NQFs reflect a worldwide pattern in educational policy-making. Approximately 60 countries around the world are developing NQFs. The list of countries is diverse and impressive, and includes Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Botswana, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Africa, Namibia, EU member states, and many EU partner countries.

The motivations for the concurrent development of NQFs are diverse, and include the search for efficiencies across different education sectors. In some economies the motivation may be the pursuit of modernity, or the desire to gain legitimacy and to participate in international dialogues on education. There are also trends towards the transfer of policy knowledge between proximal states, pressures for transparency in order to facilitate labour mobility, and the distribution of ideas through international communities of policy-makers and experts. The ILO's (2004) Recommendation on Human Resources Development stated that education, training and lifelong learning encourages members towards the adoption of ‘measures, in consultation with the social partners and using a national qualifications framework, to promote the development, implementation and financing of a transparent mechanism for the assessment, certification and recognition of skills, including prior learning and previous experience, irrespective of the countries where they were acquired and whether acquired formally or informally’.

The development of frameworks that use similar or related principles to shape education and training systems creates new opportunities for cooperation between different countries in education and training. The frameworks include a number of common elements that can serve as a basis for closer links between countries and for the sharing of expertise and experience.

What Does ‘Qualification’ Mean?

There is no single understanding of the meaning of the term ‘qualification’ that is appropriate for all ETF partner countries. The meaning can vary even within the different stakeholder groups within a single country. While there is value in seeking similarities in the understanding of ‘qualification’, and in the drafting of a general definition for the sake of coherence and transparency, the differences in meaning cannot be disregarded. These differences reflect deeply embedded social and cultural understandings that have existed for many years and have evolved with social change during that time. This chapter is therefore more concerned with appreciating the differences in understandings of the concepts that are associated with qualification than making a case for a consensus view of qualification.

It can be said that at the core of the concept of qualification is a description of some kind of threshold for learning, a point at which a new position is established. This threshold is usually well defined and makes it possible to say whether a person has reached the point of qualification. For example, a person may show that they are able to carry out a job effectively and are qualified; or a person may have completed a particular task successfully, such as a test or examination, in which case they receive acknowledgement (recognition) of their success.

Albania

In June 2006 the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities created the Albanian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Task Force, co-chaired by two deputy ministers. Following intensive work, including consultations with stakeholders, the task force developed a Consultation Paper with recommendations on:

• the purposes and scope of the AQF;

• level descriptors aligned with the EQF;

• the institutional structure and arrangements for governance of the AQF;

• legislative requirements.

In June 2008 the task force recommended an acceleration of the necessary procedures for the establishment of the AQF, suggesting that the Draft AQF Law and additional relevant material should be reviewed by councils that are directly affected by AQF implementation. It also suggested that the Albanian Qualification Framework set should be presented to the Parliamentary Commission for Education and Public Information Means.

The AQF provisions were based on the functions of existing institutions, with the aim of minimising additional public expenses and at the same time ensuring effective management of AQF implementation. Based on a proposal from the task force, technical working groups were established on AQF Levels and Credits, AQF Quality Assurance, AQF Institutional Structure, Standards and Assessment in VET Qualifications, and AQF Legislation and Regulations.

Policy documents from partner countries show that these countries are reforming their qualifications systems and developing frameworks because they want to improve the quality and adaptability of their workforce and improve the quality of the provision, linking it more closely to labour market needs.

But to what extent are these expectations realistic? How can qualifications frameworks and reformed qualifications systems in partner countries influence the quality of learning? Can they actually contribute to better-quality results and make an impact on learning processes? Qualifications frameworks are developed in order to strengthen the coherence and links between qualifications; but are specific qualifications linked in the reform of qualifications systems in partner countries?

This chapter is about how qualifications frameworks in partner countries could influence the quality of learning. It should be clear from the start that qualifications frameworks alone cannot improve the quality of learning: they have to be considered as part of wider education reform policies.

