registered as a jobseeker – it is an administrative obligation which does not necessarily mean that the person is available on the labour market; s/he may be a student, undergoing training, etc. Part of addressees can be regarded as people in IVET, inasmuch as they have not attended a Vocational Education and Training programme at school, but as jobseekers undergo a vocational training course under an occupational project established with a consultant. Nevertheless, these programmes are not specifically dedicated to IVET.

Regarding the coordination issue, it should be borne in mind that in addition to the ministry of education which governs policies, budgets etc., there are, in each Community European agencies that implement LLL policies, i.e.
- AEF – Agence francophone pour l’education et la formation tout au long de la vie, the French-speaking agency for lifelong education and training ;
- EPOS vzw – Europese Programma's voor Onderwijs, Opleiding en Samenwerking, the Flemish agency which manages European programmes ; and
- Jugendbüro (Youth Office) in the German-speaking Community. The Jugendbüro of the German-speaking Community is a non-profit association in Belgium. It has been mandated by the Minister of Culture, Sport, Employment and Media to take on the role of National Agency and to manage several European Programmes.

There are also:
- Coordination centres of European programmes (in the French Community), with a mobility unit which provides support for projects pursued in compulsory education;
- The Euroguidance network, which is integrated in EPOS in Flanders; managed by Bruxelles Formation in the French-speaking part of the country; and falls under the Ministry of the German-speaking Community.
- Within dual learning in Flanders, starting in 2022-2023, it is possible for apprentices from abroad within IVET courses to learn at the workplace, with an agreement (OAO) being drawn up with the training provider abroad and the workplace in Flanders. See Art. 19 : https://beslissingenvlaamseregering.vlaanderen.be/document-view/62A19B1…. In the context of dual learning, there is also the ErasDu project: http://www.erasdu.eu/.

No overall targets for the IVET mobility policy in general.

There is no overall coordination for the IVET mobility policy in general.

There is no overall evaluation of the IVET mobility policy in general.

Information on mobility for IVET learners is delivered on a variety of websites in order to reach the different target groups.

- The Flemish Ministry of Education and Training provides:
Specific information on organizing traineeships for IVET learners, including traineeships abroad (1);
Information on international mobility actions for learners and staff in secondary education (2). Part of this information is provided in cooperation with RYCKEVELDE (3).
- Epos vzw, the Erasmus+ National Agency of the Flemish Community of Belgium, provides specific information for mobility of IVET learners and staff (4).

Information can also be obtained from:

(a) Other public bodies that offer mobility grants, i.e.

- The Province of West-Flanders, which delivers grants for cross-border mobility to Nord-Pas de Calais (FR), Kent (UK) or Zeeland (NL) for learners in secondary education, including IVET (5);

- The Flemish Agency for Social-Cultural Work for Youth and Adults, which co-funds, together with the European Commission, JINT vzw (6), an organization for the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme; and

- GO Strange (7), which provides information on different grants for young people going abroad for study and traineeship.

(b) VET providers, in particular WEP (8) (World Education Program) and EF (9) (Education First).

(c) Private foundations offering their own grants.
____________________________
(1) https://www.epos-vlaanderen.be
(2) https://onderwijs.vlaanderen.be/nl/leerlingen/tien-vragen-van-leerlinge…
(3) https://www.ryckevelde.be/nl/ga-internationaal/hoe-beginnen
(4) http://www.epos-vlaanderen.be/?CategoryID=636&SearchParam=
(5) http://www.west-vlaanderen.be/overdegrens/gebiedenbeleid/externe_relati…
(6) www.jint.be
(7) http://www.gostrange.be/themas/stage/stage-beurzen
(8) http://www.wep.be/nl
Specific information for youngster in secondary education, including IVET: http://www.wep.be/nl/vertrekken-tijdens-je-studies
(9) http://www.ef.be/nl/top/buitenlandse-stage/

The different actors pursue their mission separately. There is no coordination mechanism.

No policy targets

Legal provisions do not include the objective of promoting international learning mobility in IVET.

