Live&Learn Issue 28 by European Training Foundation

August 2013

ISSUE // 28

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE ETF COMMUNITY

Croatia joins EU Who is next?

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 08 VET in Georgia 10 Torino Process declaration deciphered 12 Evidence on inclusive schools 14 Start-ups in Minsk 16 What is capacity building?

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INSIDE 04

Farewell Croatia!

Smooth transition to Thessaloniki

Schools on the margins – combatting social exclusion

Start-up Minsk!

VET in Georgia – popular choice or last resort?

Torino Process Conference Declaration 2013

Why do we talk about capacity?

Further information can be found on the ETF website: www.etf.europa.eu For any additional information, please contact: Communication Department European Training Foundation ADDRESS Villa Gualino, Viale Settimio Severo 65, I – 10133 Torino, Italy TELEPHONE +39 011 630 2222 FAX +39 011 630 2200 EMAIL info@etf.europa.eu

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To receive a copy of Live&Learn please email info@etf.europa.eu The European Training Foundation is the European Union’s centre of expertise supporting vocational and training reforms in the context of the European Union’s external relations programmes.

Cover photograph: AFP/Getty Images Please recycle this magazine when you finish with it. 02

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Editorial

Croatia, the European dream comes true On 1 July Croatia became the 28th Member State of the European Union. It is a remarkable achievement for a small country with a population of fewer than five million people only 22 years after its bloody and traumatic separation from the former Yugoslavia. For a majority of Croats, joining the EU has been a long-lasting dream. They have never forgotten that the EU was created as a peace project and they subscribed to the European ideals of democracy, stability, human rights and the single market. The prospect of entering the EU has - since the historic enlargement in 2004 - prompted Croatia to pursue political, economic and social reforms that have contributed to the consolidation of the young country. Now, EU accession is a “certificate” proving the results of a hard work, significant progress, and it motivates further development. At the ETF, we fully share Croatia’s enthusiasm. After having worked with the country for almost 15 years, there are many reasons to celebrate the beginning of a new era. Supporting the developments of education and training systems and the labour market in Croatia has been an immense, but very rewarding experience for the ETF. The enlargement process has generated a wealth of information and experience that can be

Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko

shared with other countries that see their future in the EU. Over the past ten years, the ETF has been successfully involved in “handing-over” its partner countries to the European Union. The EU accessions of 2004 and 2007 united East and West after decades of separation and provided mutual benefits for the EU and the countries concerned. It contributed to overall stability and security, trade integration, investments and job opportunities.

to develop policies and initiate reforms that transform societies and create new opportunities for citizens and businesses. Human capital development is a driving factor for progress and prosperity, and the ETF will continue its efforts to support the Western Balkan countries in their endeavour to become the next new EU members. Sretno! Good luck, Croatia! ■ Bent Sorensen, Head of Communication, ETF

There is no doubt that Croatia and its EU membership will have a powerful effect and inspire other countries in the region

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Country Focus  Croatia

Farewell Croatia! But come back soon to share your experience with the ETF’s partners!

Photo: eGuide Travel / Flickr Creative Commons

For those of us whose experience of Croatia extends to bathing in the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic on a summer’s holiday on the Dalmatian coast, the revolution witnessed in vocational education and training over the past 15 years may have passed us by. The hotels might be a bit swankier today and the service better, but essentially the tourist experience remains much the same. Beyond the splash and laughter of children playing in the surf, Croatia has been quietly revolutionising its human resources and vocational education and training (VET) systems as it has prepared for the country’s long-awaited accession to EU membership on 1 July this year.

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The ETF has been an active partner during a reform process that is backed both by widespread political consensus and strong VET traditions. Participation rates are around 70% Evelyn Viertel, the ETF’s country manager for Croatia 1999-2005, says: “After the transition, the system no longer matched economic and social demands and they built up a new network of schools, profiles and teachers. Nobody wanted the old narrow profiles – metalwork, electronics, shipbuilding, agriculture.” A revived craft apprenticeship system was built up, combining theory at college and on the job training in businesses – bakers, butchers, tanners, plumbers

– those small trades that as Viertel says “form the backbone of any economy”. Other older features: adult education institutes and professional colleges offering entry level qualifications for trades, were brought back into the system along with the introduction of a unique four-year vocational school that offers students a route into higher education as well as work. The creation of the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education sought to bring all these strands together as the country launched major reforms in 2005, designed to better link the VET system to labour market needs.

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Sector councils were set up, a VET system strategy (2008-13) developed and the VET Act of 2009 passed, focusing on creating a learning outcome-oriented system with unit based qualifications and modular curricula. The VET agency has developed more than 30 VET occupational standards and qualifications. Today 20 new curricula are being introduced in vocational schools. A key reform is the introduction of CROQF – the Croatian national qualifications framework. Developed between 2007 and 2009, it creates a framework of eight levels and four sub-levels, with qualifications based on learning outcomes and competencies of different level, volume, profile and quality. As yet it remains poorly understood by key stakeholders and the “concrete outcomes and benefits for end-users” have yet to be made sufficiently clear, according to a recent ETF report on HRD in the country.

