live&learn issue 5

June 2006, No. 5

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THE ETF MAGAZINE

Education is a Window to Freedom

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The EuropeanTraining Foundationis the EuropeanUnion’s centre ofexpertise supportingvocationaleducation andtraining reforms inthe context of theEuropean Union’sexternal relationsprogrammes.www.etf.eu.int

Education is the keyto development.Economics, politics,culture and socialwelfare all dependon education. Goodeducation givespeople work, a voiceand the ability tomake qualifieddecisions.

HOW TOCONTACT US

Further informationon our activities,calls for tender andjob opportunitiescan be found on ourweb site:www.etf.eu.int.

For any additionalinformation pleasecontact:

ExternalCommunication UnitEuropean TrainingFoundationVilla GualinoViale SettimioSevero 65I – 10133 TorinoT +39 011 630 2222F +39 011 630 2200E [email protected]

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

Where will women be in education and

employment in 2010? ......................................3

IN FOCUS

Skills for Progress - the key messages .......13

ETF launches new website ...........................26

FEATURES

Norway: never too early to start

entrepreneurship learning ..............................7

Ethnic minorities in the

Western Balkans ............................................10

MEDA-ETE: promoting regional

cooperation among equals ...........................18

University–enterprise cooperation ..............20

Developing key competences for

Lifelong Learning...........................................22

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF MagazineCover photo: ETF

WHERE WILL WOMEN BE

IN EDUCATION AND

EMPLOYMENT IN 2010?

Organising this conferencewas a departure for the ETF

in more ways than one. Theparticipants – a mix of peoplefrom training centres,universities, women’s businessassociations and NGOs – wereaged between 20 and 35, givinga younger profile than is usuallythe case at ETF events. Theformat chosen was a dynamicone, putting the accent on thepersonal as well as theprofessional and allowing timefor informal discussions andbrainstorming sessions as wellas plenaries and presentations.The aim was to generate awealth of new ideas for action tofeed into the ETF’s work in Turinand in the field. It was hoped thatthe participants would alsobenefit from useful pointers andsuggestions to put into practicein their work as well as thechance to network withcolleagues from around theworld.

Choice of subjects iscritical

Women are far more likely toreceive a decent education todaythan was the case 30 years ago,but their chances still vary fromone country to another. In aminority of ETF partnercountries, the participation rate

of girls still lags behind that ofboys. In Morocco, for example,indicators show that only 55% ofgirls finish their primaryeducation compared with 67% ofboys. In the majority of partnercountries, equality of access isno longer such a problem andthe critical issues are more abouthow many young women finishbasic education or whichsubjects they study. Serbia’seducation system shows a

reasonable degree of genderequality in participation rates, buta high degree of gendersegregation in terms of subjects.‘This is something seen all overEurope,’ says Prof. MiekeVerloo, lecturer in gender studiesat Nijmegen’s RadboudUniversity in the Netherlands.‘Women tend to cluster in those“soft” subjects where the jobprospects are poorest.’

LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine 3

COVER STORY

Young participants at the Turin conference were involved in workshops using innovative techniques for groupwork.

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How much equality do men and women enjoy in the spheres of educationand employment? What are the barriers to full equality and what can bedone to remove these barriers? These are the questions that brought 50young men and women from 24 different countries to Turin on 6–7 March2006 to attend the first ETF conference entirely devoted to gender issues.Held on the eve of International Women’s Day, the theme of the conferencewas Women in Education and Employment 2010.

If a family cannotafford to send allits children toschool, it is oftenthe girls who arekept back.

Of all the root causes ofinequality in education, economicproblems are perhaps the mostobvious. If a family cannot affordto send all its children to school,it is often the girls who are keptback. In rural areas, longdistances to school can makethe problem worse. ‘Women inrural areas of Kosovo doelementary education and someof them finish secondary school,but very few make it to highereducation,’ says Mirlinda Kusari,president of women’s businessassociation SHE-ERA inGjakova, Kosovo. ‘Some familiessupport the women, but in poorerfamilies, priority is usually givento the boys.’

Unstable conditions can alsoaffect the equation. ‘Families inrough areas of Albania do notsend their daughters to schoolbecause they are afraid theycould be trafficked or kidnapped,’says Eglantina Gjermeni,president of the Gender Alliancefor Development Centre inTirana. ‘When they see they arereaching puberty and starting tolook like women, they are afraidfor them.’ These reactionsreached a peak after the unrestfollowing the collapse ofpyramid-saving schemes inAlbania in 1997, although thesecurity situation has sinceimproved.

Lack of positive rolemodels

Social pressures and fixedideas of what is appropriate for

women have a big influence ongender inequality in educationeverywhere. Young women maylack positive role models.Women make up the majority ofteachers and lecturers in theschools and universities, buthead teachers, heads ofdepartments and rectors are stillmost likely to be men. Familiesmay not support a youngwoman’s desire to continue hereducation or society may notapprove. Rola Chbaklo iscurrently combining her work ashead of support anddevelopment at Lebanese NGOSocial Welfare Institution withstudying for her second Master’sdegree. ‘People ask me – whyare you going for a secondMaster’s degree?’ she says.‘They tell me I’ll never be able toget married because I’ll be bettereducated than my partner.’

Government attitudes canalso be part of the problem.There is usually a big gulfbetween official commitments toequality and the situation on theground, but politicians are oftenreluctant to admit that thedisparity exists. ‘When you talkto the leaders in Arab countries,they all say our laws make nodistinction between girls andboys so there is no difference,’says Mostefa Boudiaf of theInternational LabourOrganization’s InternationalTraining Centre in Turin. ‘Theirintentions are good, but thisattitude is counterproductivebecause it doesn’t address thedisparity between girls and boysin schooling,’ he adds.

Include a genderperspectivethroughout

Bringing the politicians onboard is therefore seen asessential. The delegates believethat they must be asked toinclude a gender perspective inall measures affecting educationand training. This should covermonitoring the effectiveness ofpolicy as well as designing it. ‘Itis important that civil servantsare trained to spot the genderaspect of things,’ says MiekeVerloo, ‘but this kind of expertiseis not usually consideredimportant within statehierarchies.’

Another idea that camethrough strongly was the needfor data to be disaggregated bygender. Without this basicinformation, the delegatesstressed that it was impossible tomeasure the extent of theproblem or monitor progresstowards greater equality. It wastherefore vital that internationalorganisations such as the ETFalways work with data that canbe broken down by gender.

Teachers have an importantrole to play in their institutions.Not only can they try to ensurethat a gender perspective is builtinto the curriculum, but they canalso act as positive role modelsfor their students. ‘This meansincluding gender issues in theway I teach and trying topromote a deeper awareness ofthe need for equality,’ saysAlessandra Bonezzi, a vocationaltrainer from Reggio Emilia, Italy.

There is also a need forbetter career guidance for girls toensure that they do not make thewrong choice of subjects earlyon. ‘In Egypt, it is not so much aquestion of increasing access toeducation, it is more a questionof the quality of the educationgirls receive, and especially thecounselling mechanisms thatguide them throughout,’ saysEman El-Hadary, a researchassistant at Cairo’s AmericanUniversity. ‘There is no clearguidance for boys or girls, butthis particularly affects girlsbecause they will often make thewrong career choices.’

4 LIVE and LEARN - The ETF Magazine

WHERE WILL WOMEN BE IN

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN 2010?COVER STORY

ETF staff ran the workshops which focused on economic and social issuesaffecting women in today's society.

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No simpleexplanation for paygap

When women finish theireducation and start work, thegender gap widens. In moredeveloped countries,professional women come upagainst a glass ceiling whichallows them to climb only so farup the career ladder. And inspite of equal pay legislation,women still routinely earn lessthan men. A recent report fromthe United Kingdom1 found thatthe pay gap was not simply amatter of women being paid lessthan men for doing the same job.The problem is that women tendto make the wrong choices atschool and in the early stages oftheir careers. Once women havechildren, their earnings dropsharply and do not recover whenthey return to often part-timejobs after their children havegrown up.

In transition countries,working women get much moreof a raw deal. A recent report bythe United Nations DevelopmentFund for Women found thatmillions of women in EasternEurope and Central Asia losttheir jobs in the transitionprocess as state industries wereprivatised or closed down. Manyothers are in low-paid work andtolerate a high degree of jobsegregation, while only an elitehave been able to takeadvantage of the new economicopportunities.

Time is the mostprecious resource

No matter where they live,the one thing that conditions allworking women’s lives is the factthat they have children and thatmost women are still moreinvolved in looking after theirchildren than are most men. Thismeans that women have shorterworking lives than men and canoffer less flexibility in terms ofavailability to work overtime ortravel. It also means that theyhave less time to devote to thoseextracurricular networkingactivities that can help to

advance their careers. It is nocoincidence that the delegatesidentified time as one of the mostprecious resources andsomething that decisivelyconditions women’s position inthe labour market.

Discrimination againstwomen with children often takesplace in an unofficial way,making it more difficult tochallenge. Serbian employmentlaw shows a strong formalcommitment to gender equality,but according to SanjaPopovic-Pantic, president of theAssociation of SerbianBusinesswomen, multinationalcompanies in Serbia operateaccording to another set of rules.‘It isn’t legal but I’ve heard ofyoung women being asked at jobinterviews to promise that theywon’t have children for at leastthree years,’ she says.

Many delegates believe thatthe state must take some of thecare burden off women’sshoulders by providing morefacilities for looking after childrenand the elderly. There was alsotalk of the need for fathers totake on more responsibility forlooking after their children andfor employers to make thispossible. ‘If men could stay athome, look after the kids and do

a part-time job without itdamaging their career, thenmaybe things could change,’says Paola Carburlotto of Turin’sAssociation of WomenEntrepreneurs.

Womenentrepreneurs needsupport

A second point raised bymany people was the need topositively engage employers inimproving women’s position inthe labour market. MelhamMansour, a freelance trainerfrom Damascus, Syrian ArabRepublic, mentioned the Spanishgovernment’s recent decision toimpose quotas of equal numbersof male and female employeeson all large companies, but notmany thought this was the bestway to go. Zhibek Karamanova,a law student from Almaty,Kazakhstan, believes that thecarrot is better than the stick.‘The state must offer incentivesto employers,’ she says. ‘Thiscould be tax breaks or somethingthat small businesses areinterested in. You can’t just forcecompanies to employ 50%women.’

