MyCompetence offers a good practice and an example for other countries

© European Union, 2019 with financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" (2014-2020).

Mutual Learning Programme
Peer Review on “Competence Assessment System: MyCompetence”
Sofia (Bulgaria), 28-29 November 2019

Executive Summary
This Peer Review focused on the benefits of competence assessment systems to address skills mismatches in the labour market. Key discussion points included Member States’ practices in developing competence frameworks and professional standards, links between labour market and the education and training sector, how skills assessments are carried out in practice, and in what ways labour market actors can be systematically involved in the forecasting of skills and competences.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy hosted the Peer Review and presented the Bulgarian Labour Force Competence Assessment System: ‘MyCompetence’ (MC). MC is a holistic system that integrates sector competence models with self-assessment tools and online courses. MC includes 370 competence models of key jobs positions in 25 economic sectors. Each competence model contains a detailed description of the job position, tasks, responsibilities and qualification required, as well as soft skills and competences. The system was developed by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) in cooperation with two national trade unions. The implementation of MC is supported by the ‘National Competence Assessment Network’ which includes various Bulgarian stakeholder groups (employers, HR managers, Public Employment Services, education and training providers and thematic experts).

The Peer Review brought together government representatives and independent experts from the host country (Bulgaria) and eight peer countries (Belgium, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Spain). Representatives of the European Commission also participated.
Working together to strengthen human capital, employability and competitiveness in Europe is a key priority on the European policy agenda. For instance, the ‘Skills Agenda for Europe. Working together to strengthen human capital employability and competitiveness’ focuses on ten actions to “Improve the quality and relevance of skills formation; make skills and qualifications more visible and improve skills intelligence and information for better career choices”. The European multilingual classification of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO), offers a classification of skills, competences and qualifications for professions relevant for the European labour market. Finally, Europass is a transparent tool to support the documentation of skills, qualifications and professional experience across Europe.

The key изводи from the Peer Review can be summarised as follows:
The development of competence models or sector specific standards is not uniform across Europe.
• The development of competence models or sector specific standards differs across the participating countries. Some countries have very mature, well-introduced standards, while others are just starting. Some countries have various sector- or target group-specific models and systems, which entails a risk of fragmentation. More emphasis on integrated sectoral models would be valuable, also with regard to aligning sectoral standards with curricula in the educational and training system and career pathways within a sector.
• The understanding of ‘skills and competences’ and the terminology used is not uniform across Europe. Participating countries highlighted the need of a shared 'language' across Europe. MyCompetence offers a good practice and an example for other countries: for instance, the competence description and the terminology are aligned to ESCO and users’ profiles are linked to Europass.

• Labour markets evolve constantly, therefore skills forecasting systems and a constant update of competence models are essential to keep the systems on track. To this end, an active involvement of labour market actors in the forecasting system is crucial to get insights on skills needs and future jobs. However, skills forecasting is challenging especially in smaller countries with a more volatile labour market.

Sectoral competence models benefit from alignment with education and training standards.
• Bridging education and training systems with labour market needs is a key aspect to improve the employability of learners and workers and develop tailored lifelong learning opportunities. Countries participating in the Peer Review highlighted that it is vital for labour market actors to be involved in the discussion about education and training standards and the content of curricula.
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems could benefit from competence models. This could contribute to the attractiveness and modernisation of VET systems and adult education.

• Most countries find it challenging to engage labour market actors in this process and participants agreed that an effort should be made to increase this participation. The most popular approach to facilitate better collaboration and alignment is to invite employers to participate and provide their inputs in working groups or skills councils/committees.
• Education and training standards are often written in a very specific language/terminology, which is not well understood by employers. Some countries have overcome this obstacle by working closely with employers with the purpose of having a joint understanding of key skills and competences and the use of terms. Aligning competence models to the terminology of European initiatives, such as ESCO, could also potentially be helpful to establish a common understanding.
• In countries where governance responsibilities in education and employment are split between different bodies at national and/or regional level, this alignment process appears more laborious and time-consuming.

