live&learn issue 4

November 2005, No. 4

and

earnive

THE ETF MAGAZINE

Chair of EP Committee forForeign Affairs

Education andtraining key towider democracy

The EuropeanTraining Foundationis the EuropeanUnion’s centre ofexpertise supportingvocationaleducation andtraining reforms inthe context of theEuropean Union’sexternal relationsprogrammes.www.etf.eu.int

Education is the keyto development.Economics, politics,culture and socialwelfare all dependon education. Goodeducation givespeople work, a voiceand the ability tomake qualifieddecisions.

HOW TOCONTACT US

Further informationon our activities,calls for tender andjob opportunitiescan be found on ourweb site:www.etf.eu.int.

For any additionalinformation pleasecontact:

ExternalCommunication UnitEuropean TrainingFoundationVilla GualinoViale SettimioSevero 65I – 10133 TorinoT +39 011 630 2222F +39 011 630 2200E [email protected]

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

Education and training key

to wider democracy .........................................3

IN FOCUS

The European Qualifications Framework......8

The European Agency for Reconstruction

and the ETF ....................................................10

Regional Advisory Forum: The clearing

house for VET reform ....................................13

Barcelona process produces

mixed results for VET....................................15

FEATURES

Arab women: making themselves

at home in the workplace ................................5

It takes more than learning

to read to reduce poverty..............................19

Skills and work in the

informal economy in Albania........................23

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF MagazineCover photo: EUP-Images

Bissaca

This title is changed as in the page 19!

ELMAR BROK, CHAIR OF THE EPCOMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

EDUCATION AND

TRAINING KEY

TO GREATER

DEMOCRACYThe new European Neigbourhood Policy has ahigh priority for the Foreign Affairs Committeeof the European Parliament and in thisinterview the Chair of the Committee, ElmarBrok, underlines the need for a flexibleinstrument with a strong focus on education,training and human resource development.“The fewer tensions you have with yourneighbours, the fewer problems you haveyourself,” Elmar Brok states.

European Voice readers votedhim Member of the European

Parliament (MEP) of the Year2003. In the same year ofapparently extraordinary servicehe received the Dr Alois Mockprize for European of the Year.Indeed, Elmar Brok is quite apresence in European politics. AGerman MEP for the Group ofthe European People’s Party(Christian Democrats) andEuropean Democrats since1980, in 2005 he served, amongothers, on the Committee onConstitutional Affairs and theDelegation for Relations with theUnited States.

Our interest in his views,however, stems from what isperhaps his most prominent role inthe European Parliament. ElmarBrok is chairman of the EuropeanParliament’s Committee onForeign Affairs. His interventionshave earned him a reputation as aman who wants deeds, not justwords. Swiftness and flexibility arethe two issues that guide hiscritical views. When he sees anopportunity and faltering speed orflexibility threaten to jeopardise it,Elmar Brok can be found on theStrasbourg soapbox in his fullMEP watchdog attire. Live andLearn sounded him out about hisviews on the role of humanresources development inEuropean foreign affairs in generaland specifically in the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy.

Security

When asked about his takeon the priorities for Europeanforeign affairs in the yearsahead, his response reflects hisgeneral feeling that things simpleneed not be complicated. ‘ThePrussian General Clausewitzsaid that the best security policyis to be a friend of yourneighbour and this is of coursethe general idea behind theneighbourhood policy,’ he said.

‘It is of the utmost importanceto invest in our neighbouringregions and help them developdemocracy and the rule of law.The fewer tensions you havewith your neighbours, the fewerproblems you have yourself.Take one small but quite topicalexample: migration. People donot move because they simplyfancy a change of environment.Moving away from your countryand culture is quite a dramaticaffair. People feel driven to trytheir luck abroad because theirperspectives at home are bleak.If those perspectives change,they will remain at home.’

‘So, yes, the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy is themain priority, but only so long asit can provide different answersfor different regions. It should beapplied flexibly. The needs inNorth Africa and the aims of ourcooperation with that region aredifferent from the needs and

aims of our eastern neighbours.This need for flexibility is themain message of the report wehave prepared on theneighbourhood policy, which willbe discussed in parliament inNovember.’

Internal development

On the issue of the role ofhuman resources in EU foreignrelations, Elmar Brok sets out hisviews more carefully. ‘Humanresources development is part ofthe internal development ofsovereign states,’ he says. ‘Wemust bear that in mind. It is notalways for us to interfere in suchaffairs. But we can be helpful instrengthening their educationand training systems. Theimprovement of these leads tomore democracy and rule of law.That in turn leads to moresecurity, which is one of ourmain aims.’

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine 3

COVER STORY

“There is a need for flexibility in the Neigbourhood Policy,” states Elmar Brok,Chair of the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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Information is acore issue that weare pushing inmany of ourcomments to theCommission.

‘But the role of humanresources development inEuropean external relations issomething we have to discuss aspart of the action programmes.Each country has differentproblems; some may be similarto others but they always have tobe seen in the unique context ofeach country.’

Instruments

These action programmeswill be coloured in with the helpof the new instruments forexternal support and as long asthese are under scrutiny, MrBrok is cautious. He is acontroller, not a policy maker.

‘We are in the middle ofnegotiations about the newinstruments,’ he says. ‘Ipersonally believe that moreneeds to be done specifically inthe field of human resourcesdevelopment but to be precisehere and now about exactly whatwould be premature.’

‘It is not simply a matter ofmoving away from large

infrastructural projects towardshuman resources development.It is not an issue of “either or”.Seeing these two as opposingentities would be a gravemistake. Both are needed; theyare complementary and shouldbe seen as such. We must strikea right balance between the two,bearing in mind our ultimategoals and in each case weighingthe benefits and effectiveness ofall our activities.’

Information

This leads him to one of hispet subjects: information. Onmany occasions in the past hehas used his voice in theEuropean Parliament to call forbetter tools for MEPs to performtheir roles.

‘Information is a core issuethat we are pushing in many ofour comments to thecommission. We want feedbackand information to be included asintegral parts of the newinstruments. If we, whether as

MEPs or as European citizens,want to be able to evaluate thebenefits and effectiveness of EUsupport to our neighbouringregions, we must be providedwith reliable feedback on results.We must have the tools to judgehow the money is spent. Wewant proper information aboutwhat the commission is doing onthe ground; how it is spendingour money. In the past, thisinformation has not always beensufficient for us to properlyperform our task asparliamentarians.’

‘We are not just pushing forsuch information to be better,giving us good backgroundmaterial for making judgements,we also want it to be providedfaster. Speed is an issue bothwhen it comes to effectivesupport and when it comes toswift adjustments. We want tosee less time passing betweendecisions and the money flowingand less time between resultsbecoming available and thesebeing relayed to us.’

4 LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine

EDUCATION AND TRAINING KEY TO

GREATER DEMOCRACYCOVER STORY

“We need better feedback on the effectiveness of EU support toneighbouring regions,” Elmar Brok says.

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The Committee on Foreign Affairs

The Committeeon ForeignAffairs is one ofthe biggest andmost influentialcommittees ofthe EuropeanParliament. TheCommittee andits 77 membersare resposiblefor the commonforeign and security policy and the Europeansecurity and defence policy, the strengthening ofpolitical relations with third countries, particularlythose in the immediate vicinity of the Union and forthe opening, monitoring and concluding ofnegotiations concerning the accession of EuropeanStates to the Union.

The chair of the Committee, Elmar Brok, 59, hasbeen Member of the European Parliament since1980.

More information:http://www.europarl.eu.int/activities/expert/committees.do

European Parliament.

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ARAB WOMEN:

MAKING THEMSELVES

AT HOME IN THE

WORKPLACE

Fewer Arab women work

outside of the home than in

any other region of the world.

The 2004 UN Arab Human

Development Report points to

the low participation of

women in the labour market

as one of the main brakes on

development. But the situation

is changing. Across the region,Arab women are becomingbetter educated, marrying laterand aiming higher in theirpersonal and their professionallives. With the help of MoroccanMP and veteran women’s rightscampaigner Nouzha Skalli, Liveand Learn charts how Arabwomen are slowly but surelymaking themselves at home inthe workplace.

The number of Arab womenin the labour market has beensteadily increasing over the past30 years. In 1975, only 13% ofArab women were employed. By1995 this figure had risen to21%. Today the regional averagestands at around 25%. Thesignificance of this developmentshould not be overlooked.According to the World Bank, thegrowing participation of womenin the labour force is one of themost important developmentsaffecting the size andcomposition of the region’ssupply of labour. Nouzha Skallibelieves that a woman’s right towork is a question of basichuman rights but that there arealso broader implications. ‘Awoman who has an incomedoesn’t only use it to improve thelives of her children, she alsocontributes to the economy. It isan essential factor in the humandevelopment of a country,’ shesays. However, Arab women stillface considerable obstacles totheir progress in the workplace.

Western views of Arabwomen, often obscured byconcerns about dress such aswhether a woman wears aheadscarf, tend to give a lot of

weight to cultural factors whichmay be holding Arab womenback. It is true that traditionalArab society gives men the roleof breadwinners in charge ofproviding for and protecting thefamily, while women are seenprimarily as homemakers. It isalso true that women may face agreat deal of social pressure andprejudice when they step outsidecertain narrow parameters.However, when you look at whywomen started to move outsideof their traditional role from the1970s onwards, it is clear thatmaterial factors have been atleast as influential in contributingto the changes.

Access to Education

Women have madeimpressive gains in educationalattainment in the region over thepast 40 years, supported bygenerous government spendingon education. Starting from verylow levels, women have nowlargely made up the gender gap.In 1970s Syria for instance, 84%of boys went to primary schoolcompared to just 54% of girls,but by 2000, 99% of boysattended compared to 94% ofgirls. ‘There are still disparities interms of urban/ rural or rich/poordivides and concerns overquality, but to a great extent thequestion of access has beensolved in the last 15 years,’ saysUmmuhan Bardak, a labourmarket expert at the ETF. Higherlevels of education for womenhave been accompanied by adrop in fertility. They have alsoacted to raise women’sexpectations of playing a moreactive role in society. Ms Skalliadds another supremely practicalreason. Many Arab people areadopting the habits of a modernconsumer society at a time whenthe region’s economic growth isfaltering. ‘People have more

needs than they used to forthings like health care,computers, mobile phones,’ shesays. ‘So even if there are stillpeople around who think womenshould stay at home, the realityis stronger. Women are rarelyprevented from going out to workbecause their salaries are badlyneeded.’

So where are the womenworking? In countries such asMorocco, Egypt or Yemen,women have always made up asubstantial proportion ofagricultural workers. However,this kind of work is oftenunregulated, does not give itsworkers any social securitybenefits and, in the case ofsubsistence farming, may evennot provide a wage.