Discriminationagainst womenwith children oftentakes place in anunofficial way,making it moredifficult tochallenge.


WHERE WILL WOMEN BE IN

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN 2010?COVER STORY

Working women in transition countries get much more of a raw deal than men.

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1 Shaping a Fairer Future, Women and Work Commission, February 2006.

The need to support womenentrepreneurs was anothercommon theme. Encouragingwomen to start up smallbusinesses is seen as a goodway of boosting femaleemployment, especially intransition countries.Nevertheless, women need helpsuch as entrepreneurshiptraining or confidence-building toadapt to this new and demandingway of earning a living. Accessto start-up capital is also a majorstumbling block in many partnercountries. The Association ofSerbian Businesswomen iscurrently in talks with the Serbianfinance minister on how to makethe government’s budget moregender sensitive. One of theirdemands is for banks to providebetter credit conditions forwomen entrepreneurs.

Breaking out of theinformal economy

Every effort should be madeto make sure that womenentrepreneurs do not findthemselves operating outside theformal system. Kusari reportsthat many women are setting upmicro-businesses in rural areasof Kosovo, but prevailingconditions mean that nearly allare in the informal sector.International organisations aswell as government have a roleto play in this. Hala Ayoubi,secretary general of the YoungEntrepreneurs’ Association inAmman, Jordan, believes thatEU programmes have had only alimited success in creating jobsfor Jordanian women over thepast ten years. For Ayoubi, theprojects adopt too much of awelfare-oriented approach, suchas micro-financing for cottageindustries that women run fromtheir homes. ‘These kind ofindustries have very littlecapacity for growth,’ she says.‘I think we should concentrate ontraining in the formal sector andavoid welfare-orientatedprogrammes, which always linkwomen to the issue of poverty.’

By the end of the two days,the delegates had produced a

long list of practical suggestionsfor further action both in theirown lives and for the widerarena. For the ETF, this freshinput will be used to feed into itsdaily work with partner countriesand to push forward itscommitment to promoting genderequality. However theorganisation is keen for this firstmajor event on gender to have amore lasting influence. On 3May, the ETF presented therecommendations of theconference to the EuropeanParliament at the request of thehead of the women’s committee,Anna Záborská. It has now beenasked by the parliament toprovide expertise on a newreport looking at the issue ofwomen and migration.

Find out more:

SHE-ERA -http://www.cipe.org/programs/global/partners/dispPartner.php?id=214Gender Alliance for Development -http://www.gadc-al.org/index.php?lang=enAssociation of Business Womenin Serbia -http://www.poslovnezene.org.yu/e/index.htmAssociation of WomenEntrepreneurs, Turin -http://www.aidda.org/aiddaweb.nsf/index.htmlAutobiography of Shirin Ebadi -http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-bio.html


COVER STORY

SHIRIN EBADI: EDUCATION IS AWINDOW TO FREEDOM

Women should never underestimate the value ofeducation, according to Shirin Ebadi, 2003Nobel prizewinner. ‘Knowledge is a window tofreedom because an educated woman will neveraccept oppression,’ said the lawyer and humanrights campaigner from the Islamic Republic ofIran in her keynote speech at the conference. Inher country, women have made so muchprogress in this respect that they now make upmore than 65% of university graduates. But thisachievement does not translate into equalsuccess in the labour market as Iranian womenare three times as likely to be unemployed thanmen. ‘Although education can play a big role inempowering women, if it doesn’t help them findwork, it just becomes a luxury,’ she said.

Governments should also think carefully abouthow labour law can affect women’s jobprospects. In Iran, new mothers have the right tothree months’ maternity leave and workplacesemploying more than ten women are obliged toprovide childcare. However the fact that thegovernment expects employers to bear the fullcost of these nurseries makes them reluctant toemploy women. ‘Laws that were designed toprotect women are actually having the oppositeeffect,’ said Ebadi.

Shirin Ebadi has first-hand experience ofdiscrimination. In 1969 she became Iran’s firstfemale judge and later became president ofbench 24 of Tehran’s city court. In 1979, in thewake of the Iranian revolution, Ebadi and herfemale colleagues were dismissed from theirposts and given clerical duties due to the beliefthat women could not be judges under Islam.Ebadi’s application to practise law was turned

down and she wasunable to work until1992, when shemanaged to obtain alicence to beginprivate practice. Shehas since becomeone of the mostrespected voices ofIran’s reformistmovement and hastaken on many of thecountry’s mostpolitically sensitivecases, sometimes atpersonal risk.

Women entrepreneurs need more supportto start up small businesses.

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NORWAY: NEVER TOO

EARLY TO START

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

LEARNINGNorway has built up a considerable amount of expertise in whatmakes for good entrepreneurship learning. Elisabeth Rønnevig isa vital part of that equation. For the past twelve years, she has

been actively involved in entrepreneurship in education in a variety of roles, working asproject leader on national and international projects. Today, in her job as adviser at theNorwegian Directorate for Education, Training and Work at the Ministry of Education andScience, she is part of a team reviewing Norway’s pioneering national strategy forentrepreneurship in education. Here she shares with Live and Learn some insights intowhat makes for successful entrepreneurship learning.

Entrepreneurship learning is alot more than just a current

buzzword in educational circles.Although some people may try toconfine this approach to narrowdefinitions or goals – such astraining young people how tostart up their own business – it isactually something much moreambitious and far-reaching. “It isnot just a matter of how tosupport would-be entrepreneurs,but also how people who areemployed can adopt anentrepreneurial attitude in theirjobs or even how people can begood citizens and be innovativein their society as a whole,” saysElizabeth Rønnevig. It is alsoabout fundamentally changingthe way teachers teach andstudents learn and firmlyembedding schools, universitiesand training centres in their localcommunities.

But for Rønnevig,entrepreneurship learning isabove all a question ofencouraging and developing acertain set of personal qualitiesand attitudes in individuals.These could include the ability totake initiatives, innovation andcreativity, the willingness to takerisks and, most importantly of all,a degree of self-confidence. “Sothen it becomes a question ofwhat can the education systemdo to support these qualities andattitudes,” she says.

Co-operation goesboth ways

Rønnevig is a firm believerthat it is never too early tointroduce an element ofenterprise into the classroom,although different methods maybe appropriate at different ages.Accordingly the Norwegiandirectorate has come up with aseries of manuals to giveteachers some guidance on howto go about this. In primaryschools, entrepreneurshiplearning can be a matter ofencouraging children to find outmore about their immediatesurroundings and where they fitinto that broader picture. “Thiscould be learning about how acommunity works and seeing thevalue in that local community,”says Rønnevig.

She cites the example of arecent initiative in Norway’sTelemark county where a localfarmer was looking to set up asmall guesthouse on his farm,catering mainly to families. “Wegot some very young students towork with him looking at whatpossibilities there were on hisfarm for activities that would befun for children,” she says. Thestudents came up with the ideaof a floating platform on a lakewhich could be used forswimming and fishing. Thefarmer decided to follow their

advice and build the structure.While the question posedstimulated their creativity,planning the platform providedgood practice in maths anddrawing skills.


FEATURE

COOKING UP SOME NEW IDEAS

Last year Norway celebrated one hundred yearsof independence after its union with Sweden wasdissolved in 1905. In amongst the celebrationsmarking this historic separation, one innovativeproject was busy investigating what bringsNorway and Sweden together. This wasPERSIKA, a three-year project aimed atpromoting entrepreneurship learning andco-operation between 45 primary and secondaryschools in the border regions of Hedmark inNorway and Värmland in Sweden.

A part of the project, students and teachers fromthree schools straddling the border began workon a cookery book containing traditional Swedishand Norwegian recipes. They drew on existingexpertise as two of the schools taught cookery aspart of the curriculum while the third taughtgraphic design. “Producing this book gave thestudents a lot.” says Rønnevig. “Not only did theyimprove their cooking and graphic design skills,they also had to really look into their culture andhistory and come up with old recipes from theborder areas.” The book has now been publishedand was used as a gift at a major internationalconference on entrepreneurship learning held inNorway last May.

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Higher educationprovidesopportunities formoresophisticatedforms ofinteractionbetween studentsand businesses.

However, perhaps thebiggest pay-off from this exercisewas in terms of the boost to thechildrens’ self-confidence. “Theysaw how they could be useful tothe wider community as they hadknowledge that the adults didn’t,”says Rønnevig.

At secondary school level,typically students can come intomore direct contact with theworkplace. An example fromNorway is that of a local bedfactory which wanted to producebeds which were especiallyattractive to young people. “Soyoung people were involved indesigning the beds,” saysRønnevig, “we also tried to put intasks which supported theirlearning plan at school, so theywere using maths to calculatethe exact measurements andusing Norwegian and a secondlanguage to describe the beds.”She stresses that for an initiativelike this to work, the studentsmust feel that their contribution isof real value to the localbusiness concerned. “It is veryimportant to set up two-wayco-operation,” says Rønnevig,“you don’t want the students tosimply visit the factory, see theproduction line and then go backto school, they must get activelyinvolved.”

Higher education providesopportunities for moresophisticated forms of interactionbetween students andbusinesses. One example iswhen students set themselvesup as specialised consultants,

carrying out specific jobs such asmarket research for localcompanies. Whenentrepreneurship learningappears in adult education inNorway, this usually takes theform of specific training on howto set up a business. “Thesemay be people who have an ideaor a particular product that theywant to go out and sell but theylack the know-how of how todraw up a business plan or howto design a marketingcampaign,” says Rønnevig.

Different partnersbut a common vision

While the Norwegianexperience can provide a wealthof individual examples ofinnovative practice, it also hasplenty to teach about the rightsand wrongs of policy design.Norway’s first attempt to developa national framework forpromoting entrepreneurship ineducation began in the mid1990s. In 1997 seven ministriesled by the ministry of educationbegan work on a nationalstrategy but they soon found thatthey were all working to differentagendas. The lack of a commonvision made the strategyextremely difficult to put intopractice and so it failed to takeoff. When a second attempt wasmade in 2004, just threeministries were involved –education, trade and regionaland local government with aleading role given to the latter.While the motivation of oneministry may be different fromthe next – regional and localgovernment may be interested inpromoting local development inrural areas for instance, whereastrade and industry may be keento boost overall employability - allthree managed to agree on anoverriding objective. This wasdefined as ensuring that theeducation system “contributes tovalue creation, the founding ofnew businesses and innovationin Norway.” The Norwegiansstress that ensuring the differentpolicy-makers share a commonvision is a key ingredient forsuccess.

