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The European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting the mobility of workers and learners between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning. The EQF will relate national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems. The EQF was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 23 April 2008. The EQF encourages countries to relate their qualifications systems or frameworks to the EQF by 2010 and to ensure that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to the appropriate EQF level. The core of the EQF are eight reference levels describing what a learner knows, understands and is able to do, i.e. learning outcomes. Levels of national qualifications will be placed at one of the central reference levels, ranging from basic (Level 1) to advanced (Level 8). It will therefore enable much easier comparison between national qualifications and should also mean that people do not have to repeat learning if they move to another country. The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational education. The system shifts the focus from the traditional approach which emphasises 'learning inputs' such as the length of a learning experience, or type of institution. It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning.

Excerpt from European Commission website. Show less

The development of the European single market and rapid technological changes have resulted in major economic changes in Europe and have convinced the governments of the need to upgrade their economic and training systems in the face of economic globalisation. This paper summarises the degree to which the common economic and demographic context and the common policy vocabulary have produced a convergence in European education and training systems, with particular reference to the decade beginning in 1984. The extent to which there has been a common movement and the extent to which there has been a significant resulting convergence in European education and training systems are outlined with respect to: levels of participation; public expenditure on education; governance and regulation; the secondary phase of compulsory education; initial post-compulsory education and training; and continuing and higher education and training, including lifelong learning. Show less

The study reported here aimed to get better insight into private household spending on education and training in Europe. In the process, the study has collected available statistical information, analysed such data, reviewed some policy documents with relevance to the issue and synthesised the current situation. This report presents the findings and makes proposals for possible future development in this respect. The willingness of a household to invest in education is affected by a number of factors. The study identified these factors: personal and cultural perceptions: institutional, referring to the education system and national legislations; economic factors; and socio-demographic conditions. These factors do vary considerably between Member States and even vary down to the level of individual households. The report reviews the current state of data collection on household expenditure on education, looking at the methodologies used and the resulting effect on the adequacy and quality of such data. It examines the adequacy of the methodologies currently in use with a view to establishing the data sets which are essential but currently not possible to collect in a coherent or harmonised fashion, looks at the role that methodologies (or the lack of these) play in this problem and makes proposals on how to address the problems of comparability, which limit the usefulness of the collected data on household spending on education. The report concludes that analysis of data collected on private household spending on education has clearly demonstrated that while some data is available, the problems of inadequacy and comparability between countries means that at present it is not possible to formulate a total picture of how much households devote to education. Show less

The European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC), the first survey of its kind, is designed to collect information about the foreign language proficiency of students in the last year of lower secondary education (ISCED2) or the second year of upper secondary education (ISCED3) (UNESCO 1997) in participating countries or country communities (referred to herein as educational systems). The intention was not only to undertake a survey of language competences but a survey that should be able to provide information about language learning, teaching methods and curricula. As the European Commission (2005) states, 'it is important for Member States to be able to contextualise the data', and thus the language tests should 'be complemented by questionnaires to teachers and pupils to gather contextual information'.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

Following the publication of ‘A memorandum of lifelong learning’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.400) in October 2000, the European Commission invited Member States to launch a consultation process to collect together all views on how best to make progress in implementing lifelong learning. Feedback from the Europe-wide consultation was then used to develop the analysis and proposals in the Communication on ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.264). The consultation involved each Member State, candidate countries, Iceland and Norway, as well as European civil society organisations. This report is the country report from Hungary. It includes comments on the Memorandum’s six key messages, an outline of new and innovative policies and practices concerning lifelong learning in Hungary, the main challenges and obstacles in the implementation of lifelong learning, possible indicators for evaluating lifelong learning, the national priorities, and proposals for elements to be included in the Memorandum.

Documents from ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ are indexed from TD/TNC 77.521 to TD/TNC 77.539. Show less

This report provides detailed analytical results of the Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS), carried out in 1994, which is based on elaborate questionnaires and interviews with the managers of 50 000 European enterprises in the then 12 Member States. Results are tabulated and analysed for: training offered by enterprises; training courses; training policies; and management. Show less

This document explains how the [European Union] EU and its partners are improving vocational education and training (VET) to make them relevant to current and future labour markets. Work-based learning, access to VET, ongoing training for teachers and recognition of skills and qualifications are expected to help drive jobs and growth. The New Skills Agenda for Europe and the Riga Conclusions lay the foundations for this process. Progress in achieving the goals set out will be monitored by CEDEFOP and the [European Training Foundation] ETF.