Women havemade impressiveeducational gainsin the region overthe past 40 years


FEATURE

Nouzha Skalli: commitment anddetermination

Nouzha Skalli, Member of the MoroccanParliament, is not the kind of woman to takeno for an answer. A chemist by trade and anactivist by choice, she stood as a candidatein ten municipal and general elections in hernative Morocco from 1976 onwards, but to noavail. In 2002 her persistence was rewardedwhen she became one of 35 women in theMoroccan parliament. She is now the firstwoman to head a parliamentary group, that ofthe Socialist Alliance coalition.

Ms Skalli has been involved in the strugglefor Moroccan women’s rights since the mid1970s. In addition to her grassroots activism,she founded the Democratic Association ofMoroccan Women in 1985 and the Centre forWomen’s Leadership in 1997. She has beenone of the driving forces behind the FamilyCode which became law in spring 2004. Thispioneering law raises the minimum marriageage for women from 15 to 18 years and givesthem the right to divorce, alimony andinheritance.

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“Seeing thatwomen can play arole in politicsencourages youngwomen to imaginethemselves in thatposition”

The public sector hastraditionally been another majoremployer of women. In somecountries, this is very marked –in Algeria in 1990, 85% of femaleworkers were employed in thepublic sector. In the late 1980s,the total for Egypt was 54%.Women are attracted to thepublic sector by the betterworking conditions including jobsecurity, maternity benefits andshorter hours. They are alsoconcentrated in sectors seen assomehow acceptable for womensuch as education and health. Inthis tightly regulatedenvironment, they also find fewerbarriers to entry and experienceless wage discrimination.

Relative equality

However, this relativeequality does hide someinequities. As in Europe, womentend to occupy the lower ranksand earn less than their malecolleagues. ‘In Morocco, womenrepresent 33% of public sectoremployees but they earn 27.7%of total wages,’ says Ms Skalli.‘While part of this discrepancy isdue to men’s greater seniority,women do earn lower wages.’

Morocco and Tunisia areexceptions to this pattern offemale employment in the publicsector. Over the past 20 years,both countries have beenreasonably successful indeveloping export-orientatedindustries such as textiles,garment-making orfood-processing. Women

represent a significant proportionof these blue-collar workers. InMorocco, the precentage ofwomen in each sector is asfollows: footwear/leather 18%,food-processing 19.3%, textiles31.9%, ready-to-wear clothes70%, electronics 75%. A 2004World Bank report onemployment in the Middle Eastand North Africa suggests thatpromoting sectors such astextiles, where women havetraditionally worked, may overtime open up other kinds ofemployment for women. Thisseems to be the case inMorocco. Nouzha Skalli reportsthat women have been makingsignificant inroads in otherprofessions. They now accountfor 50% of public sector doctors,36% of those in the privatesector, 43% of chemists and30% of judges. ‘This is not a factmany people know,’ she says.

New family code

Ms Skalli believes that Arabgovernments are increasinglyaware of the need to facilitate amore active role for women inpublic life, although this does notalways translate into action. Thepast three years have seen goodprogress in Morocco. Since 2003the new family code has givenwomen more rights in theirpersonal lives, while changes tothe work code, such aspenalising sexual harassment orintroducing the principle ofnondiscrimination, haveimproved their position in theworkplace. Parliament is alsogetting the feminine touch. Across-party consensus to put upfemale candidates in the 2002elections saw 33 new womenMPs elected, bringing the total to35 or 10.8% of MPs. The impacthas been immediate, accordingto Ms Skalli, who cites theexample of the 2003 law againstterrorism which proposedconfiscating the property ofknown terrorists. ‘It took awoman to point out that thiswould mean the wives andchildren of terrorists, people whoare not to blame, could be madehomeless,’ she says. The lawwas amended. Moreover, thenew women MPs also act as role

models. ‘Seeing that women canplay a role in politics encouragesyoung women to imaginethemselves in this position andto get interested in politics,’ saysMs Skalli. Finally, moves areafoot in Morocco and also Egyptto introduce gender budgetingand to put issues of gender atthe centre of developmentplanning.

Nevertheless, in spite of theprogress, women’s future jobprospects across the Arab worldmay not be so rosy. Togetherwith young people, womenalready suffer from more thantheir fair share of unemployment:the World Bank reports thatregional unemployment rates are50% higher for women than formen. Women’s traditionalrecourse to government jobs isbecoming less of an option asArab governments try to reducethe public sector payroll as partof broader moves towardseconomic liberalisation. At thesame time, the youthful profile ofthe region’s population meansthe number of new entrants tothe job market every year faroutnumber the jobs on offer. Thistendency is set to continue untilat least 2010 and meanscompetition for work will befierce.

What is more, with thehonourable exception ofMorocco and Tunisia, womenfind it hard to get jobs in theprivate sector. The private sectortends to have less equitablehiring methods than the state,employers are often reluctant tohire women as they think theywill have to pay maternitybenefits, and women frequentlyearn lower wages than men. Lowwages can create a disincentivefor women to work once thecosts of childcare are taken intoaccount. Protective attitudestowards women often translateinto concern not to see themexposed to the more precariousconditions common in the privatesector.

The extra burden of careshouldered by women at home isanother obstacle. Westernwomen will be all too familiar withthe problem of the double shift,but in North African and theMiddle East, this problem iscompounded by stronger


ARAB WOMEN: MAKING THEMSELVES

AT HOME IN THE WORKPLACEFEATURE

Arab women have made impressive gain in educational attainmentover the past years.

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patriarchal attitudes and very lowlevels of nursery provision. It hasalso produced the care chainphenomenon where workingwomen employ others tosubstitute for them at home. InMorocco, these are often veryyoung girls from the villages.‘This problem is often raised interms of children working or notattending school,’ says Ms Skalli.‘However, it is rarely looked at interms of a fairer sharing-out ofdomestic labour or betterpreschool provision.’

Obstacles remain

So while Arab women havemade real progress in carvingout a niche for themselves in theworkplace over the past 30years, plenty of obstaclesremain. While social andeconomic factors haveencouraged Arab women to workoutside the home, Nouzha Skallibelieves much has still to beachieved in the domain of ideas.At a time when the influence ofreligion is growing in the Arabcountries, she believes politicalIslam singles out women for ‘anideological offensive’ aimed attrying to keep them in theirnarrow traditional roles. ‘The kindof ideas they put about are thatwomen are unfair competition formen in the labour market or thatwomen who work causeunemployment,’ she says. Shebelieves few Arab governmentsare making serious attempts tocounter this kind of belief andthat a more scientific approach isrequired. ‘When women work,they create jobs. Instead ofcooking for everyone at homeand doing the washing, aworking woman may eat at acanteen and use a laundry. Thiscreates salaried work,’ she says.‘Not only that but a workingwoman can use her salary to buythings and thereby stimulateconsumer demand. Workingwomen contribute to a country’sdevelopment by turning domesticwork into paid work.’

Find out more:

Democratic Association of

Moroccan Womenhttp://www.famafrique.org/femafrfranc/adfm.html


ARAB WOMEN: MAKING THEMSELVES

AT HOME IN THE WORKPLACEFEATURE

Putting women centre stage

The ETF is stepping up its commitment to equality by placing gender issuesat the heart of its activities. ‘In future we would like to see special attentionpaid to gender equality issues in all our work in VET and employment so wecan contribute to policy design in the partner countries,’ says MilenaCorradini, ETF country manager for Turkey and head of the new workinggroup on gender issues. The group will provide guidance to staff on how tomake bringing gender issues to the forefront an integral part of their workdesigning new projects and supporting their implementation in the field.

Milena Corradini was motivated to start this initiative after moving fromcountry manager for Romania and FYR Macedonia to work on othercountries. ‘Before I had never really thought it a problem to be female as alot of my colleagues in the ETF and these countries, even ministers, werealso women’ she says, ‘Then suddenly I found myself the only woman in thelist of key speakers at conferences and would meet very few women atofficial meetings. I started to collect complaints from women about theserious obstacles they face in their careers and I thought something had tobe done.’

The ETF working group, consisting of one man and five women, will shortlybegin a study of the participation of women in VET and the labour market inMorocco, Jordan, Serbia and Turkey. An international expert on genderissues will provide short-term support to the work of this group fromNovember and will help organise a major event in Turin to celebrateInternational Women’s Day next March. In the longer term, the group hopesto build up a fund of knowledge on how VET can contribute to equalitybetween men and women.

Milena Corradini believes the idea of making gender issues part of themainstream will be well received in partner countries where many NGOs andlocal organisations are already active. ‘In Turkey I found the women veryreceptive to my idea,’ she says. ‘The men were less so as some thought theproblem of equality did not exist.’

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Milena Corradini is head of the new ETF working group on gender issues.

THE EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

by Vincent McBride

A major consultation is currently

underway about the possibility of a

European Qualifications Framework.

The European Qualifications Framework

(EQF) would be an overarching

framework designed to enable national

and sectoral qualification frameworks to

relate to and communicate with each

other. It would promote greater

recognition of learning, facilitating the

transfer, transparency and recognition

of qualifications across Europe. The

EQF is a voluntary instrument designed

to strengthen mutual trust and

cooperation between the different

stakeholders involved in lifelong

learning.Once stablished, it would promote the

mobility of learners and enable labourmarket mobility across borders. It would alsofoster change by supporting and informingnational reform in different sectors.

Consultation over the EQF

Consultation over the EQF is currentlyunderway and is expected to finish by theend of December 2005. The consultationis being carried out among the 32countries involved in the Education andTraining 2010 process, the Bolognafollow-up group, European social partnerorganisations, industry sector groups, aswell as NGOs and educationalorganisations. The results of thisconsultation will contribute to the draftingof a Council and European ParliamentRecommendation in Spring 2006.

Key features

The EQF contains a number of keyfeatures. These are:� reference levels for qualifications;

� the use of learning outcomes to

identify the content of learning in

education and training;

� a series of broad voluntary

principles at the European level

covering quality assurance, key

competencies, career guidance, and

the validation of nonformal and

informal learning;

� the recognition of sector-based

qualifications;

� the use of clarification instruments

to make the content of

qualifications more transparent

across national borders.

Learning outcomes

The EQF uses the concept of learning outcomes. A learning outcome is a writtenstatement of what the successful student/learner is expected to be able to do at the endof the course unit or qualification. Learning outcomes can be applied to all forms oflearning, covering arts and science, the social sciences and vocational areas of learning.


IN FOCUS

EQF reference levels for qualifications

The EQF has as its central feature a series of eight reference levels for qualifications.

Each reference level corresponds to a combination of skills, knowledge and widercompetency. The levels range from a basic level of learning (at level 1) to the mostadvanced level of learning (at level 8).

Each level contains a general description of the required skill, knowledge and widercompetence. Generally, the higher the level the more of these qualities a person isexpected to have, for example a person at level 6 will have more skills, knowledge andcompetence than someone at level 5. Levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 are consistent and compatiblewith the Bologna cycles developed for qualifications in the higher education sector.

