What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?
The RVA of non-formal and informal learning outcomes (including recognition of prior learning and prior learning assessment) is a critical element of lifelong learning. This case study focuses on the recognition practices for Syrian refugees and highlights initiatives in Germany, Canada, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.
How was the initiative established? How was it implemented?
Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees; incorporating the migrant and refugee population into the labour market is one of the top policy priorities for the government. In 2011, the mechanism for validation of non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL) was legally introduced by the amendment of Law 2547, the process to include migrant and refugee populations.
In 2012, Germany passed a federal law to streamline the recognition of professional qualifications. Foreign nationals can gain recognition regardless of residence status or citizenship. They can make a legal claim for credit and receive a decision within three months. Professional qualifications obtained abroad are checked for compatibility with German professional requirements. In addition to passing laws to improve RVA systems, national and regional governments can introduce measures to ensure assessment agencies, licensing bodies and academic institutions harmonize requirements and adhere to best practices (Ball, 2019).
Migrants and refugees constitute an essential part of the workforce in Canada, helping the country overcome ageing demographics and contributing to economic growth. Canadian Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) has a strong vocational and labour market focus. A key aspect of PLAR is access to formal qualifications; nevertheless, since 2008, access and progress in skilled and professional occupations have been reported as significant issue across Canada (Singh, 2015, p. 71). In 2007, Ontario (Canada) introduced a ‘fairness commissioner’ to ensure fair access to regulated professions for those with foreign qualifications (UIL, 2021).
Syrian refugees in Iraq are allowed to enrol at higher education institutions based on the recognition of their high school diploma by the Ministry of Education. Up to the 2018/2019 academic year, the refugees were allowed to register at universities based on temporary equalization issued by the Ministry of Education relying on a stamped copy of a Syrian diploma. The temporary equalization process has been suspended (UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2018).
In four countries hosting Syrian refugees – Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey – processes are under way to develop national qualifications frameworks. That is, qualifications based on learning outcomes and competences across all learning modalities – formal, non-formal and informal – will be recognized.
Which stakeholders are involved in the design and/or implementation of the initiative? Which sectors do they represent?
In Turkey, the recognition of workplace learning to equip the market with a qualified labour force is supported by collaboration between the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA), industry and agencies representing the workforce in the country. The Turkish Qualifications Framework (TQF) supports the recognition of prior learning (RPL) and the validation of learning outcomes obtained in non-formal and informal settings. Recognition adheres to specific quality-assured principles and procedures operated by Authorized Certification Bodies (ACBs) that carry out assessment, evaluation and certification. Since the validation practices have been in place, the current goal of the government and the responsible bodies has been to improve communication and collaboration among all relevant stakeholders (Akkök, 2019).
The Canadian government leads the Canadian Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition initiative (PLAR). It pays particular attention to the recognition of qualifications of skilled immigrants. Assessment and recognition of prior learning are undertaken by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), with a special focus on validating foreign credentials (Singh, 2015).
The lack of access to higher education for Syrian refugees can be ameliorated by recognition of learning outcomes obtained in non-formal programmes, thus establishing the crucial path to the labour market – the practice operating in Jordan and Turkey, where an E-TVET Council and a VQA respectively are responsible for RVA (Singh, 2018).
The RVA affecting the Jordanian labour market is often appraised through the impact of large numbers of Syrian refugees forced to seek informal employment, contributing to the instability of wages and working conditions for the whole population. The Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance (CAQA), in collaboration with ILO, set up a pilot project for the recognition of prior learning among qualified workers. The procedure assures certification (‘Practice Licence’) based on non-formal experience and knowledge for Syrians and Jordanians in the construction, confectionery and garment industries (ILO, 2015).
What are the impacts of the initiative in terms of facilitating lifelong learning? Whom does it benefit and how?
Research shows that recognition is a transformative mechanism that can help refugees enter or re-enter education, integrate into the world of work and participate in their host communities. However, while policy-makers in a region may have committed to prioritizing RVA, it remains a major challenge to develop coordinated mechanisms. Additionally, improved coordination should be coupled with an effort to open up a dialogue between learners and teachers/ employers, based on several key assumptions:
- validation should advise (formative) and test (summative) in a two-way interaction between the learner’s ‘portfolio’ of prior learning and standards pertaining to particular qualifications and occupations;
- forms of testing may be process-orientated, meaning a more integrated and flexible approach, or product-orientated, by which the learning outcome itself is evaluated;
- validation should be personalized in content, form and meaning so that the learner can play a central role in shaping their own learning trajectory (Duvekot and Valdés-Cotera, 2019).
Singh (2018) highlights the value of RVA to refugees, pointing out that it is a means of empowering them, for example, to gain a qualification, to enter employment or to escape poverty and social exclusion. Currently, however, recognition systems are in many cases underdeveloped or too fragmented to meet migrants’ needs. In a survey of 13 European countries, only a minority of highly educated migrants had applied for recognition; most migrants may be unable or unwilling to invest the resources required by complex, time-consuming and costly processes. Furthermore, the procedures and agencies involved in official recognition and validation vary between regulated and non-regulated professions. Identifying, documenting, assessing and certifying skills and competences involves multiple government departments, and sub-national authorities, and recognition bodies are frequently disconnected from bodies responsible for integration and employment.
Akkök, F., 2019. European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2018 update. Country report: Turkey. [Online] Available at: https://cumulus.cedefop.europa.eu/files/vetelib/2019/european_inventory_validation_2018_Turkey.pdf [Accessed 9 December 2020].
Ball, C., 2019. European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2018 update. Country report: Germany. [Online] Available at: https://cumulus.cedefop.europa.eu/files/vetelib/2019/european_inventory_validation_2018_Germany.pdf [Accessed 9 December 2020].
Duvekot, R. and Valdés-Cotera, R., 2019. Recognising prior learning experiences of migrants and refugees for inclusion. In: Cedefop, ETF, UNESCO, and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Global inventory of regional and national qualifications frameworks 2019, Volume I: Thematic chapters, pp. 60–70.
ILO, 2015. Manual on skills testing and certification. Jordan. [Online] Available at: www.ilo.org/beirut/publications/WCMS_358358/lang--en/index.htm [Accessed 20 December 2020].
Singh, M., 2015. Global perspectives on recognising non-formal and informal learning: Why recognition matters. Hamburg, UIL. [Online] Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000233655 [Accessed 30 November 2020].
Singh, M., 2018. Pathways to empowerment. Recognizing the competences of Syrian refugees in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Hamburg, UIL. [Online] Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000262918 [Accessed 30 November 2020].
UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2018. What a waste: Ensure migrants and refugees’ qualification and prior learning are recognized. Hamburg, UIL. [Online] Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366312 [Accessed 11 December 2020].