live&learn issue 29

ISSUE 29 – NOV 2013NEWS AND VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE ETF COMMUNITY

Young Syrians fight their own battles for skills | 08

View from the top: ETF Policy Leaders’ Forums | 10

Advisor to six US presidents talks about VET | 14

Opinion: “Careering” can cure careers | 20

Live&Learn

As Libya searches for a development

vision after the 2011 revolution,

vocational education and training is set

to assume a grander role Report from

Tripoli

LIBYAan uphill struggle

Live&Learn November 201302

INSIDE04 Country focus: Libya

08 Young Syrians fight their own battles for education and skills

10 ETF Policy Leaders’ Forums in Marseilles and Salzburg

12 Sara Parkin: Making VET fit for a sustainable future

14 Eduardo Padrón: “Quality and status of VET must go up to attract industry”

13 The ETF and the Eastern Partnership

16 In booming Azerbaijan, VET gets a second chance

18 School development for lifelong learning in Central Asia CONTACT US

Further information can be found on the ETF website: www.etf.europa.eu

For any additional information, please contact:

Communication Department European Training Foundation ADDRESS Villa Gualino, Viale Settimio Severo 65, I – 10133 Torino, Italy TELEPHONE +39 011 630 2222 FAX +39 011 630 2200 EMAIL [email protected]

To receive a copy of Live&Learn please email [email protected]

The European Training Foundation is the European Union’s centre of expertise supporting vocational and training reforms in the context of the European Union’s external relations programmes.

ISSN: 1725-9479 @ European Training Foundation, 2013

Cover photograph: A young man poses in the crowded market of the Old City of Tripoli.

ETF/Iason Athanasiadis – EUP & Images

Please recycle this magazine when you finish with it.

20 Careering: A solution for more fulfilling careers

21 My vocation: Moscow college course is fast track to a good career

22 New publications & Digital update

Live&LearnNovember 2013 03

MAKING THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP WORK FOR LEARNERS AND EMPLOYEES

Madlen Serban, ETF director

Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP & Images

Editorial

The Eastern Partnership was created in May 2009 to strengthen the EU’s ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Successive EU enlargements have brought these countries closer to EU borders. Their security, stability and prosperity are more than ever the areas of interest for EU policies.

The Partnership promotes democracy and good governance, supports sector reform and environmental protection, encourages people-to-people contacts, and helps in economic and social development. The ETF is closely involved in many activities that advance the goals of the Partnership.

Across the region we have been supporting development of continuing vocational training. Confirming the vocational education and training agenda agreed with the ETF, some countries started working on sector skills councils, others began developing national qualifications frameworks. A few weeks ago we published a valuable report from this project (see ‘New publications’ on page 22).

Under the EU Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, the ETF carried out extensive studies of migration and skills in Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. The findings fed into EU policy making, but also gave the countries the evidence they needed to improve the use of EU mobility partnerships.

The ETF has contributed analysis to a series of SME assessments in eastern Europe, based on the criteria contained within the EU’s Small Business Act. Our joint reports with the EBRD, the OECD and the European Commission

gave a unique insight into the barriers to job creation in the region. In Ukraine our innovative project helped the local authorities and social partners in one industrial region to assess and anticipate its skills needs.

These are just a few examples of how the ETF engages the countries of the Eastern Partnership in practical cooperation and dialogue, which is beneficial both for our partners and for the EU. �


Libya is striving for a new vision for economic development in the wake of the 2011 revolution that ended four decades of authoritarian rule. But by all accounts the country has a long road ahead.

The transitional Libyan government is aiming to kick start the economy by restarting work on large-scale building and infrastructure projects, many of which were planned under the old regime. There is also a belief that the role of the private sector must grow. “We can’t just keep relying on the public sector to provide jobs,” says Deputy Minister of Labour, Ibrahim Abu Bridaa, “we need to sit down with all the other ministries and find ways to encourage the private sector to take over.”

There is a certain awareness of the need to wean the economy off its addiction to gas and oil and to branch out into more labour-intensive sectors such as tourism. The Ministry of Labour is proposing to introduce a series of incentives to encourage private businesses to employ more Libyans, such as paying the first year’s salary or a year’s exemption from social security obligations.

EU support

The European Union is providing support with, among others, its vocational

education and training (VET) project – designed by the ETF – which began in 2013. It aims to address immediate needs by helping the unemployed, especially ex-fighters, to find work. It also supports a longer-term reform of the country’s VET system.

VET clearly has a big role to play in rebalancing Libya’s skewed labour market and contributing to more sustainable forms of growth.

But many training centres have outdated equipment and courses which lack practical content. The system as a whole is fragmented and runs largely in parallel to general education. The two biggest obstacles are the low social prestige of VET and its isolation from the world of work.

VET’s image problem

Many Libyans see vocational education as a last resort in education. “It usually attracted people who were not very smart, so many others did not want to be associated with it,” says Rafaa Rejeibi,

a lecturer in English at Tripoli University. Even without this, there is a lack of awareness of what VET can offer, with many young people simply being guided by their families’ aspirations for them to become doctors or engineers.

With no system in place to track the outcomes of VET, information on employability is mainly anecdotal. It is closely linked to an individual institute’s reputation, according to the head of the TVET Board Mokhtar Jwaili. So while graduates from technical colleges, such as computer studies in Tripoli or electronic engineering in Bani Walid, have no problem finding jobs, others may struggle.

Hythem Elghoul, managing director of an advertising company, Semat, says it is also very difficult for him to find skilled workers. He says that there is currently no provision for training people to work in his sector in Libya. “Usually we end up training them at our own expense but we hardly ever find someone who is ready so mostly we recruit expats,” he says.

LIBYA, AN UPHILL STRUGGLE

Country focus Libya

Libya needs more middle-ranking technicians and fewer engineers.

Photo: ETF/Iason Athanasiadis – EUP & Images


Elghoul believes that VET should offer a wider range of courses and that the country needs more middle-ranking technicians and fewer engineers. “But it is also a social question,” he says. “Many young people don’t have money problems, so there is a certain laziness in the mood of society. People will open cafés and shops, small businesses that don’t require a lot of staff and they get by that way.” However he does believe the mood has changed since the revolution.