The reforms, according to Nino Buic of the VET agency, are the “largest modernisation of VET programmes in the last 10 years.”

There has been some criticism that VET is still not preparing students for relevant professions or too many are graduating in areas where there

is already unemployment. Youth unemployment (15-24) dipped between 2007-09 to under 10% but is now back above 12% although not as high as 2002 when figures were over 15% Simona Rinaldi, ETF country manager for Croatia for the past three years, says: “If you do not ensure that the views of businesses are heard, you won’t understand what are the right competencies for a given profile.” But this is not due to a lack of will. The vast majority of Croatian businesses are SMEs “with the emphasis on small” and with few employees there is often simply no time or resources to devote to such questions. The positive aspect of Croatian VET reforms – the strong political consensus and the broad social and stakeholder consultation that has accompanied it – is encouraging. “They have enhanced social and policy dialogue to have a common goal of evidence-based policy making.” Rinaldi notes. “The biggest single challenge in the next few years is for Croatia to create jobs and the conditions for economic growth,” she adds, “the reforms provide solid ground, but not a unique recipe. We have to remember that the Croatian economy is in recession for the fifth year in a row.” Evelyn Viertel remains confident Croatia will make it in the EU. “They will be getting much more funding, especially from structural funds that used wisely in a small country can make big changes,” she says.

VET most successful in absorbing EU funds Nino Buic, head of section for the implementation of projects at the Agency for VET and Adult Education, says that, “Croatia has made significant progress and undergone many changes as a society and economic and social opportunities [have] dramatically improved.” The changes “have affected basically every part of life. We went through a transition process, started and finished negotiations for EU membership.” “In the last eight years in the agency we have prepared and implemented 14 EU financed projects with a total value of more than €30 million. VET has become one of the most successful areas in absorbing EU funds.”

VET reform can continue to help those countries for whom EU membership remains an aspiration. “I would hope that Croatia will continue to be involved with the ETF,” says Viertel. “They have so much experience and they speak the languages of the former Yugoslav countries, they could make a very useful contribution to the development of VET in the region. I hope that in that sense, for the ETF, it is not farewell forever!” ■ Words: Nick Holdsworth, ICE

“The impact will be worse on neighbouring countries where, if they have not adjusted their products to EU standards, they will be unable to export to the EU.” But Croatia’s experience in

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Country Focus  Croatia

putting a human face on the handover Croatia will bring plenty of valuable experience to the EU table when it becomes the newest member on 1 July according to Simona Rinaldi, the ETF’s outgoing country manager.

Croatia enters the European Union July

2013

The Croatian approach to quality assurance, using evidence to inform policy making and embedding the key competence of entrepreneurial learning at all levels of the education system are just a few examples. “What Croatia can also bring is the big effort it has made in encouraging the business world to speak to education,” says Rinaldi, “you can see the results in terms of the cooperation achieved and the way that they are producing tools such as the current employers’ survey.” Following a study visit to Sweden last year, employers and educationalists decided on their own initiative to launch the scheme and an official request for help from the ETF was channelled via the ministry of labour.

Accession negotiations with Croatia close June

Reflecting on her three years as country manager, Rinaldi believes that the added value the ETF has brought is a greater awareness of the need for many inputs to creating skills. “VET is one of the best examples of how skills have to be tackled from many different perspectives; if you are going to get anywhere, you really need social partners, civil society, the ministries and schools,” she says. Rinaldi is keen to ensure that the transfer of responsibility to Cedefop is “above all a human one not just a paper one” and has organised the handover accordingly. Her team has put together a resource dossier, providing all relevant contacts and an overview of the VET strategy. Two representatives from the Croatian Ministry of Education attended the most recent knowledge seminar between the ETF and Cedefop to meet their Cedefop colleagues. Finally Rinaldi and two people from Cedefop are about to travel to Zagreb where she has organised a special Goodbye ETF, Welcome Cedefop event. “I think this is much better than transferring a set of documents,” she says, “we produce knowledge so if we are not working with people, then it doesn’t make a lot of sense.” ■

2011

2005 European Council confirms Croatia as a candidate country June

2004

2003

End of the Croatian war of independence

Words: Rebecca Warden, ICE

1995

Simona Rinaldi was the ETF’s country manager for Croatia.

Croatia declares independence June

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1991

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Smooth transition to Thessaloniki The ETF works only with the countries outside the EU. Therefore 30 June 2013 was the last day that Croatia was an ETF partner country. Yet the issues of vocational education, debates on skills development or reforms of qualifications systems continue and the main forum for those in the EU and the key facilitator is the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training, better known as Cedefop, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Croatia is now one of the countries that they work with. How is the entry of a new Member State handled between the ETF and Cedefop? Since 2004 there have been three rounds of EU enlargement, and the two agencies have certainly gathered some experience. Croatia signs Accession Treaty with the European Union December

“In 2004 it was different because we had ten new countries and in 2007 two” says Loukas Zahilas, senior expert at Cedefop. “Actually in 2004 it was quite a big process. In Cedefop, we had a so-called “familiarisation envelope”, and a project manager, working exactly on this issue - how to integrate new countries better, and how to ensure a smooth transition between the ETF and us.” What both agencies discovered after this big-bang enlargement of 2004 is that it could have been a smoother process if cooperation was handled more efficiently. This is what happened before the handover of Croatia. Today there are two experts - one at the ETF, one in Cedefop and they co-operate with one another on the transition”.

