NQF Inventory - Russia

Given globalisation, rapid technological change and the country’s negative demographic trends, there is an urgent need to put in place a comprehensive system of continuing upskilling and  recognition and validation of skills acquired outside formal education and training. The NQF is intended, with other measures, to address these challenges.
In particular, it should:

(a) identify changing skills and qualifications requirements and respond to them;
(b) develop an up-to-date classification of labour market occupations (the respective register has been approved by the Labour Ministry) and of qualifications, that are based on learning outcomes/competences;
(c) ensure transparency of qualifications for all target groups: students, education policy- makers, education establishments, the workforce and employers;
(d) ensure permeability between/greater equality of educational subsystems (such as vocational and academic education);
(e) serve as a basis for the validation of competences and qualifications, both of formal and non-formal education.
 

The country’s NQF is influenced by the EQF and by the Bologna process, of which it is a member.

Russia’s office for recognition or ENIC (European Network of Information Centres in the European Region) is the Main State Centre for Education Evaluation.
Recognition of foreign education awards/diplomas/degrees and (or) foreign qualifications in the Russian Federation is regulated by Federal law.
 

Through Tempus projects and at the initiative of the sector qualifications councils, regional and sectoral qualifications frameworks have been developed in a range of industries, including food, environment, land management, IT and management. Examples include a regional qualifications system for the Chelyabinsk region and Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks in the railroads sector and welding.

More sectoral qualifications frameworks are in the making, including in the commerce, hospitality and tourism sectors, developed by sector employers and VET colleges working together.

Opportunities for recognition of non-formal learning have acquired legitimisation in the form of a law.
 

There are 9 levels in the NQF legal act (the 9th level covers postdoctoral qualifications) and its descriptors are largely in line with those of the European Qualifications Framework.

The framework is based on the following descriptors: responsibility (which correlates with the autonomy and responsibility parameter of the EQF); skills and knowledge.
While this system shares some characteristics of an NQF, it differs from prevailing conceptions of NQFs in a number of ways: it has been developed without strong stakeholder participation and has not undergone open public review processes, and it is not supported by a typology of qualifications and by a register of qualifications for all sectors.

Moreover, the newly formed register pf qualifications refers only to occupational qualifications that are not related to education qualifications. Additionally, the descriptors include the parameter “ways of attaining the level of qualification” and “duration of formal education programmes”, which limit attainment of qualifications to formal education pathways, which is contradictory to a lifelong learning philosophy. Hence, even when provision is made to recognize practical experience, it contradicts the other parameters in the descriptors.
 

Definitions for qualifications appear in these regulations:

(a) The labour code: ‘Qualification of worker is the level of his-her knowledge, skills and work experience’.
(b) The Federal Law on Education in the Russian Federation (signed 29 December 2012, # 273- ФЗ: ‘The level of knowledge, skills and competency, characterising readiness to perform a certain type of occupational activity’.
 

Access to qualifications is stipulated in the constitution and the Law on Education in the Russian Federation as access to education. Access to qualifications can be acquired via compulsory vocational education programmes of secondary education (qualifications of workers and qualifications of the middle-level specialists) and programmes of higher education. Progression from level to level is traditionally consecutive. Progression to a higher level is allowed only if the lower level qualification has been achieved and is confirmed by a respective document, such as an appropriate certificate or diploma.

Article 10 of Federal Law N273-FZ on education in the Russian Federation dated 29 December 2012, allows candidates who have acquired skills non- formally, or who have completed a non-accredited study programme, to sit intermediate and final State exams at an education institution that has public accreditation, so that they can progress to higher levels of qualification.
 

New qualifications are generally outcomes-based as they are derived from competences. However, this is not an explicit legal requirement.

The regulation on an NQF has been approved by the Federal Labour Ministry under the title The levels of qualifications to use in developing occupational standards. The levels are also used to develop occupational qualifications (Order of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection No 148n dated 12 April 2013).

There is yet no NQF law or decree but the Federal Law of 3 December 2012, N 236-ФЗ, set out definitions of qualifications and occupational standards in the labour code and in the Law on Technical Regulation.

Legislation on establishing the National Council for Qualifications (Presidential Decree No 249 of 16 April 2014) and the Law on Independent Assessment of Qualifications are also relevant.

Overall responsibility for coordinating Russia’s NQF development, including supervision of the development of occupational standards, lies with the National Qualifications Council, which was established as an autonomous agency in April 2014. Another actor in this area is the National Agency for Qualifications Development that currently acts on behalf of the National Qualifications Council.

Agencies, ministries and official bodies engaged in NQF development are the National Qualifications Council, sector qualifications councils, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the 2 ministries responsible for  education (Ministry of Education – in charge of all sectors of education with the exception of higher education, and the Ministry of Education and Science); employer associations and professional bodies.
In 2012, the development of occupational standards was entrusted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. The Ministry approved the template for occupational standards development, a methodology for filling out the template, and a structure of qualifications (description of qualifications linked to educational attainment).

Under the Law on Independent Assessment of Qualifications, a system of assessment centres is being established, affiliated to the sector qualifications. Its activities are coordinated by the National Qualifications Council and supervised by the National Qualifications Development Agency. The latter runs a Register of independent assessment of qualifications, as well as a data base of results of independent assessment. The Register of qualifications holds over 1,300 occupational qualifications for specialists with a higher education and secondary vocational education.  Over 200 examination centres have been opened in the Russian Federation regions.
 

The initial impetus to establish the NQF came from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which established the National Qualifications Development Agency (NARK) in 2007.

The National Council for Occupational Qualifications was established by Presidential Decree. It is a consultative and coordinating body set up to support development of a system of occupational qualifications. The establishment of this umbrella high-level body is intended to contribute to overcoming the fragmentation of earlier efforts and will inject a systemic character to the development of up-to-date qualifications in Russia. The Council initially approved five working groups: on the development of sector qualifications (a prototype of sector skills councils), on occupational standards development; on application of occupational standards in the system of education and training; on independent assessment of qualifications; and on analysis of best practices. Later, the groups on the development of sector qualifications (a prototype of sector skills councils), and on occupational standards development merged.
These developments have contributed to progress in occupational standards, new qualifications, and SQFs. This will ultimately result in the development of a fully fledged NQF and the national system of qualifications, embracing institutional (sector qualifications councils/sector bodies), methodological (occupational standards), quality and assurance (sector bodies that coordinate assessment, validation and recognition of occupational qualifications) mechanisms.

Parallel to the above, methodology has been developed to aid linking occupational standards, qualifications standards and education and training standards.
 

The National Qualifications Council and the sector qualifications councils are self-funded; the system of independent assessment of qualifications is supported by federal grants in its initial stage but is to be self-funded later.

Quality in education is defined by the Law on Education. Providers and other actors must comply with the Federal State education standards (FSES). Measures include licensing, accreditation and final assessment of learners. The Federal Service for Supervision in Education (affiliated with the Russian Federation Government) monitors compliance with the established procedures.

In VET and HE, industry and employers and sectoral associations accredit programmes in terms of their labour market relevance. The aim is to determine whether VET and HE programmes are linked to occupational requirements, including occupational standards.
Russia is a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

The national register and database are being finalised.

Mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of NQF implementation have not yet been defined.

Pre-requisites for the NQF are in place, the tools and instruments available allow recognition of non-formal learning and validation of competences in the interests of learners, workers and employers.