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This paper focuses on the issue of how qualifications acquired through work experience should be recognised. Various approaches were explored including a first experiment with 'skills portfolios' and a second which attempted to establish a right to a 'skills assessment'. The third approach consisted of authorising the Ministry of Education to confer diplomas following an accreditation of professional experience = validation des acquis professionels (VAP) process. This right to grant accreditation was extended to accredtation of experiential learning = validation des acquis de l'experience (VAE). The focus on the competence frame of reference in the VAE process was perceived as detrimental to traditional education and training programs and methods and raised concerns particularly in the higher education sector. As a result the teaching community has shown some resistance to the development of these processes which may serve to discourage potential candidates.

The collected proceedings of the seminar are indexed at TD/TNC 74.24; individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 74.25 to TD/TNC 74.39.

There are four papers from the seminar not included in the collected proceedings which are indexed from TD/TNC 74.40 to TD/TNC 74.43. Show less

The aim of this article is to critically explore and analyse opportunities and obstacles faced by highly skilled migrants in rural areas seeking to re-enter their profession, focusing on the lived experiences of migrants residing in northern Sweden. Analysis of their stories focusing on intersections of temporal and spatial positionings reveal different lived experiences and opportunities depending on migration regime and policy, gender, age and family situation, profession and labour market needs. However, similar challenges also emerged related to rurality such as rural dismantling and poverty of access to (and support for) both adult education generally and specific fast tracks for highly skilled migrants, with accompanying risks of deskilling and marginalisation. The stories also indicate that the rural idyll tends to provide closer social networks than those in cities, thereby increasing opportunities for re-entry to former professions. However, workfare policies and devaluation of foreign credentials lead to requirements for re-education to re-enter former professions or undertake other work (high- or low-level) that are particularly difficult to meet in rural settings.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The Council on Overseas Professional Qualifications (COPQ) was established in June 1984, to develop and improve procedures for assessing overseas professional, para-professional, technical and general academic qualifications. The two major functions of the COPQ were to: (1) make information available to prospective immigrants on the assessment of their professional qualifications in Australian terms; and (2) facilitate the process whereby Australian residents who are holders of overseas professional qualifications obtain assessment of their qualifications in Australia. The annual report outlines the functions, objectives and organisation of the Council and its activities during the year. Show less

This report looks at various aspects of the role that certification systems, understood in the broad sense, can play in the very different ways in which competences are recognised in enterprise or in the labour market. There is undoubted interest in these certification systems in the European Union. Faced with the ‘maze’ of education systems and the fact that the certificates that they award are felt to be unable to adapt to new qualification needs, the problem of identifying competences is raising increasingly urgent questions as regards certification systems. Being able to identify the learning acquired from occupational experience and providing the best possible match between individuals and production functions, while ensuring that they are still adaptable, and therefore more employable, seem to be the current expectations. The answers that the various systems are providing in this respect are examined below from both an institutional and a methodological point of view: from an institutional point of view, the report looks at the role that the state has played in the past in constructing systems responsible for education and training and certification, and goes on to examine contemporary developments that are tending to make certification more independent from education and training with the result that skill identification is tending to make these skills independent from formal learning routes; this therefore raises new methodological problems. First, defining competences through performance standards raises the question of how and to what extent actual work can be taken into account. Second, the construction of assessment standards, analysed here using the accreditation of prior learning as an example, must include thinking about the nature of the competences that are being validated and the legitimacy of validation bodies. Competences are certified and recognised in different ways, depending on national traditions, but the procedures used in all cases have to address the same kind of problem: they must be precise enough to enable efficient adjustment and socially legitimate enough to pave the way for their general validity.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 66.507. Volumes two and three are indexed at TD/TNC 66.508 and TD/TNC 66.509. Individual chapters from the three volume set are indexed from TD/TNC 66.510 to TD/TNC 66.540.

The first background report, published in two volumes, is indexed at TD/IRD 88.38 and TD/INT 58.286. Show less

In anticipation of the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] ASEAN Integration, especially regarding the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015, it is clear that many aspects have to be considered and integrated in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Four major thrusts under AEC include a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy (ASEAN Secretariat 2010). These thrusts encourage country members to collaborate in several areas. The areas that link closely to TVET, among others, are human resources development and capacity building, recognition of professional qualifications, and the integration of industries across the region to promote regional sourcing. [South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education] SEAMEO VOCTECH as a regional centre for TVET in Southeast Asia plays an active role in addressing the three mentioned areas.

