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Professional Competency Framework

National Professional Qualification Framework and its role in learning assessment

Introduction: The connection of technical and vocational education with the world of work is established through occupational and vocational needs assessments for planning and determining educational and vocational fields and preparing curricula, and it is expected that skilled graduates with professional qualifications will enter the labor market with horizontal, vertical and geographical employment compatibility. Studies show that merely assessing needs is not sufficient for this compatibility, and this is also indicated by the unemployment of skilled graduates, which is often the case at the secondary vocational education level. The main question is: What should be done to ensure quality that automatically ensures these compatibility? Since the 1980s, when the issue of developing national standards for professional competence was raised, almost 135 out of 175 United Nations member states have been able to ensure the quality of education by designing a national professional competence framework and establishing a national policy-making body. In other words, they have been able to coordinate learning assessment (performance or competency measurement) with national professional competence level indicators and establish a quality assurance cycle in the education and assessment process. In this article, we aim to demonstrate this effect by introducing the Iranian National Professional Competency Framework.

Definitions

• National Vocational Qualifications Framework

is a national and agreed upon framework in which the relationship between qualifications, skill certificates and measurable professional experiences with occupations and occupations (world of work) titles is established in a flexible manner, based on national occupational classification standards and educational levels. It is a formal and legal document for auditing and assessing the professional competence of human resources for the purpose of entering the labor market and has defined levels according to the conditions of each country.

• Professional competence

Professional competences whose holder is assessed and audited based on the levels related to those competences, in the national vocational qualification framework

and, in addition to the academic qualification, obtains a certificate of professional competence at that level.

An interwoven combination

• Competence Professional

and Interpreting

Demonstrating knowledge (action guidance

Skills related to the application of knowledge

and the generalization of action

and attitudes

that are assessed and confirmed by standards of performance in the world of work.

• Competency Level Descriptors

Measurable and agreed upon professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies

of professionals

who are stakeholders, policymakers and providers of technical and vocational education for each level that form the basis for assessment and National audit is conducted for the award of certification.

 The suitability of the type of educational-professional fields

• Horizontal compatibility

of the educational-professional fields and the professional competences of the students

with the needs of the jobs in the world of work.

The suitability of the level of skills and:

• Vertical compatibility

of the educational-professional fields to

take a job in the world of work.

The suitability of the type of educational-professional fields:

• Geographic compatibility

and the level of skills and competences

with regional needs.

The objectives of the Vocational Qualifications Framework

There are two sets of objectives: primary objectives that arise from the alignment of curricula with the competence levels and the content of the descriptors at each level,

and secondary objectives that arise from the audit and evaluation of educational documents and certificates of competence.

The subject of this paper is to examine the impact of primary objectives on the assessment of learning in formal technical and vocational education.

Primary objectives:

• Ensure the quality of technical and vocational education

by aligning vocational competence levels with the professional development path and school curriculum;

• Establishing a link between the content of performance assessment (competence) and the content of professional competence levels;

• Making learning assessment results comparable with the descriptors of professional competence levels;

• Creating facilitation and flexibility for learners to move along different paths of technical and vocational education (formal, non-formal and informal).

Secondary objectives:

• Supporting lifelong learning by taking into account and improving individuals' prior learning and experiences;

• Facilitating the horizontal and vertical mobility of graduates and their skills between educational and vocational levels at the national and international levels;

• Introducing professional qualifications of different national levels at the international level for the accreditation of educational documents and professional certificates;

• Integrating the development of technical and vocational education;

• Standardizing activities National level professional to help sustainable development;

• Uniformization of qualification levels in the country through standardization of professional qualifications;

• Participation of technical and vocational education providers in policy-making, planning, development of professional standards and evaluation;

• Integration of national professional qualification granting through national competence verification;

• Provision of conditions for ranking training providers;

• Diversification of types of technical and vocational education by taking into account the personal experiences of individuals in improving professional qualifications;

• Synchronization of human resource qualifications with economic requirements;

• Facilitation of labor mobility across borders through the issuance of professional qualification certificates at an international level

Descriptors of learning levels and outcomes

• Learning outcomes resulting from vocational education and training at all levels and for each competence • Professional competence • Attitude • Skill • Knowledge are a set of:

which demonstrate competence in an integrated manner. Accordingly:

• Skill is the application of knowledge. and procedures. • Knowledge is the understanding and comprehension of concepts, principles

• Attitude is the enthusiasm and commitment to do the work and the display of affect-oriented behaviors.

