1 Study visit group report

Study visit group report
Group No
Title of the visit Raising quality of VET in cooperation with employers
and Higher Education
Topic Encourage co-operation between the worlds of
education, training and work
City, country Warsaw, Poland
Type of visit Study Visit
Dates of visit 19 th -23 th Sept 2011
Group reporter Mike Ryan
1 Foreground – Study visit details
1.1 Study visit participants
Participant Organisation Country
Mike RYAN Gecko programmes Ltd, Wolverhampton UK
Daniel NERVENNE City of La Louvière Belgium
Margarida ABREU
DGERT – Directorate General for Employment
and Industrial Relations, Lisbon
Portugal
Christos TANTELES Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry Cyprus
Franci BRATKOVIC
Enrique RUIZ-ALZOLA
Marios MAROLACHAKIS
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Dolenjska and Bela Krajina
Canary Islands Government – Department for
VET and Adult Education
Department of Technical and Vocational
Education, Prefecture of Trikala
Slovenia
Spain
Greece
1.2 Programme schedule
Date Time Event
Sep 19 th , 2011 08.30 Collection and depart to venue
09.00 Ministry of National Education:
- Piotr BARTOSIAK, Head of unit, Vocational and Continuing
Education Department
- Teresa KAZIMIERSKA, Deputy Director, National Support
Centre for Vocational and Continuing Education (KOWEZiU)
09.20 Presentation:
- Tina BERTZELETOU (CEDEFOP), “Assuring quality in VET
through accreditation”
09.50 Group discussion
10.10 Presentations:
- Piotr BARTOSIAK, “Modernising VET in Poland”
- Anna WOJCIECHOWSKA, “The priorities of the Polish
Presidency regarding vocational education and adult
learning”
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Date Time Event
11.00 Presentations:
- Malgorzata CHOJNICKA, “Improvement of vocational
education and training quality – call for proposals and ESFfunded
projects”
- Izabela KACZMARSKA, “Towards excellence and Engagement
in VET – Ministry of Labour and Social Policy’s actions”
12.00 Group discussion
12.30 Presentation:
- Margarida ABREU (Portugal), “Quality assurance in VET –
The certification of VET providers in Portugal”
12.45 Group discussion
13.00 Lunch
14.30 Presentations:
- Teresa KAZIMIERSKA, “Introduction to the National Support
Centre for Vocational and Continuing Education”
- Olga SULKOWSKA, “Activities of the National Support Centre
for Vocational and Continuing Education regarding VET
quality improvement in Poland”
- Mike RYAN (UK), Gecko Programmes Ltd.
15.30 Group discussion
15.45 Transfer to the Old Town
16.00 Social programme
18.00 Group report workshop
Sep 20 th , 2011 08.30 Collection and depart to venue
09.00 Warsaw Cultural Education Centre
Welcoming guests:
- Wojciech FELIKSIAK, Director
09.10 Presentations:
- Mieczyslawa NOWOTNIAK, Deputy Director, Warsaw
Department of education, “Development of VET in Warsaw”
- Daniel NERVENNE, Director for development and strategy,
City of La Louvière, Belgium, “VET from the point of view of
economic development: the case of Wallonia”
10.15 Group discussion
11.00 Presentations:
- Slawomir SZOSTAK, Faculty of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, and Pawel NOWAK, Faculty of Civil
Engineering, University of Warsaw, “EU funded projects for
the construction industry: recognition of qualifications and
education quality improvement”
- Tadeusz POPIELAS, Polish Association of Lift and Escalator
Manufacturers, “Staff education programme for the lift and
escalator industry”
- Barbara PUZANSKA, “Necessity of construction trades
education adjustment to labour market needs”
12.00 Group discussion
13.00 Lunch
14.30 Vocational gastronomy school, Warsaw
Welcoming guests:
- Jolanta LITNIEWSKA, Director
- Marzena CIESLAK, Deputy director
14.40 Meeting with school teachers and students
15.30 Group discussion
16.30 Group report workshop
Sep 21 st , 2011 08.30 Collection and depart to venue
09.00 Vocational development centre, Warsaw
Welcoming guests and presentations:
- Robert LENART, “The place of the Warsaw Vocational
Development Centre inside and outside school education”
- Andrzej PILAT, “The Association of Vocational Education
Centres”
09.30 Group discussion
10.00 Meeting with teachers and students
11.00 Polish Craft Association
Welcoming guest and presentation:
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Date Time Event
- Andrzej STEPNIKOWSKI, “The role of craft in vocational
education in relation to labour market needs”
11.30 Group discussion
12.00 Presentation:
- Christos TANTELES (Cyprus), “VET in Cyprus and Quality
assurance”
12.15 Group discussion
12.45 Lunch
14.00 Copernicus Science Centre
17.45 Group report workshop
Sep 22 nd , 2011 08.30 Collection and depart to venue
09.00 Voluntary Labour Corps, Warsaw
Welcoming guest and presentation:
- Urszula KOWALSKA, Director, “Voluntary Labour Corps
experiences in the field of vocational education and other
labour market services”
09.30 Group discussion
09.45 Presentation:
- Marios MAROLACHAKIS (Greece), “IVET and CVET in
Greece”
10.00 Group discussion
11.00 Polish Confederation of Private Employers (LEWIATAN)
Welcoming guests and presentations:
- Piotr SARNECKI, “Co-operation between business and
education in Poland”
- Wieslaw WOJCIK (CORPO), “Case studies in the fashion
industry”
11.45 Group discussion
12.15 Presentation:
- Franci BRATKOVIC (Slovenia), Chamber of Commerce
of Dolenjska and Bela Krajina
12.30 Group discussion
13.00 Lunch
14.30 KOWEZiU
Presentation:
- Enrique RUIZ-ALZOLA (Spain) VET System and policies in
Spain
14.45 Group discussion
15.00 Round table:
- discussion with the host institutions
- evaluation of the study visit
16.30 Group report workshop
Sep 23 rd , 2011 10.00 – 17.30 Conference: “Developing co-operation between VET, higher education
and adult learning in response to the challenge of lifelong learning”
2 Findings
This section summarises the findings of the group while visiting host institutions, discussing issues
with the hosts and within the group. You will be reflecting on what you learnt every day. But to put
them together and give an overall picture, you need to devote a special session to prepare the final
report on the last day of the visit.
In this section, it is important that you describe not only things you learnt about the host country
but also what you learnt about the countries represented by group members.
One of the objectives of the study visits programme is to exchange examples of good practice among
hosts and participants. Cedefop will select well-described projects/programmes/initiatives and
disseminate them to former participants and a wider public, including potential partners for future
projects. Therefore it is important that you identify and describe all aspects that, in your view,
make these projects/programmes/initiatives successful and worth exploring.
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2.1 Visiting host institutions
Quality assurance of national occupational standards in VET is an important part
of the Polish strategy to develop and enhance the reputation of qualifications in
this area. This has been done in accordance with European policy and in line
with meeting the skills needs of the key sectors for the nation.
Participants gained an understanding of the Polish reforms of VET and their
plans to implement this by 2012 through a series of presentations focussing on:
agreements between the Ministry of National Education and
employers’ associations;
co-operation between VET schools and higher education
establishments;
development of core curricula and programmes for VET;
funding measures for VET programmes
establishment of vocational qualifications standards and their
influence on VET quality;
organisation of vocational qualifications exams;
implementation of the EQAVET initiative in Poland;
VET promotion;
use of e-learning to increase VET attractiveness.
Participants were warmly welcomed and informed by the following institutions:
Ministry of National Education, Department of Vocational and
Continuing Education;
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Department of Labour Market;
National Support Centre for Vocational and Continuing Education;
City of Warsaw, Department of Education and Training;
Warsaw University of Technology, Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering;
Polish Association of Lift and Escalator Manufacturers;
Polish Association of Construction Industry Employers;
Vocational Gastronomy School, Warsaw;
Vocational Development Centre, Warsaw;
Association of Vocational Education Centres;
Polish Craft Association;
Voluntary Labour Corps;
Polish Confederation of Private Employers (LEWIATAN).
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2.2 Within the group
Through dynamic and empathic group interaction engaged in experience
sharing.
The composition of the group enabled this fruitful process and provided for rich
discussions from the perspectives of both public and private stakeholders.
Some of the topics tackled during the week included presentations of the various
national and/or regional VET situations by the participants:
Margarida ABREU (Portugal) highlighted the VET system reform launched
in 2007 to comply with EU recommendations and aimed at promoting
quality assurance within a new legal framework for education and
training involving the implementation of the National Qualifications
System (SNQ) and the quality certification of VET providers. So far the
reform has largely contributed to increasing VET quality and
guaranteeing proper use of European funding in VET.