Stabilisation and Association Agreement comes into force February

Croatia applies for EU membership February

For the past five years Croatian authorities and experts have already had good cooperation with Cedefop, while still working closely with the ETF. Over the last months, as the ETF was about to leave Croatia for good, the process had to be sped up a little. “The ETF provided us with all the information gathered on Croatia until now”, says Zahilas. “Then we had to get to know the Croatian officials and experts that had worked with the ETF until accession. We invited key officials to a knowledgesharing seminar at Cedefop, where they had an opportunity to learn about all the thematic areas of our cooperation.” There are differences in the way the two agencies work. The ETF works on a country by country basis, there are country managers, regional or country projects. Cedefop works at the European level, there are no country desks. The agency has a role in supporting the development of European VET policies and contributing to their implementation, providing policy advice, monitoring the developments in skills, qualifications etc. “As Cedefop is based on the tripartite model – government, employees and employers organisations –we also need links to social partners as in the majority of our projects”, Zahilas reminds us, “we must actively involve them.” ■ Words: Marcin Monko, ETF

Madlen Serban, director of the ETF (right), and Christian Lettmayr, acting director of Cedefop. The ETF handed over the relations with Croatia to Cedefop.

Croatian war of independence breaks out

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Guest Writer  Georgia

VET in Georgia – popular choice or last resort? The number of people enrolling in vocational education and training (VET) in Georgia is on the increase. In spite of this, participation rates remain low and VET, known locally as professional education, is still not a very attractive option for young people. The Georgian government has a plan to improve the quality and popularity of VET.

In 2010 the total number of students enrolled in initial VET was 5,300, by 2011 this had reached 6,500 and by 2012, 12,326. There were 3,257 students in the 4th and 5th grades (post secondary VET) in 2010, 3,054 in 2011 and 3,000 in 2012. These figures show the numbers are rising, something that seems to indicate that demand for VET is growing too. But experts say that the increase is probably due, not to the greater popularity of professional education overall, but to the introduction of shorter courses since 2010 and growing private sector provision. In 2010, the Georgian Education and Science Ministry drew up new standards and cut the duration of most professional programmes. Recent years

have also seen a significant increase in the number of private vocational schools. At present, there are 14 public and 75 private schools in Georgia. According to Nino Bokeria, director of the private Barakoni School, many parents and students do not understand the importance of professional education. “When parents come, it often becomes clear that they don’t really know what a professional school is. When I start explaining, they tend to link them to the vocational schools of the Communist era, which usually only attracted low achievers. Unfortunately attitudes such as these mean that only the weaker students or those without the means to go to university attend professional schools,” she says.

Aisi School, in the village of Kachreti in Kakheti Province, takes some 500 students every year. Photo: Aisi School

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Nino Bokeria, director of the private Barakoni vocational School Photo: Lika Zakashvili, ICE

Natia Ugulava decided to attend Barakoni after she failed to obtain a grant to study at university. “My family couldn’t pay, so my mother advised me to start studying to be a nurse at a professional school,” said Ugulava, who is combining her studies with a job as a doctor’s assistant at a private clinic. Natela Papunashvili, director of Aisi School, also mentions problems in the professional education system, but unlike others she believes that VET is reasonably popular in Georgia and that successful schools which are well-resourced and run can attract young people. Aisi School, based in the village of Kachreti in Kakheti Province, has an intake of 500 students per year. Its material and technical resources are better than those of other schools in the region and, according to Papunashvili, its programmes do meet the needs of local employers. Clearly quality and resources vary a lot from one Georgian school to the next. Funding is another issue – the total budget for education currently only allocates 2% to VET. But such factors may not be the only reason why VET remains a less popular choice. What are sometimes called “educational dead ends” are another. Students who drop out of general education early can join initial VET. But when it comes to moving up to the fourth and fifth stages at age 18-19, they have to not only pass a national exam but also present a school leaving or general education certificate. By definition, having left early, they do not have one so their route to higher VET is blocked.

Government plans to expand and promote VET The Georgian Education and Science Ministry has come up with a strategy for modernising professional education by 2020. Many believe this is the most comprehensive strategy ever produced for Georgian VET as it not only pins down the biggest problems but also sets out the best way of solving them. The strategy places a special emphasis on the need to fully engage social partners and civil society in planning and managing the VET system. It aims to increase the representation of social partners on the consultative body, the National Professional Council for Professional Education and Training (NPCPET), as well as sectoral committees, supervisory boards and working groups. The authors of the strategy call for tax exemptions and other incentives for encouraging greater social partner involvement. The government is now planning to unify and substantially expand the network of state-owned and private vocational schools. NPCPET member Denis Javakhishvili, also chairman of the Georgian vocational staff and students trade union, says that 20 new public schools will be opened in different regions of Georgia, thus extending geographical reach. But for Javakhishvili, this is still not enough and more resources and better training for management for existing and new schools should be a priority.

