Validation of competences been acquired through non-formal and informal learning is a key tool to make people aware of their potential and fight unemployment. In fact, if the correlation between education and employment and especially to quality employment as well as to poverty is well known, one’s qualification does not always correspond to one’s knowledge, skills and competences.
Cedefop – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training – has published in December 2015 the updated version of the European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning (NFIL). Unfortunately secondary school education is the sector where the validation system is applied the least, given the big difference between initial general education systems throughout the EU. The good news is that there is willingness to use more and more this system in the volunteering and youth sector.
In the meantime, the LLL Platform has worked on a Position paper on the Validation of NFIL to guide the further advocacy on this topic, in particular between now and 2018, which is the deadline for EU Member states to put in place a system for the validation at national level. To tackle the challenges, the LLLPlatform proposes 5 key success factors for the implementation of VNIL: 1. Long-term and sustainable strategies for validation; 2. Overcoming resistance: towards a cultural shift; 3. Reaching out to disadvantaged group; 4. Guidance, counseling and information; 5. The EU’s role in a successful implementation of VNIL.
For more: elisa.briga@afs.org