Rejeibi agrees. “I now see students who want to work as well as study, whereas before you would never see that,” she says. “People are taking part-time jobs and this is giving them the notion that you don’t need an engineering degree to get a job.” Attitudes and aspirations may be starting to shift; “in certain circles, young people see a job with the government as not very cool,” she says.

A skewed market for jobs

Muammar Gaddafi’s unorthodox approach to the economy has left a legacy of distortion and disconnection in Libya’s labour market.

Around 70% of formally employed Libyans work in the public sector. In

the private sector, oil and gas reserves typically drilled by foreign companies, contribute a large slice of government revenue but employ only a tiny proportion of the workforce. Private companies in Libyan hands tend to be small. The size of Libya’s informal sector is described in a recent report by GIZ, a German aid agency, as “uncertain but large.” With no labour force surveys, all figures are approximate.

The disproportionate size of the public sector, plus the attractive working conditions it offers, have shaped the aspirations of generations of Libyans, giving many a distinctly white collar orientation and a distaste for manual labour.

“A whole series of factors mean that Libyans have been very reluctant to take on blue collar jobs, everyone wants to be a civil servant or work in a bank, no one wants to work on a building site or in a hotel,” says Mounir Baati, the ETF’s country manager for Libya.

The gap was traditionally filled by foreign migrants. In 2008, the Economist Intelligence Unit estimated there were two million of them – a staggering figure for a country with a population of about

six. Many left during the violence of 2011, some have since returned, but as Libya’s borders are porous and illegal work is widespread, no one knows the exact numbers.

International organisations and some national bodies agree on a rough rate of 30% unemployment. But there are no precise figures for this either. Even with foreign workers in Libya, employers still struggle to find the right people for the jobs. �

Text: Rebecca Warden, ICEw

Rafaa Rejeibi, one of the ETF’s Young Mediterranean Leaders, says less young people in Libya nowadays see jobs with the government as cool.


Many in government believe that the role of the private

sector must grow.


“LIBYANS HAVE BEEN VERY RELUCTANT TO TAKE ON BLUE COLLAR JOBS, EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A CIVIL SERVANT OR

WORK IN A BANK”

Facts & Figures � 6 million people live in Libya � 45% of them are 24 years old or under

� 89.5% can read and write � Nearly 1 in 3 active Libyans is unemployed

� Libya’s economic output in 2012 totalled $78.63 billion

� The energy sector generated 99% of government income and 80% of GDP

Based on current estimations of The CIA World Factbook


Mokhtar Jwaili, in charge of vocational education and training in Libya, tells Live&Learn about his ideas for quietly shaking up Libyan vocational education.

Jwaili, the head of Libya’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Board, is a man with a plan. With his discrete, under the radar approach, he is slowly putting the pieces in place to revamp a badly needed part of Libya’s education system. “We would like to make vocational education and training a major participant in the Libyan economy,” says Jwaili.

The stakes are high: the Board has set itself the goal of getting 50% of students into vocational education by 2025. Currently the figures are approximately 20% for secondary students and 16% for post-secondary, according to Jwaili.

Investment plans

There are plans to build 33 technical education complexes around the country over the next 20 years. Housing all forms of vocational education – basic and high, technical and vocational – these will also provide accommodation for staff and students and be similar to university campuses.

Important though the numbers may be, Jwaili is convinced that improving TVET is much more a question of quality than quantity. “First we have to make this sector more attractive, by having good facilities, up-to-date programmes

and properly trained teachers,” he says. Establishing pathways to higher education is part of this drive. “Students should be able to go to vocational education knowing that this is not the end of their academic career,” he adds.

Starting their last academic year, graduates of intermediate vocational institutes or secondary vocational schools who achieve a final grade of merit can go onto technical colleges or higher VET, while those who achieve distinction can go onto university.

A QUIET REVOLUTION FOR LIBYAN VET

Mokhtar Jwaili, head of Libya’s TVET Board


Country focus Libya


Introducing key competences

This year, creative thinking and communication skills have been introduced in secondary VET and another module on SMEs and entrepreneurship has been revamped. A new model for teaching English, more suited to TVET needs, has been launched.

“We are the first part of the Libyan education system to be teaching 21st century skills,” says Jwaili, “we want to equip our students with skills for life and work, not just work.” In a context where vocational education has been largely theoretical and employers regularly complain that potential employees lack soft skills, this is a departure indeed.

Breaking down the walls that isolate VET by reaching out to industry and civil society is a second priority. Teams are currently working to establish sector skills councils for three strategic areas – tourism and hospitality, building and agriculture and agrofood. This is another new development for Libya.

Reaching out to social partners

As well as acting as a single platform bringing the stakeholders together, the councils’ first task will be to identify training needs as one way of helping to boost the relevance of education and training. This will include people who are already working.

Mokhtar Jwaili has been aware of the need to improve TVET’s negative public image for a long time. He recounts how his unit was organising an event on this back in 2011 – “the date was set for 21 February, this had been planned for months and months, then on 17 February the revolution began and we had to postpone everything.” Jwaili is still keen to hold such an event, possibly an international conference for the whole region, but says this must wait until security in the country improves.

Jwaili recognises that help from international organisations is also important. A latecomer to the Torino Process, Libya hopes to present the

results later this year; “it is very useful to look at TVET from both sides – from the point of view of the labour market and the educators,” says Jwaili. The next stage will be to work with the ETF on an overall strategy for Libyan VET.

In the meantime, Jwaili is not one to let the grass grow under his feet. “We aim to move forward with whatever is available to us,” he tells Live&Learn before politely terminating the interview so he can get back to work. �

Text: Rebecca Warden, ICE

“We want to equip our students with skills for life and work, not just work,”

says Mokhtar Jwaili, head of Libya’s TVET Board.



