Brussels, 18/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Ireland is showing the way by being the first to link its national qualifications to the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (EQF) and leading the way to full transparency of qualifications at European level, the European Commission has announced. “The EQF takes time to implement, so I am very pleased to see that Ireland is first to implement the necessary changes to its national qualifications system to be compatible with the EQF,” said European Education, Training, Culture and Youth Commissioner Ján Figel'.
The EQF, a new European tool to increase the transparency of qualifications across Europe, was adopted by member states last year on a voluntary basis. They have undertaken to link their national certification system to the EQF by 2010. The Framework will help employers to better understand and compare the different national qualifications systems and their levels, whether in general or higher education or vocational education and training. This will, in turn, make it easier to study and work in other European countries: it will allow students to describe their skills to educational institutions or recruiters abroad and will help employers decide whether candidates meet their criteria. Hitherto, companies hesitate to take on foreign job applicants as they have difficulty in determining the level of qualifications of applicants in relation to their own national system. The EQF is based on eight reference levels which are described in terms of learning outcomes, i.e. what a learner knows, understands and is able to do. Once the EQF is fully implemented, a foreign job applicant's certificate would contain a reference to an EQF level, such as “EQF level 5”. Since the relevant qualification authority in each member state will have already provided such a reference to EQF levels in its qualifications in the field concerned, employers will be able to understand the foreign qualification and compare it with their national qualifications. As for the next steps, member states are invited to follow Ireland's example and relate their national qualifications systems to the relevant levels of the European Qualifications Framework by 2010. Several countries have already announced their intention to do so in the near future. From 2012, all new qualifications should bear a reference to the EQF, so that employers and institutions can identify a candidate's skills knowledge, skills or competences. (I.L./transl.rt)