Comparable Competence Levels in Europe

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is aimed at considerably simplifying the process of applying for jobs and working in another (EU) country in future.

Irrespective of the length of schooling or the school type, it facilitates much easier comparison between successfully completed education and training programmes and thus between national competence levels. The EQF has two central objectives: to enhance the mobility of EU citizens and to support lifelong learning. National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) are to be developed in the Member States to enable a transparent allocation of national qualifications to the levels of the European QF.
This has motivated Serbia to enter into an active exchange of experience with Austria and other EU countries. In June of this year, in cooperation with the Serbian Ministry of Education, the European Training Foundation and Kulturkontakt Austria, an exchange took place in Belgrade on the development and implementation of a Serbian NQF.
The discussion focussed on conditions and concepts for an appropriate NQF and the possible classification of competences in the qualifications framework. “KKA gave us valuable assistance in understanding the experiences and problems of other European countries with respect to various QFs,” said Tünde Cerovic-Kovac (State Secretary, Serbian Ministry of Education and Sport).
Austria can assist Serbia in the development of an NQF with the experience data that has already been gathered, but it can also profit from this exchange of information with Serbia.
Austria is contemplating developing an eight-level framework analogous to the EQF, so as to facilitate the relation of its national qualification systems to the EQF. “It is still to be decided whether the political objective of a common qualifications framework in Austria covering all areas of education and training is realisable,” says Eduard Staudecker of the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture. In Austria the NQF is to serve an orienting function in the future, and not imply any legal title (e.g. an admission qualification to certain education or training programmes). Nevertheless, the introduction of an NQF will entail far-reaching consequences for the education system.
Serbia has decided to implement a common framework for formal and nonformal education and is seizing the opportunity to use the NQF as an instrument for implementing basic reforms. “We are not asking ourselves why the NQF is important, but rather why we haven’t introduced an NQF before; it is long overdue,” Cerovic-Kovac is convinced.
In Staudecker’s opinion, there are two factors that have to be considered before introducing a QF: “It is essential, first of all, to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the process, and second, that the political mandate is secured at the highest level.” “When you begin to develop an NQF, it actually effects the education system,” Cerovic-Kovac believes.