In the EQF reference levels:

� skill is understood as ‘the knowledge and experience needed toperform a specific task or job’;

� knowledge is understood as the ‘the facts, feelings orexperiences known by a person or a group of people; widercompetence is understood as ‘personal and professionalcompetence involving:(i) autonomy and responsibility;(ii) learning competence;(iii) communication and social competence;(iv) professional and vocational competence.

Examples of learning outcomes

1. From literatureAt the end of the period of learning a person will be able to:‘Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the influences of the historical and socialcontext within which the chosen text is set, both from the study of the text itself andfrom the study of other contemporary literature.’

2. From engineering scienceAt the end of the period of learning a person will be able to:‘develop a function that can be used to calculate the rate of gas passing through anenclosed medium and the volume of flow in specified periods.’

3. Road transport (lorry driver)At the end of the period of learning a person will be able to:’reverse an articulated truck repeatedly in busy and quiet environments, withoutcausing a hazard or congestion.’

4. Radio broadcastingAt the end of the period of learning a person will be able to:‘present sequences of “live” broadcast items under a variety of conditions without anyon-air silence.’

Using learning outcomes provides greater precision about what knowledge and skillsan individual will acquire when they have successfully completed some learning.Learning outcomes can be formulated for a number of purposes for individual courses,units and programmes.

Training programmes and educational courses leading to a qualification will usuallyhave multiple learning outcomes. The precise number will depend on the nature of thecourse and qualification.

Common European principles

The EQF includes a series of common general principles that are intended to supportits implementation. As with the EQF itself, these common principles are voluntary andcover:� the validation of nonformal and informal learning;� quality assurance;� career guidance and counselling;� key competencies.

Validation of nonformal and informal learning provides opportunities for individualsto obtain recognition for skills and knowledge that they have gained outside formaleducation or training. The principles have been prepared to provide guidance on systemsthat recognise informal and nonformal learning. There principles relate to individualentitlements, the obligations of stakeholders, the development of confidence and trust,and the creation of legitimacy and credibility within systems.

The quality assurance principles provide a general framework of guidance onquality assurance and cover:� planning for quality assurance;� implementation of quality assurance arrangements;� evaluation and assessment of quality in learning and training programmes leading to

qualifications;� the review of processes;� the methodologies used in ensuring quality in qualifications and learning

programmes.The principles for career guidance cover a set of aims designed to support national

policy development including transparency, empowerment and responsiveness.Key competencies cover a set of skills that are intended to be achieved by the end

of compulsory education and training.

There are 8 key competencies

comprising:

The development of sector-based

qualificationsThe EQF consultation document refers

to sectoral qualifications. The term sectoris used to define either a category ofcompanies on the basis of their maineconomic activity, product or technology(chemistry, tourism) or an occupationalcategory (ICT, marketing, humanresources, financial services).

A sectoral qualification is aqualification implemented by a group ofcompanies belonging to the same sectorin order to meet common training needs.These qualifications have often beendeveloped and implemented outside theformal qualification system. However, suchqualifications can be highly valued byemployers and frequently desired byindividuals. In the context of greaterEuropean mobility in learning andemployment, such qualifications arebecoming increasingly important.

The EQF will also be supported by:� a website portal containing

descriptions of learning programmesand courses in different countries. Theportal will target students, job seekers,workers, parents, guidance counsellorsand teachers;

� a credit transfer system based onlearning outcomes;

� the Europass instruments, includingthe diploma and certificate supplements.The EQF is a voluntary instrument that

provides a comprehensive source ofinformation and materials that can be usedat various levels in many different contexts.

Find out more:http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/consultations_en.html

Vincent McBride is Expertise DevelopmentCoordinator at the ETF


THE EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKIN FOCUS

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes Modules/learning

programmes

Qualifications Reference levels

Learning outcomes

� communication in the mothertongue;

� communication in foreignlanguages;

� mathematical competence andbasic competences in scienceand technology;

� digital competence;

� learning to learn;

� interpersonal, interculturaland social competences andcivic competence;

� entrepreneurship;

� cultural expression.

THE EUROPEAN AGENCYFOR RECONSTRUCTIONAND THE ETFA SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIPby Richard Zink, Director EAR

The creation of the

European Agency for

Reconstruction (EAR) by the

European Commission in the

wake of the 1999 Kosovo

crisis had its roots in the

conflict in Bosnia when the EU

faced criticism for being

unable to respond to the crisis

quickly and efficiently.When troops arrived in

Kosovo in June 1999, theEuropean Commission proposedthe establishment of the agency.Its initial mandate was simple innature but far-reaching in scope:to implement large-scalereconstruction assistance toKosovo. After Milosevic thecommission decided to expandagency activities to Serbia andMontenegro and the mandatewas again extended in 2001 tothe former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia.

Over a period of five yearsthe EAR has managed acumulative €2.5 billion ofEuropean Commission fundsand has delivered on the EU’spromise to respond quickly: byOctober 2005, 81% has beencontracted and 71% disbursed.

Since its creation in 2000 theEAR has worked extensively withthe ETF on vocational educationand training and labour marketdevelopment issues. In fact bothagencies share the commonobjective of helping the regionand its people help themselvesby building up their educationalinstitutions and their economy aspart of their integration intoEurope.

The ETF has action plans forthe different countries of theWestern Balkans. Similarly, theEAR, on behalf of the EuropeanCommission, develops annualAction Programmes andmanages large amounts ofassistance funds. This

assistance complements theadvice and guidance provided bythe ETF. The close cooperationbetween the ETF and the EARensures that an ongoingdialogue results in joint prioritiesgrounded in the wishes andneeds of the region.

Cooperation between our twoagencies is typified by workingrelations on programming andproject implementation but alsothrough sharing ideas, information,comments and strategies.

Teamwork

This teamwork functions in apractical way in the identificationof new programmes andprojects, drafting backgroundstudies or assisting in projectdesign workshops and terms ofreference. The ETF alsoprovides assistance in ongoingprogramme monitoring.

These common objectiveswere neatly underlined in theEU’s 2003 Thessaloniki Agendafor the Western Balkans, whichaims ‘to develop and implementa comprehensive strategy topromote employment andcombat unemployment, inparticular with regard tovocational training’. The EARand the ETF are workingtogether so that vocationaltraining will bring benefits for thepeople of the region.

Today the region of theWestern Balkans is evolving.Having moved out of a postcrisisemergency reconstructionphase, it faces new challengesas it works to align itself withEurope and prepare for anenlargement process which maybe long and difficult. Agenciessuch as the ETF and EAR areideally placed to assist the regionalong that road.

Kosovo

In Kosovo there is a younggrowing population and a weakeconomy which at the momentstruggles to create new jobs forthe thousands of young peoplewho join the job market eachyear. Vocational education is keyand so over the last five yearsthere has been a great deal ofcooperation between the EARand the ETF over Kosovo’sreconstruction.

Since November 2002 theEAR has been supportingKosovo’s vocational educationand training (VET) andoccupational classificationsystems through the €3 millionprogramme VocationalEducation and Training inKosovo. Its chief aim has beento develop a basis for thetransformation of Kosovo’s VETsystem. In order to improve theskills base, assistance has beenprovided to develop betterstandards, curricula andassessment arrangements.

The training component ofthe project has provided nearly900 places on almost 50courses. Many teachers frompilot schools and training centreshave received more than threeweeks of training. Care wastaken to ensure the inclusion ofminorities.

The second phase of €1million now supports thedevelopment of a legal andinstitutional framework which will,among other things, help


IN FOCUS

Richard Zink, Director, EAR.

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develop educational strategiesand enhance the humanresources capacities of selectedvocational education institutions.The beneficiary of theprogramme is the KosovoMinistry of Education, Scienceand Technology.

Technical assistance is beingprovided over a two-year periodfrom September 2004, managedby a core team based in Pristina.The programme’s steeringcommittee includesrepresentatives of variousministries and brings togetherthe EAR and the ETF. Inaddition, a number of technicalworking groups are beingestablished in order to underlinelocal ownership.

An additional €1 million hasbeen earmarked to cover thecost of building and equipping anew centre in Pristina, which isintended to become a centre ofexcellence and a focus fordeveloping and piloting new VETprogrammes, together withproviding additional equipmentfor a number of pilot vocationalschools.

Another area of cooperationhas been within the EmploymentRegeneration Programme(designed in cooperation withETF) of €3 million, which since2003 has aimed to enhanceeconomic and social stability inKosovo through support to thedevelopment of an employmentstrategy responsive to local,regional and central needs. It willaim to provide effectiveemployment services tojobseekers and employers andfacilitate the development andapproval of a National Strategyon Employment. It will pilot anemployment fund in threeregions of Kosovo – Gjilan,Mitrovica and Pristina – withgrants focused on the long-termunemployed, women andminorities.

Serbia

As in the rest of the regionthe VET system is characterisedby a high degree of centralisationand a lack of professionalinstitutions at local level,outdated curricula, teaching andlearning methods, a weak

infrastructure, and an inadequateresponse to labour marketneeds. Both the EAR and ETFhave invested much time andresources in assisting reform inSerbia. This cooperation coversprojects which deal both withVET reform andemployment/labour marketdevelopment.

A €2 million employmentpolicy project trainined andretrained unemployed andredundant workers in theSumadija region in centralSerbia. This has been followedby a new project with a budget of€7.2 million which will last untillate 2006. This new programmefocuses on strengthening thecapacity of all relevant nationaland local actors to design anddeliver sound and cost effectiveactive labour market policies andprogrammes. It also aims toimprove the capacity of theNational Employment Serviceand its local offices to providequality services to unemployedand redundant people, includingthe development andimplementation of active labourmarket measures andemployment programmes.

There has been a significant€13 million VET reform projectwhich addresses the issues ofpolicy and strategy, the

development of curricula in fiveeconomic sectors in 50 pilotschools, turning five VETschools into regional trainingcentres, establishing aninnovation fund for grassrootsdevelopment schools andupgrading the schoolinfrastructure. This first phase ofVET reform will be taken forwardwith significant additionalallocations in future assistanceprogrammes.

Local business and socialpartners, employersassociations, chambers ofcommerce, municipalities andmany small businesses havebeen closely involved in theseprojects. Significant changes inSerbian law have also givenmunicipalities moreresponsibilities for education andtraining. Vocational training hasto be designed to meet theneeds of local communities, whohave to be involved as much aspossible in defining what skillsthis education should offer.

EAR-managed programmes,funded by the EU and involvingthe ETF, have shown thatchange is possible but there arestill many weaknesses amongproviders and the next stepsshould focus on a improving thislocally.

Vocational traininghas to bedesigned to meetthe needs of localcommunities


THE EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION

AND THE ETFIN FOCUS

In Serbia, the EU is introducing training courses for the unemployed and school leavers.

