Recognising the achievements of citizens is a vital component of all societies. Formal qualifications support individuals’ educational and career mobility and give employers important information about the workforce to support recruitment and training decisions.
Increasingly, qualification systems are failing to achieve these aims because they are out-of-date, largely theoretical instead of practical, of unreliable quality, and may lack clear progression routes for learners or include unnecessary barriers for particular groups.
National qualifications frameworks (NQFs) aim to establish national standards based on actual need, especially of the labour market. This includes:
- improving the quality of qualifications and assessment
- increasing trust in qualifications
- gaining national/international recognition of learners’ achievements.
- better relating qualifications to each other
- improving access, progression routes and transfer of learning
- providing a basis for co-operation between stakeholders in education and training in pursuit of social or economic development or personal goals
Over the last 15 years, we have supported many countries, including Turkey, Romania and India, in the development and implementation of NQFs. We have been successful in expanding knowledge and understanding within ministries so that NQF development becomes part of a wider reform process that includes extensive stakeholder engagement, capacity building for institutions and provision of necessary resources.