The Flemish Community of Belgium does not have actions to improve the current provision of information and guidance for the international mobility of IVET learners, although actions were undertaken by the Flemish Euroguidance.

There are small improvement actions, but no central organised evaluation is carried out.

The Flemish National agency (Epos vzw) actively gives advice and support in the development of IVET-projects in which mobility plays a role. The agency acts in cooperation with Europass and Euroguidance Flanders to embed the added value(s) of internationalisation in IVET. Epos vzw actively looks for synergies with their partners in the vzw VDAB (Flemish PES) and DWSE (Department of Work and Social Economy) and ESF+ and Flemish funds. The National Agency supports IVET schools in their search for partners for mobility projects under Erasmus+, both in Flanders and abroad. Euroguidance Flanders contributes by giving advice specifically for projects focusing on guidance. Within the framework of SID-IN (Study and Information Days) fairs organised yearly, Euroguidance raises awareness amongst guidance counsellors, trainers and teachers concerning the mobility opportunities available to IVET learners.
Europass Flanders contributes by validating foreign learning and work experiences via Europass mobility certificates. Also, Europass Diploma Supplement describes the acquired knowledge, skills and competences of vocational training/experience.

The Flemish Community of Belgium provides IVET learners with information on international learning mobility. However this provision does not seem to cover personalised advice, counselling and guidance of IVET learners directly. This provision is operated by various institutions acting separately without any community-level coordination. In addition, the community has not set up any specific policy targets for this thematic area. A policy to assess and improve its current provision of information and guidance for IVET mobility is also lacking. Making sure that the provision covers the full spectrum of information and guidance (not only information), setting up policy targets for this provision, creating coordination mechanism to ensure convergence, consistency and complementarity of the provision, and putting in place evaluated actions to improve the provision of information and guidance could be considered in future in order to promote international learning mobility in IVET.

The Flemish Community of Belgium does not have a policy orientation for integrating international learning mobility experiences in the curricula of IVET programmes. IVET providers have the right to organise international mobility projects, and doing so is a decision they can make autonomously (1).
_______________________
(1) http://data-onderwijs.vlaanderen.be/edulex/document.aspx?docid=13301

No policy targets.

No specific measures have been taken to facilitate the delivery of visas and residency permits to IVET learners from third countries. Belgium does not make any difference between reasons for coming into the country, just the difference between a length of stay (more or less than 3 months) and age (more or less than 18 years old) (1) (2). This is a federal issue, not a regional one.
___________________
(1) https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/services/travel_to_belgium/visa_for_be…
(2) https://www.jint.be/veelgestelde-vragen-over-internationale-vorming

No specific measures have been taken.

No specific measures have been taken.

Incoming apprentices and IVET students from the EU benefit (through the European Health Insurance card) from the same medical care as their counterparts in the country (i.e. local IVET learners).

Incoming apprentices and IVET students (whether from the EU or from third countries) are subject to the in force labour regulation and benefit from labour and safety protection in the same conditions as their counterparts in the country (i.e. local IVET learners at work).

No countrywide coordination of actions, and there is no plan to set up any.

Actions in this policy strand are not evaluated.

The Flemish Community of Belgium does not promote the integration of international mobility experiences in the curricula of IVET programmes, and has not set up targets for removing the obstacles to mobility since this is a federal concern. The community does not have measures in place to ease the delivery of visas and residency permits to IVET learners from third countries, and neither does it have measures to reduce the administrative burdens induced by arranging mobility or remove the obstacles to the movement of minor apprentices and IVET students. To better meet the requirements of the “Youth on the move” Recommendation, it could be considered in future formulating a clear policy support to the integration of international mobility in the curricula of IVET programmes. Finally, it could also be checked on the ground – e.g. through users/stakeholders surveys – the existence of needs for assisting incoming and outgoing learners in arranging their mobility. Taking appropriate measures (including setting up an action plan, policy targets, and coordination and evaluation processes) could then be considered accordingly.

Recognition of learning outcomes acquired by IVET learners involved in international learning mobility is at the discretion of IVET providers. The IVET providers make autonomously a decision on the recognition of learning outcomes acquired abroad. It is the board of teachers (“Klasseraad”) in the IVET-schools that has the power to make decisions in that matter.

