Skills development, using international experience Estonian case Külli All Ministry of Education and Research

Internalization as Europeanization of VET? EU educational policy has faced many changes since the beginning of EUs educational policy shifting from voluntary to normative and regulatory? VET has been seen as one of the key factors in achieving the EUs goal to become more competitive in the global arena. Plurality of VET systems of the member states is challenging.

A policy transfer from the EU level into Estonian VET policy can be noticed. In the legislation of the EU, VET resides under subsidiarity principle. Mechanisms: Lisbon strategy, open method of coordination, Copenhagen process a great number of instruments and tools aimed to make the VET systems and qualifications more transparent and comparable

Estonian national VET policy has the objectives to enhance quality, accessibility and orientation to labour market needs in providing vocational education. Consequently, Estonian vocational education system has become from strict system to flexible and accessible for all.

The key instrument of Copenhagen process, European Qualification framework, could be seen as a catalyst of reforms as it has pushed VET reforms in most member statesS Through European Qualifications Framework, the member states were encouraged to elaborate and reform their own qualifications frameworks and develop learning outcomes based systems.

UNITED STATES of AMERICA CANADA ALASKA (USA) MEXICO COLOMBIA VENEZUELA BRAZIL PERU BOLIVIA HONDURAS NICARAGUA ECUADOR GUYANA SURINAME FRENCH GUIANA COSTA RICA PANAMA GUATEMALA CUBA PARAGUAY ARGENTINA URUGUAY CHILE GREENLAND ICELAND UNITED KINGDOM REPULIC OF IRELAND NORWAY SWEDEN FINLAND DENMARK ESTONIA LATVIA LITHUANIA POLAND BELARUS GERMANY CZECH REPUBLIC NETHERLANDS BELGIUM FRANCE SPAIN PORTUGAL SWITZ. AUSTRIA SLOVAKIA HUNGARY ROMANIA BULGARIA ITALY UKRAINE TURKEY GREECE SYRIA IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA YEMEN OMAN UAE EGYPT LIBYA ALGERIA MOROCCO TUNISIA WESTERN SAHARA MAURITANIA MALI NIGER CHAD SUDAN ETHIOPIA SOMALIA UGANDA SENEGAL GUINEA LIBERIA COTE DIVOIRE BURKINA GHANA NIGERIA CAMEROON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC GABON CONGO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO KENYA TANZANIA ANGOLA ZAMBIA MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA MADAGASCAR RUSSIA KAZAKHSTAN GEORGIA IRAN UZBEKISTAN TURKMENISTAN AFGHANISTAN KYRGYZSTAN TAHKISTAN PAKISTAN INDIA CHINA NEPAL MYANMAR THAILAND SRI LANKA MONGOLIA NORTH KOREA SOUTH KOREA JAPAN TAIWAN CAMBODIA LAOS VIETNAM PHILIPPINES MALAYSIA INDONESIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 2013 – update December Regional, Transnational & National Qualifications Frameworks involving 155 countries

LIST OF 155 COUNTRIES OR TERRITORIES PLANNING, DEVELOPING OR IMPLEMENTING QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS Albania; Angola; Andorra; Antigua & Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Brazil; Belarus; Belgium; Benin; Belize; Bhutan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi, Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Côte dIvoire; Croatia; Cyprus (and Northern Part of Cyprus); Czech Republic; Denmark; Dominica; Egypt; El Salvador; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; Guinée; Guinée Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Hong Kong; Hungary; Honduras; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea; Kosovo; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao Peoples Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liechtenstein; Liberia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Montenegro; Montserrat; Palestine; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Netherlands; Nepal; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palestine; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peoples Republic of China; Philippines; Paraguay; Poland; Portugal; Republic of Moldova; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Lucia; Samoa; Serbia; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Somalia (Somaliland); South Africa; Spain; St. Kitts & Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Swaziland; Sweden; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Thailand; The Bahamas; The Comoros; the Democratic Republic of Congo; The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; The Gambia; The Holy See, Timor-Leste; Togolese Republic; Tonga; Trinidad & Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Tuvalu and Vanuatu; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United Republic of Tanzania; Uruguay; Viet Nam; Zambia; Zimbabwe. In pink OECD member states, More info:

Qualification frameworks as global zunami – the labour market pressure Along with the EUs impact, Estonian VET policy has undergone changes due to endogenous institutional change. EU has facilitated, accelerated and supported the policy expansion. Trough European Qualifications Framework, the member states were encouraged to elaborate and reform their own qualifications frameworks and develop learning outcomes based systems.

FOLLOWING EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS? THE INFLUENCE OF THE EQF THE INFLUENCE OF THE EQF

The drivers for developing frameworks have changed The international drivers for NQFs have become stronger Institutional isomorphism? Are policy option for NQFs evidence based?

Periods of Development of Estonian QF(1) – development and implementation of educational legislation; no explicit mentioning of qualifications system or qualifications framework – bottom-up development process of the occupational (professional) qualifications system (OQS) 2001 – Parliament adopted the Occupational Qualifications Act; 5-levels occupational qualifications framework, institutional structure of the system 2001 – Estonian Qualifications Authority (Kutsekoda) was established as support structure for the OQS

Periods of Development (2) 2007 – Government set the goal to develop sustainable, flexible, internationally compatible competence based qualifications system meeting the needs of lifelong learning 2008 – Parliament adopted new Occupational Qualificaitons Act; 8-levels Estonian National Qualifications Framework (EstQF) compatible with EQF – referencing EstQF to EQF

Periods of Development (3) 2014……. decision of goverment to start to create a system of skills development coordination system on the basis of professional qualifications system

Competence cycle Tasks Occupa- tional stan- dards Natio- nal curri- cula Curri- cula AssessmentValidation Qualification awarding Certifi- cates LABOURMARKETLABOURMARKET LEARNINGLEARNING Com- peten- ces Expected competences Actual competences OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEM

Estonian qualifications framework EstQF is an overarching framework EstQF consists of four sub-frameworks: for general education, VET, HE and occupational qualifications with sub-framework specific descriptors and relevant quality assurance systems EstQF includes all state recognised qualifications, which meet two criteria: Are defined in learning outcomes-based qualifications standards (curriculum or professional standard) Awarded by nationally accredited institutions

Estonian National Qualifications Framework (2008) EQF Secto- rial QFs HE LIFE- LONG- LEARN- ING SYS- TEM LABOUR MARKET VET GE Estonian NQF

Estonian National Qualifications Framework (2014) EQF Secto- rial QFs HE LIFE- LONG- LEARN- ING SYS- TEM LABOUR MARKET VET GEGE Estonian NQF

Among most notable aspects were : new categories of vocational training directly linked to the Estonian Qualifications Framework; extensive use of outcome-based principles in the evaluation and establishing of qualification criteria for types of vocational training, curriculums and for personnel working in the teaching and pedagogical profession; accreditation of VET institutions; defining and implementing the use of the Estonian vocational education credit points for measuring study volumes. VET ACT 2013 fundamentally transformed the regulation of the VET

Educational standards and EstQF General trend of development – towards learning outcomes based standards: Higher education standard (2008) Vocational education standard (2009; 2013) + national curricula for VET National curriculum for basic school (2010) National curriculum for upper secondary school (2010, 2014) New generation of occupational standards ( )

From the beginning of the 2000s there has been a significant amount of changes, the Estonian vocational education policy has undergone major development. It has become from a very rigid system to flexible and accessible to all. obrazovanie