Photo

:E

AR

The excellentcooperationbetween the EARand the ETF [...] isbound to continuein the comingyears.

Montenegro

In the same vein, there iscontinued cooperation inMontenegro with variousministries, including theMontenegrin Ministry ofEducation and Sciences, in theproject Support to VocationalEducation and Training inMontenegro. The objective wasto support the government in theimplementation of a flexible andintegrated vocational educationand training system for youthand adults that meets the needsof the labour market.

The purpose of the project isto improve the employability ofsecondary vocational schoolleavers and unemployed adultsin key sectors that have thepotential for economicdevelopment in Montenegro (e.g.tourism, agriculture, woodprocessing). The technicalassistance to be provided shouldmainly enhance the capacity andactivities of the Centre forVocational Education, trainingcentres and social partners

It was hoped that this projectwould increase the involvementof all social partners in thevocational and education trainingsystem, improve the functioningof the Centre for VocationalEducation and the trainingcentres, and produce a labourmarket analysis and skills andtraining needs assessment in

key economic sectors. Inaddition the development of newcurricula and trainingprogrammes for both initial andcontinuing education and trainingin the selected sectors of theeconomy and the establishmentof a certification system werealso planned.

The FormerYugoslav Republicof Macedonia

In Skopje, the EAR hascooperated with the ETF in theVET programme with twoprojects worth €3 million, in theEmployment Policy programmeof €2 million and in the threephases of the Human ResourceDevelopment Fundproject, which was specificallytargeted at small andmedium-sized enterprises andamounted to €2.7 million.

However, as in other parts ofthe region the EFT has not onlygiven valuable support to theEAR on a project basis but alsoin the design and development ofvocational training andemployment projects and in itscontributions to monitoring andits comments and suggestionson other related projects.

In Skopje, as in othercentres, much extra value camefrom the activities of ETF’s owndevelopment projects andanalytical work, for example thePeer Review on decentralisationin VET, which the EAR was ableto use . The ETF Feasibilitystudy on options for the VETsystem in FYROM and theLabour Market Review providedpolicy advice but also providedadvice for EAR and EuropeanCommission programming.

EFT activities around thenational qualifications frameworkattempted to build on existingprojects by assisting the Ministryof Education in creating acomprehensive framework. Thisframework can be linked to theEuropean QualificationsFramework which is underdevelopment. A similar adultlearning activity is planned forthis year, which aims to bridgethe gap until the LifelongLearning project starts in 2006.

Future cooperation willinclude preparation of theLifelong Learning project and inthe Employment project, wherethe ETF has provided muchuseful advice and suggestions.

What’s next in ourpartnership?

The excellent cooperationbetween the EAR and ETF,along with the beneficiaries andother donors throughout theregion, is bound to continue inthe coming years. There is stillmuch to do in vocationaleducation, lifelong learning,training and labour marketreform. Some of that will followon naturally from our ongoingactivity, making use of thelessons learnt.

Future initiatives could focuson the implementation of VETand employment policy andstrategy, the further developmentof institutional and legalframeworks, the development ofprofessional institutions, adecentralising strategy and thebuilding of capacity withinadministrations which willsupport and sustain reformlocally and centrally. Indeed,increased ownership ofvocational education by thepeople of the region mustcontinue to be a key objective

Ensuring involvement of allstakeholders in VET andemployment reform, restructuringof the national employmentservices, developing nationalqualification frameworks, andsecuring a quality assurancesystem in vocational educationbased on a real analysis oflabour market needs are allrealistic ambitions for the region.

As the focus of assistanceshifts towards EU integration, wecan surely expect much more tobe invested in education andother labour issues.

Find out more:

European Agency for

Reconstructionwww.ear.eu.int


THE EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION

AND THE ETFIN FOCUS

In Montenegro, the EU is helping young people to be trained in newskills that can help them find jobs in the growing tourism industry.

Photo: EAR


IN FOCUS

REGIONAL ADVISORY FORUM:

THE CLEARING HOUSE FOR

EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORMTwo days of presentations, intense debate and a half-day visit to a Spanish vocationaleducation and training (VET) school kept the 50 delegates at the ETF’s Advisory Forumfor the Mediterranean Region extremely busy. The event was held in Madrid from 28 to30 September with support from the Spanish government.

The meeting gave the ETF the chance toinform members of its activities during

2005 and its plans for 2006. It also allowedthe members, a mix of VET experts frompartner countries, member states andinternational organisations, to give the ETFvaluable feedback about how it is doing.‘We welcome your constructive criticismbecause it helps us to improve the qualityof the work we do,’ said ETF director MurielDunbar. ‘Please don’t be shy!’

Henrik Huitfeldt, a labour marketexpert at the ETF, opened theproceedings by presenting the first resultsof an ETF study on how labour marketsare functioning in six countries of theMEDA region. Available in English, Frenchand Arabic, the study zooms in on the keyfeatures of MEDA labour markets. Theseare characterised by fast populationgrowth, low but increasing femaleparticipation and the fact that theavailability of jobs has failed to keep pacewith the numbers of job seekers enteringthe labour market every year. ‘Risingunemployment has mainly hit first-time jobseekers, especially those with secondaryeducation,’ says Huitfeldt. The studyexamines the links between investment inhuman resources and economic growthand finds these to be weak. ‘While it canstill give high returns to individuals throughgood wages and benefits in the publicsector, the region’s high investment ineducation and training has not resulted infast economic growth,’ says Huitfeldt.

New observatory function

Gérard Mayen, the ETF’s countrymanager for Jordan, updated delegates onthe progress of the observatory functionsduring 2005. They aim to provide policymakers with quality information on humanresources in six MEDA countries. As the firstobservatory function only began in 2002, it isstill early days to talk of major outcomes.‘The most important thing is that the ETFhas facilitated a discussion on how to set upan information system on both the supplyand demand side of human resources,’ saysMayen. ‘This has brought together theinformation producers and users from the

public and private sector.’ Mayen isparticularly pleased with the progress madeby the Syrian observatory function during itsfirst year of operations, with strong supportfrom Jordan. ‘The project has very goodvisibility and is well supported by most of thedecisionmakers,’ he says. The observatoryfunctions also play a role in Education andTraining for Employment, a major regionalproject being implemented by the ETF. AMEDA observatory network is beingestablished, whose first task will be todevelop a set of common indicators for theregion.

Acting head of the ETF’s MEDAdepartment Elena Carrero Pérez ran

through the ETF’s work programme for2006, including new projects on innovationand learning, dissemination of EU policiesand capacity building. She explained howthe ETF has to strike a careful balancebetween national capacity building andregional approaches. ‘The ETF is adoptinga more regional approach,’ she says. ‘Thisdoesn’t automatically mean regionalprogrammes; it means making regionalcomparisons to identify the commonground and see where a regionalapproach is necessary.’

How to finance VET systems is asubject on many people’s minds right now.Most MEDA governments are currentlylooking for ways to diversify the sources ofVET funding and take the pressure offstate coffers, while at the same timeensuring that money is used moreefficiently. Karl-Axel Skjolstrup, countrymanager for Egypt, Israel and the WestBank and Gaza Strip, presented the ETF’s

project on VET financing. It aims to reviewexisting policy in Egypt, Jordan, Algeriaand Tunisia and feed into future initiativesfor reform. In spite of high spending byMEDA governments, many VET schools inthe region are underfunded and can onlycover essential recurring costs, leavingprecious little for innovation. Skjolstrupbelieves the private sector shouldcontribute more to VET ‘but it is importantthat any extra resources are channelledinto improving quality, raising schoolautonomy and making funds available atall levels for innovation,’ he says.

Private sector

Countries such as Jordan, Morocco orEgypt already collect training levies fromcompanies. Apprenticeship schemes suchas Egypt’s Mubarak-Kohl initiative allowcompanies to make a more directcontribution. ‘The private sector pays 70%of the cost of the system in the form oftraining places, renumeration, meals andallocating a trainer to supervise,’ saysAli Sayed, director of the initiative. Giving

companies a say has been the key toconvincing them to come onboard, hereports. ‘We make them feel that thescheme is their baby by making thempartners every step of the way.’

Lebanon is also experimenting withnew ways of financing its public VETsystem. The country is unusual in thatprivate sector VET is long established andaccounts for almost half of enrolments.

Elena Carrero Pérez, Acting Head of MEDAdepartment, ETF.

Ali Sayed, Director of the Mubarak-Kohl initiative.

Photo

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TF

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Nevertheless, the most expensivekinds of training, such as industrialspecialisations, are still provided within thepublic sector. Last October saw the launchof a new pilot project with the agrofoodindustry, which hopes to pioneer a modelof shared responsibility for VET. ‘Thegovernment provides staff, buildings andsome support; the agrofood syndicateprovides the equipment, designs thecurricula and makes a commitment toemploy the graduates,’ says Abdul Ghani,director of planning and development at theLebanese Ministry of Education. ‘The EU iscofinancing the project through theagrofood syndicate not the government andthat is a departure for Lebanon. We areplaying according to the syndicates’ rules.’

Unified NQF system

The need for a unified nationalqualifications system or NQF was also thesubject of a lively debate. Jean-MarcCastejon, country manager for Syria,presented the ETF’s regional NQF projectlooking at what kind of framework canprovide the flexibility and clear pathwaysrequired for a coherent VET system. ‘Theobjective is to develop national strategiesfor NQFs, not to create new systems,’ hesays. Palestine has been introducing anew system ‘which provides a singleaddress for all qualifications’ as part of itsoverall VET reform strategy since 1998,according to Hisham Kuhail, Palestine’sdeputy assistant minister for highereducation. The question of internalmobility and pathways has come in forspecial attention. ‘If you limit movementwithin the education and training cycle,experience has shown us people won’twant to go there,’ he says. The newsystem has boosted VET enrolments fromjust 3% of the total in education in 1995 to9% today. Kuhail believes nationalsystems should cater for a workforce thatis internationally mobile. ‘In Palestine wehad a debate on whether we are trainingonly to suit Palestinian demand. We saidno because the local market is small sowe have to train our excess labour force tobe relevant to the regional need,’ he says.

ETF’s most regional project ever wasnext on the bill as Ummuhan Bardak,project coordinator for ETF, outlined theprogress of Education and Training forEmployment since its official launch inTurin in November 2004. With thepreparatory phase almost complete,thematic networks on subjects such aselearning, the transition to work andentrepreneurship for young people havebeen set up and study visits to Belgiumand Portugal scheduled. From 2006, ETEmoves into the operational phase, withvarious activities aimed at building aplatform for genuinely regional cooperationin VET and the labour market. This wasfollowed up by a brief presentation ofGTZ’s Regional Arab-German Network onTVET by project coordinator Willi Karow.Five countries are cooperating on differentareas of VET development such as aTVET glossary, curricular design and anArab occupational classification, aiming toproduce ‘recognised and accredited TVETproducts usable throughout the region’.