Learning acquired abroad by IVET learners involved in international learning mobility may be recognised. It is an internal process within the teachers’ team (Klasseraad) where learners are not present. However, learners have not signalled this to be a problem in recent years.

No policy targets.

The recognition approach in place in the community applies to:
• Courses
• Modules
• Programmes

There is no coordination at community level. Each IVET provider can decide autonomously on recognition.

No time limit has been set for processing applications.

No central action has been taken to make visible the contact points for information on recognition as the recognition decisions are made by the VET providers and this are the contact points most visible and nearest to the mobile learners.

There is no additional central visibility policy, so no evaluation thereof.

The Europass-Mobility in Flanders is used by IVET students within the Erasmus+ programme during international learning mobility periods. In 2022 this group counted for approx. 85% of the 2000 Europass-Mobility recipients in Flanders. As decided by the Flemish National Erasmus+ Agency (Epos vzw) the Mobility document counts as an equivalent of the participant’s certificate of attendance for the Erasmus+ project report.
Moreover, the document is used by the sending organisation to record a description of the activities and the acquired skills and competences. In Flanders, the sending partner is responsible for filling in the complete document (in consultation with the receiving partner). The document needs to be validated by the sending and by the receiving organisation.
In the Flemish Community of Belgium, the Europass Certificate Supplement is used for recognition of prior learning /work experience, but not to enhance visibility, transfer and recognition of the learning outcomes acquired by IVET students during international mobility periods.

The recognition policy is not evaluated.

The Flemish Community of Belgium ensures recognition of learning (courses, modules and programmes) acquired abroad by IVET learners and makes use of the Europass Mobility Document in that process. However, access to recognition is felt as difficult by users, and the recognition process is neither coordinated nor evaluated at community level. There is also no specific policy target set for recognition in the community. The recognition process is also not subject to a time limit for processing applications. The community has not undertaken actions to make visible contact points for information on recognition. Such a visibility policy might not be needed as the recognition decisions are made by the VET providers and these are the contact points most visible and nearest to the mobile learners. However, it should be made sure (e.g. through user surveys) that in practice all learners know whom to contact for information on recognition and have easy access to the information they need. Addressing these issues in the near future could help enhance international mobility in IVET. To that end, making the recognition process easier for users to handle and understand, coordinating / harmonising the process at community level, having it evaluated, setting up policy targets, subjecting the recognition process to a time limit for processing the requests, and increasing the range of learning components (to credit points, units, qualifications) and EU tools (to Europass Certificate Supplement, EQF/NQF and the Learning Outcomes approach) that can be used in the recognition process, could be considered.

No policy targets.

No countrywide coordination of actions, and there is no plan to set up any.

The Flemish Agency for Erasmus+ (Epos vzw) had been organising contact seminars for finding partners. The agency also funded the participation of Flemish applicants to attend similar events abroad. The organisation Ryckevelde also supports the finding of partners abroad.

No action has been taken.

There is no action to fund IVET learners’ mobility, so no evaluation thereof.

There are actions aimed to provide stakeholders involved in organising international IVET mobility projects with non-financial support in the form of advice and information. IVET-providers in particular provide this kind of support to their staff.

There is no evaluation of the non-financial support provided to stakeholders and staff.

The Flemish Community of Belgium provides institutions and companies involved in IVET international mobility projects with support for the creation of partnerships and networks. Stakeholders also receive non-financial support (advice and information) to organise mobility projects. These support actions are neither coordinated nor evaluated. The community also does not provide IVET learners with funding for their international mobility. No policy targets have been set for this thematic area. Steps for further progress in future could include setting up such policy targets, ensuring financial support to learners for their mobility; extending the support for organising projects to a wider range of stakeholders needs (not only advice and information); and making sure that the support provided to learners, companies and IVET institutions meet their mobility needs. It could also be considered putting in place, for all support policies in this area, a coordination process and full-fledged regular evaluation, including translating monitoring activities into recommendations that are actually implemented and improve the next generation of actions over time.

