You learn while working, and you confirm your qualification at the qualification center: how it works

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The modern market of educational services is very diverse. Someone acquires a specialty at an educational institution, someone goes to short-term courses to master a new profession, and someone learns directly at the enterprise. A mechanism for quick and effective confirmation of qualifications has been put into operation in the state. It is about qualification centers. The war changes the attitude towards professional education institutions. More and more often, the potential of their graduates is considered promising in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Given the constant changes in the labor market, not only school graduates, but also adults acquire professional education. According to one of the large job search aggregators Work.ua, during February and March 2023, more than 100 people applied for one job. At the same time, there are enough job vacancies on the site, which can be quickly mastered in a professional test. Currently, it is possible to obtain a second professional technical education for another profession free of charge – such changes appeared last year in the Law of Ukraine “On Professional (Vocational and Technical) Education”. “In order to obtain professional education in another profession free of charge, there must be free places in educational institutions. It is possible to start retraining no earlier than 3 years after obtaining the previous profession. Exceptions are possible when a person cannot perform work in a previously acquired profession or there is an urgent the need for specialists in the relevant field,” explains Iryna Shumik, Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Education. The Law also provides for the possibility of obtaining partial qualifications. It also happens that a specialist already works in a certain direction and needs advanced training, mastering new knowledge, or retraining. The market of non-formal and informal education is also rapidly developing, which allows you to quickly acquire the necessary skills at short-term courses, master classes, etc. At the same time, official employment often requires formal confirmation of education and the presence of a diploma. In order to reduce the shortage of qualified personnel in certain areas, in 2021 the Government approved the procedure for assigning and confirming professional qualifications by qualification centers. At the same time, the process of preparing the regulatory framework for their creation began. Now you can formally confirm your professional skills, regardless of the way they were acquired (in an educational institution, at the workplace or after completing certain courses), at the qualification center. They work on the basis of a professional education institution or an enterprise of a certain direction. The main advantages of the qualification confirmation procedure are transparency and speed. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, as of April 2023, 13 qualification centers are operating in Ukraine. Information about them can be found on the website of the National Qualifications Agency. 12 of them operate on the basis of professional technical schools. The Higher Vocational School of Restaurant Service and Trade in Rivne Oblast became the first institution in the region and the second in Ukraine to open a qualification center for the profession of “Cook; Pastry Chef”. School canteen cooks were the first to confirm their qualifications. “Since we always try to keep up with the times, we quickly got involved in the process and prepared the accreditation case. We received the accreditation certificate in September 2021. Since then, we have been approached by three school canteen cooks who already have 10-15 years of work experience and initial qualifications : among them were chefs of grades 3 and 4. They passed the qualification confirmation procedure and received a higher grade as specialists who obtained informal education directly at the workplace. The exam itself was divided into two parts and took place over two days. The theoretical part involved answers to ticket questions , and the practical one is the preparation of three dishes,” says Nataliya Borysiuk, head of the department for providing and verifying professional qualifications of the Rivne Higher Vocational School of Restaurant Service and Trade. Tetyana Semenyuk from the village of Oleksandria, Rivne region, is among those who have already used the services of the qualification centers. Since 2006, the woman has been working as a cook at the Regional Art Lyceum. She received her professional education at the Pochaiv Higher Vocational School in Ternopil Oblast. After completing her studies, she received the 3rd degree, later the 4th, and in the spring of this year she decided to improve her qualifications and get the fifth degree in the direction of “Cook; pastry chef”. Tatyana applied to the qualification center, submitted the relevant documents, took the test, answered the questions on the ticket and prepared three dishes: a seafood cocktail, a steak with grilled vegetables and a “Women’s Quirks” cake. The dishes were evaluated by a commission of five experts. “The procedure for confirming qualifications is quite clear and convenient. I am pleased that there is such an opportunity now. I have been working in the kitchen for a long time, I know a lot, but I follow the latest in my field. I subscribed to the institution’s pages on social networks to be aware of what now they are studying how to apply it in their work,” Tetyana Semenyuk shares. It is currently possible to acquire/confirm professional qualifications in 8 professions: cook, confectioner, electric gas welder, manual welding welder, information and software processing operator, dressmaking master, restaurant service master, mechanic repairing wheeled vehicles, turner. To confirm qualifications, the applicant needs to: find the qualification center of the relevant field on the website of the National Qualifications Agency; write an application for the assignment/confirmation of professional qualifications based on available documents that certify competence and are confirmed by relevant training results; go through the procedure of confirming competences and/or training results, knowledge of labor protection issues taking into account the profession, qualification through an interview, passing the relevant exams; get a conclusion based on the results of the procedure, confirmed by documentation. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is convinced that it is important to involve specialists from both the educational sector and the business sphere in the process of confirming professional qualifications. Such cooperation will make it possible to balance the assessment of qualifications. On the basis of the institution, you can get theoretical training, and try out practice in production. In addition, the educational institution has a clear toolkit for evaluation. “Cooperation in this direction is really necessary. Specialists should follow innovations. In some educational institutions, where there are training and practical centers and modern equipment, they can improve their qualifications and later confirm them with relevant documents. Employers are interested in this,” the head summarizes “Guild of cooks” Oleksandr Medved. Victoria Nazaruk This publication was prepared with the support of the European Union and its member states Germany, Finland, Poland and Estonia within the framework of the “EU4Skills: Better skills for modern Ukraine” program. The program aims to provide support in the implementation of the reform of professional education and the modernization of the infrastructure of selected educational institutions. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of its authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union, its Member States or the Programme.

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