Delegates were given a chance toupdate themselves on EU policy whenArjen Vos, head of the department forenlargement and South Eastern Europe atthe ETF, outlined the achievements of theCopenhagen Process. Another process,that of Barcelona, then took centre stageas the subject of the afternoon’s plenarysession. The following morning, peoplewere able to get a taste of how VET works

in practice in the host country. They visitedthe San Cristobal Workshop School, runon a military base on the outskirts ofMadrid, which trains the youngunemployed in practical building andgardening trades.

Two and a half days of intense activityleft most people with plenty of food forthought. Elena Carrero Pérez thanked thedelegates for their input into ‘what hasbeen a very rich debate.’ She announcedthat the ETF has decided to write asummary note of the preceedings,‘recording all of your comments andconclusions so that they do not get lost’.For many however, the biggest addedvalue of the advisory forum was thechance to meet colleagues from the regionand the ETF and discuss ideas.Palestine’s Hisham Kuhail summed thisup. ‘To me and my colleagues, the ETF isconsidered as the clearing house of VET,the think tank, the house of expertise thatcan help you in your work,’ he says. ‘Thisis a venue where you can connect topeople, explore ideas and commonthemes. We feel at home here as if webelong. It is not a donor organisation, buta place that can accommodate the needsof all relevant partners.’

Find out more:

Muburak-Kohl initiative

http://www.ntvet.com/


REGIONAL ADVISORY FORUM: THE CLEARING HOUSE

FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM

SPANISH VET: IF IT IS NOT VALID FOREMPLOYERS AND UNIONS, IT IS NO USE TO US

Back in the mid 1990s, Spain set out to totally overhaul its VET system. Theproblems will sound all too familiar – an antiquated system which was outof touch with the labour market and which had a high level of drop-outs andfailures. ‘Our aim was to tackle these issues, achieve more of a genderbalance, attract more students and modernise the system in line with theprinciples of lifelong learning,’ says Maria José Muniozguren, technicaladvisor for VET at the Spanish Ministry of Education and a member of theETF Governing Board. One of the solutions they found was to introduce adual system which put practical training at the heart of Spanish VET. Allstudents are now obliged to complete a minimum of 380 hours ofin-company training in order to graduate.

Sharing decisionmaking with social partners was seen as essential.Muniozguren describes the guiding principle of the reform as ‘if it is notvalid for an employer and not accepted by the unions, then it is of no use tous’. Continuing education, the most recent sector to develop, shows howthis works in practice. Decisions are taken by the Tripartite Foundation,with representatives from central and regional governments, employers andtrades unions. Funding, which in 2005 amounted to €1,226 million, comes80% from a levy on pay roll and 20% from the European Social Fund. Theupgrade of Spanish VET seems to be paying off; the number of VETstudents is currently increasing by 10–12% per year.

But all is not plain sailing. In continuing education, ‘the biggest problemswe have is measuring the impact on industry and making sure smallercompanies get access,’ says José García, director of communication at theTripartite Foundation. Over 90% of Spanish companies are small andmedium-sized enterprises, a feature the Spanish economy shares with mostMediterranean countries. Perhaps it was this sense of familiarity thatcaught the interest of delegates at the Advisory Forum. The session onSpanish VET ran well over its allotted time as the speakers fielded a streamof questions from delegates on the nuts and bolts of their system, such astax incentives for companies, budgets, management and the impact of VET.

Hisham Kuhail, Palestine's deputy minister forhigher education.

Photo: ETF

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP:

BARCELONA PROCESSPRODUCES MIXED RESULTS

Ten years ago in November

1995, the Barcelona

process was launched at a

high profile meeting in the city

of the same name. The

initiative set out to bring about

a gentle revolution in

north-south relations by

building a common space of

peace, security and shared

prosperity around the

Mediterranean. Ten years on is

a convenient point to pause

and take stock of what has

been achieved so far and what

still needs to be done.The ETF took the opportunity

to ask participants from theMediterranean countries toreflect on the contribution ofBarcelona to VET and labourmarket reform at its regionaladvisory forum held recently inMadrid. The plenary session andensuing debate also looked atwhich elements of MEDA shouldbe taken forward as part of thenew European NeighbourhoodPolicy (ENP) due to take overfrom 2007.

Comprehensivereform

Facilitating dialogue hasalways been an important part ofBarcelona and for BelhassenThameur, director of themanagement unit of Tunisia’sMANFORME project, this isdefinitely true for education andtraining. ‘In the case of Tunisia,the process has allowed us tohave a permanent dialogue withthe European Commission ontraining policy,’ he says. ‘Thisdialogue and sharing ofviewpoints was then turned intotechnical and financial supportfor MANFORME via the MEDA Iprogramme.’

MANFORME is the Tunisiangovernment’s far-reachingprogramme which, since 1996,has set about totally overhaulingTunisia’s vocational training and

labour market in preparation forfree trade with Europe from2008. The EuropeanCommission has contributed €45million. ‘This support has allowedus to reorient our system and tobuild the key elements for

successful reform such as ashared approach with socialpartners, quality assurance,apprenticeship and a dualsystem scheme,’ saysMr Thameur.


IN FOCUS

“When countriesstart reformingtheir economies[...] they find thatHR development isan importantfactor forcompetitiveness.”

Sector by sectorapproach

While Tunisia has adopted acomprehensive approach to VETreform, Morocco has decided toconcentrate on specific sectors ofits economy. The country hasbeen involved in two MEDAprogrammes since 1996. MEDA I,with a budget of €38 million, aimedto upgrade Morocco’s VET systemand make it more responsive tothe needs of industry. A secondaim was to boost the role ofindustry federations and help themidentify their skills needs. With abudget of €50 million, MEDA IIrecently began work on threepriority sectors suggested by theMoroccan government:textiles/ready-made clothes,tourism and informationtechnology.

El Hassane Benmoussa,secretary general at the Ministryof Vocational Training andEmployment, has noted realprogress in various sectors ofthe Moroccan economy as aresult of MEDA I although hebelieves it is too early to evaluatelong-term benefits. ‘What isreally original about thisprogramme is that it is theindustry federations who haveimplemented it; the governmentis there, but they take most ofthe decisions and that issomething really new inMorocco,’ he says. The newprogramme is introducingapprenticeships, a dual system

scheme and acompetence-based approach. Itis also aimed at the country’slarge private VET sector, whichaccounts for roughly one-third ofVET enrolments.

Several people at theregional advisory forum citeproblems and delays with MEDAI. However, since responsibilityfor projects was devolved to theEC delegations in partnercountries in 2002, the situationhas notably improved and peopleare finding MEDA II easier toimplement. Mr Benmoussaappreciates the flexibility ofMEDA II. ‘For newcomers, themechanisms of the EU can seemlaborious and limiting but onceyou master them, you becomepart of a very rigorous system,’he says.

Low visibility oruneven results?

Since Barcelona began,there have been six major MEDAprogrammes in Algeria, Egypt,Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.MEDA is seen in the region asthe most tangible fruit of theBarcelona process but this viewis mainly confined to people inthose countries that have hosteda large programme. VET expertsand stakeholders in othercountries do not tend to make adirect link between MEDA andthe Barcelona Process and maynot even see their countries ashaving benefited from it. So theBarcelona Process, with its verybroad agenda and lofty aims,would seem either to bedelivering its benefits ofimproving VET systemsunevenly across the region or, atthe very least, to be sufferingfrom a problem of visibility. Thus,at the ETF’s regional advisoryforum, Egyptian and Syriandelegates listed several positivechanges in their VET systemsdue to the Barcelona Process,but some delegates from othercountries were hard pushed toname any.

Trigger for reform

Borhene Chakroun, theETF’s country manager forMorocco and Lebanon, believesthe Barcelona Process hashelped to trigger VET reform inall of the Mediterraneancountries, whether itscontribution is explicitly

recognised or not. In thisrespect, the prospect of freetrade with Europe has beenfundamental. ‘When countriesstart reforming their economiesand upgrading their industries,they find that human resourcesdevelopment is an importantfactor for competitiveness. Thishas pushed governments to startthinking about the reform of theireducation and training systems,’he says. During the 1990s, allgovernments in the regionembarked upon some form ofVET reform but, in the absenceof comprehensive evaluations ofthe results, it is hard to measurethe impact of MEDA so far.

Nevertheless, Mr Chakroundoes distinguish between twocategories of country, the firstbeing those with an establishednational reform agenda such asTunisia, Morocco or Jordan.These countries were usuallyamong the first to signassociation agreements with theEU and so tend to have aheightened awareness of theimplications of a free trade zone.‘Here the government has built adevelopment strategy which isanchored in the BarcelonaProcess and we can see clearlinks with its HRD strategy,’ saysMr Chakroun. In this case, EUsupport has focused onimplementation,capacity-building and helpingclarify the long-term objectives ofreform. The second group ismade up of those countries witha limited reform agenda wherechange is happening, but in amore piecemeal and gradualway. Here EU support takes adifferent shape. In Syria, the ideais to use the outcomes of pilotprojects to stimulate the designof a national reform strategy,followed by institution-building. InAlgeria, pilots are being used toenhance capacities for strategicmanagement. ‘The BarcelonaProcess remains a very generalframework which they dosubscribe to but which does nothave operational links to nationalpolicy,’ he says. It is perhaps nocoincidence that Algeria is themost recent country to sign anassociation agreement in May2005, while Syria has yet to signone.


BARCELONA PROCESS PRODUCES MIXED RESULTSIN FOCUS

Borhene Chakroun, ETF country manager for Morocco andLebanon.

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TF

From MEDA to ENP

Looking to the future, thedelegates from Mediterraneancountries have severalsuggestions for the next stage ofthe Barcelona Process as well asthe transition from MEDA to thenew Neighbourhood Instrument.Many express the hope that theflexibility of MEDA will bemaintained in the newNeighbourhood Instrument from2007. People approved of theattention paid by MEDA to socialpartners, in particular in helpingcompanies to identify the kindsof skills they need andencouraging VET systems toproduce them. El HassaneBenmoussa calls for the ENP toprovide even more support toindustry associations ‘as they arethe real protagonists indeveloping our VET systems.’

There have been calls for theETF to get more involved inemployment by designing andevaluating labour marketinterventions. Evaluation ingeneral was seen as a key field ofaction for the ETF in future. Thechangeover to the ENP will seegovernments in partner countriestaking on even more responsibilityfor managing programmeresources and implementingreforms. EU delegations will adopt

the more hands-off approach ofensuring interventions meet aseries of performance indicators.So the ETF could have a key rolein evaluating whether funds havebeen properly spent, providingconstructive criticism andchannelling feedback. ETFdirector Muriel Dunbar says thatany official request will certainly beconsidered.

