Preparations for piloting the procedure for recognition of prior learning, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development with the support of the project “Development of an integrated system of national qualifications in Serbia”, are proceeding according to the plan. In the first week of February, the first workshop for the development of training programs based on the qualification standard was held at the Polytechnic School in Subotica. Such training programs will be a mandatory part of the documentation that secondary vocational schools will submit with the request for acquiring the status of a Publicly Recognized Organizers of Adult Education Activities (PROAEA), with which they will be able to submit a request for verification for conducting the process of recognition of prior learning.

The workshop in Subotica was attended by representatives of the Polytechnic School and the Technical School from Vlasotince, in which the procedure of recognition of prior learning will be piloted, for qualifications in the field of construction. After the introductory part, in which the experts of the Project and the Institute for the Improvement of Education brought up in more detail the principles of recognition of prior learning, elements of qualification standards and methodology for developing adult training programs based on qualification standards, work began on developing training programs for carpenters, masons, reinforcer – concrete worker and construction machinery operators..

• Adult learning has not been in focus for a long time, and it is a very important link in the educational system, because learning does not end when we finish or, due to circumstances, interrupt formal education. The opportunity to acquire a first qualification or a new qualification through the process of recognition of prior learning is very important for people who have acquired knowledge and skills through years of work experience, but have not confirmed this knowledge with certificates. It is in everyone’s interest for such people to be recognized, for their knowledge and skills to be checked, acknowledged and confirmed – says Gojko Banović, head of the Center for Vocational and Adult Education at the Institute for the Improvement of Education.

The first step towards the verification of schools for the implementation of the procedure of recognition of prior learning is the verification for the organization of trainings for adult students. As the goal is to acquire qualifications that are recognized on the labor market and that are included in the national Register of Qualifications, both through training, but also through the procedure of recognition of prior learning, it is necessary to ensure the quality of the procedure of acquiring such qualifications. Therefore, all training programs must be based on a qualification standard and developed according to the unique methodology. At the workshop in Subotica, tools were developed for four of the nine qualifications that will be piloted.

• The participants had the task to define knowledge, skills and attitudes, to link them into program units and to design for those program units the tasks and products of practical work that we expect from the trainees. Then they developed instruments for testing knowledge and skills on the basis of which they will assess and evaluate adults who have undergone training, but also those who have acquired the necessary competencies through work experience and just want to confirm them now- explained Elido Bandelj, the Project team leader.

In the following period, such workshops will be organized for the representatives of other pilot schools, so that everyone can meet the conditions necessary for the start of piloting, planned for the spring of this year. Once the proposed solutions, through piloting, are tested in practice, the process of recognition of prior learning should become a procedure through which secondary vocational schools, verified for the process of recognition of prior learning will be able to check and validate adult knowledge acquired through training or work experience and that are equivalent to the competencies acquired at the II, III and V level of formal education.