Sector Skills Councils /Sector Skills Committees (SSC) can play a useful role in the establishment and governance of integrated systems.
• The need for enhanced collaboration between different sectors and bodies can result in the need for a new body that formalises the collaboration between the parties involved. Participating countries agree on the potential key role of Sector Skills Councils or Committees.
• Usually, the role of Sector Skills Councils and Sectors Skills Committees is to support the development of competence models as well as occupational standards. SSC are potentially key in supporting education and training systems to develop curricula content in line with occupational standards. SSC can also be useful in highlighting sectoral skills needs and supporting education and training systems in developing tailored training. In some countries, Sector Skills Councils or Sector Skills Committees also support skills forecasting systems and provide insights concerning future jobs and skills requirements.
• Sector Skills Councils could also potentially oversee the validation process. Validation of non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL) is suggested as an extension /next stage to competence models, in order to validate the assessments of competences and skills the individuals have reported.
• The structure of Sector Skills Councils differs from country to country. Employers, trade unions and representatives of education and training sectors are usually part of such Councils or Committees.
• Different approaches reflect specific traditions and legislative frameworks in the Member States. Not all the participating countries have Sector Skills Councils or Sector Skills Committees in place but work with rather flexible, temporary working groups.

Key competences are an important part of competence assessment systems. This understanding should be reflected in the curricula of the education and training system.
• Key competences are valued by employers. Thus, competence models should be able to identify a broad range of skills: Basic skills, professional skills, personal skills and transversal competences relevant for the different job positions.
• MyCompetence offers a good example of how professional skills and key competences can be integrated into the same competence system. In MC, each job position is described in terms of technical competences and qualifications, as well as soft skills and behavioural attitudes essential for relevant job positions. The tool provides the opportunity of self-assessment of key competences and offers online training opportunities to further develop them.
• The education and training system should seek to integrate key competences transversally in curricula. Key competences help European citizens to develop '21st century skills' (IT skills, entrepreneurial attitudes, critical thinking, etc.) and become more resilient to the evolving nature of the labour market. To this end, ‘learning to learn’ is considered one of the most relevant key competences.

Assessment methods tend to be most effective when they integrate guidance and counselling, self-assessment and third-party assessment.
• Participating countries have different tools in place to carry out self-assessment and assessment of skills and competences. Usually, tools are either online or face-to-face, and have different features, such as assessment of technical, soft skills and key competences as well as personality traits.

• Competence assessments may need to include an assessment of professional skills and competences in form of a practical test.
• Online tools are easily accessible and attractive to many. Yet individuals with low digital literacy and no access to a computer are excluded from the use of such tools. An effort should be made to make such competence assessments more inclusive. Ad-hoc training to low-skilled to raise their digital skills level would be an option. In that case, reported barriers for low-skilled to use these kinds of systems could be removed.
• Public Employment Services (PES) are one of the key users of skills assessment and self-assessment tools are largely used within the PES to identify skills gaps and training needs as well as to match career opportunities.
• Guidance offered by professional counsellors (e.g. from the PES) in assisting the individuals during the (self-) assessment is essential. This should improve self-awareness of the users and the effectivity of the whole process.
• Some participating countries are looking at artificial intelligence and big data analysis as tools to support visualisation of skills and matching of career opportunities. Belgium (Flanders) is a forerunner of using these tools to support the work of the PES.

• Large companies, with an HR department, are likely to have their own assessment and self-assessment tools used for hiring and identification of skills and training needs among their employees. However, this is not the case for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for which self-assessment tools, such as those offered by MyCompetence, could offer support.

Success factors and weaknesses of competence assessments
• Competence assessment is a useful instrument to make skills and competences visible. This can support individuals’ self-esteem and awareness of their own strengths. This aspect is relevant especially for disadvantaged groups, such as those in long-term unemployment, to boost their self-confidence.
• To avoid fragmentation, assessment and self-assessment tools and the assessment process should be part of a framework that is agreed and recognised by all stakeholders. Employers, employees, jobseekers and education and training providers should be ‘on the same page’ and have a clear understanding of the terminology, standards and methods used. Integration of the different systems available is the keyword to bridge the labour market with the educational system.

• Some countries have tools and processes for competence assessment in place, but they are not very well known, and important target groups – such as people in employment - are often not aware of the opportunities they offer. This is also the case for MyCompetence. It has proven its effectiveness, but by increasing awareness the number of users could be further expanded. In these cases, enhanced effort to communicate the benefits of competence assessments is needed.
• Competence assessment processes are generally not linked with validation and recognition of non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL). Practices concerning validation of prior learning are very different across the countries, depending on the different national legislations. Generally, if an individual wants to have his/her own prior learning validated and recognised towards the awarding of a qualification, they need to access the formal validation and recognition process for learning acquired in formal and non-formal learning contexts. This can entail a duplication of efforts with the competence assessment that already took place. An integration of the two processes would therefore be beneficial for all parties involved.

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