The strategy, known as “Seethe opportunities and make them

work,” functions on two levels;nationally and locally. Thenational government sets theagenda with input from the socialpartners. At local level,education authorities, schoolsand business associations worktogether to design and carry outthe activities. “This is an activitywhich has to be built on networksand partnership as it is just notpossible for a school or abusiness to achieve much on itsown,” says Rønnevig.

Delivering benefitsto all participants

The main employers’organisation in Norway now hasa certain number of staff workingas entrepreneurship learningliaison officers and has drawn upspecial partnership contracts toregulate the agreementsbetween schools andbusinesses. Rønnevig has foundthat many Norwegian companiesare happy to get involved inentrepreneurship learningactivities, although, as always,larger companies tend to bemore receptive than SMEs. “Inthe end it does come down towhat is in it for them,” she says,“in the local area, involvementwith schools can generate a lotof goodwill, it can also help withrecruitment as a student maylater on become a goodemployee.” Rønnevig believesthat, if done well,entrepreneurship learning candeliver benefits to all of theparticipants, producing a win-winsituation and building durablelinks.

In the case of schools, wheretime and resources are always ata premium, it usually takes theefforts of what Rønnevig calls“burning souls” or a fewenlightened individuals to get theball rolling. However the benefitsfor the institution can besubstantial. “When schools comeout of their shells, they not onlygain more relevant knowledge,but they also become a moreimportant part of society byopening up to the localcommunity and inviting in morepeople from other walks of life,”she says. Involvement with thelocal people and businesses in


NORWAY: NEVER TOO EARLY TO START

ENTREPRENEURSHIP LEARNINGFEATURE

Entrepreneurship learning can deliver benefits to all participants.

Photo: Purdue

this way can give teachers moreself-confidence and status intheir community. The links thatgrow up between schools andbusinesses can produceunexpected spin-offs.“Businesses will sometimesrealise that the local school hasother resources to offer such aslanguage courses or computing,”says Rønnevig. In one casewhere a school got involved withlocal businesses, some of itsstudents ended up providingcomputer training for localbusiness people, she reports.

Boosting youngpeoples’self-confidence

Nevertheless, surely the bestmeasure of the success orfailure of entrepreneurshiplearning has to be the impact ithas on the young peopleinvolved. Does it encouragethem to adopt a moreenterprising outlook on life? Can

it help them to deal morecreatively and productively withthe challenges they will face inthe future? Can it equip them tocope with the high degree ofuncertainty which seems somuch a feature of 21st centuryliving? Entrepreneurship learningis still too young an area to havegenerated a solid body ofscientific research and so it isnot yet possible to provide clearcut answers to these questions.But the signs from Norway areencouraging.

A recent study by TrønderlagResearch and DevelopmentInstitute2 aimed to assess theimpact of entrepreneurshiplearning on upper secondaryschool students. It found thatwithin ten years of completingthis kind of learning, 17% ofgraduates had gone on to set uptheir own businesses. Thiscompares to an average ofaround 7.5% of the Norwegianpopulation in general. Drawingon her own personal experience,Elizabeth Rønnevig is convinced

that entrepreneurship learningcan make a big difference toyoung people. She sometimesinvites graduates ofentrepreneurship learning tospeak at conferences. “I can seethis kind of activity has a bigimpact on their self-confidence”she says, “when I ask them whatthey learnt from this activity, theyoften say – first of all, if I hadn’tdone this kind of training, I wouldnever have been capable ofstanding up in front of 100people and talking about it - soyou can really see that they aregrowing.”

Find out more:

Telemark County -http://osloregion.org/english/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=43Tronderlag Research andDevelopment Institute -www.ntforsk.noSt Cyrl and Methodius University -http://www.ukim.edu.mk/index.php?lan=en&pon=

The links thatgrow up betweenschools andbusinesses canproduceunexpectedspin-offs.


NORWAY: NEVER TOO EARLY TO START

ENTREPRENEURSHIP LEARNING

WESTERN BALKANS TRIES ITS HANDAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP LEARNING

Entrepreneurship learning is an area which is still in itsinfancy. Exact definitions in this field are still up for debateand there are no hard and fast rules about how it should bedone. However three countries from the Western Balkans havebeen steaming ahead in these uncharted waters.

With advice from the ETF, Albania, FYR Macedonia and Serbiaand Montenegro have been attempting to inject a dose ofentrepreneurship learning throughout their education systemsby setting up national partnerships over the past three years.“They are trying to make all the different parts of the system,including work-based learning, relate better to entrepreneurship,”says Anthony Gribben, ETF’s entrepreneurship learningexpert. This experience has shown them the need for anall-encompassing strategy which can get all the players thathave an impact on business working together.

The ETF’s work with the Western Balkan countries forms partof a wider multi-agency approach to support enterprisedevelopment in partnership with the European Commission (DG Enterprise), the OECD and the EBRD. In particular, the ETFhas developed a series of performance indicators which will be used to measure how well each country’s education andtraining system is delivering entrepreneurship learning. “Performance indicators provide a mini road-map for policy andpractice for each country and allow for regional benchmarking,” says Gribben.

The region has already produced several examples of best practice such as the changes afoot at the faculty of mechanicalengineering at St Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, FYR Macedonia. The faculty had seen enrolments falling steeplyand most of its links to industry disappearing during the 1990s as big companies were closed down. In 1996-97, facultyleadership came up with a turn-around strategy drawing on the experience and ideas of a group of younger lecturers whohad recently returned from change management training in the US. The changes included revamping the curriculum with anemphasis on SMEs and entrepreneurship training, putting in place means for technology transfer, offering non-formaltraining to SMEs and a marketing drive to all Macedonian secondary schools to revive student interest in mechanicalengineering. Entrepreneurship modules were designed for one programme and have since become compulsory for allstudents at the faculty

This strategy has produced good results and its influence is now being felt throughout the university. The entrepreneurshiplearning modules developed by the faculty are now being offered to students of other faculties while staff from engineeringare helping train other lecturers. In 2007, the entrepreneurship training materials will be made available online to all staff andstudents. The university is now planning to set up an incubator centre to support students wishing to turn innovative ideasinto working businesses.

Entrepreneurship learning helps students to turn innovative ideas intoworking businesses.

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2 Young Enterprise and Entrepreneurship 2005, Tronderlag Research and Development Institute, www.ntforsk.no

ETHNIC MINORITIESIN THE WESTERNBALKANSACCESS TO EDUCATION AND LABOUR MARKETby Anastasia Fetsi

At the request of the European Commission, the ETF has undertaken a study on ethnicminority access to education and the labour market. The European Academy in Bolzano,Italy, was commissioned to carry out the study, which was implemented by a team ofresearchers from the Western Balkan region under the guidance of Prof. Joseph Marko.Based on desk research, it collected available quantitative information and interviewsfrom stakeholders, resulting in a series of country reports and a synthesis report. Thisarticle outlines the main findings of the research.

Ethnic minorities in theWestern Balkans

The ethnic composition of the WesternBalkan countries is very diversified.Population censuses in early 2000 inMontenegro, Serbia and Croatia showedthat the population belonging to a minorityethnic group accounted for 57%, 16% and7.5% respectively. The number of ethnicgroups encountered in each country isoften high. In Serbia and Croatia there aremore than 20 ethnic groups. InMontenegro there are six. In Kosovo, theUnited Nations Development Programmeestimates that ethnic minorities accountfor about 11% of the total population.

The most ethnically homogeneouscountry in the region is Albania in which,according to the 1998 census, six ethnicminorities account for about 2% of theentire population. This percentage,however, is not fully agreed. A World Bankstudy arrived at 7.5% and in recentelections the minority parties receivedaround 4% of the votes. The ethnicminority mostly exposed to uncertainnumbers are the Roma because of theirnomadic lifestyle as well as the fact thatbirths are often not registered.

It is important to note that there aredifferences in the political position ofvarious ethnic groups within someWestern Balkan countries. One dividingline is the extent to which an ethnic grouphas the status of ethnic ‘minority’, or‘state-forming nation’ or ‘people’ in acountry. In this respect Bosnia andHerzegovina is a specific case. Althoughnone of the Bosniac, Croat or Serb ethnicgroups make up the absolute majority of

the population, in the Dayton Constitutionof 1995 they are described as ‘constituentpeoples’ enjoying institutional equality.This means that they have equal rights tomake political decisions. The other 17ethnic groups in the country are estimatedto account for about 2% of the entirepopulation and have received the status ofethnic minorities. To date, moreimportance is given to the rights of suchconstituent peoples than to the rights ofother minorities.

In the case of the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia where, accordingto the 2002 census,Albanian-Macedonians make up 25% ofthe entire population, their leaders do notconsider them to be an ethnic minority buta constituent people. Although it did notcreate a binational state, the OhridAgreement of 2001 provided for enhancedlanguage rights, equitable ethnicrepresentation for the civil service anddevolved powers to the local authoritiesthrough decentralisation. In this respectthe status of the Albanian ethnic group inMacedonia is different to that of otherethnic groups such as the Bulgarians,Serbs, Turks or Roma. The latter accountfor about 10.6% of the entire population.

All countries have constitutional andlegal provisions and institutions thatprotect minority rights such asrepresentation, access to education andother civic rights. These rights, however,are not appropriately monitored orimplemented.

Education and ethnicminorities: supportingcultural diversity andpromoting social cohesion

Providing children access to educationin their mother tongue, at least duringprimary and lower secondary education,has proved an effective way of enhancingtheir educational outcomes and schoolperformance while at the same timepreserving their cultural and ethnicidentity. However, two arguments areoften put forward to counterbalance theabove position. The first is linked to theeconomic efficiency of maintaining aneducation system having to care for alarge number of ethnic minorities. This isparticularly relevant for populations ofethnic groups which are small or dispersedin a country and would need very smallclasses or schools.

The second argument is linked to theneed for promoting ethnic reconciliationand enhancing social cohesion togetherwith the right to ethnical and culturalidentity. Closed parallel education systemsand strong institutional separation canendanger the objectives of building aunited society and reduce the socialcapital of a country. This argument isparticularly relevant for the region, as allWestern Balkan countries except Albaniahave witnessed recent ethnic conflict andwars.

