Case Study - Romania Validation of non learning in the domain of mechanical engineering in the profile of welder
The context The validation exercise took place within a regular national validation system ( Romanian) and it was compared to a proposal within the European project Rear Window. ( www.projectrearwindow.com ) The validation examination took place within the Regional centre for training and evaluation in Cluj Napoca . AGENŢIA NAŢIONALĂ PENTRU OCUPAREA FORŢEI DE MUNCĂ CENTRUL REGIONAL DE FORMARE PROFESIONALĂ A ADULŢILOR CLUJ - C.R.F.P.A. CLUJ Cluj Napoca, str. Fabricii de Zahăr nr.51, Tel.0264-448816, Fax 0264-599359 ;crfpacluj@hotmail.com The creation of the CRFPA Cluj is the result of a project funded by the the Ministry of Labour and the World Bank in 2000 and develops the following programs :35 programs for vocational training (the initial vocational education and training ) in the following profiles: carpenter-parquetry, mason, welder, waiter, cook, bricklayer, painter, faience worker, shop assistant, taylor, leather worker, ironsmith and trainer . The services offered by the centre are :Vocational training courses, Validation and evaluation of competences in non formal and informal contexts in accordance with the occupational and quality standards Evaluation /certification of vocational training of the adults Information and Counseling concerning the carrier
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People VNFL-IFL candidate (s): Chifor Dorin is 43 years old and worked from 1989 to 2006 as a plumber in an enterprise in Cluj Napoca. He graduated the industrial high school and afterwards obtained a certificate of qualification for the profile of plumber. In his professional career he improved his competences in the domain of mechanical sector. In 2000-2006 he worked in a big industrial factory which produces boilers. The factory is working for Italians, mainly, and he wanted to improve his salary and go to work in Italy, where there is a demand for the profession of welder. So, he decided to proceed for obtaining a certification for the profile of welder. Mr. Albu Laurentiu, engineer at the section and evaluator for the Regional Centre for adult education advised him to do the validation of his competences. He was asked to bring a European CV and to demonstrate with other documents his educational and training background, and planned to sustain a practical examination in together with other colleagues and with the evaluator.
VNFL-IFL advisers/staff: tutors:
The evaluator Laurentiu Albu has been certified as a evaluator and counsellor by the regional centre due to his professional experience and certificates which attests his vocational and pedagogical profile. So, in accordance with the Romanian legislation he could act as a evaluator. The validation exercise which we want to show is a comparison between our national system and a system we experienced during Rear Window project where the process is very similar to our existent system, with the difference that the validation system is made by a commission of at least 2 persons who act as evaluator, advisor. We have also the position of evaluator and advisor taking part in the exercise of validation, but the certification system is given by a protocol signed by only 1 person. For Dorin it was difficult to gather documents to confirm his competences, here, the role of the advisor was very important. He helped him to understand how to correlate skills to evidences of learning experiences. But the candidate was very happy when he could demonstrate practical knowledge within the practical examination which in Romania is compulsory, even within the non formal system of education.
The relationships/ interactions
The certification system of other learning experience than those from the formal system is regulated in Romania by the Law 129/2000, and a Ministerial order between 2 ministries Labour and Education ( The Order of the Ministry of Labour and the ministry of Education nr. 4543/468/23August 2004). The evaluator and the candidate work together in collecting evidences and than the evaluator is certifying some of them or all of them , a practical examination takes place compulsory. In our case study the relation between the candidate and the evaluator went well , Mr. Albu is a good trainer who cares about all his students, advises well the students and is very close to them. In front of him the candidate has no inhibition at all. His experience as trainer for adults played an important role. By the way for the position of evaluator there are only two authorised engineers in all the regional centre covering half of Transilvania and the demand is very
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high. In the exercise we made in parallel for the Rear Window project we involved also the internal evaluator from the centre and we realised that the candidate felt better in front of the commission. He became more aware of his competences and skills and acted as being very convinced about his professional experiences .
To sum up: the process
Within the rear window project we experienced a lot of written documents/tools ( see website), but we realised that so many documents for each of the 16 steps of the evaluation system proposed by the project are embarrassing for the candidate and could exclude him from the process. So, the lesson we learnt from the two compared methodologies is to try to introduce within our national system one more position within the certification examination and to reduce as much as possible the documents needed for gathering evidences. But there were also positive elements which we could introduce in the European CV of Dorin, especially those which refers to social skills and competences( common and specific) , organisational competences and skills, and technical competences, too.
Cluj Napoca Testing phase for Rear Window: Two systems o the Romnian one o The one from the proposed project Tools: -interview -study routes -evidences of learning experiences -EU –cv’s
Evaluation commission for Rear Window-project testing: two evaluators, an external verifier and the director of the Regional Adult education centre /Evaluation Centre In the Romanian legislation we have only one person as evaluator and an external verifier.
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Group nr. 1 : welding in the Regional centre’s laboratory Practical examination of Dorin, next to a colleague and the evaluator Laurentiu Albu
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Dorin near a giant boiler
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The group nr 2 of the testing phase : welding for construction
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Dorin,43 years, man
Romanian system of evaluation compared to a project proposal
Adviser
– VNF-IFL process & interaction
Evaluator
Tools & NQFs/Standards interview, process and study routes standards
regional centre for adult education
The case study – different stories
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