Autumn is full of meetings, conferences and seminars on vocational education and training.
The Centre for Education Development is holding a series of 12 sectoral seminars during which representatives of ministries, Centre experts, the Educational Research Institute and the Central Examination Board will join in a discussion with industry representatives about the directions in which a given sector and its occupations are developing. The meetings are being implemented as part of the Partnership for Vocational Training project, aimed at adapting vocational education and training to the needs of the labour market. These activities are carried out in cooperation with employers and other social partners.
During the project, representatives of employers, industry associations and employers' organisations are developing curriculum for vocational training, diploma supplements, professional development pathways, and other program documents.

The European Commission, in collaboration with public and private partners as well as Cedefop have developed the latest version of the ESCO (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations ) classification system. This is a multilingual European classification system that defines and classifies the skills, competences, qualifications and occupations relevant to the EU labour market and vocational education and training. Classification helps to identify and manage the skills, competences and qualifications in the vocational education and training system. The role of ESCO is also to reduce barriers to job mobility and to help establish cross-border co-operation between employers and training institutions. ESCO is part of the Europe 2020 strategy. The classification is made up of three modules: occupations, skills and qualifications.
The latest version of the classification was released in July 2017. The update is the result of pilot work and testing conducted in public and private institutions co-operating with the European Commission. Successive versions of the classification will ensure that it reflects reality and is useful for its various target groups.
A conference presenting the latest version of ESCO v1 will take place in Brussels on 9-10 October 2017. During the presentations, interactive workshops and discussions, conference participants will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the ESCO classification and structure. The conference is addressed to a wide range of partners from: public and private employment agencies, human resources departments, education and vocational training, employers, professional organisations and others.
More information about the ESCO classification system can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal

One of the most important activities in preparing qualified staff for industry is to provide vocational training combined with practical training in the workplace. To this end, close cooperation between vocational training institutions and employers is required to organise practical vocational training, for example, through dual training.

The aim of the competition is to prepare model solutions for involving employers in the organisation of practical vocational training. The competition is intended for: employers’ and employees’ associations, self-governed business and professional groups, academic units, academic and vocational higher education institutions. The activities planned within a proposed project must focus on defined economic sectors: administration and services, construction, electrical and electronics, the arts, mechanics, mining and metallurgy, agriculture-forestry, tourism-food services, medicine and social services.

The main activities to be carried out are:
I. Determining the cost of vocational education for the occupations in a given economic sector
II. Developing a model programme of practical education for an occupation in a given economic sector
III. Conducting a pilot of the developed model in the 2018/2019 school year
IV. Developing guidelines for the quality assurance of the practical training occurring in a workplace
V. Developing recommendations on amendments to the law on education

Applications are being accepted from July 31 to September 15, 2017.

Additional information about the contest is available from efs.men.gov.pl 

The Sectoral Qualifications Framework for Telecommunications (SQF Tele) is to assist in the process of creating modern, transparent, and comparable forms of education, validation, and qualifications certification in the telecommunications sector.
SQF Tele is a sectoral extension of a Polish Qualifications Framework. Four sectoral framework levels have been outlined for the infrastructure: Three through Seven, with three (Three through Six) defined for end user appliances.

SQF Tele level characteristics are descriptions of learning effects (by knowledge, skills, and social competencies) typical for the telecommunication sector.
The fundamental purpose of drafting the Sectoral Qualifications Framework for Telecommunications is that of providing the telecommunications sector with a standardised tool, enabling the sector to:

1. Draft a qualifications map for the telecommunications sector,
2. Draft training and validation programmes,
3. Define detailed requirements for the certification process,
4. Identify competencies of job applicants,
5. Make appropriate career-development decisions (from the viewpoint of employees and/or other individuals interested in a telecommunications-related career),
6. Develop professional mobility for sectoral staff.

We cordially invite you to take a look at these publication!

Sectoral Qualifications Framework for Telecommunications (SQF Tele)

The latest leaflet with information on what the ReferNet network is up to is now available. It includes the most current contact information for the ReferNet network partners in Europe and sources of information generated by the network.

Sharing knowledge

Vocational school students are invited to participate in a contest for a film promoting vocational education. Make a video using any technique on one of the following topics: My occupation in the global job market or Vocational school - I like it! Submit an application form, put the video on a website and you will be eligible to win a valuable prize. The main prize in the competition is drone – the perfect device for filming from a bird’s eye view! The deadline for submitting applications is 30.10.2017.