The strategy makes it clear that the government is planning comprehensive measures to raise the awareness of, and change the attitudes of Georgians towards, professional education. It all looks good on paper but, according to Tsiuri Antadze, an employment expert at the International Organization for Migration, this is not the first time that the government has unveiled a national strategy for VET, but in the past it did not see the document as binding when it came to making policy. Antadze hopes that this time around this ambitious strategy will become the blueprint for Georgian VET for the people in power. ■ Words: Lika Zakashvili, ICE

The government intends to open up the educational dead ends and introduce a diversified model of funding for public and private vocational schools to encourage them to teach those trades seen as priorities by the state. The government also plans to revise VET standards and curricula.

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The Torino Process 2013  Results

Torino Process Conference Declaration 2013

An opinionated guide On 8 May some 200 policy makers, experts and practitioners of vocational education and training (VET) from ETF partner countries, the EU and international organisations came to Turin to attend the ETF’s main conference of 2013 – The Torino Process: Moving skills forward. After two days of hard work discussing the findings of the 2012 process, the participants agreed a declaration. ■

Photos: ETF/Alberto Ramella - EUP & Images

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The Torino Process 2013  Results

THE DECLARATION WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? The declaration not only spells out the main policy priorities of 25 of the ETF’s partner countries for their VET systems. It is also a statement of intent. However, the need to achieve a consensus and the strains of encompassing 25 very different realities in a common set of priorities mean that sometimes we end up being less specific than we would have liked. What follows is an attempt to bring this document to life with some commentary on the most significant words and phrases used.

Torino Process

National ownership and leadership

The Torino Process launched in 2010 is a biennial participatory analytical review of the status and progress of vocational education and training in the ETF partner countries. The objective of the Torino Process is twofold: to acquire up to date knowledge about policies and their results in a country; and to strengthen the ownership, participation and evidencebase of policy making to improve the performance of policies.

To have a chance of success, an initiative must have meaning for people in their specific context. Without local ownership and leadership, we are back to the story of a common mistake made by international development organisations the world over; you come to a country and do some work and everyone is happy with what you are doing. But then you leave and it all starts to fall apart because local people have not been sufficiently engaged to continue the work. It must mean something to them and to do so it must be relevant, correspond to their needs and interests and be feasible within existing resources.

Holistic approach to education and training Education and training do not exist in a vacuum, they are linked to other elements. They do not constitute a single unified whole, but are made up of many parts. This means you cannot look at them in a narrow way or you run the risk of missing the whole picture. It also means you need to recognise the interconnections between the different parts. If you address one issue, it automatically raises another issue which will also need taking into consideration.

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Focus on evidence to guide the policy analysis and decision making When people want to make something happen, their decisions cannot be based just on ideology, personal preferences or mere anecdotes but rather on the real patterns of what happens in the country. So it has to be empirical, it has to be based on facts.

Development and use of relevant skills for better quality jobs

Improving the attractiveness of initial and continuing VET

People today are better educated than they used to be but a lot of young people belong to the so-called ‘precariat’ - they have part-time jobs with poor conditions, low pay, few benefits or future prospects, maybe just a casual contract. So it is about relevant skills, but it also about jobs with good conditions, ones that might actually take you someplace. It is not just about good quality education - there have to be some basic standards on the labour market.

One of the most fundamental problems VET has is that it is just not valued in the same way as general education. So we are talking about how to achieve that parity of esteem, how we can redress the balance and encourage people to value VET more.

Forward-looking policy making This means not just dealing with today’s problems but also trying to anticipate those of the future. Actively engaging businesses both large and small This means not just talking to business but getting it to be a full partner in the process of improving VET. Making social inclusion a key transversal principle No one should be excluded from education on the basis of their economic circumstances, background, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Everyone is important and everyone should participate in, and gain from, education and training. VET is also a way of integrating people into society.

Competences of teachers and trainers Teachers and trainers are the basis for quality. You may go to a good school but if your teachers are not so good, the chances of you learning are low. Teachers are critical to achieving learning. Sharing of responsibilities in governance How a system is organised and who runs it are important and everyone should be able to contribute to that, not just the government. If there is no input from teachers, students, employers and parents for instance or, if just one part of the government runs the education system with no reference to other ministries, then governance will not work well. Everyone has a job to do and it is all about building participation. Torino Process analytical framework This is made up of five building blocks. These are vision and innovation in VET, external efficiency (including relevance and contribution to economic competitiveness), internal efficiency (including social inclusion), quality and, last but not least, governance and finance. ■

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The Torino Process 2013  Results

Torino Process

National ownership and leadership

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Development and use of relevant skills for better quality jobs

Improving the attractiveness of initial and continuing VET

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The Torino Process 2013  Results

Torino Process

National ownership and leadership

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Development and use of relevant skills for better quality jobs

Improving the attractiveness of initial and continuing VET

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The Torino Process 2013  Results

Torino Process

National ownership and leadership

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Development and use of relevant skills for better quality jobs

Improving the attractiveness of initial and continuing VET

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Feature  Social Inclusion

Schools on the margins – combatting social exclusion The first phase of a new research project has revealed how approaches to vocational education and training in the Western Balkans, Turkey and Israel need to change to combat poverty and social exclusion for marginalised groups. Huge changes have taken place in the Western Balkans region since the breakup of Yugoslavia. Political, economic and social upheaval has made its mark on neighbouring Albania and Turkey too, accelerating growth in social disparities and resulting in new forms of social exclusion. However, as countries in the region prepare for accession to the European Union, the spotlight is increasingly falling on their efforts to combat that exclusion.