Within the Flemish Community of Belgium, Epos invests in promoting a mobility culture through Erasmus+ actions.

No countrywide coordination of actions, and there is no plan to set up any.

The existing awareness raising and/or mobility culture actions are not monitored, and there is no plan to develop any kind of evaluation process.

No policy targets.

The Flemish Community of Belgium raises awareness of learners and stakeholders to promote a mobility culture through the actions of Erasmus+ (Epos). It has however not set up any policy target in terms of motivation. Steps forward which could be considered in future include setting up benchmarks in terms of learners’ motivation; developing actions to raise the awareness of learners and stakeholders about the added value of mobility (e.g. in terms of self-fulfilment; development of professional, linguistic, social and intercultural competencies; creativity; active citizenship; future employability; learning about working practices, problem solving, resilience, being a team player; autonomy, self-confidence, etc.); taking steps towards promoting a mobility culture, in particular through mainstreaming mobility opportunities in learning contexts; and making policy coordination and evaluation in this area complete, systematic and topic-specific.

The Flemish Community has not taken any measures, and no measure is in preparation.

No countrywide coordination of actions, and there is no plan to set up any.

The existing linguistic and intercultural, digital, and internationalisation actions are not monitored, and there is no plan to develop any kind of evaluation process.

No policy targets

Too small numbers of mobile IVET students. Training institutions have a great freedom to organise their own policies.

The Flemish Community has not taken any actions to provide IVET learners with linguistic and digital preparation for future mobility from the early stages of education. However, through Erasmus+, OLS (online linguistic support) is provided for every mobility. Actions for the internationalisation of the IVET curriculum are also lacking. The region/community has also not set up any policy targets for the long-term preparation of learners for mobility. In future, it could be considered developing actions to provide learners with linguistic and digital preparation for mobility from the early stages of education, and internationalising the IVET curriculum through introducing pedagogical methods in use abroad. Setting up policy targets for this policy could certainly be a valuable step forward. Other steps that could be considered include: developing systematic coordination and evaluation processes for the long-term preparation policy; making sure that all potential users know about the long-term preparation actions and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the preparation mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

The Flemish Community has not taken any actions

No countrywide coordination of actions, and there is no plan to set up any.

The IFA Association, which supports companies and apprentices in the organisation and implementation of mobility abroad within the framework of Erasmus+ programmes, also conducts surveys of participants for evaluation for quality assurance purposes.

No policy targets.

Within the Erasmus+ programmes there are regular participant surveys for learners and staff on (amongst other issues) the quality of the education or training received, the preparatory measures regarding languages, travel arrangements and housing. Each participant must complete the relevant questionnaire and report back to a so-called ‘Mobility Tool’.

Too small numbers of mobile IVET. Training institutions has a great freedom to organise their own policies.

The Flemish Community has not taken any actions to ensure mobility quality in terms of pre-stay linguistic preparation, stay monitoring processes, post-stay feedback mechanisms, and providing learners with convenient and affordable transport, accommodation and catering. The region/community has also not set up any policy targets in terms of these four quality dimensions. In future, it could be considered developing quality actions addressing these four dimensions. Setting up policy targets for this policy could certainly be a valuable step forward. Other steps that could be considered include: developing systematic coordination and evaluation processes for the quality policy; making sure that all potential users know about the quality mechanisms and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the quality mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners, so no portability thereof.

The Dutch-speaking region/community does not have in place any system of grants and loans for IVET learners.

No portability mechanism, so no coordination thereof.

No portability mechanism, so no evaluation thereof.

The Dutch-speaking region/community has not set up any policy targets in terms of portability.

The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium does not have in place any system of grants and loans for its IVET students, therefore the question of the portability of such funds does not arise.

The ERASMUS+ programme is open on equal terms to any student in higher or vocational education who wishes to participate. No action has been specifically put in place for the mobility of disadvantaged learners.
However, disadvantaged learners (special needs) can make a preparatory visit to examine the feasibility of the site before the mobility starts. This is financed by Epos on its own resources available as a non-profit association

No specific action for the mobility of disadvantaged learners, so no coordination thereof.

