ECVET - Application to mobility projects

EQF: a tool for the description and understanding of qualifications and diplomas for mobility purposes
Qualifications should be transparent in order to let the operators working in the different formal and non formal education & training systems understand and recognize them.
Qualification means a formal outcome of an assessment and validation process which is obtained when a competent body determines that an individual has achieved learning outcomes to given standards. The national qualifications system means all aspects of a Member State's activity related to the recognition of learning and other mechanisms that link education and training to the labour market and civil society. A national qualification system may be composed of several subsystems, for example, the regional, the education and the academic ones.
The national qualifications framework means an instrument for the classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria for specified levels of learning achieved. It aims to integrate and coordinate national qualifications subsystems and improve the transparency, access, progression and quality of qualifications in relation to the labour market and civil society.

Transparency and the benefits associated with it
Transparency has a number of benefits associated with it, the principal ones addressing to:

• citizens who can exploit tools making the qualifications more understandable and valorising the competences acquired in formal, non formal and informal training paths
• enterprises that can establish the relevance of the skills of job applicants coming from other Member States
• institutions which are in charge of facilitating people mobility, providing tools for the knowledge of different national systems and vocational qualifications
• training organizations promoting mobility experiences abroad: they can easily evaluate the access of students coming from other national and international systems
• public authorities who, having comparable information on different training systems and vocational qualifications, can plan various training policies.

Transparency aims to:

• make it easier for people to move between different types of education and training institution by recognizing the learning outcomes acquired in an international context
• provide to the organizations/bodies a framework enabling to identify connections and synergies between the different training offers
• help the authorities, institutions and training organizations relate their training offers to a European framework.

EQF: European Qualifications Framework
In order to assure a real transparency of the qualifications at a community level it is necessary to consider them in a European reference pattern (EQF - European Qualification Framework). A Qualification Framework is an instrument for the development and classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria (they correspond to the acquired learning levels). The set of criteria can be implicit in qualification indicators or can become explicit through a set of level indicators. The framework can be referred to the overall learning path or courses or to a particular sector, for example the initial training, the lifelong learning or an occupational sector.
National qualifications systems have different features but a common goal. Some frameworks can have more elements and a more fixed structure; some can have a legal basis while others can represent the consensus of opinion by social parts. All Qualification Frameworks represent a basis to enhance qualification quality, accessibility, links, public or labour market recognition within a country or at an international level.
EQF represents a meta-framework illustrating the comparison of various qualification frameworks and allowing comparison of the same with different frameworks. The meta-framework aims at developing a mutual trust among qualifications in different countries and sectors defining notions in order to assure quality, vocational guidance, information and procedures for credit transfer so that national and sector transparency acquires an international value.
EQF facilitates the transfer and recognition of qualifications and the communication between actors who provide training and people who ask for training. It provides learning levels and indicators which generally assist an understanding of the range of qualifications and level differences that are present in a national and sector-based context. It is a mechanism aiming at comparing different learning outputs and translating them. It is a common tool for the further development of qualifications at a sector-based level.

EQF: learning outcomes
EQF is a neutral system - if compared with training and certification systems of different countries - based on learning outcomes. EQF is divided into eight different levels to which the qualifications given in different European countries should refer. We briefly list the definitions which should apply to the following words.
The objective and the learning outcome mean statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a learning process. The learning outcomes are defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence.
Knowledge means the outcome of the assimilation of information through learning. Knowledge is the body of facts, principles, theories and practices that is related to a field of work or study. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, knowledge is described as theoretical and/or factual.
Skills means the ability to apply the knowledge and use know-how to complete tasks and solve problems. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, skills are described as cognitive involving the use of logical, intuitive and creative thinking or practical involving manual dexterity and the use of methods, materials, tools and instruments.
Competence means the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/or methodological abilities in work or study situations and in professional and personal development. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, competence is described in terms of responsibility and autonomy. In the next to last document competence was described in terms of relational, professional and vocational competences.
Qualifications are divided into units which are defined in terms of learning outcomes. Units belong to one of the eight levels.

EQF and training paths
Learning outcomes and their relating results ensue from formal, non-formal and informal paths; validation procedures of non-formal competences and the service quality represent useful tools for the system functionality.
EQF levels should represent different knowledge levels, skills and competences that are independent if compared to the acquisition context.
For example ISCED 97 levels are related to formal training and education paths but they are outdated because of an evolution concerning this sector at European level.

EQF and voluntary adhesion
This reference structure will be used on a voluntary basis by each member State and will work only thanks to the cooperation among countries keeping only those national frameworks and processes that will create new qualifications. The final decisions on the recognition belong to the national or regional jurisdiction. The voluntary basis requires the establishment of the mutual trust. Thereby the principles and instruments belonging to the subsidiarity area - quality assurance, system for transfer of credits, validation of non formal, informal learning, vocational guidance - should be shared and mutually recognized from a methodological point of view in spite of the differences regarding contents.

EQF and mutual trust
EQF application requires the development of mutual trust between training organizations and operators. Quality assurance is necessary to establish the mutual trust. Quality should be ensured by policies and procedures which should include context, input, process and output dimensions.
Quality assurance systems should include the following elements: clear and measurable objectives and standards; guidelines for implementation; stakeholders involvement; appropriate resources; consistent evaluation methods associating self-assessment and external review; feedback mechanisms and procedures for improvement; widely accessible evaluation results; peer learning. The mutual trust should be carried out through initiatives at international and regional level in order to ensure overview, coherence, synergy and system-wide analysis. Such coordination should integrate with a cooperative process across education and training levels and systems involving all relevant stakeholders within Member States and across the Community.