THE EUROPEAN YEAR OF SKILLS
May 2023 to May 2024 has been designated as the European Year of Skills. With the GLAD Network we kicked off our activities ahead of the official opening on 9 May 2023.
On 20 April 2023, the Role of Teachers in Green and Digital Transition: the Contribution of Social Dialogue was the topic discussed among teacher trades union representatives, vocational education and training institutions, government representatives, ETUCE (the European Trade Union Committee for Education) and the Swedish Ministry of Education and Research. The shortage of teachers and lack of attractiveness of VET is a common issue across the European Union member states and partner countries. Georgia and Serbia shared their experiences on how professional development of teachers is organised in their countries and described the challenges that teachers are facing.
To make the change happen, resilience and partnership for VET school leaders and staff – and social dialogue with stakeholders including government, employers, unions and civic society, are the key. It is essential to extend social dialogue beyond teachers and ministries of education. Involving the trade unions in the green and digital transition is part of the answer to rebuilding institutions and innovating social dialogue, the seminar participants concluded.
QUALITY ASSURANCE IN VET & EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF VET PROGRAMS AND INSTITUTIONS
How VET programmes and institutions are externally evaluated, what methodology and standards are used was the focus of the peer visit to Moldova by the ETF Forum for Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (ETF QA Forum) from 16-18 May, 2023. During the first two days, the peers had a chance to meet and discuss with VET school managers, experts from the profile committee on VET: a consultative body, evaluation experts, employers and learners, to better understand their roles within the evaluation process. The third day was dedicated to peer feedback to the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research (ANACEC).
A peer visit is a form of external feedback from visiting peers that aims to support the host country in its quality assurance development efforts. ANACEC requested external peers from other Forum member countries to provide input on the methodology and guidelines for the external evaluation, especially in terms of aligning them to the EQAVET indicators and in the light of the best practices in the field of external evaluation of VET programs and institutions from Forum members. The host institution was reassured of being ‘on the right track’. Peer feedback concluded that the Moldovan approach to the external evaluation methodology, evaluation standards for VET programs and institutions are very well developed, transparent and comprehensive including participation of a wide range of stakeholders, clear procedures and roles of actors involved.
CIVIL SOCIETY FOR LIFELONG SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
23 May 2023, the ETF, European Commission, Lifelong Learning Platform and European Association for the Education of Adults organised a conference on Civil society for lifelong skills development in Europe and partner countries to have a closer look at the state of affairs for inclusive policy dialogue in lifelong learning, and in particular, emphasise how the role of civil society organisations could be strengthened in policy design and implementation. The conference programme was built around concrete examples, such as drafting National Skills Strategies and other approaches addressing the challenges of lifelong learning and skills development systems building. As lifelong learning policies should be shaped by all stakeholders, the representatives from national and European level institutions – governmental representatives as well as civil society organisations including youth organisations were invited to the debate.
High-level speakers pointed out that there is rich evidence that the involvement of CSOs, social partners and local and regional authorities improves the design of strategies and policies. This requires structured dialogue between governments and civil society, as opposed to occasional consultations. CSOs bring advantages to this dialogue due to their experience in skills development, and their deep understanding of the diversity of non-formal, informal and lifelong learning skills needs. They should be supported to expand skills delivery – on a continuous, sustainable basis – and be more involved in monitoring and evaluating skills policy outcomes. Participants agreed that CSOs contribute to policy implementation because they are very close to the people and communities they serve, there is a level of trust, knowledge and insight that others do not have. Many CSOs can reach out, explain what skills services and policies are available, and encourage take-up. They provide career guidance and training opportunities. Promoting public-private-civil society partnerships can help to build alliances between key stakeholders and ensure a better response to the diversity of learning needs.
CIVIL AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE
The ETF, in partnership with the Lifelong Learning Platform and the European Association for the Education of Adults, will continue to mediate dialogue between civil society groups and government authorities, and to work with CSOs throughout the European Year of Skills and beyond.
From the ETF's side, in order to strengthen relations with a network of CSOs operating in lifelong learning, non-formal and informal VET, skills learning and services to employment, we are closely following up this year with Moldova and Ukraine.
In the same week of the conference, the ETF participated in the 15th European Trade Union Confederation Congress, held on 23-26 May 2023 in Berlin, Germany. On this occasion, the role of teachers in vocational excellence and the possibilities of continuous professional development has been discussed from the perspective of further cooperation; and the role of social partners in vocational excellence/CoVEs ecosystems has been explored.
Civil and social dialogue are important also in the perspective of resilience, Following the expert workshop of 1-2 December 2022 on the topic and a deep dive into concrete experiences from four countries: Lebanon, Moldova, Palestine and Serbia, we are now finalising a discussion paper to address the interconnection between resilience, governance and human capital development (meant as education, training, skills development and support to employment) during and after the COVID pandemic. More information will follow on the ETF OpenSpace area on GLAD.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In the previous edition of the GLADnetwork NEWsletter, we wrote about the proposals received from the countries for mutual learning within the GLAD network. At the initiative of the Skills Agency of Georgia, on 5 July 2023 from 13.00 to 14.30 CEST, we will organise an online exchange on performance-based financing in vocational education and training. Estonia and Finland will share their experiences. To participate in the discussion on opting into or otherwise to performance-based financing in VET, please contact us: glad@etf.europa.eu.
In the month of July (25 July from 9 to 10.30 CEST - date still to be confirmed), at the initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and Ministry Education and Research of Moldova, we will discuss the Georgian practice of short-term reskilling and upskilling training courses for adults to reduce skills mismatch on the labour market and to address workforce skills gaps through lifelong learning.
In September, we will have a closer look at Youth Guarantee implementation and the role of Civil Society Organisations. More information will follow on the ETF OpenSpace area on GLAD.
And finally, we renew our invitation to join the #GLADnetwork on the ETF OpenSpace: About GLAD | Open Space (europa.eu) – this space has been created for our community to share resources and information on what’s going on within the network– to bring most value for you.
We wish you enjoyable summer months!
Your ETF GLAD Team
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