Brussels, 02/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - Getting non-formal training or an apprenticeship has become another way for EU citizens to gain new skills in the workplace since the adoption of the EU certification framework. Implementing the necessary reforms in training and education, member states are trying to meet the targets they set themselves and are gradually changing their education systems and linking them up with those of other countries to make it easier to validate training and education from one country to another. A new report published by the European Centre for the Development of Professional Training (CEDEFOP) gives an overview of national trends, identifying challenges to be met to ensure training really can be validated in other countries. Since the early 1990s, interest in validation of non-formal and informal learning has mushroomed and several European countries have already fully transposed the EU framework into their national systems, adapting them to the purpose, explains the report. CEDEFOP divides countries into three categories: 1) countries that have implemented national plans that are already working in practice (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom); 2) countries where the process is being established (Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Sweden); and 3) countries that have made little progress or where the subject is controversial (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Slovakia and Turkey).
The key issue when introducing a system to validate non-formal and informal learning is the creation of standards that can be recognised by all, explains CEDEFOP. Such systems also have to be as reliable as validation systems for formal learning and it must be possible to subject them to serious re-evaluation. The validation of non-formal and informal education gives people greater autonomy and improves their chances of getting a satisfactory job. The labour market also benefits because it can make the best use of all types of qualification available, argues CEDEFOP. The report (“Validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe: A snapshot 2007”) can be found at: http: //http://www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/Information_resources/Bookshop/publication_details.asp?pub_id=493 (I.L.)