Learning for Life, Work and the Future Initial ... - Unesco-Unevoc

Page 38 Participants’ Papers Learning for Life, Work and the Future
capacity is even more significant in the light of the
need for continuous lifelong training.
3. Shortcomings
Many limitations are inherent in our training system,
besides the absolute necessity to revisit our basic education
to make it more in line with the requirements of
a lifelong learning culture:
• The education system is too academic, and prepares
students for higher and higher levels of education
• The education system is very inefficient at all
levels. Only 4% of a primary school intake of
about 31,000 ends up with a degree.
• There are about 30 British, French and Mauritian
certification systems operating side by side in
Mauritius, which leads to much confusion. The
problem of equivalence is difficult to sort out as
different awarding bodies issue their own certificates.
In addition, many private training centres
deliver their own certificates, which compounds the
problem. Such compartmentalisation can only lead
to inflexibility, confusion and a waste of resources.
The quality of the private training centres is also
questionable, and people following courses in
private training centres are not guaranteed value for
money. Problems of regional as well as international
recognition of our certificates do arise.
This constitutes a major problem, especially if
Mauritius is aiming at becoming regional.
• The TVET system is not well integrated, with no
pathway established between products of the IVTB
centres, the Lycée Polytechnique and the University
of Mauritius.
• There is no recognition of prior learning within the
existing system. Skills and knowledge acquired as
a result of informal training, work experience as
well as life experience are not acknowledged or
recognised.
• More emphasis is laid on the processes leading to
achievement (teaching and learning) than on the
qualifications (recognition of achievement).
• The actual system does not provide for lifelong
learning and is therefore not sufficiently stimulating.
4. The National Qualifications Framework
It is agreed that investment in development skills and
knowledge, whether by individuals, companies or
governments, is critical. Students and employers need
a way of measuring the skills and knowledge that their
investment has achieved. The qualifications are therefore
expected to give information about an individual’s
achievements that is more comprehensive, accurate and
specific than before.
So qualifications need to:
• Be credible and useful to employers
• Be readily understood by the public
• Give students every opportunity to advance their
learning towards the qualifications they want,
throughout their lives
• Be recognised internationally.
The National Qualifications Framework is the
Mauritian Government’s answer to these needs. Its
overall objective is to ensure that all qualifications
awarded in Mauritius convey to students and
employers a value that is clear and credible.
In addition, the establishment of such a framework in
Mauritius would rationalise the existing certification
systems and contribute towards ensuring that qualifications
provided:
• Meet a minimum benchmark for quality
• Are relevant to the needs of industry and the wider
community
• Give clear information about the skills, knowledge
and capabilities of the incumbent
• Facilitate comparability and mutual recognition
between countries
• Provide opportunities for progression to higherlevel
jobs and academic courses
• Foster lifelong learning
• Are competency-based rather than process-based
• Provide recognition of prior learning and experience
through accreditation
• Provide parity of esteem
• Facilitate flexible pathways between different
learning environments such as schools, training
centres, industries and higher education institutions.
In this way, everybody would have a learning credit
account to build on. Opportunities would be available
for constant human resource development and for
people to upgrade their qualifications at their own rate.
The only resources Mauritius has are human, and the
NQF would help to bring to the country a human
resource bank operating at its full potential. This is
what Mauritius needs to beat world competition.
An implementation report is already available, prepared
by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and
submitted in January 1999. Prior to the submission of
the report, consultation was undertaken with a wide
range of stakeholders, including senior policy-makers,
employer representatives, private training providers as
well as companies.