This paper will highlight the centre’s roles and initiatives relevant to AEC 2015, especially in the areas of capability building programs for TVET instructors and administrators, its engagement with partners in the mutual recognition arrangements, and initiative in arriving at TVET quality standards. This paper also shares TVET trends, issues and challenges based on the Training and Research Needs Analysis survey completed in 2013. These trends and issues help shape the centre’s programs and services, especially in addressing the initiatives in response to the ASEAN Economic Community.

Published abstract. Show less

The Management National Vocational Qualification (NVQs) were (according to their proponents) designed to provide a new mechanism for certifying workplace competence. Centred on descriptions of practice in the workplace, they offered a qualification route that could be accessed by all. This article draws on an in-depth study of the implementation of NVQs in three private sector organisations. It argues that, in practice, this competence-based format is highly problematic. Candidates are required to work towards criteria that may not match their roles and responsibilities, developmental work is systemically discouraged and work becomes routine. The article concludes by arguing that these flaws are structural ones that may be expected to continue as long as NVQs continue to attempt to distil the essence of occupations into ‘standards’.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Despite the substantial benefits generated by the migration flow between Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, many challenges remain to ensure a fairer distribution of the triple-win profits. Much has been written on the abuses of migrant workers during recruitment and employment throughout the migration cycle, but less is known about labour demand, its relationship to skills and the impact of the recruitment process on these aspects.

Lack of information regarding qualifications, skills, wages and how demand will evolve inhibits informed decision-making by public and private institutions as well as by migrant workers. This results in lost opportunities or mistakes in strategy planning in and between source and recipient countries. For instance, there is no system of mutual recognition of educational attainment and acquired skills based on comparable standards for low-skilled or semi-skilled occupations. This report addresses some of these issues, with a special focus on the role of skills in Pakistan, including skills training, certification, skills matching and recruitment practices.

Published summary. Show less

Today's businesses are moving faster than ever in response to constant changes in the world around them. There is increasing acceptance that in order for employees to keep up with constant change and for businesses to stay relevant, learning and development has to move to the heart of the business. Organizations must go through a learning transformation to realize this vision. We need to build a learning culture in the workplace, and this chapter explores how badging programs can help organizations achieve this learning culture.

Existing workplace learning programs combine elements of informal learning, formal training, knowledge sharing and collaboration, social learning, coaching and mentoring, serious games and more. Effective next-generation workplace learning must combine these elements in engaging learning architectures. However, this means breaking out of the traditional learning management system which is still in widespread use. Badging systems can provide the glue that holds these new learning architectures together and can help make the learning process efficient, engaging and effective.

The author draws on 20 years experience working on over 100 learning technology projects for large organizations. As well as putting the case for why badging systems are the ideal vehicle for moving learning to the heart of the business, the chapter looks at how to implement a badging system in the workplace and how to make a success of your badging system through effective rollout strategy and change management, using case studies of digital badges in the workplace.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 140.620. Show less

The purpose of the project was to develop ways of formulating examination exercises which shed light on various aspects of competence to perform occupational activities. The first part of the project, which sought to establish how far this can be achieved by programmed exercises, is now complete. The approach was to be so general that its applicability was limited neither to certain subject matter nor to specific forms of examinations and exercises. Show less

A study conducted by the Group Training Association of Victoria (GTAVic) into the information required by employers from vocational and education and training (VET) students reports on results when recruiting applicants. GTAVic conducted a survey of employers across a range of industries. The key messages from the report include: (1) employers' information needs from certification and student results are pragmatic; they scan certification and results reporting to see the highest level of schooling achieved, whether any subjects or units are relevant to the job and if there have been any practical elements to the learning, for example, a work placement; (2) information in VET certificates and related student reporting is only one element, and often a minor one, in a comprehensive range of the information needed by employers; and (3) overwhelmingly, the employers responding to this survey confirm that certification is not accepted as a stand alone indicator of a candidate's ability. It is regarded as a signal of the potential for further learning and skill development, but not usually as a signal of immediate competence. Show less