Development of training standards

     In order to strengthen the VET system the main strategy must be to build on the existing national arrangements and contribute to their ability to adapt to an international context. Thus VET qualifications must be internationally transparent, must address international as well as national, regional and local requirements, and VET teaching and training institutions and their programmes must be of international quality, both to retain students and to attract others from states that are trading partners. In VET teacher training institutions, teachers have a particular problem in keeping abreast with latest developments, as do the examiners/assessors. The longer they are in teaching and out of industry, the more the danger of them becoming out-of-date. With VET, the advances come from technology or industry, at national or international level. Therefore there is no point in having new occupational standards, and new training standards derived from them, if the teaching institutions are unable to deliver the compliant service.

     Within the project a choice has to be made, from the existing systems, for the utilisation of a common basis for the development of training standards for vocational education and training. This will result in a general framework for the formulation of training standards for the VET system. Experience from the micro projects will show whether the existing VET structure can respond to international requirements or has to be adapted. Once the main national classification has been accepted for each professional branch, a medium will be created, whereby the occupational standards will be transferred into training standards. The common terms used in this transfer are the competencies connected to occupational standards and acquired in the reformed VET system. A special vocational training standards (VTS) workgroup will be formed with participation from social partners and the VET system at large.

     The VTS workgroup will start drafting a training standards framework containing requirements and guidelines for VTS. The outcome will be a national classification system with a justification of the selected framework, to be presented in a small conference where social partners, occupational branches and the occupational standards commission will be present.

     For the micro projects analyses will be carried out to identify the needs of assistance in the development and formulation of the competencies that will serve as final objectives for VET. For those micro projects where the occupational standards are not available, then the occupational branch will be invited to participate in the curriculum development groups. This group will develop the competencies that will be utilised as the basis for the occupational standards and the VTS. All outcomes of the workgroup in terms of competencies and curriculum will be shared with METARGEM, this being the central administration of all curriculum development products.