Within the NQF-in project, each projekt partner is organising the national saminar. The National Institute for Education (NUV) – Czech project partner – organised it on 14th may, 2018 in Prague.
The seminar focused on the inclusion of non-formal qualifications (gained in the non-formal and informal environment) into national qualifications frameworks. The seminar was held by project members: Jan Brůha and Viola Horska.
The aim of the seminar was to present and discuss the topic and outputs of the NQF-in project, namely the organizational and financial solutions related to including non-formal sector qualifications into national qualifications frameworks/systems (in seven European countries involved in the project: the Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Scotland).
The participants of the seminar were experts from the National Institute for Education which is responsible for creating and developing national curricula as well as developing and implementing the NSK (National Register of Qualifications) – validation system of non-formal and informal learning).
The Czech Qualifications Framework with a single set of descriptors, describing levels of all qualifications, does not exist. Therefore the participants were interested in NQFs in general and the role of the NQFs in countries involved in the project, especially related to quality assurance and learning outcomes approach. Future development of the National Qualifications Register was also heavily discussed with focus on opening access to other non-formal qualifications that are already existing and functioning in the market, i.e. some sectoral and international qualifications (that at the moment are outside the NSK system). The participants discussed also the amendment of the Act No. 179/2006 Coll., on the Verification and Recognition of Further Education Results as well as revision of qualifications standards in NSK and revision of national curricula.
The national qualifications frameworks and the approaches of countries involved in the project (based on the country reports and presentations from the NQF-in conference held in Prague in 2017) were shortly presented and discussed. Special presentation was dedicated to the Scottish Qualification Framework as the best practise example of one comprehensive and effective framework with open access to non-formal qualifications and its relation to quality assurance.