Duration
26 months
General approach/description of the project
The French Ministry of National Education (MNE) has decided to become institutionally involved in a project to test and develop the credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) for mobility, opting for a transversal approach concerning vocational qualifications produced by the ministry of Education.
The project relates to a specific type of vocational qualification, the French “vocational baccalaureate”. The aim will be to examine in depth the regulatory and organisational provisions in force in relation to the ECVET technical specifications. A comparison of the actual practices following the national rules and the ECVET recommendation will be done. Working groups composed of experts will examine each qualification chosen for the project in order to develop links to learning outcomes and to identify procedures suitable for assessment, validation and recognition procedures in a national context and in a mobility context.The same approach will be pursued regarding a possible system of points. Audits of previous ECVET projects will also be done.
The project will result in:
- Recommendations for the design of qualifications organised into units of learning outcomes;
- Recommendations for the allocation of points;
- Organisational and operational recommendations for recognition, in the award of vocational diplomas, of learning outcomes obtained in situations of mobility.
Target group
In the focus of the project are students aiming at a ‘vocational baccalaureate’, designed and managed by the French Ministry of Education, which is classified as French level IV - 4 of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) .
The project is based on six ‘vocational baccalaureate’, covering different specialised areas from completely different sectors (reception service; secretarial; accounting; health and social work; electrical engineering; building technician).
Dissemination
The following activities are foreseen:
- Information for internal bodies of the Ministry involved in qualification design, involved in international affairs and cooperation and in training provision;
- Information for external bodies and other qualification designers, such as other ministries, social partners;
- Information for European partners and the European level.
A brochure in French and English about the content and aim of the project will be published.
The final dissemination of the project on national level will take place in April 2013.
Transfer And Accumulation
the project aims at facilitating transfer and recognition of learning outcomes achieved abroad to achieve a qualification (Progressively accumulating learning, formalising achieved learning outcomes, progressing or upgrading a qualification).
To create the precondions for that, the second phase of the project was dedicated to the analysis of the conditions under which it would be possible in the French context to carry out an assessment abroad and to transfer and recognise the learning outcomes on return. Currently, all qualifications are awarded based on passing a clearly defined assessment process which enables two types of assessment: final assessment (unit by unit) or continuous assessment (several assessments for each unit during the studies). The continuous assessment option enables to share the assessment between a training centre and a company.
Units of learning outcomes
In the first phase of this project, the five qualifications selected were analysed and compared with the national framework for qualification design and description (the education code which sets the regulatory framework; and the National guide on development of vocational qualifications); and the ECVET technical specifications. The analysis showed that in France, the qualification standard is the core of the qualification. It defines the competences to assess as well as the associated knowledge and groups these into units which are coherent with regard to a given professional situation. In this area, the French national standard of describing a qualification meets ECVET principles such as the definition of qualification in terms of learning outcomes, grouping of learning outcomes into units, etc.
The results of this first phase also showed that there is a need to clarify certain aspects of how French qualifications are described. The concepts/terminology used (activities, tasks, competences) are not always used and understood in the same manner from one qualification to another (this is because each time the committee in charge of designing the qualification is different). Furthermore there is a need to eliminate some aspects of qualifications descriptions that bring unnecessary complexity to the qualifications standards and hinder their legibility. This will feed into the updating of the National guide for development of vocational qualifications.
ECVET Points
-
Consolidation of partnerships in formal agreements
The involvement of partners could lead to future cooperation.
Partnership
Lead partner:
Centre International d’etudes pedagogiques (CIEP)
The official members of the ECVET network (members appointed officially by France), will be associated.
International partners:
- Center de coordination et de gestion, BE
- Direccio General d’ensenyaments especialitzats – Depertment d’Educacio – Generalitat de Cata, ES
- Bundesinstitut fuer Berufsbildung, DE
The three international partner institutions (Belgian, German and Spanish) have knowledge of the French VET system. They will be invited to provide external expertise and oversight.
Lead organisation contact details
Delphine Albert
Martine Paty
1, avenue Léon-Journault, Sevres 92318, FR
Phone: ++33145976932
Fax: ++33145076933
Website
http://www.ciep.fr
Final Project Report
Consult the article on the project MENECVET in the Discussion paper published by the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Project presentation on assessment as held at Rome seminar 26 April 2012
Plaquette: Le Projet MEN-ECVET
Brochure: The Project MEN-ECVET
Consult article on the projects' approach in the 7th issue of the ECVET magazine