An important step in realising this aim is to map current approaches to VET in the region to provide hard evidence for policy makers to develop policies which will enhance the role of VET in promoting skills and encouraging social cohesion. Thanks to a major research project, that step is getting closer for the countries in the Western Balkans, in Turkey, as well as in Israel, which although not a candidate country, has joined the project.

For the ETF, this is an important area of work. The ETF aims to increase participation and access to quality education and training and to highlight the potential of VET (vocational education and training) to help combat poverty and marginalisation.

Using participatory action research, which involves a wide range of stakeholders (policy makers, VET professionals, students and employers), teams have examined policies and looked at three vocational schools in each of the countries involved.

“The involvement of stakeholders was the key,” says Lida Kita, who led the project for the ETF. “They were very committed to the research and although we shouldn’t pretend that there aren’t economic difficulties for many of these countries, that enthusiasm means that we have local champions of change.” She added that in Croatia, stakeholders were already implementing action plans based on the research. These include making school environments more accessible for all students, improvements to counselling and professional development for students, developing a systematic approach to teacher training and building strong networks between local stakeholders to enhance the quality of practical training. “We developed these interventions with the schools themselves including teachers and students,” says Nikola Bukovic, of the Croatian Youth Network, which carried out the research in Croatia, “the key driver in this is that the school community sees that change is needed and can agree on proposals.” Bukovic and her team will continue to be involved in supporting and advising the schools and evaluating their work.

Vocational schools need to build better links with other organisations which can help them improve outcomes for socially excluded groups. Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma

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VET, Israel and social exclusion Keith Goldstein, from the Israeli research team, says that the diversity of vocational schools, which include ultra-orthodox religious schools, secular schools and Arab Christian schools, makes it unusually difficult to interpret results. “It’s clear though that vocational schools are seen as low status - with students who have dropped out, who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds or have family problems. “

The Croatian example highlights an important aspect of the research findings – that many of the vocational schools need to build better links with other organisations which can help them improve outcomes for socially excluded groups. “There are NGOs, donors, universities and so on who can assist them,” says Kita, adding that schools are also an integral part of the local community and the education community at regional and national levels. “Many of the schools in the local case studies had elements of good practice which could be shared with others in the project. “

Survey reveals facts and attitudes inside schools The project represents the most extensive survey of vocational education ever undertaken in the region. Its findings are based on an unprecedented number of in-depth interviews and questionnaires with all the main actors in the field. Researchers conducted 95 interviews with key decision makers in VET and social inclusion across all nine countries and 274 interviews with directors, school

However, these are only very preliminary findings, she emphasises, and the second phase of the report, which will analyse the research across all nine participating countries, will be complete in October 2013, prior to a final discussion conference for stakeholders on 11-13 November 2013. Words: Patrick Kelly, ICE

leaders and teachers in 27 vocational schools. They also organised 21 focus groups and surveyed 745 teachers and 2,751 students. For example in Turkey, 90 teachers and 300 students answered a series of searching questions about their attitudes to school and work. Research has revealed a number of interesting figures. In Turkey for example, dropout rates in vocational and technical high schools are higher for both male and female students than in regular secondary schools and the average number of students per class is not only above the limit of 30 advised by the education ministry, but is also higher in VET classrooms than in other schools.

“The vocational schools are successful at turning students around from educational failure. They do seem to help and are popular with students themselves. They trust their teachers and rely on the schools for support in finding jobs. Although there is a sense of exclusion from the mainstream, there is social integration within schools” he adds. However there is also a particular need to get more companies, voluntary organisations and local authorities involved in the vocational schools, says Goldstein, “schools should focus on increasing their involvement with the community, both employers and parents.”

In Serbia, researchers detected a shift towards four-year vocational education courses – an increase of 4% in the period 2001-06, while the share of threeyear courses fell by about 4%. Twothirds of the Serbian teachers surveyed thought that lack of motivation is their biggest problem, while three-fifths saw discipline as a major issue. Only one-fifth of students surveyed in Serbia considered that they have much chance of finding a job immediately upon graduation, while another fifth thought they would probably find a job within six months. In Kosovo 22% of students expected that it would take longer than a year to find work.