Calls for regionalcooperation

Finally, the need for strongerregional cooperation comes uptime and time again. This meansnot only cooperation with Europebut also south-south cooperationbetween the countries of NorthAfrica and the Middle East.Tunisia’s Belhassen Thameur ishopeful that the new regionalEducation and training foremployment project being run bythe ETF will help consolidatethese kinds of links. ‘Eachcountry has its specific issues,but when you look at the biggerpicture – the labour market,youth unemployment, thepyramid of qualifications, thesituation of companies – you willfind our countries have a lot incommon,’ he says.. ‘We don’tneed to reinvent the wheel; we

should benefit from others’experiences.’

Hisham Kuhail, assistantdeputy minister at the PalestinianMinistry of Education, calls for amore rational use of resources.‘Why do we have to use ECmoney in Palestine to design anew curriculum when it is alreadyavailable in other countries in theregion?’ he says. Abdul Ghani,director of planning anddevelopment at Lebanon’sMinistry of Education, goes evenfurther. ‘In 30 years time, I thinkthat curricula will be the same allover the world because if theknowledge society becomes thenorm, we will all need to learnthe same things,’ he says, ‘sowhy not start now?’ Mr Ghanibelieves that establishing basicbenchmarks as starting pointsfor all countries in the regionwould facilitate regionalcooperation.

In general, the wisdom ofusing a regional or acountry-by-country approach toreform in MEDA countriesremains a hot topic. For AliSayed, director of Egypt’sMubarak Kohl Initiative, eachcountry has to adapt a systemfor its own specific conditions.‘So we should aim rather toreach minimum standards thatstill facilitate contact andcomparison with others,’ he said.

“In 30 years time, Ithink that curriculawill be the sameall over the world”


BARCELONA PROCESS PRODUCES MIXED RESULTS

There is a need for stronger regional cooperation on topics such as the labour market, youth unemployment and the situation of enterprises.

Photo

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TF

...the view fromNorth Africa andthe Middle East ofthe success andfailures of theBarcelona Processis a mixed one.

What everyone does agreeon is that a regional approachshould figure prominently in thenew kind of cooperation usheredin by the ENP. It does not haveto be based on meregeographical proximity, but couldinstead be built around sharedinterests in the same topic.People see the need for a kind ofbilateral cooperation with EUsupport and many believe theETF could play a role infacilitating this.

So the view from North Africaand the Middle East of thesuccesses and failings of theBarcelona Process is a mixedone. Everyone agrees with itsguiding principles of equalpartnership and using dialogueas a means of change. In termsof vocational education andtraining, MEDA has clearlylaunched a healthy process ofreform in those countries whereit has had a chance to act. In allcountries without exception, theBarcelona Process has acted asa driver for change. However,ten years down the road, it is stilltoo early to say what thelong-term benefits will be for theregion’s VET systems and labourmarkets.

Find out more:

Manforme projecthttp://www.logos-net.net/ilo/195_base/en/init/tun_3.htm


BARCELONA PROCESS PRODUCES MIXED RESULTSIN FOCUS

The Barcelona process has acted as a driver for change in MEDAcountries.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING TAKEPRIDE OF PLACE IN THE ENP

On its tenth birthday, the Barcelona Process hasevery reason to celebrate, according to SergioPiccolo, EC member of the ETF Advisory Forum andhead of labour market and vocational training at DGAIDCO's Office of European Cooperation. ‘TheBarcelona process has managed to establish a solidstrategic partnership between the European Unionand the Mediterranean partner countries,’ he says.Since 1996, substantial financial contributions havebeen channelled into vocational education andtraining via MEDA programmes I and II, therebysupporting ongoing VET reform or helping settingup new reforms in countries such as Algeria, Egypt,Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.

Moreover the European Commission’smethodological approach has developed over timefrom classical ad hoc projects to wider sectorsupport, thus improving bilateral sectoral dialogueand the partners’ sense of ownership. ‘So long assome basic requirements are met, such as a stablemacroeconomic setting and transparentmanagement of state finances, partners’implementation procedures apply,’ says Mr Piccolo.The ENP will further boost bilateral sectoraldialogue within agreed ENP Action Plans.

From 2007 onwards, there are proposals to unify thecurrent vehicles of European cooperation such asTACIS, MEDA and PHARE in a singleNeighbourhood Instrument. Nevertheless, thecouncil is still discussing the financial perspectivesfor 2007–13 and so it is not yet possible to speak ofdetailed bilateral financial allocations. What is clearis that education and training will remain at the topof the EC agenda. The EC believes in adecentralisedpartnership andtherefore respondsto the needs andpriorities of itspartners.‘Partnership anddialogue meansthat we definitelysupport goals suchas wiping outilliteracy ordeveloping VETsystems. Ourcooperation is notdonor driven, it ishighly respectful ofthe needs ofpartners,’ saysMr Piccolo.

Sergio Piccolo, head of labour marketand vocational training, Office ofEuropean Cooperation, DG AIDCO

Photo: ETF

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IT TAKES MORE THAN LEARNINGTO READ TO REDUCE POVERTYby Peter Grootings

Poverty is a problem that persistently affects an unacceptably large part of the worldpopulation. Education and training are widely agreed to be among the mostpowerful weapons in the fight against it. Universal literacy, though never achieved,was once almost considered a panacea, but this is no longer the case. Today, thereis increasing agreement that basic education for poverty reduction must constitutemore than teaching people to read a book. But what precisely is the most importantteaching and training matter is still an issue of urgent debate. In 2006, the ETF willoffer its contribution to this debate by dedicating some of its key activities andpublications to education and training for poverty reduction.

According to UNICEF’s TheState of the World's Children

2005, more than one billionchildren are denied the healthyand protected upbringingpromised by the world’s mostwidely adopted human rightstreaty, the 1989 Convention onthe Rights of the Child. Of thesechildren, the same documentsays, 140 million have neverbeen to school.

Through the UN’s MillenniumDevelopment Goals, in 1990 theinternational community vowedto address the needs of thepoorest in the world. TheMillennium Development Goalsare a set of ambitious targetsthat must be achieved by 2015.The first of these eight goals is toeradicate extreme hunger andpoverty; the second is universalprimary education. The inclusion

of education among theMillennium Goals is remarkablegiven the fact that developmentfunding for education andtraining has decreaseddramatically during the 1990s inthe context of structuraladjustment policies andliberalisation.


FEATURE

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Basic literacy [...]is not sufficient toguarantee peoplea sustainablesource of incomethroughemployment.

Policy support

The most commonly usedtools to assess progress towardsthe Millennium DevelopmentGoals are Poverty ReductionStrategy Papers, which arejointly prepared by nationalauthorities and internationalfinancial organisations such asthe World Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund.These have become the overallframework for assistance andcooperation in countries wherehigh levels of poverty exist. Thepapers define both short- andlong-term policy priorities. Sinceone of the millennium goalsconcerns education these papersoften also pay attention toimproving the access to andquality of education. There is,however, increasing concern thatthe papers do not sufficientlyrecognise the role of educationand training in poverty reduction.One point of criticism is theirpersistent focus on basic literacyand primary education. Anotherone is the complete absence ofemployment issues in thepapers.

Basic consensus

There is increasing supportto broaden the concept of basiceducation to include basicvocational education. Basicliteracy, it is generally argued, isnot sufficient to guaranteepeople a sustainable source of

income through employment.Basic education needs to includebasic skills and competences.Recent work of internationalorganisations reflects this.

One of the six DakarEducation for All (EFA)1 goals isto ensure that the learning needsof all young people and adultsare met through equitableaccess to appropriate learningand life skills programmes.UNESCO has taken severalinitiatives to support theintegration of a vocational skillstraining component in EFANational Action Plans. It is alsopaying great attention to skillsdevelopment in connection withmigration, which in many parts ofthe world is the traditionalescape from poverty. Togetherwith the Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) it haslaunched major support to skillsfor rural development aimed atfighting poverty in rural areas.

The ILO’s Strategy forDecent Work2 recognises thatappropriate education andtraining enhance both economicand social integration by offeringopportunities to many groupswho would otherwise beexcluded from the labour market.

The European Commission,through its 2002 Communicationon education and training in thecontext of poverty reduction indeveloping countries (COM116)3 stresses the vitalimportance of training inreducing poverty and indevelopment and mentions that‘technical education andvocational training are necessaryfor the establishment of aneducation system that offers analternative to students leavingthe system who will ultimatelyprovide a skilled workforce forthe formal and informal sectors’.

The World Bank, one of theleading institutions in developing


FEATURE

Many poverty reduction strategy papers do not recognise the role of educationand training.

Technical education and training are necessary to provide a skilledworkforce.

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Poverty Reduction StrategyPapers, has refocused its initialattention on basic literacy and isincreasingly including skillsdevelopment in national povertyreduction strategies.

Several bilateral donors,such as DFID, GTZ and SDC,are currently undertaking reviewsof the links between basiceducation and skills developmentin development projects. WithinNORRAG4 a special workinggroup has been set up withrepresentatives of all majordonors to address the issue ofskills development for povertyreduction. The ETF plays anactive role in this working group.

Finally, countries with highlevels of poverty themselveshave become concerned aboutskills and skills development, inparticular within their largeinformal sectors.

Knowledge orcompetences

Current discussions aboutthe role of education and trainingin poverty reduction have aparallel in debates about theimportance of competences foreconomic development andsocial cohesion in the EUmember states. The Lisbonsummit, for example, explicitlyreferred to this. The concept ofcompetences is replacingtraditional notions such asknowledge and skills. This is inpart due to the changing natureof work in the employmentsystem, which requires newapplied knowledge and broaderskill requirements. But also newfindings about how people learnand can make use of what theyhave learned play a role. Indeed,the very notion of skillsdevelopment, as traditionallyused by economists, has nowcome under strain.

Such debates posetremendous challenges for thereform of vocational educationand training systems, inparticular in ETF partnercountries now struck by highpoverty levels. While they mayhave a long tradition of publicinitial and vocational educationand training, many have seentheir systems become obsolete

and their infrastructures andcapacities deteriorate during thetransition period. In suchcountries, the poverty reductioncontext can provide a policyframework for boosting therelevance of vocationaleducation and training for bothindividual learners and theemerging employment system.

Partner countries

Though not all ETF partnercountries have high povertylevels and not all havedeveloped Poverty ReductionStrategy Papers for nationalpolicy definition and internationaldonor assistance, many have. Allhave gone through a period ofdramatic impoverishment. Allought to be as much concernedabout social cohesion as EUmember states are. With thesupport of the internationalcommunity, policy makers inthese countries need to createthe capacity to develop andimplement comprehensivestrategies with skillsdevelopment fully integrated as akey instrument for povertyreduction and social cohesion.

