Over the last few years, the impact the European Qualifications Framework had on educational systems in Europe can be claimed to be one of Jan Figel's outstanding legacies of his term of office as European Education Commissioner. I have been in several formal and informal meetings in which Mr Figel spoke about the European Qualifications Framework, the last being the European Training Foundation's conference on the EQF, Linking To A Globalised World, organised in the European Parliament.
A total of 200 education experts from 60 countries from Botswana to the United Arab Emirates, from Uruguay to Sydney came to Brussels on January 29 to take a close look at the EQF and see what a powerful tool it could be for education and training in their countries. Top education politicians explained why they believe the EQF is as important in today's difficult economic climate as it is for future prosperity.
I can still recall the Czech Minister of Education, Ondrej Liska saying that "this meta framework is not a pointless construction, it is a way of translating qualifications and building trust between stakeholders as a prerequisite for economic growth. It is a long-term and difficult goal but it is clear that the EU should not think of addressing this challenge without its partners in the rest of the world".
For Mr Figel, the EQF is, above all, a powerful tool for encouraging people to be mobile, "not just as tourists but as citizens with rights". After years of work developing the concept, Europe is now starting to put it into practice with countries such as France, Ireland, Malta and the UK taking the lead.
In an informal ministerial meeting on education in Vienna in 2006, I argued that the EQF is not simply a formal structure for transparency, transferability and progression but must be seen by politicians and stakeholders as a "catalyst for change in educational reform". In his rounding up of that conference, Mr Figel referred to Malta's assertion about the EQF and supported such a claim by adding that the EQF goes beyond the qualifications that it helps referencing, cutting deeper into the essence of what European education is all about - building trust, transparency and mobility.
Two and a half years passed since that meeting in Vienna and one is pleased to note that Malta, along with France, Ireland and the UK, are acknowledged by the Education Commissioner as leading this process.
Mr Figel himself has been the catalyst par excellence to bring about the EQF as a strong political device for educational unity across a continent rich in education and training but equally diverse in systems and processes.
The EQF is gradually becoming a constant point of reference in educational reform and innovation. It is the end result of a political process that took off from the Lisbon Strategy (2000), connected its bearings with the Bologna Process (1999) for higher education and injected a new lease of life in the Copenhagen Process (2002) for vocational education and training. As a process, it also has a direct impact on compulsory education particularly with its focus on the need for the acquisition of key competences for lifelong learning. It is within the formative early years that every citizen must acquire such competences in order to endure an increasingly diverse, challenging and unpredictable labour market.
At the heart of the EQF are eight reference levels describing what a learner knows, understands and is able to do, termed learning outcomes. Levels of national qualifications will be placed at one of the central reference levels, ranging from basic (Level 1) to advanced (Level 8). Such a framework will enable much easier comparison between national qualifications and will also mean that people do not have to repeat learning if they move from one EU member state to another. The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational.
The EQF system shifts the centre of attention from learning inputs such as the length of a learning experience or type of institution to learning outcomes measured by what a person knows and is capable of doing. It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning. Countries are encouraged by this process to relate their qualifications systems or frameworks to the EQF by 2010 and to ensure that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to the appropriate EQF level.
These tasks form the core remit of the Malta Qualifications Council, which, over the last three and a half years, has spearheaded the Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) for lifelong learning, produced four policy documents (and a detailed annotated curricula for key competences based on the EQF) to assist stakeholders in supporting and implementing the process. It has conducted over 15 sectoral meetings on the EQF and five national conferences. It led an EQF project on referencing tourism qualifications to the EQF and has been awarded a second EQF Leonardo project by the Commission to work on the validation of informal and non-formal learning.
The MQC is now finishing a document on a referencing process for all qualifications to the MQF and to the EQF. The year 2012 is only 34 months away. The referencing process is a technical but also laborious task. It, however, builds into any qualifications system a strong element of transparency, accountability and flexibility. It will, therefore, be a learning experience for us and those who will be involved with us to accomplish this ongoing task. Our ability to navigate between the Lisbon, Bologna and Copenhagen processes has been the turning point in addressing such issues in a relatively short period of time.
Such impact would not have been possible without the political acumen of Mr Figel. A soft-spoken Slovak politician, Mr Figel has a clear vision of a European education built on the foundations of an inclusive and fair system referenced to the EQF and in which every citizen is valued on the capacity he or she possesses. I personally think that his European legacy will be largely marked by this bold project. It is a privilege to have him here in Malta and I augur that his visit will serve to attract employers, training providers, learners, parents, teachers and workers to look at education as an ongoing lifelong process.
Dr Calleja is chief executive officer of the Malta Qualifications Council.
www.mqc.gov.mt