The project „Towards a EQF – The stakeholders’ views and experiences” aims at facilitating mutual exchange of experiences between stakeholders from different countries in setting up a National Qualifications Framework (NQF), implementing the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) by aligning their NQF to it and putting in place supporting instruments necessary to allow for the full success of the EQF. The project aims at mutual co-operation between stakeholders, to allow them to learn from each other, discuss and exchange their different opinions and experiences with each other.
Five key stakeholders from five different countries, which are at different stages in the implementation of the EQF and their respective NQF, are brought together in this project to share their experiences. This experience exchange between these five stakeholders/countries will be documented and shared with other stakeholders in all European countries, so that they can increase their capacity to tackle the implementation of the EQF in their respective countries.
The work is carried out along some guiding questions concerning the stakeholders’ roles and experiences:
- What are the main challenges from the stakeholders’ perspective in setting up a NQF? How do the stakeholders actively involve themselves in that process?
- What is the impact of an overarching NQF on the national qualification system?
- According to stakeholders, what specific benefits can be achieved by setting up an overarching NQF and aligning it to the EQF?
- Which are the most crucial supporting instruments from the stakeholders’ perspective? How can stakeholders contribute to putting them in place?
The European stakeholders are involved in the co-ordination of the project. An Advisory Board has been set up, consisting of the European stakeholders’ experts dealing with the issue of qualifications frameworks. The Advisory Board consists of the European University Association (EUA), the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE), the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU), the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the Education International (EI) Pan-European Structure and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
There are five stakeholders at national level (Project Partners) involved: A national higher education student union, an organisation of higher education institutions, a national employers’ organisation, a national trade union and a national organisation of secondary school and VET students.
The five national stakeholders/countries cover the following three distinguishable stages of implementation/progress:
- An overarching NQF is in place, which is to be aligned to the EQF (Ireland)
- A qualifications framework is in place only for one specific sector, in this case higher education (Germany)
- No Qualifications Framework is in place at all (yet) (Belgium – Flemish community, Norway, Slovenía)
Whilst the Advisory Board is contributing with general and overarching recommendations on the project, the Project Partners are bringing together their specific experiences as the involved stakeholders. The Coordinator (ESU) organises the meetings of the Project Partners and the Advisory Board and documents the proceedings. ESU will organise the final conference and the production of material.