All Western Balkan countries have fullyfledged public education systems at alllevels and provide for the constitutionalguarantee of free access to education forevery individual. They also have legalprovisions for the education of ethnic


FEATURE

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minorities in their mother tongue andculture. However, the implementation ofthose provisions varies.

In Albania, for example, nationalminorities are constitutionally guaranteedpublic education in their mother tongue.Yet only the Greek and Macedonianminorities receive it and only within theareas traditionally inhabited by theseminorities. Other minorities have nomother tongue education at all. InMontenegro, education in minoritylanguages is organised only for Albanians,not for the other minorities. Nor isprovision made for delivery of classes onthe history and culture of the otherminorities.

In the legal systems of these countriesthere is often a threshold requirement,linked to the percentage of children fromethnic minorities in a class, for theorganisation of minority languageeducation programmes. This works to thedisadvantage of small ethnic minorities.Roma children have the leastopportunities, if any at all, to receiveeducation in their mother tongue andculture. Generally, Roma children need toattend classes in the language of themajority population in proximity and rarelyreceive supplementary assistance toovercome language or other gaps. OftenRoma children are inserted in specialschools for children with learningdifficulties, which is a violation of theirbasic human rights.

The issue of how minority education isprovided also plays a role in achieving thedouble objective of preserving ethnic andcultural identity, thus ensuring socialcohesion and intercultural exchange.There are several modalities of ethnicminority education provision in the regionthat could be schematically presented inthree broad models (see inset). Generallynumerically, economically or politicallystronger ethnic groups – often with a kinstate nearby – are granted educationaccording to the first model, always atprimary and very often at secondary level.This is, for example, the case in Croatiafor Italians, Hungarians, Czechs andSerbs; in Serbia in the AutonomousProvince of Vojvodina for Hungarians,Slovaks and Romanians, in the region ofSandzak for Bosniacs and in South Serbiafor Albanians; in Macedonia for Albaniansand Turks.

The second model, encompassing theso-called submersion programmes, isgenerally used for weaker minorities. Theeffectiveness of this model, both in termsof educational outcomes and preservationof ethnic and cultural identity, is contestedin international literature.

The third model covers bilingualeducation and is the rare exception ratherthan the rule in the region. It is generallyused for stronger minorities in, forexample, Croatia and Vojvodina-Serbia.

Another issue concerns the existenceof closed mother tongue education cyclesfrom preschool to university education andthe institutional separation of education forcertain ethnic groups. A clear example ofthis can be found in Bosnia andHerzegovina where constituent peopleshave full responsibility for their separateeducation systems. Institutional separationis strong and there are examples of twoschools under one roof in the Federationwhere children of the different ethnicgroups attend nationally segregatedclasses using different wings and differententrances to the building. Others use thesame building and classrooms but havedifferent attendance hours. Also inKosovo, there remains an ethnicallysegregated education system forAlbanians and the Serb minority at alllevels of education.

Conclusively, it seems that theWestern Balkan countries face a doublechallenge. At one extreme, minorities thatface ethnic assimilation do not receiveadequate protection. At the other extreme,institutional segregation in educationserving stronger ethnic groups ishampering social cohesion. Accordingly,countries in the region will need to work toensure that all minority children have afirm command of their mother tonguethrough primary and lower secondaryeducation and see the preservation oftheir language and culture as an addedvalue instead of as a deviation from thenorm. They will also need to give morethought to the potential of bilingualeducation, where both majority andminority languages and cultures are taughtto children, as an opportunity to develop amulticultural and cohesive society andwork against institutional segregation andclosed mother tongue education cycles.


ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANSFEATURE

Models of provisionof minorityeducation in theWestern Balkans

� First model: the entirecurriculum is taught in theminority language in separateschools or classes.Educational programmes ofthis model could be calledlanguage shelter programmesand are delivered in almost allcountries for the morenumerous among ethnicminority groups.

� Second model: the regularschool curriculum is taught inthe majority language whilestudents from the minoritygroups attend additionalclasses (often in history andculture) in their language.These educationalprogrammes could be calledsubmersion programmes andaddress smaller minoritygroups throughout the region.

� Third model: bilingualeducation is provided – themain subjects of thecurriculum are taught in boththe minority and majoritylanguages for all participatingstudents, regardless of theirethnic affiliation, in the sameclass. There are several formsof bilingual education.

Roma children rarely receive education in their mother tongue.

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Educational outcomes ofethnic minorities

It is difficult to find hard evidence of theactual participation rates of each ethnicgroup at each education level in thecountries of the region. However,piecemeal existing information andanecdotal evidence leads to the conclusionthat the educational outcomes of ethnicminorities are generally below nationalaverages. There are exceptions to thispattern. The Macedonian, Croat andHungarian minorities in Serbia and theGreek and Macedonian minorities inAlbania seem to reach average participationin education, or even exceed it.

Roma populations all over the regionpresent a huge deficit. The percentage ofRoma people who have not completedprimary education ranges between 50% inFYR Macedonia to 62% in Serbia and82% in Albania. The majority of Romachildren abandon school prematurely whilesome of them never enrol in education atall. The weaker educational outcomes ofethnic minorities are occasionallyattributed to their cultural values or relativesocio-economic position. They can also beattributed to the quality of the educationdelivered in the language of the ethnicminority. But the main question that arisesis the extent to which authorities care andtake actions to counteract cultural or otherdisadvantages and increase participationrates of those ethnic minorities laggingbehind. An example of good practice isFYR Macedonia where Albanian, Vlach

and Turkish participation rose dramaticallyafter the implementation of the OhridAgreement.

Labour market and ethnicminorities

In theory, anti-discrimination lawsgovern labour market participation in theregion. In practice, employers do notalways follow suit. The problem is thatlabour market discrimination is notmonitored and therefore not sanctioned.There is scope for better monitoring andfor better legal and institutional provisionsto which discriminated individuals couldhave recourse.

The general quality of labour marketdata in the countries of the WesternBalkans is very low and does not permitcross-country comparisons. Evidence inthe form of basic labour market indicatorsbroken down by ethnic group is also hardto find. Labour market surveys,establishment surveys, registers ofunemployed, or small and medium-sizedenterprises, do not collect information onethnicity. Even data on public employmentby ethnic group are not collected. It istherefore difficult to document the relativeposition of ethnic minorities in the labourmarket. The Roma are the mostdocumented group but only becausespecial surveys have been conducted.Available evidence demonstrates that intheir case the employment outcome gap ishuge. Their low educational attainment,together with discriminatory practices,

creates a vicious circle for Roma peopleand it will take time and effort until thiscircle is broken.

Ethnic minorities are oftenconcentrated in specific geographicalareas. A regional distribution ofemployment or unemployment levels cantherefore offer clues on disparity acrossethnic lines. Although this is a gross proxy,it does show that some geographicalareas in which there is a highconcentration of ethnic groups areparticularly hit by low employment levels.These are also characterised by a highdegree of informal activity. Examples arethe region of South Serbia where theAlbanian minority is concentrated and theregion of Krajina in Croatia where the Serbminority is concentrated. On the otherhand, there are also regions with largenumbers of many different minorities thatare more developed than the rest of thecountry, such as Vojvodina-Serbia.

So what is the cause of the poor labourmarket outcomes of those regions with ahigh concentration of ethnic minorities? Isit the adverse economic situation of theregion itself? Is it the lower educationaland skill levels of the local minorities inthese regions? Or is it the mere fact thatthey are inhabited by ethnic minorities?

Probably there is a cause and effectcircle but the main issue is the extent towhich national policymakers actually carefor and invest in the development of theregions where ethnic minorities aresettled. Also relevant is the type of actionstaken to enhance the employability ofindividuals from ethnic minorities – forexample through targeting of active labourmarket measures. For the moment verylittle is done in that direction and mostinterventions in regional development aredonor-driven. Special attention, however,is given to the Roma through thedevelopment of national action plans forthe integration of Roma people in allcountries. In these plans specificmeasures targeting the employability ofRoma people and increasing theiropportunities to find a job are includedtogether with other areas of interventionsuch as housing, health and education.Although the implementation of theseplans is in its early stages, somecountries, such as Albania, have alreadylaunched active labour market measuresfor the Roma.

Anastasia Fetsi is Team Leader forLabour Market Studies and Cross CountryAnalysis for the Western Balkans.

Find out more:

European Academy Bolzano -http://www.eurac.edu/index


ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANSFEATURE

In Albania, ethnic minorities make up just 2% of the population.

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IN FOCUS

SKILLS FOR PROGRESS -THE KEY MESSAGES

On 7 June, the ETF launched itssecond triennial advisory forum in

Turin. The theme for the 2006 forum wasSkills for Progress and the agenda waspacked with encouragement to reflect onprogress since 2003 and challenges in theuncertain but exciting years ahead. On thefollowing pages, Live and Learn offers anoverview of the main themes and sessionsof the 2006 conference.

Three years ago, policy learning wasthe guiding theme for the Learning Mattersforum. Policy learning as a concept waslaunched in response to faltering systemicreform following a decade of local andoften ad hoc innovative measures.Encouraging results in small projects oftencaused as many problems as they solvedbecause it appeared difficult to spreadresults from the relative isolation in whichthey operated into mainstream educationand training. More coherence wasrequired, as was increased localownership of reform initiatives.

Since 2003, strategies for the reform ofeducation and training have becomeincreasingly integrated and now takeaccount of a multiplicity of interests fromdiverse areas. An evolving policyapproach incorporating employability,adaptability and continuing learning overthe past decade has extended educationand training beyond its historicalinstitutional boundaries of school,apprenticeship, training, adult educationand higher education to create newrelationships between these traditionalforms of learning.

Employment strategies place greateremphasis on deepening the skills of thelabour market and include education andtraining as a key element in achievingsocial cohesion through the developmentof employment pathways fordisadvantaged groups. Similarly,enterprise development is perceived asrelying on the ability of companies tocombine knowledge and insights from theeducation sector with their practical needs

to enhance competitiveness. Educationand training contribute to the developmentof human resources and add value acrossa broadening range of policy areas,including economic growth and povertyreduction.