Cedefop invites you to take part in a photography contest entitled "Education and Vocational Training: Tell Us Your Story". Two to three-person teams of students from the vocational education and training sector can participate in the contest. Its purpose is to encourage students to present what vocational education and training means to them and to share their experiences in vocational education.
The prize is a trip to Brussels or Thessaloniki.
The deadline for submitting entries is 15 July 2017.
Details of the contest are available at the Cedefop website.

In commemoration of the accession of Poland to the European Union (May 1) and European Union Day (May 9), the European Documentation Centre in cooperation with ReferNet Poland organised an exhibit to promote the publications of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training Cedefop from the collections of the European Reading Room of the Main Library of the Cracow University of Economics (ML CUE). 

Publication series were displayed, such as:
• VET in Europe – country reports
• Spotlight on
• Short description and others.

Academic staffs are one of the main targets of the reports and analyses published by Cedefop, and for this reason, the exhibit was organised at the ML CUE – to emphasise the role of libraries in promoting Cedefop publications in the academic community.

The exhibit may be viewed in the hall of the Main Library of CUE in Kraków,
at 27 Rakowiecka Street on the third floor.

We cordially invite you to see this exhibit.

Two publications have been recently issued on one of the most important tools of the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS) – the Polish Qualifications Framework (PQF). The PQF is the result of several years of experts’ work and broad public debate. The PQF organises the qualifications awarded in general, vocational and higher education, as well as those attained outside these systems. The Framework makes it easier to compare qualifications to others functioning within the country, as well as to those awarded in other European countries. Like the European Qualifications Framework, the PQF has eight levels, each defining the required learning outcomes in the categories of knowledge, skills and social competence.
The publication "The Polish Qualifications Framework" presents the specific level descriptors for two stages of descriptors: universal (first stage) – applicable to all qualifications in the IQS, and second stage – a more detailed layer of descriptors typical for qualifications awarded in general education, at PQF level 5, higher education and vocational education and training. The information presented in the publication conforms to the regulations governing PQF level descriptors in the Act on the Integrated Qualifications System.
The second publication, "The Polish Qualification Framework. User Guide" provides basic information about the Polish Qualifications Framework, its structure and level descriptors. It explains the role of level descriptors in the process of determining a qualification’s level. Specific instructions are provided to assist in reading and interpreting individual entries of the PQF. The publication also discusses the specific qualities of subsequent levels of the Framework, complemented by examples of selected learning outcomes and qualifications aligned with particular levels.
This guide was prepared for persons who will be working on specifying the levels of qualifications. It is also intended as an aid to all those involved in determining the learning outcomes of a qualification and in developing sectoral qualifications frameworks.
We cordially invite you to take a look at these publications!

The conference “Two worlds? Methods of finding a job and methods of recruitment. A comparison using the example of the Poznań agglomeration” was held on April 6 in Poznań, organised by the Economic and Labour Market Observatory of the Poznań Agglomeration Vocational Counselling Centre for Youth. Representatives of Poland’s ReferNet network attended the conference.
The purpose of the conference was to present the results of qualitative research (FGI) conducted by the Observatory among students, employers and labour market institutions of the Poznań agglomeration. A total of 60 participants took part in the study. The study looked at the strategies and methods of looking for work and employees from the perspective of three groups: students, employers and labor market institutions.
A number of postulates were developed by the various groups participating in the study. Employers claimed that such characteristics in a candidate as loyalty, initiative, personal culture, and social competence are very important in the process of looking for an employee. It is also important for candidates to be able to justify why they are applying for a position in the company. Students noted the need to increase the number of hours spent on practical work during formal education. They also recognised that elements facilitating job searches include early contact with the labour market and individual counseling, also via the internet. Representatives of labour market institutions (including schools) recognised that promoting new methods of working among counsellors, such as using case studies or online counseling, will improve the process of searching for jobs and finding employees. Raising the prestige of vocational training, also among school directors and teachers, was considered to be a very important issue.
More information about the study is at the Observatory’s website and in the report entitled „Dwa światy. Metody poszukiwania pracy a metody poszukiwania zatrudnienia. Porównanie na przykładzie aglomeracji poznańskiej [Two worlds. Methods of finding a job and methods of recruitment. A comparison using the example of the Poznań Agglomeration]” (in Polish).