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Bridging Conference on New Qualifications and Competencies in TVET – examples of enabling their identification, integration and implementation

The BILT project team welcomed around 150 participants from 49 countries to the online Bridging Conference on New Qualifications and Competencies in TVET on 8 December 2020. The conference featured examples of successful identification, integration and implementation of new qualifications and competencies in TVET.

In her opening remarks, UNESCO-UNEVOC Director Soo-Hyang Choi emphasized the importance of bridging within the larger context of challenges facing TVET.

“TVET systems often find it difficult to keep pace with changes in the world of work,” Ms. Choi said. “But it is possible to bridge this gap through well-timed identification and implementation of relevant qualifications and competencies.”

Best practice examples

The Bridging Conference featured three sessions from UNEVOC Network members. BIBB’s Vera Hark introduced each session with findings from UNESCO-UNEVOC’s recently published Trends Mapping Study, carried out with European UNEVOC Centres.


The first session featured a presentation by Marlon Miña, the Executive Director of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Working with the German development agency, GIZ, and BIBB, Mr. Miña said that consultations with 60 regional public and private sector experts identified new competencies for revised standards for in-company trainers in ASEAN countries.

“The mix of competencies that were integrated into the initiative and the training included lots of compromises among the participants on definitions,” he said.

Mr. Miña added that existing standards in member countries and international best practices were part of the process, demonstrating the value of involving multiple stakeholders as new qualifications and competencies are identified.


Next was Johannes Lindner, who heads an entrepreneurship education centre (Impulszentrum für Entrepreneurship – e.e.si) under the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research & Initiative for Teaching Entrepreneurship. He shared Austria’s approach for integrating entrepreneurship into the country’s TVET programmes.

“For us, entrepreneurship is a mindset, a process and a method,” Mr. Lindner said, before outlining several touchpoints where entrepreneurial education has been integrated into TVET systems. These include education coordinators at the state level and national and international entrepreneurial festivals.

Mr. Lindner observed that integrating entrepreneurial learning “is not an island” and that efforts must be coordinated beyond individual institutions.

His contribution highlights why it is important to offer learners a mix of different approaches – in this case cross-sectoral and occupational – when developing curricula.


The final session included a contribution from Ida Carrilho Alvarinho. Dialling in from Mozambique, the National Director Professional Qualifications at the National Authority of Professional Education (ANEP) described a work-in-progress that she likened to “changing parts on a car while the car is moving.” Establishing ANEP and its standards for teacher certification, institutional accreditation and TVET management was a policy effort, but Ms. Alvarinho said the current challenge is implementing these new benchmarks without disrupting the TVET system.

“We could not stop the system and have our 4,000 teachers and trainers pursue the new certificates,” she said. The system was designed to be flexible, accommodating newer teachers pursuing national certificates and experienced instructors receiving ad-hoc training to ensure they continue to meet the professional profile.

ANEP’s example shows the importance of adequate training for teachers whenever curricular changes are implemented.


The Bridging Conference closed with additional perspectives from Africa and Asia. Kelly Shiohira from JET Education Services in South Africa discussed the role of technology in JET’s efforts to connect stakeholders and create more responsive TVET.

Representing Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic, Joanne Koh added that in her work, close alignment with industries on anticipating shifts in labour demand helped create a more robust skills framework for TVET institutions.

In 2021, additional exchanges among the European, African, and Asian UNEVOC Networks will aim to generate new knowledge on national and international TVET practices for new qualifications and competencies. In parallel, expert working groups will collaborate on a series of publications addressing identification, integration, and implementation of new qualifications and competencies in TVET. These findings will be presented at the BILT Learning Forum, scheduled for December 2021.



Background

Major outcomes of the Trends Mapping Study “Trends in New Qualifications and Competencies for TVET. Perspectives of the European UNEVOC Network”

The aim of BILT’s Trends Mapping Study is to identify trends in new qualifications and competencies as society, economies and labour markets evolve in ever-faster cycles. With relevant new qualifications and competencies identified, the Trends Mapping Study explores innovative strategies for their integration into curricula and training regulations. It further explores options for the implementation of new qualifications and competencies in teaching and training through the use of new methods and technologies, as well as adequate teacher and trainer training. Selected working examples of applied projects and initiatives offer a wide range of illustrations.


Trends in New Qualifications and Competencies for TVET - Perspectives of the European UNEVOC Network

Trends Mapping Study
This Trends Mapping Study is part of the Bridging Innovation and Learning in TVET project. It draws on a selection of relevant literature, the data collected from the UNEVOC Network using an online survey and focus group activities, as well as on inf ...

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About the BILT Project

The vision of the BILT project is to be a reference point for innovation and learning in TVET through network collaboration within Europe, and in a bridging process with African and Asian partners, while developing a set of practically-oriented publications related to New Qualifications and Competencies. The project complements national developments to explore and support innovative, market-oriented and attractive modes of learning and cooperation in TVET.

Having national qualifications and competencies in view, the BILT Project supports collaboration activities that are targeted to better understand the state-of-play and enhance national as well as multi-national TVET capacities, to generate new knowledge and to share information on national TVET practices, e.g. through innovation and learning examples and implementation examples. Furthermore, a structured exchange in the respective topic takes place between the European and the African UNEVOC Network as well as between the European and Asian UNEVOC Network in 2021.



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