Unlocking Potential through Literacy & Lifelong Learning

1. “Creating New Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning”Dr. Patrick WerquinProfessor, CNAM, Paris and Independent ConsultantFormerly Senior Economist, OECD (Education)Formerly Programme Specialist, UNESCO (Education)

2. Agenda • Main Idea and Background: Literacy, Adult Learning and Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning (RNFIL) • Terms and Concepts: Literacy and Recognition • Rationale: Literacy and RNFIL • Analysis of RNFIL: Cost/Benefit; RNFIL vs. Training • Applications: Examples from Country Practice • Critical Factors for Sustainability Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

3. Qualifications Systems as a Policy Tool With Mike Coles (QCA) For a short summary  see: www.oecd.org/dataoecd/10/2/38500491.pdf Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

4. Main Conclusions (in 2007) • Together with: • Qualifications Frameworks • Credit Transfer Systems • Involvement of all Stakeholders • Information and Guidance • … • … recognition of non-formal and informal learning is (RNFIL) is a potential mechanism to promote Lifelong Learning • Therefore: new OECD activity (2007-2009) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

5. Main Conclusions (in 2007) • Together with: • Qualifications Frameworks • Credit Transfer Systems • Involvement of all Stakeholders • Information and Guidance • … • … recognition of non-formal and informal learning is (RNFIL) is a potential mechanism to promote Lifelong Learning • Therefore: new OECD activity (2007-2009) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

6. Adult Learning Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

7. Adult Learning: Main Lessons • General under provision  • Motivation (of adults) is the main issue Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

8. Enrolment in Educational Institutionsby Age Group Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

9. Adult Literacy: IALS, ALL, (PIAAC)° Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

10. Adult Literacy: What is it? • Real competencies unknown… • … but there is a need to know them • We need to know them, in short, for policy action • Qualification vs. competences • Initial education and training vs. adult learning Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

11. Adult Literacy: What is it? • How skills are acquired and lost? • How policies can shape the process of skill formation, especially in view of the increasing orientation of structural funds towards human capital objectives? • Target groups and individuals most in need not necessarily observable • Technological progress => Communication easy and cheap, innovation, KE • Wider benefits (social inclusion, citizenships issues) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

12. Adult Literacy: What is it? - Not a basic threshold of reading ability. • No longer “Can you read?” but “How well do you read?”. Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

13. Adult Literacy: What is it? The ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities, at home, at work and in the community to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential. Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

14. Adult Literacy: What is it? - Skills that are teachable - Skills that can be learned - Skills used to facilitate other activities - Skills important to learning other new skills • Skills that are individual attributes that form the basis of independent action • In short: foundation skills, needed to learn further Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

15. Adult Literacy: What is it? - 3 domains : PROSE DOC(ument) QUANT(itative) - 20 Countries or Regions. - 6 years of work (1994-95, 1996 and 1998). Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

16. Adult Literacy: What is it? - From 0 to 500 in the 3 domains (PROSE, DOC and QUANT) - Scores have been grouped so as to show different skills in different levels of proficiency. - 5 Levels: • Level 1: 0 and 225 • Level 2: 226 and 275 • Level 3: 276 and 325 • Level 4: 326 and 375 • Level 5: 376 and 500 Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

17. The 5 Levels in Detail  Level 1 indicates persons with very poor skills, where the individual may, for example, be unable to determine the correct amount of medicine to give a child from information printed on the package. Level 2 respondents can deal only with material that is simple, clearly laid out, and in which the tasks involved are not too complex. It denotes a weak level of skill, but more hidden than Level 1. It identifies people who can read, but test poorly. They may have developed coping skills to manage everyday literacy demands, but their low level of proficiency makes it difficult for them to face novel demands, such as learning new job skills. Level 3 is considered a suitable minimum for coping with the demands of everyday life and work in a complex, advanced society. It denotes roughly the skill level required for successful secondary school completion and college entry. Like higher levels, it requires the ability to integrate several sources of information and solve more complex problems. Levels 4 and 5 describe respondents who demonstrate command of higher-order information processing skills. Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

18. The 5 Levels in Short  Levels 1 and 2: Represent a shortfall relative to the desirable minimum. Level 3: Minimum suitable (everyday life, workplace, modern society) Levels 4 and 5: Good handling and processing of information Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

19. Distribution of Literacy Distribution of Literacy SWE CAN DNK US US Patrick Werquin, International Conference CERI-OECD, Evidence from the IALS, Paris, 13 February 2008

20. Adult Literacy: What is it? • Who is at Prose Level 1: • Low Ed. Attainment -With vocational preparation • Rather feminine - Rather old - More often single • Low income - Also at Document Level 1 • Do NOT go to library or concert • More often born abroad • Deny having issues with literacy Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

21. Adult Literacy: Main Lessons • Large proportion of individuals with a low level of literacy (Best=Sweden: 25% at level 1) • Low level people deny the issue • The “mismatch”: Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

22. Adult Literacy: the Mismatch 10% 40% 10% 40% Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

23. Adult Literacy: the Mismatch 10% 40% 10% 40% There are self-learners  Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

24. Main Idea behind RNFIL Recognising all learning outcomes, whatever the context(whether formal, non-formal or informal) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

25. Issues and Questions • What is it? • How do you measure it? • How do you assess it? • What is recognition? • Who does it? • Does it work? • How much does it cost? Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

26. Based on an OECD Activity in… … 22 countries on the 5 continents: Australia, Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (Same issues, different responses) www.oecd.org/edu/recognition Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