Razan Rashidi reports from Damascus on how two years of conflict and civil unrest are affecting young people’s opportunities to learn.

Every morning 17 year-old Ayman waits for his mother to decide whether it is safe for him to leave for his vocational training school or not. The school, Bassam Kiki, is one of three vocational schools in Masaken Barzeh in northern Damascus.

Ayman joined the school’s business department in March 2011 just as the protests were beginning. It stands on the side of the Qassioun mountain overlooking Barzeh, a Damascus neighbourhood that has become famous

for its opposition to the government and where several Free Syrian Army battalions are stationed. In August 2012, the area was the scene of heavy military operations by official Syrian forces.

The majority of its inhabitants were forced to flee, seeking refuge in safer areas nearby and around the Syrian capital. “We have seen a lot of students drop out this year as the majority were displaced while others had to look for jobs to support their families” says Wahiba, a teacher at the school.

YOUNG SYRIANS FIGHT THEIR OWN BATTLES FOR EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Many Syrians are aware just how important skills and training are and will do whatever it takes to make sure they get them.

Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma

Guest writer Syria


Bassam Kiki school belongs to the Ministry of Education and is still operating as an educational establishment. Some schools in the country are now used as communal shelters for internally displaced people. UNICEF estimates that this is the case for 6% of Damascus schools. In Barzeh, the First Arts School, a vocational school for female students, has recently closed for this reason.

One of Ayman’s closest friends, Iyad, was top of his class until he started missing lessons. He lived in the area, which was affected by the military operations.

“I helped him by explaining the practical sessions he missed,” says Ayman. “But Iyad couldn’t attend many exams, so he failed the whole year and now he is retaking eleventh grade. I still see him during breaks but it is not the same as when we were in the same class and doing our projects together.”

Time to leave

In early June 2013, military operations in Barzeh intensified. For five months now the Syrian army has been using the top of the mountain above Ayman’s school as a base for tanks. “The sound of shelling never stops. I am now an expert and from the sound of an attack, I can tell which kind of military gear was used,” Ayman brags. His mother grimaces.

As a result, it was Ayman’s family’s turn to evacuate their two-bedroom flat and seek refuge in his grandparents’ house in a safer area. Three months later, when school began once more, Ayman’s parents had to take a difficult decision. They weighed up giving up Ayman’s last year of training in order to live in a safer neighbourhood and reduce the risks of

shelling and bombs. The family decided to go home and be closer to Ayman’s school rather than leave him to commute all the way there alone.

“Some of my friends think I was crazy to go back but this is the only chance for my son to have a better future,” his mother explains.

Back to school in spite of everything

Ayman and his younger brother are well aware of the financial challenges for their family. This year both got new trousers only for school. “Last year’s shirt still fits so no need for a new one,” the young man with the beginnings of a moustache smiles. The area where they live has seen ever worsening living conditions. Many people now suffer from shortages of food and medicine, according to pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

Ayman is as pleased to get home as he is when he makes it to school. He dreams of starting his own business soon. He thinks for a moment and says “I like going back to school but I feel sorry for mum as now she has to queue for bread for at least three hours every other day. In the summer, I did this”.

With the country in state of civil war, it is difficult to see how Syrians can take control of their future and contribute to rebuilding a devastated economic and social fabric. But it is clear that many Syrians are aware just how important skills and training are and will do whatever it takes to make sure they get them. �

Text: Razan Rashidi

The interviewees and people mentioned in this article asked for their full names not to be used.

Young people in Syria bear the brunt of the conflict and civil unrest.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons / Freedom House

Syria and the EU

Since violence and repression broke out in Syria in March 2011, the EU has not only called repeatedly for an end to attacks, but also suspended other agreements intended to forge a closer relationship with Damascus. [This includes also all ETF operations in the country.] By September 2013, over 100 000 people had lost their lives, 4 million were internally displaced and about 2 million had fled the country.

Source: EU European External Action Service

Razan Rashidi is a journalist and consultant for

communication and social media based in Damascus, Syria.

10 Live&Learn November 2013

ETF POLICY LEADERS’ FORUMS

Between 6 and 10 October the ETF organised two key conferences that attracted some 20 ministers and deputy ministers of education and employment. In Marseilles, France, the Policy Leaders’ Forum brought together decision makers from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. In Salzburg, Austria, the ETF joined forces with Salzburg Global Seminar to provide a wonderful setting for frank discussions among senior officials from South Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Arab leaders step up the debate on jobs for youth

There was a tangible spirit of openness and plain speaking at the ETF’s forum for policy leaders in Marseilles on 6 October. The meeting of leaders from eight Arab Mediterranean countries, including several ministers, showed that politicians are ready to respond to the high expectations of the region’s young people.

One year on from the first meeting of ministers of education and employment organised by the ETF in Jordan in September 2012, Marseilles signals a new way of doing things. In spite of their busy political agendas, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia made time to attend again while Algeria made its debut.

“We have tried a lot of different approaches to VET in Algeria, without much success until now, which is why we were so keen to attend,” said Mohamed Benmeradi, Algerian Minister of Labour and Social Security. This forthright tone and willingness to recognise past mistakes very much set the tone in Marseilles. With the Arab Spring still making waves, the countries represented were able to put aside any petty rivalry and share a common concern – with the numbers of young people of working age in the region ever increasing, how could they create 40 million jobs by 2030?

“Compared to Jordan where some delegations were just reading from their notes, I think that the quality of interventions is much higher. There was real dialogue, not just a series of monologues,” said Geert Bouckaert,

Director of the Public Management Institute at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. The heartfelt interest shown by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, together with the plain-speaking of Pervenche Berès, chair of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, helped to enliven the debate.

With some countries in a difficult political situation, it came as little surprise that the debates centred less on solutions than on a thorough analysis of the problems. However one thing that came up time and time again was how to improve the image of VET – how to make VET more attractive, not just to young people, but also to their parents who often tend to see it as a last resort.

Text: Armand Chauvel, ICE

Events

Twelve ministers and deputy ministers attended the ETF Policy Leaders’ Forum in Salzburg.