Many countries in south-eastEurope, the former Soviet Unionand the Mediterranean areahave severely limited statebudgets and administrativecapacity. Their macro-economiccontext suggests that thepotential for poverty reductionthrough economic growth lies,among others, in developing andutilising existing humanresources more efficiently and insetting appropriate conditions forthe development of skills insupport of local public andprivate initiatives. This asks forwell-balanced and dynamic VETsystems that can flexibly coverthe learning and qualificationneeds of very divergent groupsof the population, both youngand adult. Many countries aretorn between ahigh-tech/high-skills and alow-tech/low-skills nationalstrategy. In fact, preferentialtreatment for higher educationhas had many adverse effects onthe quality of both higher andsecondary vocational education.A focus on poverty and social

cohesion may contribute tobetter balanced and moreeffective national vocationaleducation and training andhigher education reform policies.Importantly, however, furtherresearch and policy evidence areneeded to substantiate thispositive correlation betweentraining and poverty reduction intransition economies.

In the past, the ETF hasinitiated several projects inpartner countries that are directlyor indirectly linked to povertyalleviation and social cohesion.There were early projects onexperience with the EuropeanSocial Fund, disadvantagedgroups, social integration, smalland medium enterprisedevelopment, local development.

...countries withhigh levels ofpovertythemselves havebecomeconcerned aboutskills and skillsdevelopment.


IT TAKES MORE THAN LEARNING

TO READ TO REDUCE POVERTYFEATURE

ETF has initiated several projects in partner countries linked to povertyalleviation and social cohesion.

Photo: ETF

More recently there havealso been projects specifically onskills for poverty reduction andmigration. Several ongoing EUprojects in which ETF staff areinvolved focus ondecentralisation and makingvocational education and trainingmore responsive to the localneeds of learners andcompanies. This rich source ofexperience will be tapped in the2006 edition of the ETFYearbook, which will bededicated to the theme of skillsdevelopment for poverty

reduction. ETF experience intransition countries will make aunique contribution to theinternational discussions aboutskills development and povertyreduction.

Find out more:

Millennium Development

Goals

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Peter Grootings is an ETF expertworking in the Eastern Europeand Central Asia department


IT TAKES MORE THAN LEARNING

TO READ TO REDUCE POVERTYFEATURE

Poverty: Key theme for the ETF Yearbook 2006

The ETF Yearbook 2006 will be entirely devoted tothe theme of poverty reduction. EditorsPeter Grootings and Søren Nielsen want it to be aview of the topic from the broad variety of anglesthat ETF experts can offer. Some chapters willdiscuss conceptual issues, while others willdescribe practical experience with ETF projects onthe ground.

‘The main idea behind devoting the 2006 edition ofthe ETF Yearbook to the topic of skills developmentand poverty reduction is to develop our ownunderstanding in ETF of the key issues in thecontext of our partner countries,’ says PeterGrootings. ‘Most of the international debate so farhas been based on experiences in developingcountries. ETF partner countries are different butwe don’t really know what these differences implyfor policies in the area of poverty reduction. At thisstage, we as the editors do not ourselves have adetailed conceptual framework that we couldpresent to ETF and our partner countries. It isprecisely by engaging so many of our colleaguesthat we hope to be able to gather together our jointexperience to develop a shared understanding ofthese issues. To achieve coherence, the yearbookwill focus on three main concepts.’

‘The first concerns the concept of skillsdevelopment. In international discussions thisconcept has broadened. Today, it goes far beyondthe classical notions of manual skills and skillstraining. In fact it is almost a metaphor for lifelonglearning and covers behavioural skills, cognitiveskills and also metacognitive skills such as, forexample, the ability to learn. Our angle is that wewant to find what broad skills are most relevant forpoverty reduction and how the development ofthose skills can be supported through formal,nonformal and informal education and training.’

‘The second concept is that of poverty. Thishas also evolved quite radically in recentyears. It no longer simply refers only toincome. Poverty is a multidimensionalconcept and refers more generally to a lack ofaccess to fundamental resources. One ofthese resources is knowledge in its broadestsense . Another resource is decent work andyet another is health. Sometimes poverty ismeasured in terms of human development inorder to take account of its complexity.Without losing sight of the broad picture , wemust single out specific dimensions to whichwe can actively and meaningfully contribute.Some people would argue that learning is thecrucial dimension of sustainable povertyreduction. They would argue that skillsdevelopment should therefore aim at helpingpeople to help themselves. This would againtouch the what and how questions ofeducation and training that I raised in the firstpoint.’

‘The third concept that will be important forthe 2006 yearbook is the context of ourpartner countries. These are transitioncountries and as such typically qualified as‘impoverished’ to offset them against what wetraditionally consider developing countries. Inaddition, in our context the issue of skillsdevelopment needs to be related to thesystemic VET reforms with which the ETF isassisting its partner countries. Here we willlink the yearbook into our ongoingdiscussions about policy learning, the ETF’srole as policy learning facilitator and thepolicy facilitating roles of ETF staff.’

Footnotes

1 See:http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/

2 See:http://www.ilo.org/public/english/decent.htm

3 See:http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r12511.htm

4 See:http://norrag.org/wg

SKILLS AND WORK IN THEINFORMAL ECONOMY IN ALBANIAA CASE STUDY FROM TIRANAby Eduarda Castel Branco

In previous issues of the magazine wehave reflected on the issues raised by

the informal economy and labour marketsin transition economies – the countriesthat are the partners of the ETF. Thisarticle aims to present the key findings ofa recent field study carried out by the ETFin Albania. This pioneering study of humanresource issues in the widespreadspreadinformal economy was based on a surveyin Albania started in the last quarter of2004. The final draft report is available.

The study analysed the skills andqualifications of informal sector operators,identified why they worked in the informalsector and highlighted the role of skills andqualifications. The results of the studyshed some light on the policies andmeasures that might create routes out ofinformal working and its associatedvulnerability.

Transition countries are not so muchpoor as impoverished, following thecollapse of their centrally administeredeconomies and their complex andgenerally slow recovery as newmarket-based economies. Differentdegrees and types of informal workingquickly overwhelmed labour relations andeconomic activities. The rapid adoption of

informal market behaviour was partlymeant to fill the void left by the disruptionof institutions and social safety nets andinadequate governance. During the lastdecade or so all the transition economieshave seen a steep growth in the informaleconomy’s share in GDP andemployment.

Method

The ETF contracted the Institute ofContemporary Studies, an Albanianorganisation, to carry out the survey ofinformal businesses in the Greater Tiranaarea, including Tirana municipality, andthe neighbouring communes of Kamezand Sauk. The survey covered a sampleof 526 entrepreneurs, who met thefollowing criteria: units with some marketproduction, which are not incorporated,and/or which do not fully comply with thenational legislative-regulatory framework,but are not illegal through the nature of theproduction or income they generate. Thesample was selected from ten businesscategories whose operations require acertain level of skills (that is why streetmerchants and petty traders were

excluded), and where informal activitieswere known to predominate: construction;production of construction materials; smallmanufacturing (furniture production, foodproduction); transportation; smallrestaurants; cafés and small hotels;leisure services; repair services; otherservices (tailors, hairdressers,photographs); and vehicle mechanics. Theagricultural sector was not included. Thesample was not chosen from conventionaldata sources (a business register, INSTATor other registers), as none of theseprovide an accurate list of businesses,type of activity and addresses. And inparticular, the typical informal business isobviously not captured in official registers.

Changes in the Albanian economy andlabour market

In 2003, the Albanian economyshowed clear signs of recovery, withgrowth rates accelerating to over 5% perannum. Albania is the only country insouth-east Europe to have exceeded itspretransition level of GDP. However, itremains one of the least developed in theregion, with a GDP per capita ofUS$2,585..Agriculture maintains a strongshare of GDP (over 25%), the highest inthe region. Agriculture’s share ofemployment is particularly high. Industrialoutput contracted sharply in the first half ofthe 1990s. The industrial growth rate hasbeen high but unstable for the last eightyears, with construction showing the mostdynamic growth rate.

A comparison of the results of the1989 and 2001 INSAT Population andHousing Censuses seems to indicate asharp decline in employment rates duringthe decade. This reduction was largelycaused by falling public sectoremployment – the number of jobs in thesector fell from 850,000 in 1991 to189,000 in 2001. The industrial sector –extraction of minerals, metallurgy,equipment, chemicals, paper and textiles– was hit the worst.

Labour force participation is relativelyhigh, but large numbers of the activepopulation are engaged in low-productiveagricultural self-employment. Less thanone-third of the total number of employedpeople are in paid employment; part-timework is widespread.


FEATURE

During the transition period the informal sector in Albania grew rapidly in response to a lack of newjobs.

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Unemployment is high, although thestatistical figures are controversial, varyingfrom approximately 22.7% (Census, 2001)to 10% (LSMS, 2002). Urban areas aremore affected by growing unemployment.The entry of younger people into thelabour market is difficult, with the risk ofunemployment being highest for men aged15 to 34 and women aged 15 to 24.

The informal economy grew rapidly inthe transition period, in response to theemerging private sector’s inability togenerate new jobs to compensate for thecollapse of large state-owned enterprises.With inadequate safety nets and poorunemployment benefit schemes, theworking population adopted flexible(informal) behaviour, characterised by theholding of multiple jobs; rapid shifts fromformal to informal jobs; and mobilityacross jobs with varied skills requirements.Even unemployment acquired an informalaspect.

Informal business activity is high, andofficial estimates put the size of informaloutput at up to 38% of GDP (2001),although international sources suggestmuch higher figures. The factors that pushentrepreneurs into various degrees ofinformality can be summed up as:institutional confusion in the transitionperiod. Doing business means facing aseries of non-market related obstacles, i.e.those produced by bureaucracy and poorgovernance. Businesses spend significantresources (time, money and effort)circumventing these barriers andpressures, resources that could be betterinvested in quality, innovation, betterservice and better jobs.

Although the informal economy offersa parallel space for new entrepreneurs togain practical experience, and thuscontributes to creating new work andentrepreneurial skills, its extensivedevelopment brings major adverseconsequences for tax revenues,competition for registered businesses andin general for the transparent functioningof the market economy.

Key findings

In Albania the informal economy wasvery small, almost negligible, before thecollapse of state-owned enterprises in theearly 1990s. Measures to supportredundant workers were either nonexistentor not implemented, so many found refugein the informal economy as the onlyimmediately affordable alternative toinactivity.

The survey showed that most informalbusinesses are very small, with anaverage of 1.8 employees. Only one-third

of employees have no kinship link with theowner. With an average age of over sevenyears, these businesses are anything buttemporary. In contrast to the generallyaccepted idea that tax evasion constitutesthe main characteristic of informalbusinesses, the study found that taxevasion is not the main feature, at leastnot for micro and small businesses. It isnot this segment that produces majorfiscal evasion and noncompliance withsocial security legislation.

Women represent less that one in fiveof the sample, which is partially explainedby the fact that they work mainly in

home-based informal production (footwearand clothes for foreign companies; bakery;care services), which the survey did notaddress.

