Qualifications Frameworks in 2022 – Global inventory of national and regional frameworks

This Global Inventory of National and Regional Qualifications Frameworks is the result of longstanding collaborative work between the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the European Training Foundation (ETF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).

Volume I continues the role set by previous editions, presenting insights and knowledge from different contexts where regional and national qualifications frameworks are in place across the world. It serves as an observatory, shedding light on advancements and identifying areas that need improvement in line with emerging trends and policy priorities.

Measuring progress

Experts from the four agencies10 applied a common benchmarking system to measure the progress of each individual NQF submitted for the analyses. This guide consists of a series of stages, titled, in ascending order, ‘explorative’, ‘design’, ‘adoption’, ‘activation’, and ‘operational’. Each stage has indicators which signal the extent of conceptual evolution, institutional and technical development, and addition of supporting tools and methodologies. Experts uses the associated indicators to determine the stage reached by the respective NQF examined.

Most NQFs are now being used for their planned purposes

Our investigation reveals that 28 of the 93 frameworks are presently at one of the three early stages, namely explorative, design, and adoption. 8% are at the explorative stage, meaning initial discussions on policy challenges and the possible ways to address these problems are ongoing; working groups at this stage typically look internationally for examples of good practice. 10% are at the design stage. Here, typically, a formal working group has been established. Rationale, scope, and objectives of the NQF have been agreed. Work has commenced on the architecture of the frameworks and its level descriptors. 12% are at the adoption stage, in which countries formally adopt the NQF, most commonly via legislation. Usually, too, at this stage, roles and responsibilities are assigned to stakeholders, sometimes in the legislation or in other official documentation. An implementation strategy has been adopted.

The majority of the NQFs surveyed, 65 of the 93, are now at one of the two more advanced stages, namely activation and operational. 30% are at the activation stage, signifying that stable governance structures and day- to-day administrative capacities are in place; QA arrangements have been developed; and some outcomes-based qualifications are being allocated to levels and are available for use via registers. During this stage, we see the gradual but distinct shift from an internal focus on the design and adoption of the framework, to an external focus where end users such as learners, providers, workers, and employers are addressed. 43% have reached the operational stage. By operational, we mean that they have adopted the NQF; they include outcomes-based qualifications; their governance arrangements are settled and functioning; they place qualifications in a register or database; and the certificates and diplomas bear NQF levels. Here, the NQF is fulfilling one of its key intended functions, improving transparency and comparability.

Such figures say that frameworks are either already delivering on their intended functions and contributions, or just beginning to do so. We can therefore say that they are being implemented.

Europe has higher numbers and proportions of countries at the activation and operational stages (see Figure 2) than other continents. The Asia-Pacific region is second highest against this measurement. However, as indicated earlier, due to the data available for these analyses, European countries are disproportionately represented. A second
factor is that, from 2008 onwards especially, with the establishment of the regional EQF, there was a flourishing of European NQFs before significant numbers of NQFs were established in the Arab states, Africa, and Latin America.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ Global inventory of national and regional qualifications frameworks 2022 | CEDEFOP

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