27. Possible Outcomes of RNFIL • RNFIL has value in the lifelong learning (LLL) system and in the labour market, e.g: • Exemptions (academic prerequisite) • Credits (toward a qualification) • Interim qualification (toward a qualification) • Partial qualification (some component of a job) • Full qualification/certification Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

28. Terms • Many terms (in English): • RPL (Australia, South-Africa, Ireland…), PLAR (Canada), APL or APEL (UK…)… • RAS (Recognition of Acquired Skills ) • (Recognition of previous knowledge ) • Recognition of Learning Outcomes Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

29. Terms and Concepts • Many terms (English): • RPL (Australia, South-Africa, Ireland…), PLAR (Canada), APL or APEL (UK…)… • RAS (Recognition of Acquired Skills) or RAC (Recognition of Acquired Competences): BEL-Flanders • (Recognition of previous knowledge ) • Recognition of Learning Outcomes: EU • Other languages: • EVC (Flanders, Netherlands…), VAE (France), RANFI (Mexico), Acreditación and Certificación (Spain)… Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

30. Terms (cont’d) • Other languages: • Anerkennung von non-formalem und informellem lernen (Austria, Germany) • EVC (Flanders, Netherlands…) • Validation (VAE, France) • RANFI (Mexico), Acreditación (Spain) • Japan (no name!!!) • Italy (varies by Province) • Nordic European countries (also varies) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

31. Recognition of What: NFIL • Many definitions of NFIL  - Not consensual  • Formal learning: • Structured in terms of content, scheduling, organisation and financing • Informal learning: • Not structured, never intentional • Non-formal learning: • Varies a lot (the least consensual ): in between formal and informal, with variations to allow for national/regional/local or sectoral specificities) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

32. Recognition • Recognition too has many meanings  • Keyword: here it’s social recognition: whether outcomes have value and are used in the society, in the labour market typically? (not specific to RNFIL). (As soon as you agree, you have issues because this not happening - Not yet appealing to young people for them to drop out from school) • Key issue: recognition does not necessarily mean a high level of formalisation, but it needs some (continuum of outputs, from self esteem to qualifications for the labour market). Where quality assurance comes in!! Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

33. Definitions: Recommendations • Do not waste time • Better to focus on learning outcomes, as opposed to just learning: it’s easier. A key concept that EQF and RNFIL have in common. • Better to focus on non-formal and informal learning, as opposed to formal learning: it’s more innovative/promising (and not already done) • Better to focus on recognition, as opposed to just non-formal and informal learning: it’s easier because it’s visible(process) • In short: “recognition of non-formal and informal learning outcomes” is what matters • And recognition does not necessarily means “highly formalised” Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

34. Rationale (Labour Market and LLL) • Time and Cost (cheaper, not free, not cheap) • Untapped human capital • Motivation (not starting from scratch) • Demography… • Job matching • Unqualified individuals/workers may have skills • Crisis (assessment a good start before reskilling) • Certificates awarded by vendors>Certification MOE • Employers do it all the time (practical/informal) • In short: a lot has to do with competences, qualifications and the labour market Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

35. Main Rationale But why do we need more qualifications? Creating new routes to qualifications! Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

36. Rationale: A More Qualified Labour Force! Visibility of skills, knowledge and competences Skills shortages (availability or… visibility) Distribution of qualifications, occupational mobility Regulated occupations, and labour markets ISO processes (quality) Public contracts Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

37. Rationale: A Policy Tool Time and Cost (untapped human capital) Motivation (not starting from scratch) Demography… Employers do it all the time (practical/informal) Consistent with qualifications frameworks (outcomes) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

38. Rationale: A Policy Tool • It’s flexible: continuum of outputs, from self assessment (portfolio) to full certification • Job matching • Training has a cost (RNFIL is cheaper) • Unqualified individuals/workers may have skills • Motivator for resuming formal studies • Crisis (assessment a good start before reskilling) • Certificates awarded by vendors>Certification MOE Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

39. How Does it Work? • Here again, approaches vary a lot. Common patterns: • Information and guidance • Documentation • Assessment • (full) Certification/Qualification (or not) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

40. How Does it Work in Detail? • In detail: • Information and guidance (needs vary a lot) • Documentation (Portfolio, previous jobs or training periods…) • Assessment (Portfolio - Simulation, Observation, Written tests, Interview, Panel…) • (full) Certification/Qualification (or not) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

41. How Does it Work and the labour market? • The labour market is everywhere: • Information and guidance (information or even decisions often come from employers, colleagues, unions) • Documentation (many documents come from previous jobs/employers) • Assessment (many methods involve the workplace) • (full) Certification/Qualification (or not) (mainly useful in the labour market) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

42. RNFIL and NQF/EQF Creating new routes to qualifications!  (Developing existing (formal) routes) It is NOT about awarding underserved qualifications to everybody (frequently heard comment)  Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

43. Link between VET/LM and RNFIL • Visibility of skills, knowledge and competences • Skills shortages (availability or… visibility) • Distribution of qualifications • Regulated occupations • ISO processes • Public contracts • Many of these arguments can also be used for establishing a qualifications framework Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

44. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

45. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

46. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

47. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

48. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

49. Applications of RNFIL Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011

50. Country Practice in Short • Some countries have a legal framework • Some don’t • Some countries recognise academic knowledge, skills and competences (Portugal) • Some focus on competences for the labour market • Some may award full qualifications on the basis of recognition of non-formal and informal learning, many do not • Some use existing standards (from the world of education), some create specific ones (close to the labour market needs) Dr. Patrick Werquin, Creating Opportunities through Literacy and Recognition, SIAE, Ljubljana, 7 December 2011