No specific action for the mobility of disadvantaged learners, so no evaluation thereof.

The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium has not set up any specific policy objectives in terms of supporting the mobility of disadvantaged learners.

The Flemish Community of Belgium has not taken any specific actions to support the mobility of disadvantaged IVET learners. The community also does not have any policy targets in this area. Progress in this area would require considering developing specific actions in terms of – among others – information and guidance, funding, motivation, long-term preparation, and making use of multipliers, in order to further support the mobility of IVET learners at a disadvantage. Objectives, targets and benchmarks as well as processes for systematic coordination and evaluation could be set up for this policy. Procedures to ensure learners’ involvement in making the policy runs effectively could be considered as well, i.e. making sure that all potential users know about the mechanisms that might be in place and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of these mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium has not taken any action in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff.

No actions in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff, so no coordination thereof.

No actions in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff, so no evaluation thereof.

The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium has not set up any policy targets in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff.

The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium has not taken any actions in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff. Also, no policy targets have been set in this area. For further progress in future, it could be considered developing an action plan along with policy targets as well as processes for complete and systematic coordination and evaluation in this policy strand. Procedures to ensure learners’ involvement in making the policy runs effectively could be also considered, i.e. making sure that all potential users know about the multipliers-related mechanisms put in place and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of these mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Information and guidance: The Flemish Community of Belgium provides IVET learners with information on international learning mobility. However this provision does not seem to cover personalised advice, counselling and guidance of IVET learners directly. This provision is operated by various institutions acting separately without any community-level coordination. In addition, the community has not set up any specific policy targets for this thematic area. A policy to assess and improve its current provision of information and guidance for IVET mobility is also lacking. Making sure that the provision covers the full spectrum of information and guidance (not only information), setting up policy targets for this provision, creating coordination mechanism to ensure convergence, consistency and complementarity of the provision, and putting in place evaluated actions to improve the provision of information and guidance could be considered in future in order to promote international learning mobility in IVET.

Institutional and administrative issues: The Flemish Community of Belgium does not promote the integration of international mobility experiences in the curricula of IVET programmes, and has not set up targets for removing the obstacles to mobility since this is a federal concern. The community does not have measures in place to ease the delivery of visas and residency permits to IVET learners from third countries, and neither does it have measures to reduce the administrative burdens induced by arranging mobility or remove the obstacles to the movement of minor apprentices and IVET students. To better meet the requirements of the “Youth on the move” Recommendation, it could be considered in future formulating a clear policy support to the integration of international mobility in the curricula of IVET programmes. Finally, it could also be checked on the ground – e.g. through users/stakeholders surveys – the existence of needs for assisting incoming and outgoing learners in arranging their mobility. Taking appropriate measures (including setting up an action plan, policy targets, and coordination and evaluation processes) could then be considered accordingly.



Recognition: The Flemish Community of Belgium ensures recognition of learning (courses, modules and programmes) acquired abroad by IVET learners and makes use of the Europass Mobility Document in that process. However, access to recognition is felt as difficult by users, and the recognition process is neither coordinated nor evaluated at community level. There is also no specific policy target set for recognition in the community. The recognition process is also not subject to a time limit for processing applications. The community has not undertaken actions to make visible contact points for information on recognition. Such a visibility policy might not be needed as the recognition decisions are made by the VET providers and these are the contact points most visible and nearest to the mobile learners. However, it should be made sure (e.g. through user surveys) that in practice all learners know whom to contact for information on recognition and have easy access to the information they need. Addressing these issues in the near future could help enhance international mobility in IVET. To that end, making the recognition process easier for users to handle and understand, coordinating / harmonising the process at community level, having it evaluated, setting up policy targets, subjecting the recognition process to a time limit for processing the requests, and increasing the range of learning components (to credit points, units, qualifications) and EU tools (to Europass Certificate Supplement, EQF/NQF and the Learning Outcomes approach) that can be used in the recognition process, could be considered.

