Education and Culture DG

Lifelong Learning Programme

Validation of skills and knowledge for strengthening the positions of low-qualifi ed employees in the labour market - ValidAid

2010-1-BG1-LEO05-03085

The project “Validation of skills and knowledge for strengthening the positions of low-qualifi ed employees in the labour market - ValidAid” is executed within the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme funded by the European Union.

The main aim of the project is to make competencеs more visible to the individual, which can serve as a

motivational factor for the individual in his/her educational development and to facilitate access to lifelong learning. On the other hand, ValidAid aims to make competencеs more visible to companies, so that they can develop more appropriate educational and training opportunities for the low qualifi ed employees and identify ways to organise information about human capital and confi rm competencеs.

One of the main challenges in front of the EU economy is “improving the links between VET and the labour market”, which directly addresses the development and implementation of the validation and recognition of non-formal and informal learning outcomes. One of the main challenges to be tackled is the low qualifi cation among adults. Adults’ low level of qualifi cation: 78 million Europeans of working age (25-64) have low qualifi cation level. There are still too few adults taking part in learning activities. Training supply is particularly limited for adult and low-qualifi ed people and for those working

in small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a major concern given that small and medium-sized enterprises form the backbone of the economy and are the main sources of job creation.Validation of informal and non-formal competences is not equally developed in all EU countries. The project will provide the opportunity to the partners to transfer and share their knowledge and know-how in the fi eld of validation. Thus, all partners will contribute to the development of one unique methodology for the validation of competences acquired from informal and non-formal learning.

What is ValidAid?

Why is the project necessary?

The target groups of the project are:

low-qualifi ed workers employees with no university degree employees with lower or no education employers VET centres career guidance centres, etc.

focus groups with potential benefi ciaries from the respective sectors – Banking, Finance and Informational technologies

focus group with employers from the respective sectors – Banking, Finance and Informational technologies

focus group with representatives of educational institutions, employers’ unions, trade chambers, etc.

pilot course for testing of the developed methods for competence validation with approx. 20 participants

deep interviews with 6 low qualifi ed people and employers, who have participated in the testing of new products

issue of certifi cates to the participants in the test courses, who have successfully validated their informal and non-formal competences

Standards for recognition and validation of informal and non-formal competences in the relevant sector for each partner

Interactive tests for preparation and training for validation of low qualifi ed employees

Interactive guidelines with instructions to companies how to organise information about employees in order to facilitate the validation of competences and appropriate education and training within the company

Training programme for evaluators in how to implement the validation process

Participant portfolio

Target groups & Benefi ciaries

What happened during the project?

Expected outcomes

Within the project execution in each partner country there were organised:

Within the framework of the project there has been developed a Validation kit for three sectors – Banking, Finance and Informational technologies. The Validation kit includes:

The entire Validation Kit is available online at: www.validaid.eu

Partners

Institute for Postgraduate Studies - a Division at the Universityof National and World Economy - Bulgariae-mail: ips@ips.bg www.ips.bg

European Center for Quality Ltd. - Bulgariae-mail: offi ce@ecq-bg.comwww.ecq-bg.com

Multidisciplinary European Research Institute Graz - Austriae-mail: info@merig.orgwww.merig.org

University of Applied Science - Lithuaniae-mail: balkevicius@gmail.comwww.viko.It

Centro de Iniciativas Empresariais e Sociais - Portugalemail: ieba@ieba.org.ptwww.ieba.org.pt

Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris – France e-mail: thomas.ea@isep.fr www.isep.fr

Education and Training Service Centre - Icelande-mail: bjorn@frae.is www.frae.is

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication refl ects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.