ITALIAN Diagnositic

 

Diagnostic of policies and programs that exist to evaluate the pre-acquired key competences

 

A mapping for all laws, policies, and programmes that exist on a national, regional and/or local levels concerning the evaluation of competences -  Definition of basic competences recognized in each country and the concerned actors in private and public sectors - Tools used, methodology and how are they applied - Accessibility to these evaluations to vulnerable groups (they need to pay, easy to know about, …etc) - Efficiency and  limitations

 

In Italy the basic regulation regarding the job placement of disabled people or people belonging to weak categories is Law n.68/99: it promotes working inclusion of disabled, requiring companies with more than 15 employees to hire a disabled who is in the list of L. 68. This targeted employment system promotes the job placement of disabled people with specific competences and professional attitudes corresponding to the qualifications required by the company. In this way, competences of the person are evaluated and appreciated.  Art. 2 of Law n. 68/99 explains that “targeted employment” means a series of supporting instruments to evaluate competences of disabled people in order to include them in the job system.

Law n. 196/97 regulates internships and vocational training: Art. 18 on the alternating work- study experiences in order to facilitate professional choices of beneficiaries, who have fulfill the obligation of school education, through direct contact with the world of work.
The duration of the internships can cover a period not longer than 12 months, except for disabled people, who can have a 24 months internships depending on the specificity of their vocational program.

MAIN ACTORS FOR THE EVALUATION OF COMPETENCES

In Italy the Institute for the evaluation of education and vocational system, called INVALSI, is responsible for the evaluation of competences in the educational system at national level. It is a research organ, born after the European Centre for Education (CEDE) at the beginning of 1970es. Based on current law, which are the result of an evolution law significantly more focused on the evaluation and qualitative aspects of the school system, the Institute:
-    performs periodic audits and systematic knowledge and skills of students and the overall quality of the educational institutions of education and vocational education and training, including in the context of lifelong learning, in particular manages the National Evaluation System (VNS);
  -  investigates the causes of failure and school dropout with reference to the social context and the types of training;
    - makes the necessary surveys to assess the value added by schools;
    - annually prepares the texts of the new written test, a national character, to verify the general and specific levels of learning achieved by students in the examination of State in the third year of lower secondary school degree;
    - prepares models to be made available to school autonomy in drawing the third Test at the conclusion of the paths of upper secondary education;
    - provides for the assessment of the learning achievements of students at the end of upper secondary education courses, using the written evidence of the state exams in accordance with criteria and procedures consistent with those applied internationally to ensure comparability;
    - provides support and technical assistance to school administration, regions, territorial authorities, and individual educational and training institutions for the realization of autonomous monitoring, evaluation and self-assessment;
    - conducts teacher training and school leadership, linked to the processes of evaluation and self-evaluation of educational institutions;
    - conducts research, both on his own initiative or on behalf of public and private;
    - ensures the Italian participation in European and international research projects in the field of evaluation, representing the country in the competent bodies;
    - formulates proposals for the full implementation of the evaluation system for school leaders, defines the procedures for their evaluation, formulates proposals for the formation of the components of the evaluation team and makes monitoring the development and outcome of the evaluation system.

The INVALSI is supervised by the Ministry of Education that identifies the strategic priorities of the Institute which takes account in planning its operations. The assessment of scientific and technological priorities is reserved to the Institute.

At regional and local level the Regions and the Provinces are responsible for the  education and training system and for the evaluation of competences for the access to vocational training.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM IN ITALY

To understand better the evaluation of competences system in Italy we need to consider that the Italian EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM is currently undergoing a difficult revision phase, and is quite complex.

The current SYSTEM is based on two pillars: OBLIGATORY EDUCATION, which regards all children from their 6th to 16th years of age; and the RIGHT TO /DUTY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, which concerns young people aged 16 to 18.

-          OBLIGATORY EDUCATION (Law n. 296/2006, art. 1 par. 622, 624, 632) that takes place exclusively in state-run schools;

-          the RIGHT TO /DUTY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING  (Decreto Legislativo 15 April 2005 n. 76) can be absolved either in state-run schools or in the Regional professional training centres (that are, schools which are dependent on the regional government) BUT only for certain profiles defined on a national level.

State higher secondary schools (high schools) include: LICEI (college prep), ISTITUTI TECNICI (technical institutes), ISTITUTI PROFESSIONALI (professional institutes); courses last 5 years, at the end of which students earn the Diploma di Maturità which is valid on a national level.

Regional professional training centres offer three-year programmes, at the end of which students are awarded a Diploma di Qualifica (Qualification) which is valid on a national level, according to the  Law n. 845/78 "LEGGE-QUADRO IN MATERIA DI FORMAZIONE PROFESSIONALE".

Thus a student who has fulfilled his/her OBLIGATORY EDUCATION, by attending for example the final two years of a Technical Institute, may pass on to a Regional professional training centre, to earn a Qualification; or s/he may continue the course at the Technical Institute, and earn the Diploma di Maturità; or s/he can enter the work force and complete his/her RIGHT TO /-DUTY OF EDUCATION through the obligatory training paths called for under the APPRENTICESHIP contract.

Besides the Diploma di Maturità, students of the Professional Institutes can also earn an Attestato di qualifica professionale (Professional Qualification Certificate) during their five years in school, by attending an additional 600 hours of course.