Shaping Quality: Outcome vs. Institutional Approaches

Qualifications frameworks are classification tools, and the quality of learning is not reflected by the levels in qualifications frameworks. The level descriptors only specify levels of learning and generally say nothing about the routes to that learning. However, it is generally accepted that qualifications frameworks and reformed qualifications systems can assure some quality through the promotion of standards and the quality assurance of assessment and certification processes. Qualifications frameworks and reformed qualifications systems are instrumental to the standardisation of the results of education and training.

These two countries are taking different paths to qualifications frameworks (with Russia making an early start), but they both share a similar challenge: to increase the quality and relevance of their VET systems.

Russia

Introduction

At the start of the NQF project in Russia in January 2005, the mere idea of an NQF was completely novel for both the education and employment communities, as was the concept of learning outcomes. Hence, at first it seemed that the prospective exercise was not a major undertaking, and that it merely involved assigning qualifications to existing levels within the education system. However, with the acquisition of new knowledge and exposure to international experience, there gradually emerged an awareness and understanding that huge changes would be necessary in order to make possible the development of an NQF.

The project started in a situation characterised by:

• a lack of effective links between the labour market and the education system;

• a lack of occupational standards;

• outdated occupational classifications;

• a gap between the classification of occupations in the labour market and their classification in the training sphere;

• uneven economic growth of sectors and regions;

• passive employers who were largely dissatisfied with VET graduates;

• a complacent VET system;

• a lack of flexibility in delivery systems;

• input-based VET standards;

• weak links between occupational qualifications and academic qualifications.

Introduction

The Soviet Union had a highly developed scientific establishment and a strong education system that valued rigorous scientific training and research, though it was poorly adapted to the requirements of a modern market economy. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, this system suffered throughout the entire Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), especially in the remote and poor countries of Central Asia. While there remain networks of researchers spanning the boundaries of the new republics, the scope for the development and sharing of knowledge and for creating a modern knowledge society has narrowed. The Russian language, a long-established lingua franca, is still widely used in Central Asia, but it is increasingly giving way among members of the younger generation to national languages. Finding regional approaches and solutions for these issues will be an important part of managing the overall educational and knowledge-management challenge.

There are many important national policy and institution-building issues that fundamentally affect human development and human security, but that do not have direct cross-border impacts. Even in these areas, regional cooperation can contribute to national policy and institutional reform by setting regional benchmarks for progress and by sharing lessons from experiences in implementing reforms. Gender and governance issues are just two of the areas in which Central Asian countries face similar and serious problems, though the extent and precise nature of these problems vary. Other areas include community development, independent media, human rights and democratic reforms.

Section 3 of this book presented ongoing reforms of education and training system in 23 countries. It analysed the conceptual frameworks underpinning qualifications systems and examined contexts and drivers that have created conditions for qualifications systems reform in ETF's partner countries, in EU member states and beyond. The overall aspirations were therefore to generate knowledge about—as well as critical reflections on—the way partner countries are reforming their education systems. A word of caution is necessary here as this review is necessarily limited because partner countries, and also some of EU member states, are still at an early stage of reforming their qualifications systems.

A first theme emerging from this book, and in general from ETF work in the field of qualifications, is that NQFs are potentially a tool for education and training reform. But because of that, the book stresses that, they are not easy to design and implement, nor are they in themselves a solution to all issues that countries may experience with their education and training systems. In this context, the country section demonstrates that while there may be common ground with EU member states, there are also necessarily specificities in the way NQF is considered and taken up in partner countries.

National qualifications reforms are often associated with the setting up of legal structures and new bodies that are intended to manage and drive forward the implementation of reforms, and offer new ways for stakeholders to engage with reforms. In almost all countries the modernisation of education and training systems has a legal anchor point that clarifies what needs to happen to achieve a specific purpose. Sometimes the law simply sets out in broad terms the policy goals and the timescales for their enactment, while other laws are framed in terms of technical detail. Some legal structures set out the roles and responsibilities of new bodies to work in the qualifications system. The bodies that are set up can be a high-level representative committee or a new agency with an employee cadre that carries out tasks associated with the qualifications system. For example qualifications accreditation, checking that quality assurance arrangements are implemented or examining how educational and qualifications standards are defined.