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Feature  Entrepreneurship in Belarus

Start-up Minsk! How young entrepreneurs in Belarus build their businesses and how their country (with little tradition of free enterprise) responds to it. Our report from Minsk. You wouldn’t give much thought to a squat grey three-storey building at Chapayeva 3 Street in the centre of Minsk. When it comes to shades of grey, Belarus’ capital is a place of great wealth. Yet the inside of this house is different: an open plan office, cubicles, flickering computer screens and a tapping of keyboards. It’s the home of ten dozen start-ups. From fashion design to venture capital to mural painting – by the end of 2013 this business incubator will have hosted 125 micro companies. There is an age limit for the owners – 31 – and they can stay in the incubator for up to three years. The city provides subsidised office space, basic equipment, and low-cost services, like accountancy and legal support. “If you have a good idea, Belarus is not a bad place to do business,” says Vladislav

Androsov, 25, the owner and CEO of MedTravel Belarus, which claims to be the first Belarussian medical tourism agency. After two years in the incubator, Androsov’s company employs five people and is seeing a rising demand for its services, especially in the ex-Soviet countries, but also in the EU.

where young people have opportunities to learn from each other and from business mentors,” he says. “Whatever happens, you can only benefit from making a start-up here, even if you fail. And through failure you can learn more about yourself, be forced to find creative solutions.”

“There are problems in this country, and if I had wanted I could have stayed abroad with my family,” says Androsov, who studied at the European Humanities University, an exiled Belarusian university in Lithuania. “But I wanted to stay here, do something. And if you find your niche, you can be successful.”

Promising signs for entrepreneurship

Sviatoslav Parfionov is a member of an eight-person team of Youth Social Services, which manages the incubator on behalf of the city. “It’s a place

Belarus is not an entrepreneurship poster child, but the recent SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2012 that assessed policies and practices in Belarus (among other countries) against the criteria of the EU’s Small Business Act (SBA) for Europe, acknowledged that the country “has taken a more liberal approach towards the development of the private sector.”

Ministry of Economy in Minsk. The government would like to see more SMEs in export-oriented sectors. Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko 14

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Iryna Skoryna from Minsk Youth Business Incubator (left) with one of the business owners. The slogan of the incubator is “The right business bees produce the right business honey.”

The Directive of the President of the Republic of Belarus on Entrepreneurial Initiatives and Encouraging Business Activity and other legislative acts eliminated some of the administrative burdens and streamlined procedures. 2011 was heralded as a Year of Entrepreneurship. However, according to the report to which the ETF contributed, liberalisation is “progressing at a slow pace, and more far-reaching reforms are required to support SME growth”. Dealing with public authorities is complicated and laws are introduced with limited prior consultation with social partners. In 2010 the private sector contributed only 30% of the country’s economic output. Parfionov confirms this: “Starting a business in Belarus is not difficult nowadays, but what is lacking is support from the authorities and financial institutions that still favour big companies over SMEs.” “The problems usually start when new companies get involved in more complex business activities, requiring better financing or more office space,” says Tatiana Laputskaya, head of the planning and forecasting division, in the department for business of the Ministry of Economy. “The government would like to see more small and medium-sized enterprises in industry, services, oriented towards innovation and export. Unfortunately small businesses are involved mainly in small trade and food production,” she says.

Solution to unemployment Laputskaya says entrepreneurship could be one of the policy responses to a possible rise in unemployment. Officially, Belarus has virtually no joblessness – 0.6%, but international estimations, which include all jobseekers, give a much bleaker picture with rates reaching 24% (Gallup survey in 2011). The economic and currency crisis in 2011 exposed the weaknesses of the system. “The modernisation of state-owned enterprises will result in layoffs, there will be more people without work, and one option for them will be to start their business,” she says. “Of course not every good worker can be a good entrepreneur. But our task is to help them. The incubators and centres of entrepreneurship support can help.” The innovative business incubator at Chapayeva Street, which specialises in youth start-ups, is one of 14 such organisations in Belarus. It was selected by the ETF as a good practice that can inspire organisations in other ETF partner countries. There are also 80 entrepreneurship support centres throughout the country. The centres provide information on legal matters, regulations, but Laputsakaya admits that the staff members of these institutions often lack hands-on business experience or skills. And indeed on entrepreneurial learning and skills Belarus scored lowest in the SBA assessment.

EU policy toward Belarus The EU remains committed to a policy of critical engagement towards Belarus. This includes cooperation through the multilateral track of the Eastern Partnership and technical dialogue on specific topics of common interest, as well as support to civil society and the Belarusian population as a whole. At the same time, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against those responsible for serious violations of human rights, the repression of civil society and democratic opposition, or whose activities otherwise seriously undermine democracy or the rule of law in Belarus. Source: European Commission Memo “European Neighbourhood Policy Package – Belarus”, March 2013

Need for entrepreneurial skills While government directives and commemorative years surely stimulate an entrepreneurial mind-set, they do not integrate entrepreneurial learning in the education and training system. Entrepreneurial learning is currently provided in Belarus through noncompulsory classes in secondary schools and through casual projects or ad hoc initiatives in vocational schools and universities. “Now is the time to move from these individual efforts to a national policy framework for lifelong entrepreneurial learning,” says Olena Bekh, expert on entrepreneurship and the ETF’s country manager for Belarus. “Good practice needs to inspire adoption of new policies with a strong element of social partnership.” “Belarus has this window of opportunity to support entrepreneurship,” says Bekh. “The old big industrial complexes are no longer competitive. The country has few natural resources. But it is strategically positioned between the big markets of the EU and Russia, and has a skilled workforce. It has huge potential.” ■ Words: Marcin Monko, ETF

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Opinion  Capacity Building

Why do we talk about capacity? Capacity building is one of the most overused pieces of development jargon. The ETF not only talks about it, but does it too. But what is it and how does it fit in the context of human capital development, and education and training in partner countries. The ETF’s expert in this field explains.

