Page 109 - valuing-diversity-guidance-for-labour-market-integration-of-migrants

Valuing diversity: guidance for labour market integration of migrants

European Union, 2012) prompted countries to establish by 2018 comprehensive
validation systems to address several issues: secure a better match between
skills and labour demand; address skills shortages in growing sectors; promote
better transferability of skills between companies and sectors; and increase
mobility in the EU to live and work.
It is self-evident how relevant this process is for third-country immigrant
labour market integration. It relates directly to minimisation of mismatch among
migrant groups, the possibility of better signalling of migrant skills in the private
sector, and mobility opportunities sponsored by EU-level initiatives, such as the
blue card. Validation processes can also play a valuable role in reengaging
migrant early drop-outs in education and training, by making experience outside
formal learning relevant for the acquisition of further qualifications (as with
Estonia, Latvia, Romania).
The recommended structure for validation systems and processes also
implies greater adoption of EU-level tools, such as the European qualifications
framework (and related national frameworks), and the European credit transfer in
higher education and in VET (ECVET), which will benefit the intra-EU mobility of
highly qualified third-country citizens. The validation is in four stages:
identification of an individual's learning outcomes acquired through non-formal
and informal learning; documentation of an individual's learning outcomes
acquired through non-formal and informal learning; assessment of an individual's
learning outcomes acquired through non-formal and informal learning;
certification of the results of the assessment of an individual's learning outcomes
acquired through non-formal and informal learning in the form of a qualification or
credits.
Guidance plays a strong role, especially in the identification and assessment
stages. Assessment methods can be used to not only evaluate learning
outcomes but also to generate a self-reflexive process, supporting a successful
career path. They can also anticipate the information needed in validation and
recognition processes, being possible even prior to the migration process, with
cooperation between origin and receiving country services; this prior assessment
is a requirement in Germany, France and Denmark.
If the foreign citizens are already in the country, assessment procedures can
be implemented from the introduction stage. The French bilan de compétences is
a transversal tool used – with contextual adaptation – in a variety of sectors and
with different client groups. This creates pressure for system coherence in
assessment of skills and their certification. In the Netherlands, immigrants also
have access to an integration dossier which attempts to register all the
information about the person’s previous learning experience in formal and non-

99