The average age of the sample is 40years, although a significant 34% is belowthe age of 35, showing that for manyyoung people informal work is clearly away to enter the job market. Younginformal entrepreneurs predominate inleisure services (internet cafés, gambling,billiards, video shops), whereapproximately 29% are under 25 years(64% under 35). In contrast, repairservices show an older age structure, with


SKILLS AND WORK IN THE

INFORMAL ECONOMY IN ALBANIAFEATURE

Official estimates put the size of informal output up to 38% of GDP (2001).

60% of the respondents being over 41years.

The average length of education is12.1 years; almost half have receivedprofessional training. The small share withhigher education may be explained by thefact that this level of qualification offersgreater employability in the formaleconomy. The highest percentage ofrespondents with full basic and uppersecondary education is found amongthose up to 30 years old. Those over 31account for most of the respondents withprofessional education. Higher education

qualifications are most prevalent in theage group over 41 years.

The survey shows that 46% of therespondents (mainly the owners) havereceived professional training. Theaverage length of training was around 20weeks, although there is a large variationin the range: 36% had 1–10 weeks, while45% had 12–24 weeks.

Training providers were private,profit-making organisations (47.3% ofrespondents) and the government sector(33.7%). Only half the respondents paid atleast in part for their training. The averagepayment is calculated to be 46,384 leks

(€365.80 – at the current exchange rate).More than half of the training was in theform of lectures and hands-on activities,followed by visiting specialists andworkplace training.

The study identified visible differencesin training participation across the sectors.The only two sectors with high levels ofprofessional training are transport (92.5%)and other services (73.8%). Employmentin the informal transport sector requirescompulsory training to obtain a drivinglicence, which is the main reason for thishigh level of participation. Relatively lowtraining participation scores were found inconstruction (28% of the respondents),small manufacturing (28.1%) and smallrestaurants (26.9%).

Differences were also noted betweenmen and women. More than half of thesurveyed women have participated inprofessional training and this levelincreases in some of the sectors in whichwomen are well represented (e.g. otherservices). If we exclude the obligatorytraining for a driving licence, participationin training among men is relatively lowcompared to women.

Apprenticeship is common, with 40.7%of the respondents having participated forapproximately 14 months inapprenticeship schemes. Distributionacross the sectors of those withapprenticeship experience is varied: carmechanics, production of constructionmaterials and construction and repairservices show the highest concentration.

A larger share of the youngerrespondents participated in training (55%of those under 25 years, against 36% ofthose over 50 years). This difference ispartly explained by the fact that olderrespondents are less likely toacknowledge their own skills and trainingneeds: some 80% of the respondents over41 years who had not received trainingjustified this by saying they had no trainingneeds. However, this indicator is muchsmaller among respondents below the ageof 30 (only 40%). On top of the majoritythat do not acknowledge their own trainingneeds (64% of the total sample), 12% saidthey had a lack of information abouttraining and 8% simply said they had notime to participate in training. Olderworkers with adequate education andtraining levels in the past feel comfortableabout their qualifications or skill levelskills.Analysis of the respondents’ interest indoing training clearly shows that youngerentrepreneurs are more likely to enrol andparticipate in learning activities that reskillor upskill them.




Photo: ETF

Apprenticeships together with work,vocational training and technical educationwere all similarly appreciated as effectiveways to develop skills, with slightdifferences depending on the type ofbusiness activity. For example vocationaltraining seems more important in thetransportation and other services, whilework appears to be more valued for jobs inconstruction, small manufacturing andsmall restaurants and cafés.

Interestingly, 34% of the sample hadworked abroad, a rate much higher thanthe official figure for long-term migration inthe total population (16%). Experiencefrom migration was considered, acrossbusiness categories, as very useful andimportant for gaining new work skills, aswell as experience of work cultures andethics. Approximately 40% of those whohad worked abroad continued in a similarbusiness once back in Albania.

Key features of the informalbusinesses: type of business, age,employment, performance

Only half of the businesses in thestudy are registered with all theappropriate authorities, such as the taxoffice, courts, social security and labouroffices, in compliance with the Albanianregulatory framework. Nonregistration ishighest with the labour office and socialsecurity, and lowest – with the taxauthorities. By sector, construction,transportation1 and other repair servicesare the most informal. Within eachbusiness category, the levels ofregistration with courts and the tax officeand the making of social securitycontributions seems to be almost equallydistributed. On the other hand, only one inthree of the businesses interviewedreported keeping accounts for taxpurpose. On average, 70% of businessesdo not keep accounts for tax purposes.

The survey revealed both very youngand very old businesses. Theestablishment of new businesses dependson several factors, but the economicperformance of the country seems to beparticularly important. Thus, while theprivate sector grew during 1992–96, thecrisis of 1997 discouraged theestablishment of new businesses. From1999 onwards, the private sector startedto grow again and new businessesappeared.

Founders and owners/operatorsrepresented the large majority of thoseinterviewed. Half of them run individualenterprise (self-employment). Only 26.6%employ one additional person and another14.3% employ two additional people. Mostemployed people (71.4%) are relatives. Intotal, 93% of the businesses employ oneto three people (including the owner

himself). This observation matches withresults of other studies onmicrobusinesses. In transport and repairand other services the ownerpredominantly works alone. While in smallmanufacturing, construction, production ofconstruction materials and smallrestaurants and cafés, there are typicallymore than two people (including theowner).

Workers (including the owner) have arelatively high level of education: 74%

have a high school or professional schoolqualification or a mature diploma: 8.8% ofthe sample respondents had a universitydegree, the majority of these beingemployed in leisure services, smallmanufacturing, small restaurants andcafés, etc. Again, sectoral differences arehigh. High tech repair services have thehighest level of education, where 63%have a professional diploma and 12%have a university degree.




More than half of those active in the informal sector in Albania use only hand tools.

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The survey looked at skills and trainingneeds: of those requiring training, 82%need it to improve technical skills, whilethere is less need for training inmanagement, accounting and finance andmarketing. The training centres arethought to be the most appropriate placefor training by 64.4% of all those who needtraining for their workers.

The study classified the businesses as‘high performance’ and ‘low performance’.The definition of ‘performance’ based onwhat the information collected showedabout their productivity and turnover.There were larger numbers of highperformance businesses working inproduction of construction materials, smallmanufacturing and other services, whilerepair services, high tech repair servicesand construction show larger numbers oflow performance businesses.

The performance of the business isaffected by a number of variables, suchas: size as measured by number ofemployees; type of technology used; skillspossessed by the staff; and the regulatorychanges that reduce the opportunities forinformal businesses to compete.

The high performing businesses arethose which employ two to three people(including the owner) rather than theindividual self-employed. The use ofmachinery and equipment increases theprobability of a businesse being a highperformer. The high performers are tosome extent more familiar with registrationprocedures than are low performancebusinesses or, to put it another way, being‘more formal’ seems to positively correlatewith performance.

On average, 63% of the businesseshave a turnover of less then 300,000 leksper quarter (about €2,400). Only 28% ofthe sample has a turnover between300,000 leks and 900,000 leks per quarter(€2,400–€7,150). The best turnover levelsare in production of construction materials,where 71.2% of the sample reports aturnover of more than 300,000 leks perquarter. In that range fall 57.7% of smallcafés and restaurants and 56.1% of smallmanufacturers.

Main conclusions

The survey found that anoverwhelming 92% of the respondentsfully depend on their businesses for theirincome, and only a few engage inadditional activities. This makes themvulnerable to regulatory changes aimed atthe informal sector if they are implementedwithout a balanced support policy. Besidesthe impact on household income, anypolicy needs to take into account the

potential of this sector, since it providesservices and products important for theAlbanian consumer and the urbaneconomic fabric.

These businesses use very simpleproduction processes because of theirlimited access to adequate financing, tobusiness support organisations, andnewer market information. Fifty-four percent of employees use only hand tools andthere is almost no use of even simplemodern production technologies.

Success factors were clearly identified,in particular the improved quality ofproducts and services, an adequateworking space, modern equipment andimproved skills for both owners andemployees. Training and modernequipment appear to be equally important.

Of the key problems threatening theiroperation, the businesses highlightedcompetition, a lack of customers, highprices for raw materials, equipment andspare parts, and inadequate workingspace. Informal businesses depend mostlyon themselves and the state to solveproblems and improve their productivity.They have fewer expectations of supportfrom business organisations, training andconsulting agencies and donors.

The study concludes that overone-third of the sample are ready andinterested in participating in professionaltraining. A key reason for their lowparticipation is lack of information aboutthe various training programmes. And thisproblem is, of course, partially aconsequence of their informal status:training and business supportprogrammes are mostly promoted orchannelled through business interestgroups (chambers of commerce, businessassociations) to which informalbusinesses, as a rule, do not have access.

Another interesting finding relates tothe variables that seem to affect positiveattitudes towards training and skillsdevelopment. As a rule, youngerentrepreneurs, higher levels of education,better business performance and a lowerdegree of informality are associated with agreater willingness to be trained and/or totrain employees.

Respondents saw the need tostrengthen first their technical skills andthen their managerial skills, for example,first to use machines and repair tools,followed by negotiation skills with suppliersand clients, and the selling of productsand services.

In addition to the needs recognised bythe respondents themselves, the studyidentified training gaps by analysing thediscrepancy between important skills byarea and topic and those already acquired.The results demonstrate that training is

mainly needed in areas such as creditapplication, using IT, repairing tools,accounting, product development and theskills for training staff. Sector specifictraining needs were identified, for exampleonly small restaurants and cafés have askill gap in accounting, probably becausethey are more exposed to fiscal controls,while in the small manufacturing sectormachine skills are not well developed.

To address the skills needs of theinformal sector in a way that wouldimprove productivity and incorporate thesector more into the mainstreameconomy, any policy needs to take anumber of factors into account:� There is a certain resistance to

training, which is linked to a lack ofadequate information.

� Entrepreneurs need to become awareof the value of building collaboration.

� Entrepreneurship needs to be part ofadult learning, but also on the regularschool curriculum.Despite the reasonably good average

educational attainment of their employees,entrepreneurs said that 82.3% of them didnot have any training relevant to their job.This clearly shows the mismatch betweenthe skills acquired in regular educationand those needed for employment.

This study is a first attempt by the ETFto look at the human factors in the informaleconomy of a transition society. Thestudy’s findings need to be exploredfurther, for they provide, numerous signalsof relevance to education and training, aswell as employment policies.

Eduarda Castel Branco works in theEastern Europe and Central Asiadepartment of the ETF.




Footnote

1 The interviewers were told toconcentrate on informal transportbusinesses (taxi, mini-bus and mini-van).

Photo: ETF

HOW TO CONTACT US

Further information can be foundon the ETF website: www.etf.eu.int.

For any additional information, please contact:

External Communication UnitEuropean Training FoundationVilla GualinoViale Settimio Severo, 65I – 10133 TorinoT +39 011 630 2222F +39 011 630 2200E [email protected]

Publications Office

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