International organisations don’t suffer from a shortage of jargon, but “capacity building” is probably one of the top words in their tribal speak. Capacity building can refer to people, schools, public institutions, systems and whole countries. Or sometimes the name can just give a little more glamour to otherwise ordinary events and meetings.

The European Commission, in its operational guide on capacity development, builds on the OECD definition of capacity: capacity is ‘the ability of people, organisations and society as a whole to manage their affairs successfully’.

What it really means is helping people to take up and carry out their tasks themselves.

It is the moving target of a change process that involves individuals, organisations and societies. It’s not a gap that can be bridged conclusively, but rather as a continuous matching of needs, contexts and purposes under the leadership of each person, institution or country. Capacity is a process, by which countries fulfil their objectives and match needs and resources for efficient results.

The ETF does capacity building too. We have a long history of cooperation with more than 40 countries, some of which have become Member States of the EU. This background coupled with our present activities are rich sources for reflection on the ways of working to support capacity development for human capital in ETF partner countries.

CAPACITY DICTIONARY Capacity for the development of human capital is a set of conditions that enable a country to continuously and autonomously meet its challenges through human capital policies. Capacity building is the process through which people, organisations and countries generate the knowledge, skills, competences and capabilities that allow them to meet the demand for capacity to develop human capital. Capability is the ability of a group or a system to do a particular thing and to contribute to shaping the capacity of the system. In the ETF’s work this refers to the ability to analyse and make policies based on evidence, involving all those concerned, considering all relevant contexts and in an economical fashion. The ETF’s capacity approach is based on the fundamental principles of ownership, context-driven policy development, sustainability of actions, avoiding transplantation of policies and practices and highlighting that the capacity for continuous policy learning is a key condition for development in the human capital field. 16

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Manuela Prina, ETF expert Photo: ETF/Alberto Ramella – EUP & Images

A moving target

You can learn only when you are actively involved. The same for capacity – it can only take place when people or institutions consider the process as their own and when their motivation translates into actions. In 2012, 80% of ETF interventions that aimed at supporting the development of human capital included an element of capacity building. These actions targeted the system by which human capital is

created, managed and used to maximise the economic and social benefits of partner countries. In this area of education and training, the link with capacity building is clear and direct. Supporting the development of human capital entails enhancing the capacity of a country to deliver investments in human resources that have the highest returns in terms of socioeconomic benefits for the country and its citizens. The level of capacity depends on the relevance of the policy framework, sustainability, ability to innovate and learn from the policy impacts. All ETF functions contribute to supporting the capacity for development of human capital, and each function has a role in informing, supporting and analysing capacity. ■ Words: Manuela Prina, ETF

ETF functions and their role in supporting capacity development

EC PROGRAMMING AND PROJECT ensuring the CYCLE SUPPORT preparation and the continuity and sustainability of capacity development

CAPACITY BUILDING

ensuring the preparation and the continuity and sustainability of capacity development

POLICY ANALYSIS informing capacity needs and future actions and demands

brokering knowledge and experiences to facilitate learning and policy development

DISSEMINATION AND NETWORKING

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Off the Press and Online

NEW PUBLICATIONS Qualifications Platform - Update The Qualifications Platform is the first open online community hosted by the ETF. The Platform was established at the request of the European Qualifications Framework Advisory Group to support people working in the qualifications field, especially in ETF partner countries. Many of these countries are reforming their qualifications system and need support. The ETF estimates that 142 countries are at some stage of building a national qualifications framework. The Qualifications Platform is a library, discussion forum, blog space and networking space. The platform has a strong peer-learning ethos – it has been called by some of its members a virtual workshop. The Russianlanguage community caters for professionals

working east of the EU. In total, the Platform connects more than 500 members. Discussions often focus on different aspects of reform, institutional roles (who should be responsible for quality assurance, which organisation should lead the NQF implementation, who should develop qualifications, what should be the role of social partners?), and on implementation issues (legal arrangements, what are the implications for teaching and the curricula of outcomes-based qualifications). Accessing the Qualifications Platform is free and registration can be done quickly through an online form at www.qualificationsplatform.net. ■

New practical guide to indicators for policy making What is an indicator? What is a good indicator for policy making? How can indicators be created, selected or analysed? The new practical manual published by the ETF addresses a broad readership of people working with data and indicators in education and training. It provides detailed advice for those who actually create indicators e.g., experts

in ETF partner countries and policy makers. Most of the content is, however, written to provide practical guidance to readers with no background in statistics who sometimes have to work with statistics and indicators to formulate policies in education and training. http://ow.ly/moC6Z ■

