ECVET Magazine n. 6

The sixth issue of the ECVET Magazine contains
- an editorial by Erik Hess, Policy officer ECVET, European Commission, DG EAC;
- a summarizing article about the 2nd generation of ECVET pilot projects that started their work in January 2011;
- an article about the NETINVET-network that has been founded as a result of the RECOMFOR project;
- an article abut the CAPE-SV project and the presentation of its project outcomes to the French social partners;
- an article about the testing of the ECVET technical specifications by the NETWORK project;
- a snapshot from the ECVET Forum in Madrid in June 2011;
- and a series of news items.
France
The French Ministry of National Education (MEN) has decided to become institutionally involved in a project to test and develop the credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) for mobility, opting for a transversal approach concerning vocational qualifications produced by the Ministry of Education.
The MEN project (France) examines the regulatory and organisational provisions of national qualifications in relation to the ECVET technical specifications. Currently, vocational diplomas in France are already structured in units. Each unit consists of a coherent set of competences with associated knowledge. The content of each unit is closely linked to the activities and tasks in working life. However, existing units of learning outcomes are not always coherent with ECVET. The project will develop recommendations for the way qualifications are designed and described in units of learning outcomes in France.
The project relates to a specific type of vocational qualification, the French ‘vocational baccalaureate’; covering different specialised areas from six different sectors: reception service, secretarial, accounting, health and social work, electrical engineering and building technician. The project aims to examine in depth the regulatory and organisational provisions in force in relation to the ECVET technical specifications.
A comparison of the actual practices following the national rules and the ECVET recommendation will be conducted. Working groups composed of experts will examine each qualification chosen for the project in order to develop links to learning outcomes and to identify procedures suitable for assessment, validation and recognition procedures in a national context and in a mobility context. The same approach will be pursued regarding a possible system of points. Audits of previous ECVET projects will also be conducted.
The project will result in:
• Recommendations for the design of qualifications organised into units of learning outcomes;
• Recommendations for the allocation of points;
• Organisational and operational recommendations for recognition, in the award of vocational diplomas, of learning outcomes obtained in situations of mobility.
See also ECVET Magazine n. 5, Issue 4, April 2011, Issue 3, January 2011, Issue 2, November 2010, Issue 1, June 2010, Issue 4, April 2010, Issue 3, November 2009, Issue 2, July 2009, Issue 1, April 2009.