Filippo Bignami, PhD Senior researcher and lecturer

1. Convegno progetto PREDIS Prevenire la dispersione dei talenti Il sistema europeo di crediti per la formazione (ECVET) come supporto alla cittadinanza Venerdì 20 aprile 2018 Aula 227 - Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia via Tommaso Gar n.14 – Trento Filippo Bignami, PhD Senior researcher and lecturer University of applied sciences of Southern Switzerland, SUPSI – Department of economics, health and social sciences, DEASS

2. IUFFP Lugano Fonte: Eurostat

3. Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the establishment of a European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) Strumento per completare e supportare altri strumenti quali: • European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) • Europass • European Qualification Framework for lifelong learning (EQF)

4. To be operational, the credit system should be underpinned by the following ECVET principles and technical components: qualifications should be described in units of Learning outcomes (LO), a central concept of ECVET principles, with associated points (ECVET points). The ECVET recommendation (European Parliament and Council of the EU, 2009) makes a clear distinction between the components of VET qualifications defined as units of LO and the components of formal learning programmes or training provision commonly known as modules; there should be a process for units of LO to be assessed, validated and recognised, and for their transfer and accumulation; ECVET partnerships are supported by complementary documents, such as Memorandum of understanding (MoU), Learning agreements (LA), Personal transcripts of records (henceforth, complementary documents).

5. ECVET is meant for individual learners to be able to accumulate, transfer and use their learning in units as they are achieved; to build a qualification at their own pace from LO acquired in formal, non-formal and informal contexts in their own country and/or abroad. Un concetto chiave del Sistema ECVET è il LO: Risultati di apprendimento (Learning Outcomes): descrizione di ciò che un discente conosce, capisce ed è in grado di realizzare al termine di un processo d’apprendimento. I LO sono definiti in termini di conoscenze, abilità e competenze.

6. European push for international comparability and national pull for reform: this is the perspective of ECVET and the EQF at a national level. It increases qualifications transparency and flexibility in Europe. But it also offers a chance to national education and training system to adapt their structure and functioning to European reform processes. On the one hand, National Qualifications Frameworks’ development has evolved in a heterogeneous, multispeed and fragmented way: a puzzling situation which puts into question the achievement of a common European VET area. On the other hand, the EQF and ECVET have thus far demonstrated EU countries are about to realize an European area for vocational education and training. Member States, and also third countries, are riding the wave of the EQF development to kick off and orientate national systems’ reforms, then they might easily link the systems with ECVET. Mutual trust as basic point.

7. ECVET in 2015: overall progress (I) Source: Cedefop, 2016 One of the main purposes of the ECVET is to allow individuals to have their learning accumulated and recognised and use it to achieve or upgrade their qualification; having a credit system in place aids this process. Findings from the 2015 responses indicate some progress since 2013 and the situation in VET looks as follows: • 17 countries report that they have a credit system (not necessarily ECVET) in VET in 2015, compared (2) to nine countries in 2013 (3); seven countries use credits in some qualifications; • out of eight countries that did not have a credit system in 2013 but had units or modules, two (Estonia and France) report having credit systems in VET in 2015;

8. ECVET in 2015: overall progress (II) Source: Cedefop, 2016 in 2013, 17 countries did not have units or modules. In 2015, three countries (Belgium-French Community, Denmark, and Malta) have credit systems; two of these (Belgium-French Community and Malta) are ECVET compatible. Five countries (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Norway) use credits in some qualifications; 12 countries do not have a system that allows accumulating and transferring learning outcomes of individuals. Of these, seven (Belgium-Flemish Community, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, and Switzerland) report no initiatives on ECVET implementation at system level; 31 countries have national ECVET contact points, many of which also act as contact points for NQF and EQAVET.

11. Benefits: • LO outcomes make learning easier to compare, make qualification more transparent. Units, in their turn, help to describe learning outcomes more precisely and coherently. Units of LO increase the flexibility of learning pathways as well as flexibility of VET to adapt to the changing requirements of the labour market; • ECVET encourages and supports mobility and contributes to its quality. ECVET components provide structure to complex processes in organising traineeships and mobility. ECVET complementary documents are seen positively as user-friendly: the MoU helps clarify the learning outcomes that can be achieved while LA helps to set objectives understood by all; • ECVET contributes to better recognition of LO acquired abroad or in another setting, including recognition of intermediate results of learning; • enhanced possibilities of recognition of learning outcomes support inclusion by making it easier for the low-skilled, for example, to enter VET and get a qualification.

12. ECVET supports citizenship: • Entitlement and provision • Membership • Identity • Participation • Social right linked to turning on

13. Alcuni esempi di progetti per l’implementazione di ECVET: • QAECVET - Quality Assurance in ECVET Mobility - www.qaecvet.com • ELLAN - European Later Life Active Network - http://ellan.savonia.fi • MECVET - Development and Test of a Modular ECVET System in Europe – www.mecvet.org