APEL in Estonia 3-4 June 2010, Riga

Legal background APEL is regulated on state level centrally and created systematically and covering all education levels and sectors Implementation of APEL in VET is governed by the following legal provisions: – Professions Act (2008, last amendments 2009) – Vocational Education Institutions Act (1998, last amendments 2009) – Vocational Education Standard (2006) – List of mandatory documents relating to schooling at vocational education institutions and the formats and procedure for completion thereof (2005) – Professions Act (2008, last amendments 200)

Where APEL is happening APEL happens most actively in Higher Education and award of professional qualifications Today it is also often used in Vocational Education APEL is less used in general education

Purpose of APEL The purpose of Accreditation of Prior Learning and Work Experience (APEL) is development of links between lifelong learning and the levels of education, the studies and the labour market. APEL enables to highlight and recognise the knowledge, skills and competencies of a person, irrespective of how they were acquired, and increases the flexibility of opportunities for vocational education and professional careers.

APEL enables to recognise: Courses completed at another educational institution Competencies acquired through in-service training or independent studies Knowledge and skills acquired through work experience

It is possible to use APEL for: progression in education for partial certification (final examination and final thesis are not subject of accreditation INFL) education and training for partial certification (final examination and final thesis are not subject of accreditation INFL) Work award of professional qualification for full or /and partial certification personal development. It is not allowed by the law to use APEL for entry to the next level of education without previous level certificate or diploma.

Validation is done by the educational institutions for the education employers for work Professional Qualifications Committee for award of professional qualifications

Validation criteria Validation and recognition is based on the study programmes descriptions in learning outcomes; and competences descriptions in professional standard

Tools and methods of assessment Application forms CV Work description and analysis Examples of work Methodology is based on the theory of experiential learning (Kolb, Schön): – self-reflection of prior experiences and one’s competencies; – portfolio method for assessment of experiential learning; – assessment criteria are based on learning outcomes and evidence of learning; – feedback is important in all cases: full, partial or no validation. – Portfolio is a good tool for facilitating learning and assessing its successfulness.

The process of validation Orientation Guidance and counselling Preparation of application and evidence Assessment and feedback Certification Appellation (if needed)

Assessors In educational institutions respective temporary or permanent commissions (e.g. commissions for curricula, studies, admission) or the teacher (academics) of the given subject deal with assessment of APEL. There are no full-time APEL professionals; all staff dealing with APEL issues has a lot of other duties. Award of professional qualification – Assessment Committees are established by the Professional Qualifications Committee, work on part-time basis. Every institution dealing with APEL is responsible for training of assessors and counsellors

The results of assessments The results of assessments are described in Academic Record or Diploma Supplement, on difefrent certificates The output of validation is full, partial or no validation

Monitoring of the process and quality assurance Quality assurance of APEL process is very important for obtaining trust and recognition of APEL by the society. For quality assurance bigger universities have established Quality System, including: – Setting of the quality standards for APEL – Annual APEL reports from Faculties – Monitoring and revision of the APEL policies and procedures – APEL Quality Committee – Analysis of the APEL decisions once a year by the APEL Quality Committee – Exchange of experiences and good practice Quality assurance for award of professional qualification is assured by the regulations and systematic approach as well as monitoring of the process.

Guidance and counselling Guidance and counselling is offered by the institution where validation takes place (Educational institutions, Professional Qualifications Committees, Unemployment Insurance Fund) In Estonia is no joint system for counselling and there is no official free access for working adults to advice and guidance and because is need for Lifelong- learning counselling system.

Financing Higher Education: PRIMUS Programme (supported by European Social Fund and Estonian Government) is supporting centrally APEL developments: APEL network, APEL Council (experts), APEL counsellors, further development of APEL assessment, staff development – training for counsellors and assessors, development of website and handbooks for APEL. Educational institutions are responsible for orientation, guidance and counselling of students and other interested groups. Award of professional qualification: mostly people who are looking for validation have to pay certain fee depending on the area of validation, sometimes it is centrally financed by state (teachers) or from some Funds. Guidance and counselling for youth and for job seekers is financed by the state.

Public awareness Awareness about APEL possibilities is on the increase during last 3 years, but needs continuing development and dissemination. People are not very aware of their opportunities, they are not able to assess their experience /knowledge and offer it as their development /prior studies. Tradition and attitude – suspicion and sometimes even opposition to alternative education of those who have acquired classical formal education. Attitude is moving more open and suspicions are decreasing, but it needs continuous open debates and good examples (success stories). Information about validation is provided mainly by the Educational Institutions and Awarding Bodies. During ESF APEL project is created central APEL web-portal for information and guidance of APEL (

Current debates and plans Discussions on open the access on the basis of APEL to the next level of education without previous level diploma or certificate, HE institutions are interested to open access to the Masters level. the integration of APEL in the National Qualifications Framework assessment tools and methods and quality assurance development of the counselling system

Interesting APEL activities Voluntary Pass, Youth pass It’s possible for working people to continue studies in VET (programme KUTSE) and in HE (programme TULE) with the help of APEL process APEL week in April 2010 (dissemination materials, information days in schools and for labour market, articles in newspapers and magazines and other activities)

International projects INLearning - Validating Learning for an Inclusive Society – To support the realisation of a European Area for Lifelong Learning Empower individuals who were not “successful” within the formal institution and providing them with validation – Social Cohesion To support the development of ICT-based content (Lifepass) to validate informal and nonformal learning (through self-assessment) Partners: Malta, Austria, Italy, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Turkey, Portugal

Strengths Cooperation between different stakeholders Systematic approach – developed is APEL system Support from European Social Fund

Weaknesses Impossible to apply for whole diploma or certificate on the basis of experiential learning. Impossible to use APEL for admission without formal educational qualification (diploma or certificate) APEL professionals work mainly part-time. Portfolio and assessment methods are still in development, as learning programmes are described in leaning outcomes very lately Rigidity /resistance of academic staff; change of thinking goes very slowly Subjectivity, awareness about APEL possibilities needs continuing development and dissemination Danger of lowering academic standard, it is crucial to assure quality and meet academic standards. Lack of experience and experts; good experts are moving to other fields.

Thank you!