Mike RYAN (UK) described the constant change in the state of VET in the
UK. Although quality controls and delivery standards are good, both
changes in the economy and employers’ needs suggest that the entry level
for getting a job with a VET qualification is steadily increasing. The new
demands are for technical level people with good experience. Therefore
the challenge in the UK is for promoting higher VET qualifications and
raising the aspirations of their learners before they start work in order to
improve the reputation of qualifications and meet employers’ needs.
Daniel NERVENNE (Belgium) approached VET from the point of view of
economic development. He analysed the integrated articulation between
the “2.Green Marshall Plan” aimed at boosting Walloon development on
the basis of competitiveness poles and clusters, on the one hand, and both
public and private VET providers, on the other, and focussed the role
played by higher education, in general, and universities, in particular, in
process monitoring and evaluation.
Christos TANTELES (Cyprus) gave a general overview of the VET system
in Cyprus. He put the emphasis on the policy priorities as regards VET and
described the achievements made by the Cyprus Ministry of Education
and Culture in order to improve the quality and attractiveness of
secondary technical and vocational education. He also underlined the
efforts of all major stakeholders, including the Human Resource
Development Authority of Cyprus and social partners, to improve the
quality of vocational training for adults.
Franci BRATKOVIC (Slovenia) introduced the regional Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of Dolenjska in Bela Krajina. He explained the
policy context of VET development in Slovenia and stressed the
importance of skills development through education and training in order
to meet the ongoing challenge of economic moves. Many Slovenian
employers give credit to both formal and informal education and yearly
provide more than fifty hours of education per employee; through the
Chambers local employers and social partners, on the one hand, and
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educational institutions, on the other, co-operate to develop common
projects involving VET.
Marios MAROLACHAKIS (Greece) explained the structure of the Greek
educational system with emphasis on CVET and IVET. He also illustrated
various ways of co-operation between VET schools and private companies
to increase the learning process at secondary education level.
Enrique RUIZ-ALZOLA (Spain) presented the Spanish VET system and
gave detailed information on the relation between VET providers and
private employers. He also pictured the specific situation of the Canary
Islands.
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2.3 Good practices learnt during the visit
Initiative
Country
Implementing
Target
Good practice
Contact person
institution
Language training Poland University of Warsaw Pawel NOWAK
VET learners
Increased mobility
p.nowak@il.pw.edu.pl
Job Guidance subject in all IVET
studies
Spain Ministry of Education Enrique RUIZ
eruialz@gobiernodecanarias.org
VET learners
Better awareness of job market requirements,
opportunities and rights
Mobile Career Advice and
Counselling
Poland Voluntary Labour
Corps
Urszula KOWALSKA
u.kowalska@ohp.pl
VET learners from
remote areas
Better awareness of career and job
opportunities + national dimension
Polish move towards selfsufficiency
Poland National All VET stakeholders Polish employers’ contribution (money, time)
to VET provision reduces dependency on
public funds
Promotion and branding in the
Fashion Industry
Poland LEWIATAN through
CORPO
Wieslaw WOJCIK
wes@corpo.pl
VET learners
Use of famous international employers as
advocate for VET quality
Teacher placement in the
Poland LEWIATAN through Wieslaw WOJCIK
Fashion teachers Better understanding of sector
Fashion Industry
CORPO
wes@corpo.pl
Sector Skills Councils UK National Mike RYAN
mike.ryan@geckoprogrammes.co.u
k
Employer contribution Cyprus National Christos TANTELES
christos@ccci.org.cy
Quality certification of VET
Portugal
providers
Putting VET into perspective:
Integrated co-operation
between competitiveness poles
and VET providers
Belgium
(Wallonia)
DGERT – Directorate
General for
Employment and
Industrial Relations,
Lisbon
Wallonia
Margarida ABREU
margarida.abreu@dgert.mtss.gov.p
t
Daniel NERVENNE
dnervenne@lalouviere.be
Employers
Employers
VET providers
Employers and VET
providers
Employer intervention and quality assurance
of qualifications in specific sectors
Employer have a levy to help fund VET
qualifications
Certification based on results of VET outcomes
Ongoing identification of job market needs and
subsequent rapid adjustment of VET supply
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2.4 The study visits programme aims to promote and support policy development
and cooperation in lifelong learning. That is why it is important to know what you
learnt about such policies and their implementation during your visit. You are
invited to describe your findings concerning the following:
2.4.1 Approaches taken by participating countries (both host and participants)
regarding the theme of the visit. Are there any similar approaches/measures in
participating countries What aspects ate similar and why What aspects are
different and why
One of the main points was the need to educate learners in terms of mobility. The use of
language skills would definitely increase the mobility of the learner population and
enhance opportunities for employment across a wider geographical area. Specifically the
Leonardo Da Vinci Programme showed excellent best practice in developing modules to
improve language training. This will have a positive effect in terms of future flexibility
for learners who have developed good commercial European language skills and will
help them into sustainable careers.