Eight partner countries have provided specific information to the ETF about their legal and institutional structures (present and future), and information about 10 other countries and territories has been derived from their contributions to this publication.

The ETF NQF project has led to discussions within partner countries about how their qualifications systems can be improved and about the potential role of an NQF in facilitating this improvement. The current situation in each of the countries is different; all countries are at the beginning of the development process, and some are not, at this time, considering the introduction of an NQF.

National qualifications frameworks (NQFs) have, over the last five years, become key instruments for the restructuring and reform of education, training and qualifications systems in Europe. While very few countries had considered this approach prior to 2005, the situation today is very different. The majority of European countries (as well as candidate countries to the EU and partner countries) are currently working actively on the development and implementation of national frameworks. Even if the number of countries having fully implemented such frameworks is still low (Ireland, France, Malta and the UK), almost all are now signalling that they will introduce comprehensive, overarching qualifications frameworks covering all parts of their education, training and qualifications systems.

The key explanation to this rapid development of comprehensive, overarching frameworks is probably the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (EQF) adopted in 2008 by the European Parliament and Council. The EQF is a device to ‘translate’ and compare qualifications across Europe, so even if NQFs are important for reaching European objectives, they are increasingly seen as instruments for addressing national objectives. It seems clear to most of the education community that effective reform requires agendas and initiatives with strong local roots and the broad participation of those with a stake in outcomes, including not only officials but also students, parents, teachers, and communities. Unless the beneficiaries of the reform become its bearers, it is likely to be stillborn. This is not a case in which reformers select discrete entries from a large menu of reforms.

European Training Foundation involvement in the development of national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) dates back to the beginning of this century, when countries that are now EU member states, such as Malta and Romania, pushed the move from narrowly defined sets of qualifications to broader and more flexible frameworks that were more future-proof and involved better education and training.

In all these years, the ETF has treated NQFs not as a means in themselves, but as vehicles for education reform.

The development of NQFs forces the entire array of stakeholders in education and training to rethink the objectives of human capital development in society, the means to achieve these objectives and the ways to be engaged and engage with others in the process of maximising the potential of teachers, trainers and training centres.

In many of the ETF's partner countries, this process of reform constitutes an extremely radical set of changes in an environment – education and training – that has long been considered an almost untouchable part of a national heritage. Such reforms are not easy and any change invariably meets resistance that can only be overcome if the drivers for this change come from within.

National qualifications frameworks also offer a good opportunity for engaging partners that in many countries traditionally have not been part of the education development process, such as social partners, employers and NGOs. Their involvement will in turn impact heavily on the relevance of education and training to the needs of the labour market.

Introduction

Over the past decade the countries and territories of South Eastern Europe have faced, and continue to face, unprecedented changes in their political, economic and social spheres. Many institutions, enterprises and individuals are ill-prepared for the complexity and depth of the changes that are fundamentally transforming work and social life. In order to respond effectively to permanent change, OECD countries and EU member states are now placing much more importance on lifelong learning, which emerged as a key policy issue towards the end of the 1990s as a strategic response to globalisation, the knowledge economy, continuous market and technological change, growing unemployment and rising social exclusion. In 2000 the Feira European Council asked EU member states and their partners to develop ‘coherent strategies and practical measures with a view to fostering lifelong learning for all’. Governments have put in place and are adjusting policies and institutional arrangements to ensure lifelong access to opportunities for acquiring the knowledge and competences essential for economic, social and personal development.

Transition has had a major impact on the skills that enterprises need in order to maintain and improve their competitiveness and, in particular, the skills needed by small and medium-sized businesses. With economic transition and privatisation, former state or socially owned industries in South Eastern Europe have closed or restructured, or are in the process of doing so. This has led to high levels of unemployment, in particular long-term unemployment.

Introduction

The chapter ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ in Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov is one of the most intriguing religious-philosophical pieces in world literature. It is an original interpretation of the figure of Christ and of the nature of Christian belief. The story has been commented on by many interpreters, but was more often used as an argument for or against a certain ecclesiastical theological standpoint, rather than appreciated as an autonomous piece of literature. In order to make a sound theological evaluation, however, one must first approach the story within its own literary framework. What literary means does Dostoevsky use to convey his view of Christ and Christianity? Before analysing the theological content of the story, I would like to treat three aspects of literary style in ‘The Grand Inquisitor’: irony in the presentation of the story, the anti-iconographical picture of Christ and the indirect method of presenting His message.