Photo: ETF

11Live&LearnNovember 2013

EU Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou (R) and Pervenche Berès MEP (L) joined ETF director Madlen Serban at the Policy Leaders’ Forum in Marseilles.


“ETF POLICY LEADERS’ FORUM SERVES AS A DRIVER FOR THE STRUCTURAL REFORMS”

Framing human capital policies in EU would-be members

Jobs, jobs and jobs. This is how Erion Veliaj, the newly appointed minister of Social Welfare and Youth of Albania, describes his main goal and the challenge he faces. His counterparts from South Eastern Europe and Turkey, who attended the ETF Policy Leaders’ Forum in Salzburg on 9 and 10 October, would agree.

The ETF’s forum took place in the context of the South East Europe (SEE) Strategy, which the region’s governments are to adopt this November. The basic goal of the strategy is to improve living conditions in the region. The document draws inspiration from the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy. Its objectives include employment growth from 39% to 44%, and raising the region’s GDP per capita from the current 36% to 44% of the EU average.

Goran Svilanovic, secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council, under whose auspices the SEE Strategy has been developed, said at the meeting that building human capital was one of the key elements of the strategy, because smart growth needs knowledge-based economies. “We’re putting the reform of education in the context of increasing the chances for employment and increasing

growth,” said Svilanovic. One of the most important targets of the strategy is the addition of 300 000 highly qualified people to the workforce across the region.

The ETF’s FRAME project, launched earlier this year, supports the region’s countries – EU candidate and potential candidate countries – with their human resources development strategies. The initiative is built around four components: foresight, review of institutions, monitoring and regional cooperation.

“Human resources are a key factor in all of the European countries as we do not have many natural resources… and the enlargement countries are not much different,” said Gerhard Schumann Hitzler, director for pre-accession assistance strategy and regional cooperation at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enlargement.

“What we try to do is to assist these countries in preparing meaningful, realistic strategies, and make sure that these strategies are then implemented,” said Schumann Hitzler. “We want to see real progress on the ground, real impact. The ETF’s Policy Leaders’ Forum serves as a driver for the structural reforms, which are badly needed.” �

Text: Marcin Monko, ETF


MAKING VET FIT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Interview

Sara Parkin is an independent European Parliament expert on the ETF’s Governing Board.


Sara Parkin, founder and director of Forum for the Future and an independent expert on the ETF’s Governing Board, talks about how organisations and vocational education and training (VET) can be more sustainable and how the Torino Process could help.

Parkin’s goal is to raise awareness about future trends and to get people to think about how their organisations might adapt. In order to achieve this, top managers must support new initiatives but it is often the workforce which generates new ideas, as Live&Learn found out.

How can VET systems respond to the challenges of sustainable development?

Our approach at Forum for the Future is to ask people to think about the future of their organisation 15-20 years from now, and then to factor in things like what might happen to the economy as a result of climate change. This often raises questions such as: ‘could our company survive this?’ and ‘what can we do in terms of strategy to be resilient to the future?’ But Forum for the Future is not a consultancy, we challenge people to work things out for themselves.

At Marks & Spencer, for example, Stuart Rose, the executive chairman at the time, decided to invest over two million pounds in sustainability training and implementing this philosophy throughout the organisation. We helped his staff to look at what was happening right down

the supply chain and to think about the future, so that they could identify where they could intervene now to achieve sustainable outcomes. Through reducing waste, recycling things like coat hangers and working through what happens with clothes – M&S now works with Oxfam and other charitable outlets to enable people to swap items – they both saved money and enhanced their reputation, because this is what is important to customers.

It is this kind of ‘futures approach’ that could be used in VET systems to promote sustainability.

How can we reform VET systems to make economies work in a more green fashion?

Research shows that individuals most want to feel good about themselves, sustain great relationships, make transactions and take decisions about where they live – to beautify their towns or cities and think about how to improve the quality of their environment.

It is important to remember that there are around five billion people of working age in the world and only a fraction are

in a job where someone else pays them. Thinking about how difficult the future will be suggests we need to focus on how we build the capacity of people to better secure their livelihoods in a range of ways. It seems VET systems need to be able to do that. We need to develop people’s capacity to engage in lifelong learning so that they can adapt their knowledge and skills and, if necessary, be able to move from job to job.

Specifically, sustainability competences should be integrated into everything and not just treated as an add-on module. That means cooks, builders, managers, hairdressers and everybody else should know how to work in a way that contributes to resilient social and environmental sustainability and wellbeing.

How could the ETF integrate this green approach into the Torino Process?

We need to think about futures in the world of work and how people can secure their livelihoods in hard times. There are both difficulties and opportunities ahead and it is important to ask what VET can do to give people the skills to participate.

I gave a talk about this at the Torino Process event last May and a lot of people came up to me afterwards to say how encouraged they felt by this approach. If I had had the opportunity I would have made the conference less structured and opened up some space for more feedback and input from the participants. Get the creative juices flowing!

The whole VET system would benefit from an overhaul and the Torino Process is the ideal opportunity to do that. Every VET system needs to future proof its learning and skills policy, institutions and delivery mechanisms to ensure that it is not busy equipping people with a whole set of skills that will quickly get out-of-date. �

Text: Paul Rigg, ICE


THE ETF AND THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

EU Eastern Neighbourhood

In the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the ETF helps improve the relevance of vocational education and training provision to meet the demands of the labour market; support lifelong learning, especially in continuing vocational training; and reinforce the overall governance of VET. The ETF assists the European Commission in implementing the components of the Eastern Partnership related to employment and education and in developing the mobility partnerships. Take a look at what the ETF has recently been doing together with the EU’s eastern neighbours. �

The third Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius will be held on 28-29 November 2013. The highest representatives of the EU institutions, 28 EU Member States and the six Eastern European partners are expected to take part in the event.