Proficiency in a specific occupational or professional field. • Professional competence is the application of

Proof of professional competence for each of the levels is carried out through the assessment of learning outcomes in an integrated manner. This means that the results of determining professional competence at all levels will require the assessment of professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and competence at the same levels by external assessment and with the criteria and descriptors of the same levels.

The descriptors are therefore defined at a general level, but their application should be subject to a national process of “validation” and “accreditation” after the establishment of the National Strategic Center for Technical and Vocational Education (a national institution) and the organization of specialized boards for technical and vocational education, formal and non-formal education, higher technical and vocational education, and the National Assessment Center. Table 1 defines the general assessment criteria for each level in the form of measurable competency behaviors as a proposal.

 

 

Table 1. General descriptors of professional qualification levels for technical and vocational education

Competency levels	Knowledge and skills	Professional competence
1	- Basic knowledge in a job field - Basic cognitive and practical skills for performing repetitive tasks	Working under supervision with a degree of independence in a related job field
2	- Knowledge of a series of simple concepts and general procedures in a job field - Relating knowledge to other everyday job fields	Using practiced knowledge and skill steps to solve new problems
3	- Broad practical and theoretical knowledge in a professional and occupational field - A set of cognitive and practical skills necessary to solve specific problems in a professional and occupational field	Using the process of knowledge and skills to solve a problem and generalizing it to specific situations and other professional and occupational contexts
4	- Specialized knowledge in the field and applied topics - Implementing and communicating knowledge in practice and in professional fields	Comprehensive organization and use of specialized knowledge to solve problems in occupational and professional fields
5	- Specialized, practical, and theoretical knowledge in a professional field - A comprehensive set of cognitive and practical skills necessary for creatively solving abstract problems	Management and supervision in career and professional fields
6	- Extensive specialized knowledge in occupational and professional fields - Use of professional skills, methods and materials in relation to occupational and professional fields	Comprehensive organization and use of specialized knowledge in solving problems related to occupational and professional fields
7	- Excellent specialized knowledge as a basis for innovative thinking and research the selection and use of skills, methods, practices and materials related to occupational and professional fields	Using analytical thinking and evaluating and combining ideas and concepts to solve problems in career and professional fields
8	- General and detailed understanding of the subject and disciplines, including a thorough understanding of fundamental theories, principles and concepts - Use of the most advanced skills and specialized methods necessary, including hypotheses and their evaluation, to solve important problems in research and innovation to redefine and expand existing specialized knowledge	Use a combined and comprehensive approach to analyze, evaluate, and interpret new and complex ideas, information, and problems in occupational and professional contexts.

 

Levels of Vocational Qualifications Based on comparative studies, in other countries, especially in Europe, an eight-level vocational qualification system is proposed for the vocational qualification framework, which has maximum compatibility with the formal technical and vocational education and training system in secondary and higher technical and vocational education in the country and also has the necessary ease to adapt to non-formal technical and vocational education. Technical and Vocational Education and Training Pathways The technical and vocational education and training paths in an eight-level vocational qualification system in technical and vocational education and training will be as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Vocational and technical education and training paths

National Occupations Qualification Levels	Technical and vocational secondary education	Non-formal vocational training	Higher technical and vocational education
8			Certificate of Competence/Professional Doctorate
7			Certificate of Competency/Master Professional Senior Engineer Professional
6			Certificate of Competence / Professional Engineer
5			Certificate of Competence/Senior Professional, Assistant Engineer
4			Certificate of Competence/Professional Worker Technician
3	Certificate of Competence/Diploma, Technician's Assistant	Certificate of Competence/ Technician Assistance
2	Certificate of Competence	Skilled Worker Qualification Certificate
1	Certificate of Competence	Simple worker qualification certificate

 

Definition, scope and professional qualification certificate25 and its relation to the curricula of the technical and vocational branch Professional qualification certificates have different time and place values ​​depending on the placement in different educational paths. During the three-year secondary technical and vocational branch, each year, 10 in three modules in the form of two 300-hour courses and a total of 30 modules and 6 courses with a time value of 1800 hours are taught with the content of professional competencies in the form of workshops, which are equivalent to levels 2 and 3 in accordance with the professional qualification levels.

• Level 1 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

300 to 600 hours of practical training (technical competence)26 (for an occupation27 at level 1 of the National Skill Classification System (9 occupational groups, ISCO 2008)28

• Level 2 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

900 hours of practical training (technical competence)29 (for an occupation30 at level 2 of the National Skill Classification System (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1 The national occupational classification system (occupational groups 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) is such that the Level 3 vocational qualification occupation is placed along the Level 2 vocational qualification occupation in a career development path. In other words, the Level 1 vocational qualification elective occupation is a prerequisite for the Level 2 vocational qualification elective occupation, which includes the Year 11 (11/2) workshop course and the Year 12 (12/1 and 12/2) workshop courses.