First, a word on the general structure of the story ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ itself. It is a story within the larger story of the novel and is not part of the plot. With regards to content, it is linked to the discussion between the brothers, Ivan and Aleksey, on the suffering in the world, described in the previous chapter.

Introduction

For most women living in the conflict-ridden areas of Sri Lanka, violence and brutality are part of everyday life. They have suffered sexual assaults, attacks and disappearances in times of violence in addition to the domineering power relations and the general insecurity in the social context and everyday conflict situation that have lead to an overall loss of freedom for women. Women became widows overnight due to the death of their husbands; they became husbandless when their spouses disappeared and they were isolated from their community due to their stature of vulnerability caused by the war. As a result, women as survivors of war have had to find ways of coping with the pain and with reconstructing their family and social units.

However, the impact of war on women in Sri Lanka has not only been a very personal and painful experience, but has also caused long term social consequences. Conditions of war and prolonged suffering have forced women to take new steps and responsibilities, both within their families and communities. One of these steps has been women's public role of making peace; an action which has put great pressure on these women as it is both socially and politically unacceptable to do so. Many women risk being stigmatised and marginalised by their family and community, besides being under political threat for initiating peace.

This paper therefore brings up the question of gender in the 2002 peace process and in formal and informal peacemaking. Starting from women's individual and collective initiatives for building peace, this paper critically analyzes women's role in the formal peace process in Sri Lanka.

The Devils is a critique of revolutionary ideology, embedded in a fascinating story on terrorist intrigues. As such it has proved to be of extraordinary social relevance and political topicality. The novel has been called prophetic because of its realistic description of later communist ideological thinking and acting, not only in Russia. Of course, Dostoevsky did not foresee the course of political events, but he saw the intrinsic consequences of utopian-totalitarian thinking when most people did not. Being a writer, he did not formulate his critique as a prophet or moralist, but combined his ethical message with humorous descriptions of party meetings, personality cult and intellectual pseudo progressiveness. In retrospect, the ideological themes of the novel are still captivating, while their manifestation in the communist mentality has become something of the past.

However, The Devils is more than just a critique on a political ideology, the human tragedy of the novel lies as much in the individual as in the political field. The themes of this novel are not only utilitarian partyethics and terrorist activity, but also the eternal themes of good and evil, the relationship between the existence of God and ethics, human freedom, conscience and guilt. These religious-philosophical themes are the underlying themes of the ideological ones. Now that the political topicality of the novel has disappeared, the other themes, which make the book transcend its temporal limits, emerge all the better. These themes are present as a metaphysical background of the thoughts and actions of the main characters.

In Dostoevsky's literary oeuvre, no theological argumentation or theoretical opinions on Christianity can be found. Dostoevsky is no preacher or teacher of Christian values. He is creator and commentator of his own religious universe, and it is in this artistic universe that Christianity plays a formative role. Christianity appears not in an abstract form but as faith expressed in life, in the life of fictional people. The realism of the portrayed faith lies in the reader's recognition and in the feeling of being challenged to form an opinion of one's own, to take position in the religious conflicts described. The reader becomes a conversation partner of the author and his heroes. Here the dialogical nature of the Dostoevskian novel becomes manifest.

This faith is realistic because it is mixed with doubt, something every critical believer has. Its context is also realistic: it is faith that clashes with its surroundings, in which evil, suffering or crime rules. It is no religious schöngeisterei or ritually aestheticized belief.

It is also realistic because faith is continually allied to its ethical consequences, or ‘the active love’ (Zosima) that forms the practical side of Christian faith. Finally, it is realistic in the sense in which Dostoevsky uses the word ‘realism’ as opposed to mysticism, for Alyosha. It is not faith connected with miracles or feats of saints, but with deeds of lay people (Sonya, Myshkin, Makar, Sofya, Markel) and unconventional monks.