Partnerships and funding: The Flemish Community of Belgium provides institutions and companies involved in IVET international mobility projects with support for the creation of partnerships and networks. Stakeholders also receive non-financial support (advice and information) to organise mobility projects. These support actions are neither coordinated nor evaluated. The community also does not provide IVET learners with funding for their international mobility. No policy targets have been set for this thematic area. Steps for further progress in future could include setting up such policy targets, ensuring financial support to learners for their mobility; extending the support for organising projects to a wider range of stakeholders needs (not only advice and information); and making sure that the support provided to learners, companies and IVET institutions meet their mobility needs. It could also be considered putting in place, for all support policies in this area, a coordination process and full-fledged regular evaluation, including translating monitoring activities into recommendations that are actually implemented and improve the next generation of actions over time.



Motivation: The Flemish Community of Belgium raises awareness of learners and stakeholders to promote a mobility culture through the actions of Erasmus+ (Epos). It has however not set up any policy target in terms of motivation. Steps forward which could be considered in future include setting up benchmarks in terms of learners’ motivation; developing actions to raise the awareness of learners and stakeholders about the added value of mobility (e.g. in terms of self-fulfilment; development of professional, linguistic, social and intercultural competencies; creativity; active citizenship; future employability; learning about working practices, problem solving, resilience, being a team player; autonomy, self-confidence, etc.); taking steps towards promoting a mobility culture, in particular through mainstreaming mobility opportunities in learning contexts; and making policy coordination and evaluation in this area complete, systematic and topic-specific.

Long-term preparation: The Flemish Community has not taken any actions to provide IVET learners with linguistic and digital preparation for future mobility from the early stages of education. However, through Erasmus+, OLS (online linguistic support) is provided for every mobility. Actions for the internationalisation of the IVET curriculum are also lacking. The region/community has also not set up any policy targets for the long-term preparation of learners for mobility. In future, it could be considered developing actions to provide learners with linguistic and digital preparation for mobility from the early stages of education, and internationalising the IVET curriculum through introducing pedagogical methods in use abroad. Setting up policy targets for this policy could certainly be a valuable step forward. Other steps that could be considered include: developing systematic coordination and evaluation processes for the long-term preparation policy; making sure that all potential users know about the long-term preparation actions and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the preparation mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Quality: The Flemish Community has not taken any actions to ensure mobility quality in terms of pre-stay linguistic preparation, stay monitoring processes, post-stay feedback mechanisms, and providing learners with convenient and affordable transport, accommodation and catering. The region/community has also not set up any policy targets in terms of these four quality dimensions. In future, it could be considered developing quality actions addressing these four dimensions. Setting up policy targets for this policy could certainly be a valuable step forward. Other steps that could be considered include: developing systematic coordination and evaluation processes for the quality policy; making sure that all potential users know about the quality mechanisms and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the quality mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Portability: The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium does not have in place any system of grants and loans for its IVET students, therefore the question of the portability of such funds does not arise.

Disadvantaged learners: The Flemish Community of Belgium has not taken any specific actions to support the mobility of disadvantaged IVET learners. The community also does not have any policy targets in this area. Progress in this area would require considering developing specific actions in terms of – among others – information and guidance, funding, motivation, long-term preparation, and making use of multipliers, in order to further support the mobility of IVET learners at a disadvantage. Objectives, targets and benchmarks as well as processes for systematic coordination and evaluation could be set up for this policy. Procedures to ensure learners’ involvement in making the policy runs effectively could be considered as well, i.e. making sure that all potential users know about the mechanisms that might be in place and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of these mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Multipliers: The Dutch-speaking region/community of Belgium has not taken any actions in terms of involving multipliers, recognising staff commitment to mobility, or mainstreaming mobility in the training of staff. Also, no policy targets have been set in this area. For further progress in future, it could be considered developing an action plan along with policy targets as well as processes for complete and systematic coordination and evaluation in this policy strand. Procedures to ensure learners’ involvement in making the policy runs effectively could be also considered, i.e. making sure that all potential users know about the multipliers-related mechanisms put in place and how to access them; making room for users to give feedback on the mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use of these mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.