In May of this year, two ReferNet partners, ISFOL from Italy  and Eoppep from Greece, organised Partnership Forums. The two events focused on the VET policy questionnaire, Spotlight on VET, national news and VET in Europe reports. Additional important topics were: writing for an international audience, using common terminology and peer reviewing other partners' reports. Workshops on the survey of the international mobility of initial vocational education and training (IVET) learners were also organised this year.

ReferNet partners and Cedefop organise Partnership Forums each year to exchange views and experiences on vocational education and training and to elaborate a common understanding of tasks in the annual work plan.

More information is available at the Cedefop website.

The EQAVET (European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training) Network met at the Educational Research Institute on April 14-15, 2016. This was another meeting in the cycle of Peer Learning Activities. The following topics were the main themes of the meeting:

1. Quality assurance for defining qualifications and qualification standards based on the learning outcomes approach;
2. Quality assurance for assessment and certification of learning outcomes.

Cedefop released a report in December 2015 summarising research on the role of in-company trainers in small and medium-sized enterprises. The study provides answers to basic questions on such issues as: who provides training in small and medium-sized enterprises, what kind of qualifications do trainers have, what are their main tasks and activities, how do they update their competences, how do employers support them, and do publicly support programmes exist for them?

254 enterprises participated in the study from eight countries (Belgium-Flanders, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal) and four sectors (automotive, construction, IT and hotel and food). Both trainers and employers were respondents in the study.

More information is available at the Cedefop website.

The most recent issue of the quarterly Education focuses on vocational education. The articles on VET include Iga Magda’s analysis of the qualifications upgrading among adults with basic vocational education reported in the Determinants of Educational Decisions study (2013 and 2014) carried out by the Institute of Educational Research.

The fourth article on the outcomes of the European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey, just published by Cedefop, analyses the determinants of adult workers’ skills development.

The ESJ survey data showed a positive relationship between the number of years in a job and a person’s skills development, which confirms the well-known thesis that skills building needs time. But even more interesting is the conclusion that the period in which workers continue to develop their skills is long: skills development is still positive after 15–20 years with the same employer.

The survey also showed the influence of organisational resources on workers’ skills development: employees who were able to benefit from multiple ways of developing their skills at work had higher levels of skills than those who had a more limited array of skills development opportunities.

More information is available at the Cedefop website

Cedefop has just published a report on the governance and financial aspects of  apprenticeships in Spain, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Sweden. The report presents normative model arrangements of apprenticeships’ governance and financing, guaranteeing effectiveness and high-quality. Against this benchmark, the situation in selected countries is assessed and recommendations are formulated to ensure further development of the scheme.

More information is available at the Cedefop website

The 30 ReferNet partners from all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway inaugurated a new, four-year partnership agreement (2016-2019) with Cedefop in January 2016.

The meeting was an opportunity not only to discuss implementation of the 2016 work plan, but also to present the results of the study “European skills and jobs survey” and discuss the „Initial VET mobility scoreboard” project.

During the current cooperation period, ReferNet has eight new member institutions from the countries of: Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Hungary and Poland.

More information is available at the Cedefop website

Cedefop, the European Union agency supporting vocational education and training, has chosen the Educational Institute as ReferNet’s Polish partner for the period of 2016 – 2019. The aim of ReferNet is to provide information and monitor changes in vocational education and training (VET) of EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.

During the current cooperation period, ReferNet has eight new member institutions from the countries of: Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Hungary and Poland.

More information is available from the Cedefop website