Many of the Polish presentations have a consistent theme, the recognition and
consistent observation of standards, this is to ensure that the learner achievements and
their inherent quality are recognised across the EU region and therefore aid mobility.
In the presentations there was a strong emphasis from the host country to make the
reformed standards simpler to understand so to better communicate the benefits to all
stakeholders, especially employers and potential learners.
Will VET learning routes become more attractive as graduate unemployment increases
The presentation by CORPO on the fashion industry showed that although many
countries do have activities to link teachers with their respective industries, few match
the ambition and scope shown in the Polish Fashion sector.
Participants view teachers’ and trainers’ involvement in everyday business like as a true
prerequisite for learners’ successful sustainable insertion.
The Walloon 2.Green Marshall Plan aims at boosting the regional economy on the basis
of competitiveness poles and clusters; it also creates synergy and coherence among all
stakeholders, including local and regional authorities, employers and VET providers.
Participants see in the Walloon strategy an interesting way of speeding up the matching
of supply and demand on the labour market thanks to the integration of VET providers
and higher education institutions into the new economic environment. The Walloon
model could easily be transferred to other European regions, like the West Midlands in
the UK, where declining industries are to be substituted by higher value ones in order to
produce sustainable activities and therefore jobs relying on new skills.
2.4.2 Challenges faced by participating countries (including host) in their efforts to
implement policies related to the theme of the visit. What are the challenges
Are they common challenges If so, why If not, why not
What is clear in the rapidly changing European environment is the need for good career
advice and guidance; the options available to learners make such services vital. Up-todate
labour market information is also of vital importance so that both the career
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guidance and skills provision ensure that the changing market gets the skills it needs in
a timely and efficient manner.
Both the Polish and British presentations illustrated the problems in convincing
employers of the value of VET training. In fact many of the participants suggested that
the perception of VET qualifications amongst the population were that they were for less
able learners and therefore less desirable.
Participants advocate a better and tightened link between labour market information
and the delivery of VET, on the one hand, and between the theoretical and practical
elements of VET education, on the other.
When employers consider international qualifications, reputation can count as much as
accreditation.
Indeed, if the learner or the employer has to pay for VET, how do VET providers
convince them of the value of their learning
The level of pay for trainees in the craft sector in Poland is low but for the employer the
money is reimbursed when the trainee qualifies.
The culture of dependency generated by employers and learners getting heavily
subsidised or even free training through European and other funds is common to many
of the countries. All over Europe VET providers have to develop new ways to generate
sustainable income when the funding becomes less favourable, whilst maintaining
quality and reputation.
Price as the main criteria for obtaining public tenders in Poland is of concern for
providers who are trying to build a reputation on quality whereas in other countries
quality and accreditation tend to be of equal importance as value for money.
Some craft professions are in steep decline while others are booming. This seems to be
delivered irrespective of true labour market needs and is common to many counties. In
Poland, for example, this is the case for the crafts of antique watch and jewellery making
and repair and the textile sector. Also regarding learner demand, brand and image,
hairdressing appears more attractive than the traditional crafts, which had an image of
being kept in families and the skills were handed down through the generations. The
prospect of having to spend five additional years to become a Master Craftsperson is not
appealing to many young people.
In funded projects the discussion did focus on the staging of payments: do providers get
paid for the process or do they only get paid on results If most of the payments are only
given on learner achievement, how do they finance their activity
The Voluntary Labour Corps showed the challenge faced by Poland in confronting the
problem of disadvantaged learners and how to support this with reduced funding
assistance in the future, especially if there continues to be significant demand.