The multiple contributions of educationand training present policymakers withboth opportunities and challenges. Theopportunities arise from the potential ofeducation and training to serve a range ofinterrelated policy goals and economic andsocial purposes; the challenges relate tothe coordinationand governanceimplications of thismultiplecontribution andthe capacitiesnecessary for itsrealisation.

An approach tothe preparation ofpolicy strategiesthat relies mainlyon technical andspecialist expertiseseems insufficient.Experiencesuggests thateffective reform isas much a socialprocess as atechnical one andthat it is notpossible withoutbuildingpartnerships andcollaborationbetween differentgroups interestedin the process –national, local andinternational.

Seen in thislight, thecontinuing focuson policy learningis perfectly in line

with the theme that ran through alldiscussions at Skills for Progress: the newEU instruments for external assistance(see inset). With these new instruments, tobe launched in 2007, the EuropeanCommission intends to bring greatercoherence to external assistance.Common denominators of the threeinstruments include a human resourcedevelopment perspective, the use ofsector-wide approaches to mitigatefragmentation of assistance and promotegreater local ownership and management,and focus on cooperation, both with theEU and among partner countries.

Skills for Progress investigated theimplications of the new external assistanceinstruments for partner countries. It reflecton experience and developments since2003, and drew conclusions to take theconcept of policy learning a step further.

Following the conference the ETFhopes to be able to produce

AF2006

recommendations that make a strongargument for a central role for humanresources development in the newinstruments through partnership in thebroadest sense of the word.

‘Cooperation and partnership is theway forward. Policy learning in partnercountries will be improved with supportinstruments that facilitate cross-countryand cross-regional learning between theEU and partner countries. EmergingEuropean approaches to education andtraining in particular offer a valuablereference point for partner countries intheir examination of possible policyoptions,’ says Vincent McBride of the ETFDirectorate, who was one of the key ETFstaff members behind the event.

Find out more:

Advisory Forum 2006 -http://www.af2006.etf.eu.int/

Employment policy

An effective labour market policy is akey condition for both internationalcompetitiveness and social justice in anycountry today. The trouble is, however,that opinions differ quite widely on whatconstitutes good labour market policy.There is general agreement on some ofthe key ingredients: support for aresponsive education and training system,a socially just welfare system, a drivetowards equity. But what all these differentparts consist of and how exactly theyrelate to each other is a hotly debatedissue, both within the EU and in ETFpartner countries.

In the past decade, EU Member Stateshave amassed impressive experience inthis field. Employment policy hasdominated the EU agenda since theintroduction of the European EmploymentStrategy in 1997. In 2000, the Lisbonagenda proposed specific measures suchas structural economic reforms in productand capital markets, investment ineducation, innovation and research, labourmarket and social policy reforms, andenvironmental reforms. A mid-term reviewof the Lisbon strategy later proposedrefocusing efforts on two main goals:delivering stronger, lasting growth andmore and better jobs. This marked acomplete revision of the EuropeanEmployment Strategy.

These policy approaches are ofrelevance to ETF partner countries.However, their economic and policycontexts differ substantially from those ofthe EU in many ways. In their differentcontexts, employment policy measures


SKILLS FOR PROGRESS - THE KEY MESSAGESIN FOCUS

New directions for external assistance

In 2007, the European Commission will introduce a series of newinstruments to support external assistance programmes for EU partnercountries. The regional programmes will be replaced by a new suite of threeinstruments designed to create greater coherence in external assistance:

� Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA)

� European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI)

� Development Cooperation and Economic Cooperation Instrument (DCEC)

IPA and ENPI are intended to support activities that promote closerintegration with the EU and contribute to stability while facilitatingeconomic growth. Central Asian republics currently covered by the Tacisprogramme will in future be covered by DCEC.

IPA will provide support to Turkey and the existing candidate countries ofSouth-Eastern Europe, as well as the remaining countries of the region.

ENPI integrates two regions associated with ETF work previously coveredby MEDA and Tacis – the Mediterranean, and Eastern Europe including theRepublic of Moldova, Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the southernCaucasus. Russia will operate within the scope of the policy but willparticipate within a specific framework of four common spaces with the EU.

Neighbourhood objectives are based on mutual financial and policycommitments made through individual action plans for each country.Progress is to be monitored periodically.

The anticipated DCEC programme adds a third dimension to changes inexternal assistance, covering the full range of countries incorporated in theOECD’s Development Assistance Committee list. It differs from the othertwo instruments in that its actions are governed by EU development policyand the Millennium Development Goals rather than by the possibility ofcloser integration with the EU.

The instruments are to be interpreted broadly to allow many policy issuesto be addressed. A key challenge identified is the need to ensure coherencebetween the internal policy themes of the EU and the assistance needs ofpartner countries as defined in country reports, strategy reports and actionplans.

Cooperation and partnership between the EU and the partner countries will facilitate cross-regionallearning.

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that may be effective are also likely to bedifferent.

Within the new Member States andcandidate countries, transition has takenor is taking place with the objective ofaccession and integration into EUeconomic and social structures. However,in other ETF partner countries thesituation may be very different and thetransition process could lead in a differentdirection. Flexible labour markets withdifferent kinds of short-term employmentactivities might be the standard labourmarket model for the foreseeable futureand employment policy interventions mustbe adjusted to these developments andsituations.

The objective of the thematic workshopon employment policy at the Skills forProgress advisory forum was to increaseunderstanding of how an efficientemployment policy could be designed inETF partner countries. The starting pointwas current developments in the EU, witha particular focus on the discussionaround the Lisbon agenda.

The ETF is stimulating debate andexchange of views on employment policyissues, such as the question of how jobsare created, what kind of jobs and bywhom. The workshop moderators alsotried to identify policy measures that haveproved to be effective in various EUMember States and ETF partnercountries.

Entrepreneurship learning

Increasing global competition requiresnew forms of learning and new skills withinthe EU as well as in the ETF’s PartnerCountries. One of these new forms oflearning that is drawing increasedattention the world over isentrepreneurship learning. No longer theexclusive province of MBAs and othertypes of business education,entrepreneurship is increasingly deemed acore competence that can provideanswers to the growing problems of rigidskills training and resulting chronicemployment problems in fast changinglabour markets.

The entrepreneurship learning model,however, is not an add-on to existingforms of education. Embracing it hasfar-reaching consequences and thesemust be understood. Effectiveentrepreneurship learning requiresunconventional approaches, in particularin terms of policy partnership. Authoritiesmust work in sync with employers, tradeunions and the whole of the educationsystem. Governance of education must bereviewed. And changes are not limited tolater parts of the education system. Alsoearly parts, where receptiveness to theconcept of entrepreneurship is likely to bestrongest, are affected.

Moreover, national partnerships mustbe mirrored by local partnerships foreffective delivery on the policies set atnational level. Effective entrepreneurshiplearning therefore depends on closeinteraction among all stakeholders ineducation and a sense of ownershipamong all parties.

Perhaps one of the hardest nuts tocrack is a change in the mindset ofeducators. These must be drawn onboard,but not by force. They must be convincedthat entrepreneurship is indeed a keycompetence and that self-employment isnot a culture that runs in families but onethat can be taught. Recent ETF researchalso suggests that, particularly in transitioncountries, academics are still insufficientlyprepared to accept the benefits ofadopting a more entrepreneurial spirit attheir institutions and inspiring a moreentrepreneurial attitude in their students.

Entrepreneurship learning is a newfield that is evolving all the time. Its designand delivery methods are stillunderdeveloped. This makes it aninteresting, but also a challenging field interms of policy learning. It is not only ETFPartner Countries that are learning here.Entrepreneurship learning as a broadeducation concept is still in its infancyeven in EU countries.

Anthony Gribben, the ETF expert inentrepreneurship learning believes thismakes it a particularly attractive field ofwork for transition countries. “ETF Partner

Countries represent a unique communityof transition and middle-income nations.They all have to respond urgently tocompetitive forces. Working singly or incooperation with other countries onstrategic lifelong entrepreneurship learningare options which Partner Countries maytake as a step forward in ensuring theeducation world contributes to meeting thecompetitiveness challenge.”

In this regard, ETF also views theissue of entrepreneurship learning as apromising subject of regional cooperationand one recommendation to the AdvisoryForum workshop on trans-regionalcooperation therefore seeks to addressthis through the sharing of policyintelligence, with Partner Countriesdeveloping policy models together andexchanging better practice.

Learning from diversity

European education and trainingsystems are rooted in different traditions.These traditions have shaped verydifferent models. Yet in recent years theyhave converged on some very crucialissues, in part through the BolognaProcess (higher education), in partthrough the Copenhagen Process(vocational education and training), and inpart simply because of closer Europeanintegration.

These processes and the lessonslearned through them can be oftremendous value to ETF partnercountries, not least because themuch-promoted concept of policy learningbuilds on developing tailor-made policywith the help of existing good practice.

First and most obviously, partnercountries can draw on the variety ofexperience available in the EU, takinghome the quintessential lesson that nosingle system offers a panacea.

But secondly, and perhaps lessobviously, because countries can learnfrom the experience built up in thesedifferent harmonisation processes which



Henrik Huidfeldt, moderator of the EmploymentPolicy workshop.

Anthony Gribben, moderator of theEntrepreneurship Learning workshop.

Jean-Raymond Masson, moderator of theLearning from Diversity workshop.

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elements of their education and trainingsystems are best calibrated and adaptedto international standards (and to whatinternational standards) and which arebest left to the discretion of each individualcountry.

Instruments aimed at increasingattractiveness and effectiveness, atpromoting education for all, at improvinggovernance and involving stakeholders, atgreater transparency, increased mobility,flexibility and quality, are key instrumentsthat contribute to facing the nationalchallenges of globalisation and theknowledge-based economy and society.They are therefore relevant to othercountries too.

There are several conditions forsuccessful implementation of EU methodsin partner countries. This has been amplydemonstrated through ETF projects andinitiatives. Policy learning needscommitment, expertise, administrativecapacity and adequate resources. Toensure responsiveness to local contextsand ownership, partnership is crucial at alllevels, between participants andparticularly social partners, but alsobetween local actors and their EUpartners.

Vocational education and trainingpolicies must be considered within thewider economic and social agenda.National economies and labour markets,particularly of neighbouring countries,must also be seen as increasinglyinterdependent with the EU. Eachmeasure is linked to others as part of aglobal strategy for lifelong learning andmust be considered for both its immediatebenefits and for its systemic dimensionsaimed at contributing to changes inmindset.

