This short paper from CEDEFOP is looking at how countries are working together to achieve a more attractive, inclusive, innovative, agile and flexible VET system in the European Union.
Yes, we have been featuring a lot of their articles lately, but this paper also seems to cover the sort of rhetoric and adjectival language one hears in Australia about VET.
CEDEFOP’s 5-page briefing note was released in late January this year. A range of European countries have National Implementation Plans (NIPs) for their VET systems that will “build on recent or current reforms, national strategy papers on VET, skills, youth and research, as well as a range of reform programmes.” There are a range of priorities in individual national plans, however.
These see, firstly, an agile and resilient VET that is adaptive to labour market needs. To achieve this:
“18 countries stated that they are or will be reviewing and modernising VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses to align them better with labour market demand and individuals’ development needs. 18 countries stress the need for transversal and basic skills. 16 will integrate digital skills and competences in VET standards and curricula, while 12 will work towards the green transition and more sustainable VET practices.”
Second, proposals see a flexible VET system that provides flexible progression routes that are personalised and learner centred. This will “enable the accumulation, transfer, validation and recognition of prior learning, including in non-formal and informal settings.” Some EU countries will do this by further developing modular VET provision, while others will focus on “micro credentials, partial qualifications and digital badges,” while yet others “will reinforce their validation and recognition schemes.” Many will also “diversify VET learning formats (face-to-face, digital, blended) and increase the use of digital learning platforms and materials” to improve outreach and access for those in rural or regional areas or with disabilities and also by strengthening the focus on continuing and lifelong learning to better enable reskilling and upskilling.
The third focus sees VET as an innovative and excellent education system. We looked at this in VDC News a while ago in an article entitled “Should we set up Centres of Vocational Excellence?” Indeed, a number of European countries plan “to create and/or support centres of vocational excellence to drive VET development within skill ecosystems and link it with higher education and research.” Some also consider the need to “modernise VET … infrastructure and improve learning conditions and access to state-of-the-art facilities” while others “plan to improve the digital equipment in VET, while some others are focused specifically “on greening their VET providers: not only by teaching environmental and social sustainability but also greening their infrastructure. So, are centres of excellence worth us thinking about?
Fourth, an attractive, modern and digital VET is envisaged through “a focus on improving the permeability between initial and continuing VET, general and vocational pathways, and academic and professional higher education.” Interestingly, a recent TDA newsletter editorial has suggested the need for a true tertiary education system in Australia. Let’s think about that.
Teacher and trainer professional development remains a top priority for many EU counties too, with upgrades to their initial and continuing professional development coupled with the design of national strategies aimed at “empowering teachers and trainers to develop their technical and didactic skills and devise innovative teaching methods.” Not a bad idea! Indeed:
“12 EU countries plan to brief [teachers] on the latest pedagogies and to develop their digital competences, allowing them to make better use of digital tools and materials in their work.”
Will the VET Workforce Blueprint currently under development here in Australia look at these sorts of things too?
Next, and fifthly, a range of EU plans envisage an inclusive VET offering equal opportunities that “reaches out to vulnerable learners” and initiatives aimed at “work[ing] towards inclusion and equal opportunities, for example by preventing early leaving from education and training and promoting gender equality. Target groups include people with disabilities, people in remote geographical areas, [as well as the] low-skilled, minorities, migrants and refugees.” Addressing the dual VET missions of meeting industry’s needs and not leaving anyone behind have always been challenging in Australia.
Finally, 15 EU countries “plan to develop their national quality assurance systems further, taking into account the EQAVET quality criteria and indicative descriptors applied both at system and provider level.” Indeed, national measures will be aimed at:
- “improving VET providers’ (self-)evaluation,
- developing quality assurance in continuing VET (CVET) and work-based learning; and
- strengthening quality assurance of qualifications.”