After 18 years of age, or after obtaining a Diploma di Maturità, and on having in any case fulfilled the OBBLIGATORY EDUCATION requirement, it is possible to have access to training activities provided by the REGIONAL TRAINING SYSTEM, of which the Training centres already mentioned also are a part. The regional training system is organised and controlled by the regional and provincial governments, but the activities are conducted by private Training agencies. The training activities are diversified by their duration (ranging from a few hours to three years), type of students ( young people completing their right to/duty of training, high school graduates, college graduates, adults, women, subjects risking social or labour exclusion, workers,   unemployed, etc.), purpose (up-dating, continuous training, qualification, licensing, etc.), type of subject treated. The regional and provincial governments also organise and control the training activities of the IFTS channel, which is post-secondary training (but it is possible to attend even without a Diploma di Maturità or Qualification diploma) on EQF level 5. The target of these training paths is, therefore, varied; the Umbrian Regional training system, for ezample, issues three types of certificates: Attendance certificate and Attendance with profit certificate both with regional validity; Attendance of Qualification, with national validity.

In this context which we have described briefly, and which is still changing, one must insert the recent Regional system (of the Region of Umbria) of professional standards, articulated in profiles; this system is the minimum unitary reference for the awarding of qualifications by the Region and the Provinces of Umbria; Region of Umbria ha also adopted a system for the RECOGNITION OF TRAINING CREDITS, acquired in formal, informal and non-formal contexts, to allow citizens of the region to pass from one training path (whether state or regional) to another, or from work to regional training, etc.

The Umbrian regional system of professional profiles comprises training paths corresponding to EQF levels II, III, IV, and V; the professional profiles are articulated by Competence Units (UC); the UC described constitute the MINIMUM requirements for each profile.

 

UMBRIA VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM

On January 2010 Umbria regional government passed a first part of a  regional professional standard Repertory and defined the respective competences; this Repertory consists of 44 Profiles described through learning outcomes.

Regione Umbria has also established which qualification is required to access to each training pathway ,  and, for each  training pathway , EQF level and  regional level.

Profiles are so described through  learning outcomes, competence, knowledge and skill, according to  European ECVET outlines.

UMBRIA TRAINING SYSTEM is moreover  founded on  training credits; all  training activities  (courses, work experiences , apprenticeship ecc.) are organized through learning outcomes; any kind of  learning (formal, not formal, informal) entitle to  training credits recognition from training Agencies;  training credits  may be used to accede to regional training pathways.

It is important for me to remark that   in Umbria credits are not quantified through points, but they consist in a description (“document for making learning transparent”)  realized with the help of a professional figure issued by Regione Umbria, credits tutor .

When the  training Agency  is going to start a training pathway,  informs the citizens  about the possibility of gaining credits  or for accessing to the course or for  shortening the same course ; the entire credit recognition process is managed by training Agencies and is  officially recognized by  Regione Umbria   or Provincia di Perugia.

Evaluation of COMPETENCES IN THE TRAINING Credits SYSTEM in umbria:

Training credit means the evaluation of key competences however gained.

Entry credits To allow admission to a training course if the applicant hasn’t the required education or vocational training level

Attendance credits To obtain exemption from attendance or evaluation  of one or more parts of a training course; this allows the personalization of the training course

Credit recognition  allows the passage from: education course or apprenticeship  to training courses

Credit evaluation Training credit evaluation is set by the training agency; so it is restricted to a specific  training course,  and  is not transferable to other courses.

Credit recognition This is a  public procedure, carried out following the rules of the Region of  Umbria,  to assign entrance and/or attendance credits to a citizen.

Credit recognition is an instrument to ensure  lifelong learning, through giving value to formal , non formal, and informal learning.

The recognition procedure consists of four phases:

  1. recognition request by the person concerned:   s/he makes the request to the training agency; in the request the applicant describes what has been learned.
  2. make transparent the applicant’s learning:  the applicant’s learning outcomes  are described in details  to allow the evaluation of his/her knowledge, competences and learning abilities.  This work is done by a credits tutor, who is  a professional figure recognised by  the Region of  Umbria.
  3. Learning evaluation , to recognize required credits: The data emerging from the detailed description of phase two are evaluated to assign the required credits. The evaluation is carried out by an assessment body recognized by the Region of Umbria and the Province of Perugia. The assessment is realized by interviewing the applicant, through an analysis his/her documents, and, if needed, through evaluation tests.
  4. Credit recognition;  preparing a personalized training pathway: Credit recognition is issued by the Region of Umbria and/or by the Province of Perugia.  Entrance credit recognition allows admission  to the training course even without the required formal educational level.

After the  attendance credit recognition, the training agency proceeds to the definition  of the personalised training pathway.

Three hypotheses are possible:

 -  exemption from attendance or evaluation of one or more parts of a training course

 - only  exemption from attendance of one or more parts of a training course  and not exemption from evaluation

- training debt collection by accompanying actions and help to individual learning.

Procedure players  The learning evaluation body is chosen by the training agency and is constituted by the manager of the training agency, by the credits tutor and, if necessary, by experts, and by a representative  of the Region or Province of Perugia, with auditing functions.  The credits tutor has specific  professional skills recognised by the Region of Umbria.

 

Questionnaire on key competences evaluation

We asked social services operators, working with the project target to answer some questions about the evaluation of key competences. (see annex 1 to the present document). The questionnaire results stress a common system of enrolling beneficiaries of the service (vocational guidance, training, targeted placement, SAL service). An initial application form is filled in, with information on schooling and work experience of the beneficiary. Afterwards, through cognitive interviews and vocational guidance activity, personal attitudes and professional competences are investigated and it is possible to complete a balance of competences. Everything is made through a direct interview and by vocational guidance instruments. All the qualification certificates of the beneficiaries must be delivered to provide a direct certification of the competences. Very often key competences are tested by vocational training internship, that is the most effective instrument for an objective evaluation.

Vocational Training and Job placamento service have not a unique evaluation system of key competences, and this is the greatest limit.   Everything is evaluated by interviews and balance of competences. A greater objectivity is possible for beneficiaries with a higher education level (diploma and degree) because a studying path guarantees a level of competences established by the school system.