Development of a Subsystem for the Assessment and Recognition of Qualifications Acquired in the Work of Specialists in the Transport Sector

Number of the Project No. 2021-1-LT01-KA220-VET-000032965

Start of the Project 1st December, 2021 End of the Project 31st May, 2023
Duration 18 months

Project partners
Vilniaus Jeruzalės darbo rinkos mokymo centras (VJDRMC)
(Lithuania)
Lietuvos vežėjų sąjunga (LVS) (Lithuania)
Kvalifikacijų ir profesinio mokymo plėtros centras (KPMPC) (Lithuania)
Nodibinājums “Smart Minds” (NSM) (Latvia)
Fundacja Centrum Umiejętnosci Praktycznych (FCUP) (Poland)
INERCIA DIGITAL SL (ID_SL) (Spain)

The Aim of the Project – to create opportunities to identify, assess and validate the competencies / qualifications acquired in a person’s work (QAWA)

PROJECT ACTIVITES
R1 – A methodology for the identification, assessment and recognition of competencies acquired in work
activities prepared.
(Leading organisation – VJDRMC) Start: December 2021 End: February 2022

Result No. 1 – developed methodology for assessment and recognition of competencies acquired in work activities (EN language)
(Period: 1st December, 2021 – 28th February, 2022)

The obligatory parts of the methodology for the assessment of competencies / qualifications acquired in work activities (QAWA) are the following:
1. QAWA assessment provisions and purpose.
2. Principles of QAWA assessment.
3. QAWA assessment conditions.
4. QAWA assessment process.
5. Content and methods of QAWA assessment.
6. Quality assurance of the QAWA assessment procedure.

The QAWA assessment methodology should describe in detail and consistently all stages of the assessment process (distinguishing and explaining the steps at each stage):
1. preparation for evaluation – information and consultation;
2. assessment;
3. decision making;
4. designing a further career.

The developers of the QAWA assessment methodology should provide a list of checklists to periodically assess the quality of the assessment procedure by reviewing: the purpose of the QAWA assessment; QAWA evaluation principles; QAWA assessment conditions; QAWA evaluation processes; QAWA assessment content and methods. Although it is envisaged that QAWA recognition may be carried out by the businesses themselves or their associated entities, it is necessary to consider and indicate whether and what restrictions might be placed on the assessment and recognition of QAWA in a particular sector.

R2 – The descriptions of competencies acquired in work activities in Transport sector prepared.
(Leading organisation – VJDRMC) Start – January 2022 End – September 2022

Result No. 2. – 1 set of descriptions of competencies / qualifications acquired in work in the transport sector has been prepared, covering at least the 5 following
professions: long-distance driver, freight forwarder, logistics specialist, warehouse worker, customs broker
(EN language)
(Period: 1st January, 2022 – 30th September, 2022)

The main steps in preparing QAWA descriptions:
1. Collection of information on employees’ professional activities. The following methods can be used to collect information: document analysis; monitoring the performance of employees’ tasks; individual interviews with employees and their managers or group interviews; employee survey using a questionnaire; interviews with clients about the competencies of employees in the sector.
2. After collecting the information, the QAWA description of qualifications begins to be filled in, the hierarchical structure of qualifications / competences is established, the areas of activity, functions / competences or their separate elements (knowledge, skills, attitudes) are summarized, etc.
3. In the last stage, according to the chosen QAWA description form, information about the title of the qualification is filled in, competencies or their equivalents are determined and formulated, their elements are detailed, other information is filled in.

When formulating a QAWA description, it is necessary to anticipate or at least consider the following characteristics of each qualification:
1. Title of the qualification;
2. National economic sector, position;
3. Qualification level according to the national qualifications framework;
4. Qualification description (list of competencies, knowledge, skills, attitudes);
5. Requirements for obtaining a qualification (if any, requirements for existing education and / or training, professional experience, competencies, etc.);
6. Ways of obtaining a qualification;
7. Criteria for assessing the competencies that make up a qualification (for example, statements illustrating the acquisition of a qualification);
8. Methods of assessment of competencies that make up a qualification;
9. Career opportunities for the qualified person.

R3 – Training material for persons who will assess and recognize the competencies acquired in the
work activity prepared.
(Leading organisation – KPMPC) Start – October 2022 End – April 2023

Result No. 3 – prepared training material (as well as examination tasks) for the assessment and recognition of workrelated competencies for practitioners.
– 3.1. 12 assessors of work-related competencies will be trained by piloting the training material (3 LT, 3 LV, 3 PL, 3 ESP),
– 3.2. Pilot assessments of 20 people (transport workers) will be carried out during the piloting of the developed system (5 LT, 5 LV, 5 PL, 5 ESP).

(Period: 1st October, 2022 – 30th April, 2023)

When developing training materials (including assessment training materials, assessment aids, assessment tests-tasks, assessment practice / procedures manual – recommendations) for QAWA assessors, it is necessary to anticipate and present recommended assessment methods, and to clearly justify their logical choice based on a formally defined and agreed concept of competence. Assessment methods should be selected in such a way as to identify the expression of knowledge, general and practical skills and values in the employee’s daily work activities, behavior and performance. These are evidence of the expression of competence (knowledge, abilities, skills and values) are collected by monitoring and analyzing a person’s work performance, professional behavior and specific performance. The selection of a variety of competence assessment methods ensures the identification of the expression of competence in practice.

The main assessment methods to be used are:
– portfolio analysis of professional activities,
– formal knowledge testing,
– simulation tasks (simulation),
– performance monitoring,
– interview, questioning (activity-oriented interview / professional discussion),
– peer reviews, etc.

The process of preparation of assessment training material will consist of three parts: 1) preparation of assessment material;
2) pilot training of assessors*;
3) performance of a pilot assessment**.

The last two steps will be needed to test the assessment training material, gathering information about its friendliness to the trainee and its practicalapplicability.

* Pilot training for QAWA assessors will take place remotely using MS TEAMS or ZOOM platforms.
** As it is planned to prepare at least five QAWA profiles (long-distance driver, freight forwarder, logistics specialist, warehouse worker, customs broker), one representative of each profession will be selected when planning the pilot assessment in each country (LT, LV, PL, ESP). In this way, one representative of the profession for which a QAWA description will be prepared (see R2) will be assessed in each project country.

TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MEETINGS
December 2021 (VJDRMC, Lithuania)
April 2022 (Fundacja Centrum Umiejętnosci Praktycznych, Poland)
September 2022 (Inercia Digital, Spain)

MULTIPLIER AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
– 4 round table discussions in LT, LV, PL and ESP;
– 8 articles in LT (2), LV (2), PL (2) and ESP (2), which will be paid of from the Administration budgets;
– 6 partner websites – information posted on a regular basis at the start of the project, after each meeting, after completing the result, after a round table meeting with important stakeholders, etc.;
– various meetings, round table discussions with business enterprises and other stakeholders to pass on information about project results (at least 4 meetings in each of the 4 project countries);
– external events, fairs, target shows on television (at least 4 cases per year in each of the 4 project partner countries);
– QAWA assesors training events (at least 3 training events per year in each of the 4 project partner countries);
– Project End Conference in Lithuania (about 60 conference participants from the Lithuanian Presidency, the Seimas, ministries and their subordinate state institutions, business confederations and associations; at least 2 national television and 2 online news portals will be invited to the event as well).
Project End Conference – 19th May, 2023 (Lithuania)

centrum digital lvs smart vljer kpmpc