VET/HRD research and development initiatives in ROMANIA

1. VET/HRD research and development initiatives in ROMANIA Magdalena BALICA, Liliana VOICU ECER, University College Dublin 07 –10 September 2005

2. Background • Early ’90 • Small research capacities, lack of research networks • Short tradition of VET research, as a separated entity of the research field • Low awareness of VET&HRD importance • Low awareness and trust in research • Low investments in VET and HRD research • Lack of relevant data and statistics on VET and HRD • Huge needs for research related to the implementation of VET and HRD reforms Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

3. Links between research and development initiatives and VET/HRD policies 1995-2000 • Contextual links of research with the main reform areas in HRD and VET: (Phare VET, Phare Social and Economical Cohesion 2000) • Fragmented interests and “emergency” type research (feasibility studies, impact evaluation, system diagnoses, strategy design in different VET and HRD areas) • The focus of research are system changes of VET and HRD, other deep and specific analyses are rare and isolated • Gap between IVET and CVT – reflected in research as well • Still not clear research policies at national level Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

4. Links between research and development initiatives and VET/HRD policies Current situation • Some efforts to link research & policies have been made • The strategies in VET and HRD refer directly/indirectly to the need for more research • Increased participation of Romania to the international and European research activities (ETF, Cedefop, Eurostat, Eurydice, OECD, UNESCO) • Efforts for collecting relevant statistical data on VET and HRD (National Institute for Statistics improved the data collection on CVT and HRD) • Efforts to link the IVET and CVT, including research • Isolated private analyses (HRD analyses in big companies, market studies by training providers, specific NGOs’ analyses) • Still not explicit research policies at national level Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

5. EU sponsored VET/HRD research and development initiatives and VET/HRD Policies • ETF(Romanian National Observatory) • Annual reports on reform changes in IVET and CVT; Key indicators reports; other specific research on social partnership, institution building, company surveys, skills survey, quality assurance etc. • CEDEFOP activities • Articles, VET-inst and VET-bib data base • Phare (related studies on current situation and demands) • PHARE TVET programme 2001-2003 • Twining project on CVT • Phare Social and Economic Cohesion. Human Resources Development • Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, Youth for Europe • Sapard programme • Preparation for ESF type activities Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

6. Overview of important issues and themes addressed in current VET/HRD Research and Development projects • Quality assurance (new law on QA, pilot projects, capacity building of QA assurance system in CVT) • Curriculum for VET and CVT • Teacher & trainer training in VET and CVT • Social Partnership in VET and CVT • National Qualification Framework capacity building • CVT at the company level Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

7. Main research capacities • Public research institutions (Institute of Educational Sciences, National Institute of Economy, National Institute for the Quality of Life, Centre for Youth Study, National Institute for Statistics, National Research Centre on Labour and Social Protection Issues, National Institute for Adult Education) • Universities • National bodies (Centre for Development of Vocational and Technical Education, National Adult Training Board, National Agency for Employment) • Private actors (NGOs, big companies, training providers) Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

8. Funding frameworks and support structures for VET/HRD Research and Development • Ministry of Education and Research • IES, Universities, research units, national agencies • Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity • National Research Centre on Labour and Social Protection Issues • National Agency for Employment • National Council for Financing the University Education • European & International programmes: Leonardo da Vinci, Phare, ETF, Sapard, PNUD, ILO, UNESCO, USAID, CIDA, Matra, GTZ, etc. • Private (isolated) initiatives – training providers, big companies, NGOs Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

9. Professional research associations and networks related to VET/HRD • Not yet developed • Not enough contact and events between researcher at the national level • Stronger links with different European networks than networks inside the country (ETF Observatories network,Leonardo partnerships, European researcher networks) • Lack of national events and dissemination addressed directly to the VET and HRD research field Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

10. Partly effective Increased awareness of and trust in research Some issues raised by the research were taken into consideration in policy design and implementation Increased demand for research related to developments at national level Partly not effective Capacity to use available resources is still week Some issues are not addressed, even if research has drawn attention on them: lifelong learning perspective, need for demand driven approaches, need for local and individual perspective, weak social partnership. No strategic investment meant to develop existing capacities Effectiveness and impact of current VET/HRD R&D activities   Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

11. Issues that need to be addressed by VET/HRD R&D in the future • The need for explicit policy for research and development in VET/HRD (including resource allocation) • Networking encouraged • More dissemination activities at national, regional and sectoral level • Research capacity building in order to use more resources in research and increase efficiency Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005

12. Magdalena BALICA Researcher Institute of Educational Sciences Bucharest, Romania magda.balica@ise.ro Liliana VOICU Research Director AxA Consulting Bucharest, Romania lilianavoicu@easynet.ro Thank you! Magdalena Balica & Liliana Voicu Dublin, September 2005