The thematic workshop on learningfrom diversity at the Skills for Progressadvisory forum considered how partnercountries use common approaches, suchas in qualification frameworks, qualityassurance and learning outcomes. Itreviewed EU policies and instrumentspromoting vocational training within the EUand provided case studies of experiencesin partner countries to demonstratesuccessful adaptation and innovation, withparticular reference to lifelong learningapplications. It assessed the relevanceand applicability of common EUapproaches to partner countries andexplored ways for them to learn from eachother and from EU Member States.

Skills development forpoverty reduction

Among international donors, skillsdevelopment is increasingly receiving the

recognition it deserves as a tool to reducepoverty. For a long time the focus ofpoverty reduction strategies had been onprimary education but lessons from thepast decades have clearly demonstratedthat primary education is no guarantee forwork.

This has brought vocational educationand training back into focus for, amongothers, the EU, the ILO, UNESCDO, theUNDP and the FAO. Sipke Brouwer, of theEuropean Commission’sDirectorate-General for Developmentrecently wrote: “For too long donors haveconcentrated only on how to teach Africanchildren reading and writing skills. Weneed to be more ambitious, as we need toprovide African young people with theskills, knowledge and ‘can-do’ values torecreate their cities and rebuild their socialbelonging. [...] Therefore the EU is goingto put a greater emphasis on vocationaleducation and training in connection withjob markets. This will help turn the currentbrain drain into a brain gain for the wholecontinent”.

So far, however, it has been unclearhow this revived recognition shouldtranslate into new education strategiesand policies in the ETF Partner Countries.

The ETF has promoted the need toalign the debate on skills development ininternational aid with the practice ofsystemic reforms in vocational educationand training in transition countries forsome years now. Supported by experiencefrom Central Asia and the Mediterraneanregion and own research for the 2006edition of its Yearbook, the ETF hasbrought up skills development for povertyreduction as one of the four key issues ofthe Skills for Progress conference.

At the conference, ETF ExpertPeter Grootings will introduce the subjectasking the key questions the ETF hopes tomake progress with in Turin. He sums upthe long list of open issues as: “Whatkinds of skills are crucial for poverty

reduction? How can people be assisted indeveloping the skills they need? Do theyonly need skills? What kind of policiesshould poor countries pursue and how canthe donor community contribute?”

“As always,” he says, “answers to whatand how questions are very muchinterrelated and depend on why skillsdevelopment is found to be important forpoverty reduction in the first place. Andbefore we can even begin to answer thewhat and how questions, we need toclarify what we are talking about. Whatdoes skills development really mean?What does the concept of povertyreduction encompass? And what is the linkbetween skills development and povertyreduction?”

Although a clarification of concepts isurgently needed, Peter Grootingsacknowledges that this cannot be an endin itself. “Knowing what we are talkingabout should ultimately serve anotherclarification: What would be the role thatthe ETF can play? The answer to this is ofcourse the key contribution we havesought from the delegates at Skills forProgress.”



The Advisory Forum 2006 brought skills development for poverty reduction into focus.

Peter Grootings, moderator of the SkillsDevelopment for Poverty Reduction workshop.

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Regional meetings roundup thematic debates

The results of the thematic sessions atthe ETF’s Skills for Progress advisoryforum in June will have differentimplications for the various regions inwhich the ETF operates. The idealapproach to all issues at stake will varydepending on the environment for which itis designed, as the backdrop againstwhich education and training take place inthe individual partner countries isimmensely different.

Poverty, for example, is an entirelydifferent topic in the countries of CentralAsia than in the candidate countries.

Employment policies take the currentsituation as a starting point. This ‘currentsituation’ is quite different in all regions. Inthe transition countries of Eastern Europe,for example, governance, qualificationsand the mismatch between education andthe labour market are some of the mostpressing issues, while in theMediterranean region, these issues couldbe demographic pressure, genderequality, and the informal labour market.

The relevance of EU developments invocational education and training is of adifferent nature in candidate countries thatmust reform their systems for alignmentwith European policy, than it is inneighbouring countries that aspire to nomore than closer ties with the EU.

For these reasons, the ETF chose tofollow the thematic discussions with anafternoon session of regional meetings onthe second day, in which delegates fromthe different regions were able to discussresults and priorities for the future.

The regions concerned are the‘pre-accession region’, made up of allcandidate and potential candidatecountries, the ‘development cooperationregion’ which among the ETF partnercountries constitutes the countries ofCentral Asia, and the ‘neighbourhoodregion’. For obvious reasons, the latterwas divided into two groups: theMediterranean subregion and the EasternEurope and Caucasus subregion.

These four groups took the results ofthe thematic sessions into regionaldiscussions to identify priorities andopportunities for vocational education andtraining reform in partner countries in thecontext of the new European externalassistance instruments.

They also made the necessarylinkages between the thematic groups.Issues at stake in vocational educationand training are broad and closelyintertwined. Delegates who attended onethematic session must have a chance tohold the results of these had to have

sessions against those of others,preferably in the light of regionalspecificities.

The first specific aim of the regionalsessions was to place the discussions andconclusions of the thematic groups intothe context of the countries in each region.This exercise was designed so as toidentify the broad common priorities forhuman resource development in eachregion. The regional groups discussedwhether the four themes are relevant totheir countries and, if so, at which prioritylevel. They were also invited to discussother priorities not included in the thematicgroup discussions that may requireattention from their regional perspective.

The second specific aim was toexamine whether the new externalassistance instruments can contribute tothe priorities identified for the reform ofeducation and training.

Participants were invited to discusswhether the new instruments facilitate theintegration of human resourcedevelopment strategies and policies into awider socio-economic developmentstrategy.

They were asked to review to whatextent the new instruments considerhuman resources development a priorityand discussed whether or not themeasures and approaches proposed arethe most appropriate for reform efforts. Atopic for debate was whether thesector-wide approach (SWAP) canbecome a method of linking humanresources development strategies withother, broader, development reforms. Orwhether direct budget support is a correctapproach to support ownership,institutional fitness and sustainability ofreforms. Or whether institution buildingand increased governance are neededbefore engaging in SWAP-typeinterventions.

The third aim of the sessions was toarrive at a concise definition of the rolethat the ETF can play linking the priorities

identified by the countries and theopportunities brought by the newinstruments. The discussion will be closelylinked to the new ETF Council Regulationand its possible change of mandate: anextension of the ETF’s scope of work. Inthis context, it will also be relevant toreflect on how policy learning has beeneffectively applied in the three ETF workprogrammes since the Turin Declaration of2003 and on identifying the opportunitiesfor a more consolidated extension of policylearning in the next period.

Strong emphasis on regionalcooperation can be found in theregulations for the three new instruments.The regional sessions will discuss whetherthe accumulated experience in peerreviews and peer learning developed bythe ETF can become the subject ofextended application in other regions or onother topics than those covered hitherto.

Finally, the groups reviewed what hasbeen learned from the Open Method ofCoordination and how it could offer newways of working together among thepartner countries.

Reports from these regional meetingswill be presented during the closingsession on Friday 9 June, before thepresentation of the 2006 TurinDeclaration.



Sandra Stefani, host of the Regional Sessions.

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MEDA-ETE:

PROMOTING

REGIONAL

COOPERATION

AMONG

EQUALS

Education and Training for Employment

(MEDA-ETE) is a major project aiming to

improve TVET systems and boost

employment in Algeria, Egypt, Israel,

Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Syrian

Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey and the

West Bank and Gaza Strip. The annual

forum held recently in Turin was a

chance for the participants to take stock

and see how far they have come since

the project launch in November 2004.

It has been a busy six monthsfor the MEDA-ETE project.

Since the first training activitykicked off in November 2005,workshops and study visits havebeen organised in Belgium,Finland and Portugal. Networksof people from ten differentcountries have begun to worktogether on subjects such ashow young people move fromeducation into their first job orhow e-learning can further theprofessional development ofteachers and trainers. Thebuilding blocks have been put inplace for the first EuroMedObservatory Function.Altogether, the project, whoseoverriding aim is to promoteregional cooperation amongequals, is beginning to weave aweb of contacts and goodwillacross borders and betweenpeople around theMediterranean.

These all came together atthe project’s annual forum, held inTurin 6–7 April 2006. 140delegates, including most of thepeople already active in theproject, sat down together to planthe work for 2006 and reviewprogress to date. Project leader,ETF’s Borhène Chakroun,declared himself reasonablysatisfied. ‘The work so far hasunderlined the need to reinforceand improve training in our MEDApartner countries. It has alsoconfirmed our belief that “learningfrom each other” is the best wayof going about this,’ he said.

Engineering yourown future

The project’s first trainingactivity in Antwerp in November2005 looked at the transitionfrom school to work. Participantswere presented with CATEWE,3

a model for comparing the typesof transition to be found indifferent countries of Europe,and given a chance to comparethis with what goes on in theirown countries. A three-day studyvisit then showed them howprojects in Antwerp tackle thisissue.

In the MEDA-ETE countries,youth unemployment is generallyhigh and most people agreedthat more must be done to makeit easier to find that vital first job.Dan Sharon of Israel’s TaubCenter for Advanced SocialStudies believes that the shiftingnature of the job market meansthat young people have to bemuch more proactive. ‘Youalmost have to engineer yourown future, create your ownopportunities, but young peopledon’t know that,’ he says. ‘It‘s upto the authorities to plan aheadand tell them what work and lifecycles there are.’


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3 Comparative Analysis of Transitions from Education to Work in Europe.

Technology isn’teverything

In December a new networkof teacher training institutes heldits first face-to-face meeting inFinland. This grouping aims tosee how e-learning can beharnessed to boost theprofessional capacity of teachersand trainers in the MEDA region.Visits to Helsinki andHämeenlinna gave the networkmembers an overview ofFinland’s teacher training systemand the opportunities it givesteachers to regularly upgradetheir skills.

Time was made betweenvisits for participants to discusswhat they had seen. A constanttopic during these debriefingsessions was what makes foreffective e-learning. ‘At one pointpeople were looking at thetechnology as the most importantingredient, but by the end theyhad changed their minds,’ saysChakroun. ‘They had come tothe conclusion that just havingcomputers or internet in theclassroom is not enough if youhaven’t thought about thepedagogical system behind it.’Meeting again at the annualforum, the network membersdiscussed what can be done toestablish or develop e-learningmechanisms in their owninstitutions.