“QUALITY AND STATUS OF VET MUST GO UP TO ATTRACT INDUSTRY”

Eduardo Padrón, advisor to six US presidents and one of the country’s most influential voices in education and training, gives Live&Learn his recipe for getting education and industry to really work together. President of Miami Dade College (MDC), Florida’s largest provider of higher education, since 1995, he has introduced innovative approaches to teaching and learning and is a powerful advocate for underserved groups such as low income and minority students.

“Governments should resist the temptation to micromanage education systems” says Padrón, “you have to free institutions from state bureaucracy so that they can have freedom to interact with businesses,” he adds. More freedom for schools and colleges must be accompanied by greater responsibility. “You have to make schools accountable – you set expectations and you judge them on their results.” And finally, difficult though it may be to achieve, “quality matters, this is the best way to convince business to support you.”

Vocational education and training or VET suffers from a bad reputation in many countries. This is not helped, according to Padrón, by the way decision makers often vote with their feet when it comes to their own offspring. “The very same people who are trying to tell you to go into VET programmes want their children to go into a different system,” he says. The negative perception of VET creates another barrier to better links with business – “you have to elevate the status of VET in order for industry to want to benefit from it and draw its employees from it.”

One way of doing this is to make sure that VET is offered alongside more academic courses within a single institution – as is the case at MDC. Another is to train not just for the specific or hard skills for a specific job, but also soft skills such as analytical thinking, the ability to work in a team or problem solving. The aim is to produce self-directed, creative and adaptable people who will be able to navigate today’s less certain job market.

Teachers have a vital role to play in improving the quality of VET. But if they are to act as bringers of change, first they have to change themselves, says Padrón, and act more as coaches and facilitators of learning and less like traditional lecturers. “Many are still in the 20th century mode of teaching but today’s students do not relate to that, in fact they switch off,” he says.

Working conditions in many countries may not encourage teachers to give their best. “Imagine I do all the extra things, like learning new techniques and motivating students. But you just come in, teach

your classes and go home and you get paid exactly the same as me,” explains Padrón, “there are no incentives in terms of professional development and salaries so we are not rewarding people for innovation or effort.”

How MDC responds to industry …

Community colleges are a distinctly American phenomenon somewhere between higher VET and university. Close relations with industry and an open-door approach to admissions, which makes for a very diverse student body, are defining characteristics.

Eduardo Padrón has served as an advisor to six US presidents

Photo: American Council of Education

Interview


“There are 300 programmes at my institution and every one has a small board of industry people who try to keep the curriculum and the programme up-to-date,” says Padrón. Industry not only has a significant input into existing programmes at MDC, but sometimes the college will develop a specific course to meet demand from the private sector.

In the mid 2000s, Florida Power & Light (FPL) was having trouble finding new employees to join an ageing workforce at its Turkey Point nuclear power station. It approached MDC. Working with the company, MDC came up with its electrical power technology programme, whereby students are trained by industry experts, mostly from FPL, in an environment which prepares them for available jobs.

In May this year, the sixth cohort of students graduated. Padrón says the partnership has benefits for all. “FPL has a pipeline of qualified candidates from which to draw new employees, MDC is able to educate students who will get jobs at the end of their training. Students, who are the greatest benefiters, know that they have a high-paying job waiting for them,” he says. As the curriculum meets national standards, graduates can also seek work elsewhere.

… and students

Over half of MDC students are the first generation to attend college, 70% work and 20% work full-time. The college offers

flexible schedules including evening and weekend classes, but efforts to support students through higher education go beyond this. Guidance begins online before students arrive and continues throughout their time at MDC.

Advice covers not only academic issues, but also finance and managing family obligations, aiming to free students up to focus on their studies. Students can enrol in communities of interest which provide a support system of peers, lecturers and other staff with similar interests. Mentoring puts them in touch with professionals in relevant fields.

Eduardo Padrón defends this inclusive approach as the way that education can really add value. “Many universities are remnants of elitism as just a few people get in based on artificial barriers. If you only let in the best and the brightest – students who will succeed anyway – you are not harnessing the value of every individual,” he says, “the real added value comes by taking those individuals who did not have the same opportunities and by harnessing their potential to be real contributors to society, then you are adding a lot of value.” �

Text: Rebecca Warden, ICE


The car from the airport glided towards the city on a freshly tarred highway. We passed by brand new steel-and-glass office buildings, gleaming high-rise apartment blocks and advertising billboards. Those of us who hadn’t been to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in a while, could barely recognise the place. It was May 2013 and my colleague Arjen Deij, an ETF expert, and I had just arrived to check out the country’s progress in reforming vocational education.

The rapid economic development of the past few years has been fuelled by energy resources. The changes can be seen everywhere: in the newly constructed and modernised infrastructure, busy traffic, lively streets, new shops, and packed cafes and restaurants. Thanks to targeted state programmes and private investments, wealth has begun to spread outside the capital. Many Azeri seem proud when they talk about the latest achievements of their country.

There is a chance that vocational education and training will benefit from this new prosperity, too. Until recently, for almost two decades, vocational schools had been left without support and attention from the state. The time was merciless both for the infrastructure

and teaching programmes. The buildings and equipment gradually degraded and changes in the labour market rendered curricula irrelevant. Many teachers lost skills and touch with what is expected from modern vocational education.

In 2007, having recognised the importance of a qualified workforce for economic growth, the government in Baku turned its attention to the vocational education system. The State Programme for VET Development for 2007-12 was adopted. It is the implementation of this programme that the ETF has been asked to evaluate.

The programme was designed comprehensively but it started without a targeted feasibility study and the

IN BOOMING AZERBAIJAN, VET GETS A SECOND CHANCE

Letter from Azerbaijan

The “Flame Towers” of Baku, one of the hallmarks of the burgeoning capital of Azerbaijan.

Photos: ETF/Inna Dergunova and Arjen Deij


mechanisms for implementation and monitoring were rather poor. The main problem was that the government clearly knew what kind of VET it didn’t want, but it had not quite decided what kind of VET it needed. Vocational schools were poorly equipped, staff were ageing and demotivated, and the schools provided only basic practical skills for disadvantaged groups. The government wanted to change it.

