Skills and qualifications: benefits for people. My three takeaways from the ETF conference.

The annual ETF conference 2019 is over. It was a vibrant event and for two days, as it happens with good conferences, the world seemed to revolve around the Centro Congressi in Turin. Some 250 participants have gone back to their daily routines, some attending other conferences, others back in their ministry, institute, school, company, training centre.

It is always a challenge to hold on to the ideas and inspiration that you get from a few days in another environment and exchanges with interesting people. This conference was rich in content and brought inspiring examples. But how to use all this inspiration in your daily life? I have thought about it and these are my three takeaways from Turin:

1. Connect policy and practice.

There is a real risk that well intended policies remain only paper so that no one benefits. And  that beautiful projects remain isolated so that few people benefit. To ensure that all people benefit policy and practice should be connected. For a start VET policy makers should begin to take VET professionals seriously when they start reforms. See the teachers and trainers, the school directors and the guidance professionals as a driving force for change rather than an obstacle to change. Of course, not all professionals are welcoming flexible curricula and new roles for teachers. But invest in those that are! The 460 success stories that ETF gathered, show that they are with many.

2. Manage change.

Managing change was not a topic of the conference but it was raised by participants in comments and questions. The Finnish speaker Mika Saarinen, in his opening address, said interesting things about manging change of the VET system in Finland such as make a set of small changes rather than one big overhauls and organise changes bottom-up so that you will have the professionals on board when they have to execute them.

3. Make all people benefit.

How to make more people benefit more from skills and qualifications? This is a relevant question because too many people do not benefit enough from skills and qualifications. They don’t have basic skills nor qualifications. Or they have acquired them but for various reasons their skills and qualifications don’t help them find a job. This is not only a loss for individuals who can’t make a decent living but also for societies who lose potential talent. To turn this around governments initiate inclusion policies and schools initiate projects and activities with local actors. The EU supports with programmes like Upskilling Pathways.

With this conference my working life has ended. Regardless, I will keep the special bond with vocational education and training that I have had throughout my working life. I will follow developments on my three takeaways and if I come across something interesting for the ETF Open Space community I’ll keep you posted.