The key deliverables outlined in the document are: (1) promote work-based learning in all its forms, with a special focus on apprenticeships, by involving social partners, companies, chambers and VET providers, and by stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship; (2) further develop quality assurance mechanisms in VET in line with the [European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training] EQAVET Recommendation and, as part of quality assurance systems, establish continuous information and feedback loops in [initial] I-VET and [continuing] C-VET systems based on learning outcomes; (3) improve access to VET and qualifications for everyone through more flexible and open systems, notably by offering efficient and comprehensive guidance services and validating nonformal and informal learning; (4) provide an added boost to key competences in VET curricula and offer more effective opportunities to acquire or develop these skills through I-VET and C-VET; and (5) introduce systematic approaches to, and opportunities for, initial and continual professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both education and work-based settings.

Summary from publisher's website and excerpts from publication. Show less

In December 2004, the Education Ministers of 32 European countries and representatives from the European Commission (EC) and the European Training Foundation (ETF) met in Maastricht to take stock of European cooperation in the field of vocational education and training (VET) following the Copenhagen declaration (indexed at TD/IRD 88.258). The intention of the Copenhagen declaration was to: improve the image and attractiveness of VET and learning; achieve high levels of quality and innovation in VET systems; link VET with new labour market requirements resulting from the knowledge society and demographic change; and improve social cohesion and labour market participation. This document sets out the progress made since, and describes the new strategies and priorities of the European countries on education and training for the next two years. Among the priorities are: continuing to set up common reference instruments to accentuate transparency (of the Europass variety); facilitating private and public investment; breathing new life into the role of teachers and trainers; and putting together reliable and relevant statistics. Show less

The purpose of this report is to draw on indicators and benchmarks in order to provide strategic guidance for the Education and Training 2010 program and to set out the evidence available on progress towards the objectives agreed by ministers. The 16 core indicators for monitoring progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training are: (1) Participation in pre-school education; (2) Special needs education; (3) Early school leavers; (4) Literacy in reading, mathematics and science; (5) Language skills; (6) ICT skills; (7) Civic skills; (8) Learning to learn skills; (9) Upper secondary completion rates of young people; (10) Professional development of teachers and trainers; (11) Higher education graduates; (12) Cross-national mobility of students in higher education; (13) Participation of adults in lifelong learning; (14) Adult skills; (15) Educational attainment of the population; and (16) Investment in education and training.

The leaflet summarising this report is indexed at TD/TNC 93.240. Show less

This [conference] paper provides a tentative review of the literature that estimates wage returns to training. It discusses both the measurement and estimation issues. The fundamental problem concerning the recovery of the causal effect of training on earnings lies in the correction for selectivity into training. The discussion of the empirical literature emphasises the size of the estimated returns; something which has been largely neglected in the literature. It is argued that traditional studies that depend on differencing (fixed effect) methods where non-participants are used as a comparison group results in high return estimates. On the basis of these high returns, some have argued that there is substantial under-investment and therefore scope for public intervention. Such under-investment could arise because of, for example, hold-up or liquidity constraints. The paper then shows that studies which exploit arguably exogenous variation in training participation find much smaller wage effects of training. The evidence collected in this paper calls into question the case for under-investment based on return studies. There is other evidence which suggests that under-investment may be less severe than previously believed. First, recent literature in experimental economics shows that individuals are often motivated by reciprocity and fairness considerations which are typically ignored in standard human capital models, while reciprocity can alleviate under-investment. Second, recent literature emphasising market imperfections also shows that imperfections may give employers more incentives than previously thought to invest in the general training of their employees. The paper concludes by calling for further study of training mechanisms and subsequent outcomes. Some potential avenues for research in this area are given.

Published abstract.

Selected papers from the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 87.81 to TD/TNC 87.84. Show less