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This report presents the work completed in 2018-19 in Wales to reference the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales (CQFW) to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The CQFW is a national framework designed to improve access, flexibility and progression in learning, assessment and certification. The framework incorporates qualifications and learning that is credit-based. It encompasses a wide range of qualifications, including formal qualifications that assess learners at the end of standardised periods of learning, as well as non-formal learning opportunities. The report provides evidence against each of the 10 criteria for referencing set by the Council of the European Union and concludes that the CQFW does map onto the EQF and that the 10 criteria have been met.

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The equal appreciation of vocational training and higher education leads to university admissions for professionals without classical academic educational qualifications. For this purpose the applicants have to go through a process of validation and formal recognition of their prior learnings. However, the format of this approach remains largely unclear this is not surprising, as it is up to universities how the authorization procedures for these types of admissions are carried out. In this paper, the approach for the validation of the proficiency level 6 in EQF [European Qualifications Framework] of the Danube University Krems forms the basis for the analysis of the previously acquired qualifications. We aim at providing an example for recognition and validation process of prior learnings, formal and non-formal gained through professional life in addition to educational qualifications.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 138.635. Show less

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) has been the catalyst for development of comprehensive national qualification frameworks based on learning outcomes. All countries committed to the EQF consider such national frameworks necessary to make their qualifications comparable across sectors and countries. This brief report provides an overview of progress in the development of national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) among European countries. European countries have been pressing ahead with the development of their frameworks to create comprehensive maps of qualifications in all sectors: vocational education and training, higher education, general education, adult learning. Frameworks are being opened up to include qualifications awarded outside formal education and to help validate non-formally and informally acquired skills and competences. Many of these frameworks have been deepened and widened since 2017, bearing witness to social, economic and technological changes, globalisation of labour markets, migration, and emergence of digital credentials, all posing new challenges to recognition of qualifications and skills.

The report notes that 39 European countries are currently developing 43 NQFs, which have reached different stages of implementation. Some countries have been or are revising their frameworks. In April 2019, 35 European countries have formally linked their national qualifications frameworks to the EQF and 30 countries indicate EQF/NQF levels in new qualification documents and/or Europass supplements.

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Education levels are on the rise among Mexican immigrants, who now comprise the fourth largest group of college-educated immigrants in the United States, after those from India, China, and the Philippines. The number of Mexican immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher grew from 269,000 in 2000 to 678,000 in 2017 - an increase that is primarily explained by higher college attainment among recent arrivals. Nearly one in six Mexicans arriving between 2013-17 had a college degree, compared to slightly more than one in 20 for those entering during the 1996-2000 period. This fact sheet offers a profile of degree-holding Mexicans in Texas, which is home to 27 per cent of all such immigrants nationwide, and in the Texas metropolitan areas with the most college-educated Mexican immigrants (Houston, Dallas, El Paso, McAllen, and San Antonio). Among other key characteristics, the fact sheet breaks these populations down by legal status, age, English proficiency, poverty levels, and industries of employment.

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Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is a systematic process involving the identification, documentation and assessment of learning based on previous experience. This study is aimed at determining the descriptions of each qualification level within the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) that can be proposed for use in the research of equivalence between skill and academic of the APEL process. Through this equity research, it can facilitate individual passage from skills to further higher education in the academic. This study used a qualitative approach which involved exploratory methods through document analysis (Malaysian Qualification Framework, Australia Qualification Framework and Europe Qualification Framework) interviews (semi structure) and descriptive survey (score mean and standard deviation) methods through a questionnaire instrument. Based on the information obtained from UTHM, ADTEC, KKTM and IKBN the total population of this study is 97 persons. However, only 54 respondents gave feedback on distributed surveys. The findings show that all description items of each level of qualification proposed in the MQF are best suited to describe learning outcomes for each level. A description that includes three domains (knowledge, skills and competence) can be suggested to stakeholders. This will help individuals from areas of skills to pursue higher education in the academic field through the APEL process.

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This two-volume publication provides an update on the progress made in establishing and implementing national and regional qualifications frameworks around the world since 2017. It includes information on national and regional developments, challenges and success factors, as well as selected cross-cutting themes. It is the result of cooperation between Cedefop, the ETF, UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. This is volume II of the inventory and provides information on regional development. Section one provides an inventory of national qualifications frameworks for over 100 countries. For each country, the inventory outlines: the national context; policy objectives; stakeholder involvement and institutional arrangements; recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning and learning pathways; recognition of foreign qualifications; national qualification framework implementation; referencing to regional frameworks; and important lessons and future plans. Section two provides an inventory of regional qualifications frameworks.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website.

Volume I is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.431. Show less

This article investigates the issue of the extent to which migrants in Canada and Germany are able to use the qualifications and professional experiences they have acquired abroad on the domestic labour market. The information presented is based on case studies in the healthcare sector conducted in both countries. A related question is how the recognition process and the significance of occupational experience differ in the two countries and how these two aspects are determined. The results provide indications as to whether and in which ways the integration of foreign skilled workers in Germany and Canada can be improved.

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This edition of the Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks maintains the role established by preceding editions, gathering knowledge and insight from the international range of contexts in which regional and national qualifications frameworks operate. This volume's (Volume I) thematic focus is evidence of the degree to which three core areas are dominating the direction of reforming policies; digitisation, recognition of prior learning, and outcomes-based approaches to managing education and training.

Edited excerpts from publication.

The chapters in this volume are: (1) World Reference Levels for lifelong learning: a tool for comparison and recognition of learning outcomes; (2) Beyond qualifications as we know them today: digital credentials and interoperability; (3) The role of learning outcomes in governing and reforming education and training: reflections on strengths and limitations; (4) RVA that counts: what data do we need to nurture recognition, validation and accreditation of prior learning?; (5) Recognising prior learning experiences of migrants and refugees for inclusion; (6) Accessing and acquiring skills and qualifications: connecting people to national qualifications frameworks.

Volume II is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 139.638. Show less

Canadian society is characterised by a plurality of immigrants and Canadian migration policy and corresponding recognition approaches are strongly geared to economic criteria, qualifications and skills. This paper addresses the question how immigrants who have acquired their highest qualification outside Canada are able to use their foreign qualifications and skills in their current job. The analyses are conducted to verify the assumptions of human capital theory as well as the lack of transferability of human capital across country borders. To answer these questions a labour market success index is developed, which is used as a dependent variable in regression models. The results show that traditional operationalisations of human capital (years of education, years of work experience and skills) have a positive effect on individual labour market success. At the same time, being born abroad and having acquired one's highest qualification abroad in comparison to Canada, especially in a Non-Western country, has negative effects on the overall labour market success of an individual. Detailed comparisons regarding different indicators of labour market success also prove these comparatively negative effects. The results demonstrate the limited explanatory power of human capital theory and the necessity to complement it with Bourdieu's concepts of social and cultural capital.

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This article analyses the conditions under which employers grant immigrants access to jobs corresponding to their foreign education. It is often observed that employers prefer native-educated employees and devalue foreign education. We argue that part of this devaluation is due to institutional differences in education systems. Nevertheless, hiring foreign-educated immigrants is becoming a viable strategy for employers given the substantial shortage of skilled labour and the significant influx of skilled immigrants. Using a factorial survey, we simulate a hiring process and present a series of hypothetical foreign applicants to employers in Germany. Our findings show that the transferability of foreign qualifications strongly depends on the institutional characteristics of foreign education systems. However, employers are willing to accept differences in education because they consider institutional differences a trade-off against other dimensions, such as relevant foreign work experience.

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