Even if it covered components such as creating links with business, improving management, updating curricula, training staff and upgrading the image of the entire system – the main thrust of the programme went towards modernising the outdated and obsolete infrastructure of vocational schools.

In May 2013 we went to Azerbaijan to see how government actions had changed the situation on the ground. We travelled to different regions, visited 13 schools providing training for different sectors. We spoke to school directors, teachers, students, parents, employers and local authorities.

We went to newly-built schools beaming with positive energy but also dilapidated schools, with no equipment worth mentioning and demoralised staff. The visits and interviews revealed that although there were many common problems, attitudes towards them differed considerably. It seemed as though some directors and staff were just trying to survive, while others tried to overcome difficulties, improve – where possible – and develop.

The prospect of renovation and modernisation was a major motivator. In most schools the decisive factor was the quality of leadership – the entrepreneurial abilities of the managers could improve performance, attract more students and engage employers.

In vocational lyceum No 3 in Ganja, in the west of the country, the school team led by the director Ali Aliyev and his young enthusiastic deputy, Azer Rustamov, updated training programmes and teaching aids, identified new partners and developed cooperation with local employers. They succeeded in creating a motivating environment for teachers and students. During out visit, the school held a crafts competition and we saw how engaged and happy the students were to show off their new skills.

The vocational lyceum in the small district town Goychay, right in the heart of Azerbaijan, was on the list of establishments that received support under the State Programme. Some laboratories had been refurbished and new computers installed. However, what remained of the old training equipment and machinery was worn out. The school director Gabil’ Zeynalov together with his instructors repaired old trucks and tractors to allow students to specialise in agricultural machinery. He also attracted donations from local business to refurbish the classrooms.

In other places we saw the importance of the “community approach” in trying to resolve the problems of youth employment. Not far from Goychay is the district town of Ismaiili. The town is a good example of what can happen when public administration and a vocational school work together. The head of district administration, Mirdamed Mirsadiq oglu Sadiqov, helped the school to cooperate with a sewing factory in Baku. The company decided to open a branch in Ismaiili and now provides practical training to the students and instructors.

In the district of Gabbala, a three-hour drive west of Baku, we could see the importance of linking training with the needs and strategic development of the local economy. Gabbala has stunning

mountains and lavish vegetation. It’s a logical tourist destination: it attracts hikers in summer and skiers in winter. The State Programme for Social and Economic Development of the Regions for 2009-13 chose it as a target for development. Private investors built two luxury and several mid-range hotels. At the same time, a new VET centre opened specialising in tourism and hospitality. To study at this school and to get a job in tourism is a good opportunity for young people living in Gabbala and the neighbouring districts.

Azerbaijan has still a long way to go in reforming its vocational education and training. Now it is crucial for the government to take a few decisions. Should it make a huge investment to modernise the existing network of state schools? Should it give more weight to the private sector? Which model could be most suitable for the country? The ETF is ready to help answer these questions. �

Text: Inna Dergunova, ETF

The authorities in Gabbala district hope the mountainous region will soon attract more tourists.

Vocational lyceum in Goychay. Here teachers try themselves to maintain the outdated machinery.


In 2009, the ETF introduced a major initiative on school development for vocational education in Central Asia. The project, which ran from 2009 to 2011, built on two previous projects – Skills Development for Poverty Reduction (SDPR) and National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) – conducted in the region between 2006 and 2009.

The initiative involved three countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They were joined in regional activities by Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The aim was to support capacity building by engaging policy makers and practitioners in development activities related to improving quality management in vocational education, mainly in public vocational schools. In some countries, adult training and other public providers were also included.

The 2012-14 phase of the project has three main components:

� capacity building through training programmes,

� regional policy dialogue, � networking through communities of practice.

Capacity building

Teams from vocational schools, adult and teacher training centres were selected to take part in the capacity building programme which focused on the following areas:

� strategic development and planning in vocational schools;

� school development in cooperation with partners;

� monitoring as a driver of school development;

� effective school management and leadership; and

� management of teaching and learning.

Participants used interactive tools and exercises to apply the lessons learnt in real work simulations, and in small groups they analysed and designed plans, negotiated, reflected on and assessed different issues affecting their daily working lives. So useful, innovative and mind opening the courses were considered that participants expressed an interest in training other colleagues in a similar way. For this reason, an additional ‘train the trainer’ module was added to equip them with the relevant skills to do this.

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT FOR LIFELONG LEARNING IN CENTRAL ASIA

Project update

The ETF school development project was based on a survey that covered one in three vocational education and training institutions in Central Asia.

Photo: Ard Jongsma, ICE

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Regional policy dialogue

Sharing information and experience on school development policies and practices between countries is a key element. It involves policy makers, business representatives and school directors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and regular meetings enable participants not only to share their views on developments in the region but also to exchange information about international developments on school quality and development.

Networking through communities of practice

A community of practice draws on the acquired and tacit knowledge and experience of its members. Learning

within the community comes mainly from sharing knowledge and discussing ideas about practices and how they can be further developed. Over time the knowledge base grows and becomes a reference of expertise on improving practices. Within the school development initiative, communities will initially be developed from the participating schools on a country basis. Topics are likely to cover the areas addressed over the past four to five years and include: partnerships, school planning, analysis of local environments, train the trainer, school leadership and services, and teaching and learning. �

Extracts from letters from schools

We have launched a new profession in the school: agronomist. We met partners for the first time to plan the activities of the school with them. They raised the issue of the lack of agronomists and told us that we focus too much on training machine operators for agriculture but that they lack agronomists in the area. We then developed a curricula with them, developed learning and teaching materials and asked the authorization from the Ministry of Education. We had no problems to obtain the license for the new profession and we could start immediately with the new academic year. The teachers for this new area come from the partners themselves. We made agreements for a partnership for teaching in this new area.

Vocational School No 22 in Kuljab, Tajikistan

The methodology and team working was new to us. As an example, given the high enrolment this year we faced problems with computer classes. We established a working group to successfully address the issue. For us trying to have more participation in school decision making is a new approach. But the “home work” assigned between the [ETF training] modules gave us the opportunity to reinforce our team spirit.