Entrepreneurial learning: Keystone to an entrepreneurial culture A new policy briefing on entrepreneurial learning, prepared by ETF expert Anthony Gribben, considers the challenges and potential of strategic promotion of entrepreneurial learning. Primarily targeted at policy makers from transition and emerging economies, it

argues for a model of lifelong entrepreneurial learning, in which policy development and systemic reforms are benchmarked and assessed. http://ow.ly/m8K3K ■

Social partnership in VET By working together, governments, employers and trade unions can develop education and training that better responds to the diverse needs of society, economy and individuals, writes ETF expert and the author of the briefing Petri Lempinen. The policy briefing answers why

involving social partners in VET policy making is important, describes how they are involved currently, and what can be done to get them more involved in the future. http://ow.ly/m8JZE ■

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On the Web

Digital Update Photo: ETF/Alberto Ramella

FRAME: New project helps build vision for skills On 8 May the European Commission and the ETF formally concluded an agreement to implement a new regional project in Western Balkans and Turkey. The project, called “FRAME - Skills for the future”, aims to provide countries in the EU enlargement area with the methodological tools to support policy development in the human resources development (HRD) sector. It will help the participating countries to define their vision for HRD and skills for the period 2014-20; describe the needs for capacity development to implement that vision; create a monitoring system to assess progress in this field; and facilitate the mutual learning process among enlargement countries http://ow.ly/m8nSU

How to create an entrepreneurial mind set and skills, how to teach entrepreneurship – these questions kicked off the discussions at a two-day international conference in Chisinau, capital of the Republic of Moldova. The event was organised jointly by the European Commission, the Republic of Moldova and the ETF in the context of Eastern Partnership Platform 4. It brought together almost 100 practitioners and policy makers from six Eastern Partnership countries. They debated entrepreneurship as a key competence within formal education and non-formal training. http://ow.ly/m8nVi

VET Day in Skopje To improve the attractiveness, quality and relevance of vocational education and training, the Macedonian Ministry of Education and Science with the assistance of the Delegation of the European Union, the National VET Centre of Slovenia (CPI), and the ETF organised a “Vocational Education and Training Day” on 23 May. http://ow.ly/m8nXm

Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma

Training school leaders in Central Asia

Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons

Photo: ETF/Liia Kaarlop

Moldova hosts entrepreneurial learning conference

Supporting Turkey’s Certification Bodies Turkey is heavily investing in the reform of its education system. To facilitate lifelong learning and recognition the country is developing an integrated qualifications system. The VocTest Centres, or Authorised Certification Bodies, are assessing candidates to certify their skills. So far eight VocTest Centres are operational and another 15 should become operational soon. The seminar on 29 April in Antalya, Turkey, was already the second event organised by the ETF to support the VocTest Centres. http://ow.ly/m8o0y

Photo: HAK-IS VocTest Centre

As part of the project “School Development for Lifelong Learning” in Central Asia, ETF experts trained some 60 managers of vocational education and training (VET) institutions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The training sessions at the end of March and early April focused on school leadership and services. http://ow.ly/m8nZb

ETF Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/etfeuropa ETF Twitter page at http://twitter.com/etfeuropa Online communities for education professionals at http://ow.ly/kc7N0

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Coming up

 Azerbaijan

Country focus: Libya

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The complex situation on the labour market is one of the main issues the new Libyan government is faced with. Increasing unemployment among the Libyan nationals co-exists with growing numbers of foreign workers. Libyans are generally ill-prepared for the labour market because of their poorly performing education system. The ETF’s overall objective in Libya is to contribute to the reform of the country’s vocational education and training system in order to address the needs of the economy and society.

Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons

 Opinion: Careering education

South Med Policy Leaders’ Forum in Marseilles

Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP & Images

In today’s labour market you not only need the skills and knowledge to do a job; you need specific skills to get a job. Career skills have been taught in a number of countries, from elementary schools to universities, as stand-alone subjects or cross-cutting educational themes. Live&Learn contributor from Finland, Raimo Vuorinen, calls this careering. Careering in its ordinary meaning is to move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way, but careering courses help students to be actually more in control of their careers.

Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma

Photo: HAK-IS VocTest Centre

Photo: Lauren Frohne/Flickr Creative Commons

From the glitz of Baku to the grimness of vocational schools in the countryside - ETF experts travelled around Azerbaijan to see the changes brought about by the State Programme for Vocational Education 2007-12. They talked to students, teachers and policy makers. They took notes and photos. Live&Learn will publish their report.

Photo: ETF/Arjen Deij

Photo: ETF/Alberto Ramella

In the next issue

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Ministers and senior policy makers from the Arab States of the Mediterranean are expected in Marseilles on 6 October 2013 at the ETF’s Policy Leaders’ ‘Forum on Public Management of Education, Training and Employment Policies’. The forum is being organised in conjunction with the sixth EuroMediterranean dialogue on public management. The meeting will follow up on a similar conference which the ETF held in Jordan in September 2012. ■

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