Galvanising peopleinto action

In January Lisbon playedhost to the founding meeting ofwhat is probably the mostambitious component of theMEDA-ETE project: theEuroMed Observatory Function.This initiative aims to produce aset of indicators that will highlightat a glance key features of eachcountry’s TVET system andlabour market. This will allow forregional comparisons based onsolid information for the firsttime. This may sound like asimple and straightforward result,but Abdul Ghani, director ofplanning and development at theLebanese ministry of education,believes that the prospect ofbeing compared withneighbouring countries will

galvanise the politicians intoaction. ‘This is the mother of allcomponents,’ he says.Participating in the project alsopushes the data-gatheringorganisations in each country toreview what data they haveavailable and fill in any gaps.

At the Lisbon meeting, theparticipants drew up an initial listof which indicators to work on. Atthe forum in April, they officiallyendorsed the choice of indicatorsand agreed that these should begrouped into several areasincluding investment in educationand training, access and equityin TVET and the labour market,the involvement of socialpartners and the anticipation ofskill needs. From now on themuch harder work of gatheringand processing the informationbegins.

Looking for realanswers to realproblems

The forum gave the ETF theopportunity to inform delegatesof the choice of areas foranalysis and study during 2006.Thus the comparative analysis2006 will look at how careersguidance is provided in the tenMEDA-ETE countries, while the2006 thematic study will examinethe highly topical issue ofrecognition of qualifications. Theforum also provided a chance forthe companies who will help theETF in carrying out the activitiesof promoting entrepreneurshipand developing e-learning tointroduce themselves. Facet, aNetherlands-based companyspecialising in small andmedium-sized enterpriseconsultancy, will be in charge ofhelping service providers in theMEDA region to introduceeffective schemes to help youngunemployed people in the regionbecome self-employed and setup small businesses. Giuntilabs,a specialist in e-learningresearch and development fromItaly, will be responsible fordeveloping suitable e-learningapplications for the training ofTVET trainers.

Above all, the forum gave theparticipants in all the differentnetworks and subgroups that

make up this complexproject the chance tomeet, exchange ideasand build workingrelationships for thefuture. ETF directorMuriel Dunbar urged theparticipants to make themost of this once-a-yearopportunity. This forumis ‘the glue which bindstogether all of thecomponents to make asingle, large regionalproject rather than aseries of small discreteones,’ she says.

The MEDA-ETEproject is a directresponse to thepreoccupations anddesires expressed byEuropean andMediterranean leadersthrough the BarcelonaProcess. It is trying toprovide some realanswers to theproblems facing the tenpartners involved bytargeting education andemployment. Speaking for DGEuropeAid Co-Operation Office(AIDCO), Claire Kupper,programme manager forcentralised operations forEurope, the Mediterranean andthe Middle East, welcomed theprogress that the MEDA-ETEproject has made in its first yearof preparations and six monthsof activities. She urged all theparticipants to make this projectfully theirs, ‘as only if thishappens at each of the differentlevels will the project besuccessful’.

... just havingcomputers orinternet in theclassroom is notenough if youhaven’t thoughtabout thepedagogicalsystem behind it.’


MEDA-ETE: PROMOTING REGIONAL COOPERATION

AMONG EQUALSFEATURE

Borhène Chakroun, ETF team leader for the implementation of theMEDA-ETE Project.

The MEDA-ETE project has brought togethernetworks from 10 countries to work oneducation and labour market related subjects.

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UNIVERSITY–ENTERPRISE

COOPERATIONTempus studyidentifies bestpractices and keychallenges for thefuture

Against the background ofthe Lisbon strategy to create jobsand growth in Europe, the needfor universities and othereducation and traininginstitutions to relate to the worldof business has been recognisedas crucial. The Bologna Processon higher education, wherebydifferent national systems woulduse a common framework, fitsinto this broader strategy andcoincides with EuropeanCommission policy.

In its various communicationsand educational programmes,the European Commission haspromoted university–enterprisecooperation to make educationmore relevant to the needs of thelabour market, improve graduateemployability and maximise theuse of knowledge.

University–enterprisecooperation has been on theagenda of the Tempusprogramme since its launch in1990. In order to increase therelevance of higher education tolabour market needs, manypartner countries have identifiedthis subject as a nationalTempus priority. In mostcountries, including those with amismatch between educationoffer and employers’ needs,cooperation between the worldsof work and education isbecoming an essential topic onthe education policy agenda.

In summer 2005, theDirectorate General forEducation and Culture of theEuropean Commission entrustedthe ETF to carry out a study onuniversity–enterprise cooperationin the partner countries involvedin the Tempus programme. Themain objectives of this studywere to review trends anddevelopments in

university–enterprise cooperationin all Tempus partner countries,and to increase understandingand promote the importance ofthe programme as a means ofenhancing graduateemployability. Particular focuswas placed on underlyingconcepts and objectives, specificexperience andrecommendations for ongoingand future projects, identifyingexisting gaps and the means oftackling them at policy andinstitutional level.

Under review were the socialand economic framework in eachcountry, the policy and strategysetting, involvement in theTempus programme and anyother (inter)nationalprogrammes, as well as currentactivities. Questionnaires weresent to more than 800 Tempuscontacts, including universities,small and medium-sizedenterprises, micro-enterprises,non-governmental organisations,social partners, regional andlocal development agencies,technology transfer centres andcontinuing training centres.

In addition to the assessmentof the questionnaires, deskresearch and field visits werecarried out. Egypt, Moldova,Montenegro, Morocco, theRussian Federation, Serbia andthe former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia were selected forfield visits as they offeredinteresting examples ofuniversity–enterprisecooperation.

In April 2006 the EuropeanCommission, in cooperation withthe Jordanian Ministry of HigherEducation and ScientificResearch, organised a seminarin Amman to present thepreliminary findings of the studyand create a platform forexchange and dissemination ofexisting models and bestpractice between the EU andTempus partner countries.

Tempus in Touch:University–EnterpriseCooperation, as the seminar wasentitled, attracted more than 170participants from the 25 EUMember States and the 26Tempus partner countries,including the Western Balkans,Central and Eastern Europe,Central Asia and theMediterranean region.

In his welcome address, H.E.Dr Khaled Toukan, JordanianMinister of Higher Education andScientific Research, stressed theimportance ofuniversity–enterprise cooperationfor his country, pointing out thatduring recent years initiatives tocreate closer links betweenacademia and industry had beenset up but were not yetinstitutionalised.

Augusto Gonzalez, Head ofthe Tempus and ErasmusMundus Unit, presented currentEU policies and programmes in


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the field. He referred to the keyobjectives of the EU agenda –the creation of economic growthand social development in linewith the Lisbon strategy – andstressed the important role thateducation and training play inthis process.University–enterprisecooperation was the key here.

Ulrike Damyanovic, ETF, andProf. Volker Gehmlich, School ofManagement, Osnabrück,Germany, then presented somepreliminary findings of the study.It revealed that throughout thepartner countries the currentdifficult economic situation, lackor vagueness of legislation orinstitutional strategies, and weakfiscal and regulative incentives,all constitute obstacles to asupportive environment foruniversity–enterprisecooperation. Lack of funds wasidentified as a threat and lack ofawareness of measurablebenefits as a weakness. Therewere clear differences betweenuniversities and industryregarding their targets,terminology, concepts and focuson specific fields of activity.There was little regular dialoguebetween them, and indeedmutual understanding appeared

difficult to achieve due to theirdifferent institutional cultures.Existing models of cooperationseemed mainly based onindividual initiatives and personalrelationships and little had beendone to institutionalisecooperation through localplatforms.

Areas of common interest didhowever emerge from thesurvey, focusing on the transferof knowledge and technology aswell as the recruitment ofwell-qualified human resources.It was recognized that jointdevelopment of education andtraining for the labour marketwas required in order to increaseemployability. Technology parksand continuing training centreswere considered to be importantplatforms to stimulate thistransfer.

A variety of examples of goodpractice in university–enterprisecooperation were found in allregions, mainly in areas where anatural link between educationand research activities alreadyexisted. The combined top-downand bottom-up approach used inTempus was mentioned as verypositive and appropriate, leadingto regular dialogue and thus inturn to a better understanding of

training needs. Some of thestrengths of such cooperationwere the formation of lastingrelationships, lifelong learningopportunities and universityenterprise liaison offices.

The overallrecommendations presented atthe Tempus in Touch seminarfocused on the need forawareness-raising anddissemination activities, creationof appropriate legal frameworks,revision of relevant tax systemsand support for regular dialogueto ensure sustainablecooperation.

Suggestions regardingEU-funded programmes andinstruments were to activelyinvolve enterprises and socialpartners in projects andpartnerships, support thedevelopment of sustainablestructures such as platforms andnetworks, and further developopportunities for co-financingand donor cooperation ingeneral.

Tempus in Touch workshopsalso addressed a range of topicssuch as ‘Policy design andinstitutional measures’,‘Instruments and structures atuniversities’ and ‘Labour needsand responses’. The study onuniversity–enterprisecooperation, as well as theoutcomes and key messagesfrom the seminar, will shortly beavailable to the general public.

... examples ofgood practice inuniversity–enterprise cooperationwere found in allregions, mainly inareas where anatural linkbetween educationand researchactivities alreadyexisted.


UNIVERSITY–ENTERPRISE COOPERATIONFEATURE

European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture

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DEVELOPING KEYCOMPETENCES FORLIFELONG LEARNINGKEY COMPETENCES

4CANNOT BE TAUGHT; THEY

NEED TO BE LIVED THROUGH THE CURRICULUM.by Evelyn Viertel

The discussion on keycompetences is not new. But

interest in it has recently grownin view of the slow progress thateducation systems have made toprepare learners for economiesrequiring multiskilled, highlyinnovative and adaptive peopleand for societies in whichindividuals need to managecomplex careers alternatingmore frequently between workingand learning.