Communication Lyceum, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

This training helped us to better understand what it means to have real partnership relations. Before the training it was

only about visiting the partners/companies and asking for cooperation, however, after the training the relationship became a real partnership and now we visit the companies with very concrete proposals for agreements.

Professional Technical Lyceum No 8 of Kazailki, Kyrgyzstan

The ETF training has taught the school about the usefulness of strategic planning. It became clear that school planning should be a joint process involving the entire school staff and should be based on dialogue and reflection. This school year a move has been made in that direction and the school director presented the school plan to all staff, so everybody is aware of what is in it.

Professional Technical Lyceum No 90 in Talas, Kyrgyzstan

The training programme gave us a new vision for our work… We were asked by the Ministry to develop strategic planning documents, and it would be useful if the state educational authorities incorporated some of those [i.e., proposed by the ETF] elements into their frameworks.

State College of Almaty, Kazakhstan

We appreciated very much learning about tools for self-assessment and we started to use them in our activities at school.

Prikaspisk Modern College, Kazakhstan

Sharing information and experience is a key element in the project.

Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko

Participants at a regional meeting on school development in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2012.


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Secure, lifetime jobs are a thing of the past for most people. Nowadays people need to be prepared for lifelong learning to achieve a degree of safety on the labour market. There is still work out there to be done and people need work-related skills alongside recognised or accredited qualifications to do it.

A trigger of lifelong learning

There is one particular skill workers need to learn to be on the safe side of the labour market. It’s the ability to evaluate your current competences in the light of emerging labour market needs and, if necessary, identify your new learning goals in formal or informal learning. This skill is like a trigger for lifelong learning.

What this new situation requires, both from individuals and education and training systems, is flexibility and the ability to adapt. It requires refocusing from supplier language (education and training, employment) to user language (learning, employability).

Current EU policies, with the notion of competence development and individual learning paths, imply an active role for citizens. Lifelong learning and lifelong guidance should provide an open architecture for individuals to develop skills for meaningful life choices so that they can manage their individual paths and build their own careers. A career is no longer ‘chosen’, it is ‘constructed’ through a series of choices we make throughout our lives1.

Changing nature of career guidance

New technology and social media give opportunities for individuals to reflect on their future options with peers, with or without the support of professional career guidance practitioners.

The traditional relationship between the guided individual and the guiding practitioner is changing, and the concepts related to it are being challenged. If people think about and discuss their future careers among themselves, can we still call this process “guidance”, a supplier language word? Wouldn’t it be better to find a proper concept for this individual process by drawing from user language?

So, let’s call it “careering”! Traditionally this concept refers to driving fast and out of control. Today indeed an individual might feel less in control in the labour market. The transition from school to work is becoming more diverse. We are not able to promise young people shortcuts for a sustainable future. Job seekers find jobs and employers recruit workers through online networks. We need a “visume”, a virtual resume, which can be communicated via different online and mobile channels.

If we think of all these changes, the concept of “careering” might be a useful metaphor for the development of lifelong career management skills, and the role of an individual as an active agent in this process.

Lifelong career management skills2 are a range of competences, which provide structure for individuals and groups to gather, analyse, synthesise and organise educational and occupational information. These are the skills required to make

and implement career decisions and transitions.

From the policy perspective this renewed emphasis on “careering” should not be interpreted as suggesting that those who end up jobless have only themselves to blame for failing to prepare for transitions. Career management skills can support and facilitate transitions, but many problems lie not in the individuals themselves but in structural failings in the economy.

The European Lifelong Guidance Network (ELGPN) has started to examine how to ensure that individuals are not expected to assume greater individual responsibility without being offered appropriate support, particularly of a collective nature. Coherent and accessible career guidance services can become one form of such collective support. �

CAREERING A SOLUTION FOR MORE FULFILLING CAREERSRaimo Vuorinen is a project coordinator of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research.


Opinion

1 Sultana, R. (2011) Flexicurity: Implications for lifelong career guidance. A concept note commissioned by the ELGPN

2 ELGPN (2012) Lifelong Guidance Policy Development: A European Resource Kit. ELGPN Tools 1. European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network.

In 2012, the ELGPN produced a “resource kit” in different languages for policy makers to help stakeholders review existing lifelong guidance provision within their country or region. By using the kit gaps in the system and issues that should be addressed can be identified. More http://elgpn.eu


Workplace training placements and an excellent network of social partners help a small business college to find top jobs for graduates, Nick Holdsworth in Moscow reports.

Egor Smetanin never had any second thoughts about taking up vocational training.

The son of two successful entrepreneurs – mum Irina and dad Aleksei both run their own independent clothing sales businesses – Egor enrolled at Moscow’s College of Small Business No 48 in the Russian capital’s north-western district when he was 16.

Now 23, and a store manager at one of Dutch menswear company McGregor’s chain of 10 Moscow outlets, Egor is convinced that the training he received in the college’s programme on sales and cash-control gave him a distinct advantage in Russia’s competitive jobs market.

Students at the college combine theoretical and practical training from the first day. It is based at three sites and offers courses in hairdressing and beauty, hotels and tourism and business. The college has partnership agreements with top firms including Sportmaster, consumer electronics retailer M video, METRO Cash & Carry, beauty salon network Persona

Lab and hotel chains including Marriott, Ibis and Holiday Inn.

For the first two years of the 29-month course, Egor spent Saturdays working at a supermarket and department store, learning about sales techniques for a multitude of different lines, from children’s toys, clothing and shoes, to alcoholic drinks.

In his final year he spent two days a week learning on the job at Sportmaster, a major Russian fitness clothing and equipment franchise. It is one of more than a dozen partners with whom the college has collaboration agreements.

“The course gave me an excellent grounding in the working world I had chosen, by reinforcing the theoretical college training in the workplace,” Egor says.

It is this hands-on experience that was to prove crucial to his later swift rise in store management.