• Level 3 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

 900 hours of practical training (technical competence) for an occupation at skill level 2 of the National Occupational Classification System (occupational groups 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) so that the Level 3 Vocational Competence occupation is placed along the path of professional development of the Level 2 Vocational Competence occupation. In other words, the Level 1 Vocational Competence elective is a prerequisite for the Level 2 Vocational Competence elective, which includes the Year 11 Workshop Course (11/2) and the Year 12 Workshop Courses (12/1 and 12/2).

• Level 4 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

hours of practical training (technical competence) for an occupation at skill level 3 of the National Occupational Classification System (occupational group 3) (so that the chosen occupation at level 4 is on a professional development path that complements the competencies in the chosen occupations at skill level 3 of the vocational qualification.

• Level 5 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

900 hours of practical training (technical competence) for an occupation at skill level 4 of the National Occupational Classification System (occupational group 3) (so that the chosen occupation

At level 5, on the professional development path, complementing the competencies in the chosen occupations at level 4 of the professional qualification.

• Certificate of level 6 of professional qualification:

900 hours of practical training (technical competence) for an occupation at level 4 of the National Occupational Classification System (occupational group 2) (so that the chosen occupation is on the professional development path of level 5 of the professional qualification).

• Certificate of level 7 of professional qualification:

1800 hours of practical training (technical competence) for an occupation at level 4 of the National Occupational Classification System (occupational group 2) (so that the chosen occupation is on the professional development path of level 6 of the professional qualification).

• Level 8 Certificate of Vocational Competence:

 1800 hours of practical training (technical competence) for a profession at Level 4 of the Occupational Classification System (occupational group 1) so that the chosen profession is on the professional development path of Level 7 of the Vocational Competence.

 The professional development path

 in the technical and vocational education and training system provides the possibility of obtaining educational qualifications from diplomas to professional doctorates in a discontinuous manner, subject to the condition of proving competence and passing from each level of competence to the next level. In such a way that the entrants to the vocational education and training system that starts after the first intermediate stage can, in the path of professional development along with training and through experiential transition (real work and gaining experience), follow the path of improving professional competence along with obtaining a certificate and academic degree. It is obvious that the issue of experiential transition in this type of training should be considered as a principle. Other considerations regarding the professional development path are as follows: - Every 900 hours is considered equivalent to one year. - Experiential transition to the last stage, excluding levels 1 and 2 of the qualification, will be 10 to 12 years. - The duration of the formal and informal education and experiential transition will be 22 to 24 years.

 Full maturity along with work experience at the age of 40 will be equivalent to a professional doctorate for the workforce, subject to successful completion and proof of competency. - The age of entry into technical and vocational education and training is 15 years, which is equivalent to the end of the first year of secondary education.

Objectives of the National Professional Qualification Framework  (NQF)

Establishing consistent standards as well as technical and non-technical competencies

Improving the quality of technical and vocational education and training

Creating a system of coordination and comparison of certificates and documents by linking qualifications.

Conclusion:

Considering the compatibility of levels 2 and 3 of professional competence with the workshop lessons of the 10th, 11th and 12th years of the technical and vocational branch in terms of time in the curriculum of the professional and content fields in the form of professional competencies and the implementation of competency-based assessment in the process of implementing education, it is expected that the quality of education will be responsive to evaluation based on the descriptors of the competence levels. However, this compatibility has a qualitative impact on the evaluation of school learning.

References

1. Azad, Ebrahim (1999). National Competency Framework of Iran. Curriculum Planning and Curriculum Office, National Vocational Education Organization. Seventh Edition.

Tehran.

2. (1996). National Competency Framework of Iran. Social Studies Office, Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Eighth Edition.

Tehran.

3. Qualification frameworks from concept to implementation (2012), European Training Foundation (ETF) 4. Qualification frameworks in Europe (2015) European center for the development of vocational training (cedefop) 5. Level –setting and recognition of learning outcomes (2015) UNESCO 6. Felix Rauner and others (2013) competence development and assessment in TVET (COMET), springer 7. Ron Tuck ,(2007) An introductory Guide to national Qualification frameworks ,ILO 8. Global inventory of regional and national Qualifications frameworks (2015) unesco institute for lifelong learning (UIL)

Ebrahim Azad's article

interpreter: HamidReza Jafari 09129476380