Empirical studies by theOrganisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development(OECD) have confirmed theimportance of literacy andnumeracy in work and everyday

life. Analyses of results from theAdult Literacy and Lifeskillssurvey in 2003, for example,showed a direct link betweennumeracy and activity rate: thelower the level of numeracy, thehigher the risk of professionalinactivity. Obviously, however,reading and mathematicalcompetences are not sufficient tohelp individuals to meetimportant demands today at theworkplace, in the political sphere,in acting as responsible citizens,as partners, as parents and inkeeping healthy.

OECD’s DeSeCoproject

The starting point for OECD’sDefinition and Selection of KeyCompetencies (DeSeCo) projectwas the question: Whatcompetencies do people needfor a successful life and awell-functioning society?Competency was defined as:� the ability to meet complex

demands;� a combination of interrelated

knowledge, cognitive skills,attitudes, values, motivationand emotions;

� action-based andcontext-oriented.

5


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Key competences is a growing area in preparing learners for today's multiskilled economies.

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4 OECD uses the word ‘competencies’.5 D. S. Rychen, Key competencies for a successful life and and society: theoretical foundations, paper presented at ETF

workshop, 30 March 2006.

Key features of theunderlying action competencymodel include the combination ofknowledge and skills withpsychosocial prerequisites, orthe fact that ‘reasoning andemotions are vitally connected’,6

as well as its context orientation.

Key competencies weredistinguished from competenciesin that:� they ‘are important for all

individuals’, which rules outspecific competencies usedonly in particular occupationsor walks of life, such asspecific technical knowledgeand skills to set up ormanage a business;

� they are ‘transversal’;� they require a ‘critical stance

and a reflective practice thatgoes well beyond theaccumulation of knowledgeand facts and basic skills’

7.

The main outcome of theDeSeCo project was anoverarching reference frame forthe identification and clusteringof key competencies, whichserves as a conceptual basis,not least for OECD’sinternational skill assessmentsurveys. It organises keycompetencies into three broadcategories.

The DeSeCo project arguedthat everyone needs to be ableto:1. use and adapt a wide range

of ‘tools’, including not only

IT, but also language,symbols and text, as well asknowledge and information,for interacting effectively withtheir environment;

2. interact in heterogeneousgroups, which includes theability to relate well withothers, to cooperate, and tomanage and resolveconflicts; and

3. take responsibility andmanage their own lives, i.e.to act autonomously.8

All categories require anunderstanding of the ‘broaderpicture’, of the context in whichpeople operate, including valuesystems, as well as the ability toanalyse the demands made onthem, the search for suitablestrategies, self-knowledge, theability to plan, make choices,manage, etc.

EU framework forkey competences forlifelong learning

Key Competences forLifelong Learning – A European

Reference Framework9 definesthe following eight domains:� Communication in the mother

tongue;

� Communication in a foreignlanguage;

� Mathematical literacy, basiccompetence in science andtechnology;

� Digital competence;� Learning to learn;� Interpersonal, intercultural,

social and civiccompetences;

� Sense of innovation andentrepreneurship;

� Cultural awareness andexpression.

10

The main outcomeof the DeSeCoproject was anoverarchingreference framefor theidentification andclustering of keycompetencies ...


DEVELOPING KEY COMPETENCES FOR

LIFELONG LEARNING

Reading and methematical competences are no longer sufficient to helpindividuals meet demands in the workplace.

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THREE BROAD CATEGORIESOF KEY COMPETENCIES

a conceptual basis for identifying and mapping key competencies

Use toolsinteractively

Interact inhomogenousgroups

Act autono-mously

6 A. Gonczi, Teaching and learning of key competencies, in D. S. Rychen and L. H. Salganik (eds), Contributions to theSecond DeSeCo Symposium, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2003, pp. 119–31.

7 Rychen, op. cit.8 Ibid.9 European Commission, Proposal for a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on key

competences for lifelong learning, COM(2005)548 final, 10 November 2005.10 A. Pirrie, Key competences for lifelong learning: a European Union reference framework, paper presented at ETF

workshop, 30 March 2006.

The teachershould act as anobserver, helpingthe students toconsider differentpossibilities, setand follow throughtheir ownschedules, andaddress theirneeds.

Creating an enablinglearningenvironment andusing effectivelearning strategies inschools

The concept of keycompetences calls very muchinto question the traditionalunderstanding of what should betaught in schools and howteaching should be organised.Employers seek people who areable to communicate withincompanies and with the outsideworld, if possible also in a foreignlanguage. They look for staff whocan confidently use a variety ofcomputer applications, who areable to work independently andwithin teams, who can learn in aself-directed manner, who areinnovative and have a broadcultural understanding.

The education system hasbeen very slow to adapt. Thecurriculum often envisages farmore work than can be done.Students only learn what theteacher takes them through. Theteachers have their targetedresults clearly in sight. Everyoneis expected to take the samepath at the same rate and withthe same small steps.

Participants at a EuropeanTraining Foundation workshopon Key Competences forLifelong Learning (Turin, 30–31March 2006) discussed whatwas understood by effectivepedagogical (learning) strategiesand methods, by a favourablelearning environment and by‘education as a total experience’.Examples mentioned include

learning in mixed age or abilitygroups, changing teacher andstudent roles, learning as anintegral part of both instructionand free time, departure from therigid 45-minute pattern, the useof individual portfolios withassignments through whichstudents can work at their ownspeed, the fact that teachingshould be less preoccupied withstudying for tests, thus making

the school a ‘safe haven’ open tocuriosity and experimentation, etc.

The teacher should act as anobserver, helping the students toconsider different possibilities,set and follow through their ownschedules, and address theirneeds. Encouragement,accomplishing manageable tasksand recognition of achievementsare important for students’self-esteem and further their



LIFELONG LEARNINGFEATURE

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCIES

...implies a holistic approach

�

�

�

�

effective pedagogical strategies and methods

an enabling environment

learning throughout life

education as a total experience (around "4 pillars"of learning:

)learning to know, learning to do, learning

to be, and learning to live together

Changes are needed to learning approaches to help individuals to acquirecompetences.

Key competences call into question what exactly should be taught in schoolsand how.

learning success. An emotionalconnection to the teacher iscentral, especially for young oradult students fromlittle-educated families. Teachingmethods need to be based onthe understanding that eachstudent is unique, that aone-size-fits-all approach isunsuitable and thatindividualisation is a key toteaching. To facilitate this,standards for academicachievement at the end of eachgrade would be more suitablethan standardised curricula.Also, schools could benefit froma multitude of external partners,including social workers, parentsand business people, who wouldbring in a sense of the real world.

In summary, changes areneeded to learning approachesto help individuals to acquirecompetences. A favourablematerial, institutional and socialenvironment is important.Competences develop through aholistic approach to teaching and

learning, which is why increasedefforts in the forthcoming yearshave to be made to improve theframework conditions, schoolmanager and teacher trainingand whole-school developmentprojects.

It is also clear thatlife-relevant competences cannotbe developed by initial educationalone. Developmentalpsychology11 confirms thatcompetence development does

not stop at the end ofadolescence, which underlinesthe importance of adult learningand the continuing emphasis onkey competences.

Evelyn Viertel is Team leaderon Key Competences forLifelong Learning at the ETF

DeSeCo Project -http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/61/35070367.pdf



LIFELONG LEARNINGFEATURE

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11 See for example R. Kegan, Competencies as working epistemologies: ways we want adults to know, in D. S. Rychenand L. H. Salganik (eds), Defining and Selecting Key Competencies, Göttingen, Germany, Hogrefe & Huber, 2001, pp.192–204.

ETF LAUNCHES NEWWEBSITE

In early June, the ETF willlaunch its new web site.

Although the site will look familiarto regular users, the changesamount to much more than just afacelift. The launch of the newsite marks the move from awebsite about the EuropeanTraining Foundation to a websiteabout education and training inthe partner countries.

In July and August last year,the ETF held a survey amongthe steadily increasing number ofusers of its website. Growth wasstrong in that year, with thenumber of users jumping by 75%compared to the previous year.

The survey revealed thatmany visitors came to the site inthe hope of finding more specificinformation on education in thepartner countries. The ETFresponded to this by designing anew site that right from the entrypage guides users to their fieldof interest in a much moreintuitive manner than on the oldwebsite did.

The timing coincides with thechange of address fromwww.etf.eu.int towww.etf.europa.eu, but also theanticipation of the new EUinstruments for support and anamended mandate for the ETFplayed a role in the decision toredesign the site this year.

“We wanted a website that isless connected to our internalstructure while users clearlywanted more focus on thecontent of our work.” saysSandra Cavallo, ETF WebManager. In the long run wewant the website to be a clearinghouse for everything thatconcerns education and trainingin the partner countries.”

Technically, there have beenmajor changes. “The old site,with frames, had compatibilityissues with different platformsand was often slow to load,” saysSandra Cavallo. “Loading timesare important for the website ofan organisation whosecounterparts include some lessdeveloped countries. Many ofour users have no access to


IN FOCUS

Sandra Cavallo (right), ETF web manager, shows a colleaguearound the new website.

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HOW TO CONTACT US

Further information can be foundon the ETF website: www.etf.eu.int.

For any additional information, please contact:

External Communication UnitEuropean Training FoundationVilla GualinoViale Settimio Severo, 65I – 10133 TorinoT +39 011 630 2222F +39 011 630 2200E [email protected]

Publications Office

Publications.eu.int

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broadband connections so anyprogress in loading speed will bewelcome to them.

“The new way of compilingthe site also makes it easier tochoose settings that bypassbandwidth-hungry graphics.There is a TXT button at the topof the new page that drops allgraphics out of the text withoutsignificantly changing the layoutof the content. This means userscan have the same functionalitywith pure text browsing. Thatwas not possible before.”

Other technical featuresinclude the introduction of RSSfeeds, allowing users to

subscribe to a limited selectionof ETF information, such asnews, vacancies or calls fortender. Search functionality hasbeen vastly improved too. Thenew site features searcheslimited to projects, publicationsor events, a site map, and anA-Z index of pages.

Finally, switching languageswill become a breeze. A series ofhighlighted buttons on the top ofeach page shows in whichlanguage the information isavailable. A simple click on anyof the buttons displays the pagein the language chosen.

The address of the new siteis www.etf.europa.eu. Staff emailaddresses will also take theextension @etf.europa.eu. Theold URL and email addresseswill remain active for some timestill.

The timingcoincides with thechange of addressfromwww.etf.eu.int towww.etf.europa.eu


ETF LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITEIN FOCUS

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