While Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have an established VNFIL system and the policy on VNFIL is at an early stage of development, the educational reforms of the past ten years and the strategic commitment to developing VNFIL provide a good basis for growth.
Bosnia and Herzegovina identifying VNFIL development as a strategic objective indicates a recognition of VNFIL’s potential for the labour market and the workforce. This provides an additional strong impetus for progressing the fundamental legal, regulatory, and developmental work required for establishing a VNFIL system and a functioning Qualifications Framework for the country.
Although significant system developments are still forthcoming, so far two concepts for VNFIL have been developed and more significant developments in terms of implementation are expected to follow. While VNFIL activities in VET to date have been somewhat limited (at NQF/EQF levels 2 to 5), in higher education, the validation of prior knowledge, skills and competencies is more advanced and is envisaged for the purpose of acquiring ECTS credits (at NQF/EQF levels 6 to 8). For instance, procedures have been developed, a legislative model has been created and pilot activities at two higher education institutions should begin soon. While both concepts (in VET and HE) follow relevant European recommendations and guidelines (in terms of VNFIL definition and validation stages), neither foresees that learners would have the opportunity to acquire a full qualification through VNFIL.
As Bosnia and Herzegovina’s focus in the next seven years will be on legislative and system developmental work in an especially complex landscape of governance structures, it is understandable that no external stakeholder involvement from the labour market or the third sector is foreseen at this point. However, there is scope to invite these stakeholders to the policy dialogue, system implementation and public awareness raising phases to facilitate the embedding of VNFIL across multiple policy areas.
Furthermore, while the early stages of VNFIL development means significant work is yet to be completed, this also provides opportunity for a systems-level review and incorporation of VNFIL from its inception across all relevant policy and legislative areas in education, training and quality assurance. To bolster this work, Bosnia and Herzegovina may also benefit from establishing a digital infrastructure that supports VNFIL procedures from its earliest stages, along with developing a system of data collection, monitoring and evaluation to underpin evidence-based policy making.
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