Articles
The 29th Annual PALSO Conference-European Legislation: Certification
- Details
- Category: News
- Published on Monday, 24 October 2011 11:00
The PALSO Federation held its 29th Annual Conference late last August at the premises of the Club Hotel Casino in Loutraki and attracted a large number of members who had come from far and apart. The Conference, which was officially opened by the President of the PALO Federation Mr Yiannis Michaelides, featured:
• A panel discussion;
• Professional and commercial presentations;
• A Book and Resource Exhibition;
• A rich social programme;
• The AGM
The Panel Discussion
Panellists included MP Katerina Batzeli, former minister of agriculture, Mr Constantinos Kaltsas, Chair of the Hellenic Qualifications Framework Organization, Mr Stavros Stavrou, former deputy director of CEDEFOP, and Mr Fotis Hatzifotis, lawyer and co-ordinator of the discussion.
All panellists agreed that certification and accreditation of qualifications is the focal point for the implementation of a unified European education policy as well as for promoting workers’ and learners’ mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning.
Ms Batzeli pointed out that education in every sense is one of the fundamental factors of development. No country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital. Education enriches people’s understanding of themselves and the world.
It improves the quality of their lives and leads to broad social benefits to individuals and society. Education raises people’s productivity and creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advances.
In addition it plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution.
Mr Kaltsas informed the audience on the aims and objectives of the Hellenic Qualifications Framework Organization.
The Hellenic Qualifications Framework is a tool for the classification of qualifications in terms of knowledge, skills and competences that are acquired by people on completion of a learning process. It benefits:
• Learners and employees, who wish to change educational path, or vocation, or move to another country;
• Providers of education and training;
• Employers.
The Hellenic Qualifications Framework offers:
• Facilitation of access and participation to lifelong learning;
• Opportunity for vocational development;
• Mobility increase of trainees and employees;
• Lifelong learning support, through the interconnection of all types of formal, non formal and informal learning;
• Reinforcement of qualifications’ transparency and their connection to employment;
• Validation and accreditation of informal learning;
• Rationalisation and assurance of the quality of the recognition and accreditation system.
The 8 Levels of the Hellenic Qualifications Framework
The Hellenic Qualifications Framework comprises of 8 levels, which cover all types of qualifications from compulsory education to higher education.
The innovation lies in the fact that the Framework facilitates the validation of non-formally (ex. initial and continuing vocational training) and informally (i.e. vocational experience) acquired qualifications.
| LEVEL | DESCRIPTION |
| 1 | It is related to the possibility of continuing to the second cycle of Secondary Education |
| 2 | It is related to the possibility of completing the second cycle of Secondary Education and/or attending a continuing vocational training programme. |
| 3 | It is related to the completion of the second cycle of Secondary Education and it also refers to qualifications that are acquired through vocational experience. |
| 4 | It is related to the completion of at least the second cycle of Secondary Education, which has been upgraded through further education and training or working experience. |
| 5 | It is related to the completion of a Post-Secondary Education and Training Programme, or the “swift cycle” of an Education and Training Programme. |
| 6 | It is related to the qualifications acquired through the first cycle of Higher Education. |
| 7 | It is related to the qualifications acquired through the second cycle of Higher education. |
| 8 | It is related to the qualifications acquired through the third cycle of Higher Education. |
(The ministry of education, during the past ten months, has been recording all types of qualifications awarded in secondary and tertiary education both by formal and non formal education providers.
More than 6,500 different qualifications have been recorded so far. Therefore it is of primary importance for the ministry to validate and include them in the national qualifications framework.)
Mr Stavrou talked about the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), which acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers’ and learners’ mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning.
He also presented the Europass, a direct public service that makes qualifications and skills better understood throughout Europe.
People who are looking for a job -whether in their own country or abroad- present their qualifications and skills in a way that employers can correctly understand and appreciate.
The Europass service is available to individuals through a network of national centres and an on-line portal.
CV service
The portal -run by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) and available in 26 languages – provides an interactive tool to complete the Europass CV and the Europass Language Passport.
The Europass CV highlights people’s skills and abilities, including those acquired outside of formal education and training. Language skills are described with the help of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) established by the Council of Europe.
Users can download the CVs that they create in several formats, including XML which enables direct uploading to on-line employment databases. On average, around 7 000 CVs are created using the service every day.
The other talks
Prof. Yiannis Panoussis, Department of Communication and Mass Media at the University of Athens, talked about school violence, which refers to harmful behaviours that can start early and continue into young adulthood.
The young person can be a victim, an offender, or a witness to the violence.
Youth violence includes various behaviours. Some violent acts -such as bullying, slapping, or hitting- can cause more emotional than physical harm.
A number of factors can increase the risk of a youth engaging in violence such as:
• Association with delinquent peers
• Poor family functioning
• Poor grades in school
• Poverty in the community, etc.
Prof. Panoussis suggested changes that can be made to the family and school environment that could address the causes of violence.
Dr Hara Nomikou, psychologist, focused on the symptoms of video game addiction in teens.
For most young people, playing games on a computer, video game console, or handheld device is just a regular part of the day.
Most are able to juggle the multiple demands of school, sports, work or chores, and family life. Gaming becomes an addiction when it starts to interfere with a person’s relationships or their pursuit of other goals, such as good grades or being a contributing member of a sports team.
Like any addictive behaviour, there are signs to look for if you suspect your teen might have a gaming addiction such as:
• Lack of Control
• Loss of Time
• Negative Impact on Other Areas of Life
• Misuse of Money
• Mixed Feelings
Many parents view gaming as a relatively harmless addiction when compared to the dangers of the real world. “When the children are at home, we know what they’re doing and who they’re playing with” (well, sort of).
But video game addiction can ruin lives. Children who play four to five hours per day have little time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports.
Kicking the habit is hard, too. Video game and computer addicts can’t just avoid computers. They need to use them for homework and communication with friends. Parents need to set strict limits and monitor usage.
That means the computer or game systems need to be out in the living room or wherever there are other family members present.
Most importantly, though, parents should help their kids find alternatives to video games such as participating in sports, or just play outside with other kids.
The 29th Annual PALSO Conference closed with a session on tax issues as well as an introduction to the new pension law which extends working life.