Participants also insisted on the fact that in the future private employers will have to
learn to effectively support VET learners, pay for their development and link this to
increased business performance.
In Cyprus all companies pay a 0.5% levy to a national organisation (HRDA) and in return
get subsidised help for any HRDA approved training and development for their staff.
The use of employer case studies to support increased VET training of staff and the
benefits to the company should be made available.
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2.4.3 Name and describe effective and innovative solutions you have identified that
participating countries (both host and participants) apply to address the
challenges mentioned in question 2.2. Please mention specific country
examples.
Some of the activities in the Polish projects identified the development of teachers in the
VET sphere to better understand the skills needs of the target employment sectors. This
included use of e-learning modules to allow teachers to refresh their knowledge and
learn at a convenient pace, as well as innovative use of basic games to help people
complete the e-modules.
In other countries there is increasing use of e-learning and more advanced technologies
to create more detailed online learning environments.
In this perspective, higher education institutions, in general, and universities, in
particular, should conduct Saturday lectures with the aim of marketing and rebranding
the opportunities in engineering and technology to attract potential entrants from high
school and counteract the fall in applicants over the last decade.
One key innovation is by all means the use of laboratories to allow potential entrants to
see science and technology in action and get acquainted with the work and its
environment.
Visits of the vocational students to the actual working environment of the areas they are
training for are also valuable.
Participants highly appreciated the accessibility of the Warsaw Cultural Education
Centre to the population to showcase their talents. The Centre has the distinction of
being awarded “Place of Discovering Talent” by the Ministry of National Education.
The existence of a strong link between culture and occupation makes it possible for
young people looking for their future to envisage unexpected careers far away from the
traditional job market and requiring special skills.
Participants also valued the use of creative learning, digital and performing arts to
engage disadvantaged learners and students with mental disabilities - although there
seems to be room for improvement in the scope of delivery of learning to learners with
disabilities.
The innovation shown by the fashion industry as it responds to international demand
witnesses that they are looking to the future and learning the lessons of the past.
2.4.4 Assessment of the transferability of policies and practices. Could any examples
of good practice presented in this report be applied and transferred to other
countries If so, why If not, why not
Another key theme was the certification of providers and the continuing quality
assurance of their performance.
The UK system does analyse the financial performance of providers in terms of assessing
their capability; it also assesses management performance.
In Portugal financial and managerial assessment does not generally affect the overall
performance. However most of the countries suggest that the enhanced employability of
the person as a result of the learning is a key aspect of performance.
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In Poland we have seen excellent examples of networks and strong links between sector
associations, city authorities, VET providers, and the employers.
Specifically the Construction and Lift/Escalators presentations on their sectors showed
good practice supported from Leonardo Da Vinci and other EU funds.
The City of Warsaw showed good practice in career advice and guidance with many
offices across the city in different districts with career counsellors and psychologists
available to young people of any age. This is far more comprehensive and extensive than
many of the study group’s countries.
Again the work experience activity that is experienced by the teachers in the fashion
sector is of a quality and realism that would be best practice in any country.
2.5 Creating networks of experts, building partnerships for future projects is another
important objective of the study visit programme.
Please state whether and which ideas for future cooperation have evolved during meetings and
discussions.
As participants in previous study visits wrote it, we live in an increasingly global world
where the establishment of networks has become crucial to development and economic
prosperity. Facilitating networks in the form of exchanges, visits, and creative and
innovation engagements is vital to future knowledge advances.
During the Warsaw visit each participant could easily identify Polish and/or group
counterparts with whom networking is not only an opportunity but also a must.
Within the group a strong will emerged to continue to work together and to exchange
information and good practices.
2.6 What is the most interesting/useful information that the group believes should be
communicated to others To whom, do you think, this information will be of most
interest
Participants consider that the presented achievements and ongoing projects in the
fashion industry involving teachers and trainers and giving them the opportunity to
keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date substantially contribute to bridging the gap
between employers and VET providers.
They also take the view that VET should deserve better co-operation and better
guidance.
In terms of co-operation, all-level VET provision should be integrated into decisional
spheres of local and/or regional interest and recognised as a significant part of the value
creation process if it benefits from both accreditation and credibility.
In terms of guidance, learners’ skills should be duly and objectively assessed before
training, which could enable learners to make objective choices as regards training and
career.
Training opportunities for disabled learners should be increased and improved.
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