In the third year, he was one of 30 from his group of 120 students chosen to take part in a special internationally certified five-week course at global wholesale giant METRO Cash & Carry’s European training centre.

His project was to design a new shift and personnel pattern for a typical company store. At an age when many of his contemporaries are still studying academic subjects at university, this has given the young man wisdom beyond his years.

It probably helps that he has also completed compulsory military service, something many university students try to avoid by prolonging their studies until the age of 27. Egor rose to the rank of sergeant during his stint in the army and is a slim, fit young man keen on mountain-biking who still wears his hair in a military style crew-cut.

“At this stage in my career I am concentrating on gaining experience,” he says, adding that despite his rapid progress he is “too young” to think about setting up his own business. That is something he would consider in his mid 30s, he remarks.

For now his five-year plan is to become a brand director.

Egor’s responsibilities as store manager include all aspects of running a 120 m2 retail outlet with six employees.

He sets shift patterns, takes care of human resources management and agrees holidays and overtime at the store, located in the east of Moscow at a shopping mall at Belaya Dacha, not far from the city’s outer ringroad.

And, because he has learned the nuts and bolts of his trade, he can take over at the cash desk and deal directly with customers himself when the store gets busy.

Egor, who lives alone in a flat inherited from his family near the old Soviet-era VDNKH exhibition centre in the north of Moscow, finds human resources the most challenging part of his job.

What he loves most is seeing customers leave the store satisfied.

“I really like it that people come into my store, get the best service, clothes and other items and go home happy,” he says. �

Text and photo: Nick Holdsworth, ICE

My vocation

MOSCOW COLLEGE COURSE IS FAST TRACK TO A GOOD CAREER

Egor Smetanin, 23, graduated from Moscow’s College of Small Business No 48

“My vocation” is a series of profiles of vocational students and graduates from our partner countries. In this section Live&Learn presents the challenges and rewards of young people who choose vocational education and training to advance their careers and live better lives.


NEW PUBLICATIONSCONTINUING VOCATIONAL TRAINING: MUTUAL LEARNING IN EASTERN EUROPE

Following the 2010 Torino Process, the ETF launched the regional project ‘CVT in Eastern Europe’ involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The aim was to identify the policy issues affecting continuing vocational training (CVT),

i.e. the elements sustaining CVT and those impeding its development. This report, prepared by ETF experts Siria Taurelli (ed.), Petri Lempinen and J. Manuel Galvin Arribas, wraps up the main findings. http://ow.ly/qCqWe

CROATIA – DESTINATION UNCERTAIN? TRENDS, PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES IN STRENGTHENING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SOCIAL COHESION

Social exclusion among young people is not a widely researched area in Croatia. Therefore this last ETF report on Croatia (on 1 July the country joined the EU) provides new insights on the subject. It focuses on three-year ‘industrial and craft’ vocational education and training and the ways in which its

structure and processes alleviate or enhance the risk of social exclusion. The report was prepared in cooperation with LSE Enterprise in the framework of an ETF research project on social inclusion in the Western Balkans, Turkey and Israel. http://ow.ly/qCr2G

Off the press and on the web

SOCIAL MEDIA HELP DRAFT ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING STRATEGY

The time has passed when strategies were written in grey offices behind closed doors by men wearing grey suits. The ETF encouraged an expert team in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to think creatively and seek networking solutions to prepare the country’s entrepreneurial learning strategy. Its writers turned to social media for help. http://ow.ly/qaphJ

EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL, A KEY DRIVER FOR COMPETITIVENESS

The European social model is more important than ever to help tackle the jobs crisis in Europe. This is the key message of the seminar organised jointly by four EU agencies (Cedefop, EU-OSHA, Eurofound and the ETF) and the European Parliament in Brussels in September. The ETF’s guest speaker at the seminar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Moldova, Valeriu Lazar (on the photo), described the model as an inspiration for countries around the EU. http://ow.ly/qaq0G

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ILO’S INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE AND ETF SIGN AGREEMENT

The Turin-based International Training Centre (ITCILO) – the training arm of the International Labour Organization – and the ETF signed a declaration of intent on 7 August to consolidate and further develop their cooperation. The agreement, signed by Madlen Serban, ETF director, and Patricia O’Donovan, director of the ITC, foresees regular meetings between the two organisations to exchange information on their work programmes. � P

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COUNTRY FOCUS: ALBANIA

The new government in Tirana wants to kick-start the economy, fight poverty, create jobs and move the country towards EU membership. In October 2013, the European Commission recommended that Albania be granted EU candidate status. Live&Learn will talk to the new minister of youth and social affairs to learn what his main policy challenges are, how the new government is planning to address them, and what it all means for young people in the country.

IN THE NEXT ISSUEComing up

WHAT SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE?

Governments, companies and individuals try to peek into the future to see what new skills will be in demand in five or ten years. This is a crucial question whether you are a worker, employer or policy maker. What to learn? How to re-qualify? How to adapt the education and training offer? Can these questions be answered definitively? Live&Learn takes stock of recent ETF projects in the area of skills anticipation and matching, and looks more broadly at the quest for the skills of the future.

MAKING THE MOST OF MOBILITY

In November 2013, policy makers and experts met at an ETF conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, to discuss the issue of skills in the context of migration in eastern Europe. The EU and the Member States have in the past few years signed so called mobility partnerships with Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. These agreements regulate migration and aim at making it more beneficial for the host countries, the sending countries and the migrants themselves. Live&Learn will talk to migrants, decision makers, and to those who advise them to report on the big picture.

THE ETF GOES LOCAL IN TUNISIA

How does life go on outside the capital city in Tunisia three years into the Arab Spring? Live&Learn will report from Medenine, a region in the south of the country with the seaside resorts of Djerba and less fortunate towns in the scorching interior. The ETF has been supporting the district authorities there to develop human capital strategies by involving school boards and enterprises and other stakeholders. �

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-CHOW TO CONTACT US

For information on our activities,job and tendering possibilities pleasevisit our website:www.etf.europa.eu

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