Social Partnership in VET in the Mediterranean (SPM): The second regional project conference

CONCLUSIONS NOTE 12 November 2012 Social Partnership in VET in the Mediterranean (SPM): The second regional project conference Istanbul, (Turkey) 15 and 16 October 2012 1. Introduction Since 2011 the project Social Partnership in VET in the Mediterranean (SPM project) has given tailored support to employer organisations and trade unions in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Tunisia to facilitate them playing an active role in vocational education and training (VET) and Continuing Vocational Training (CVT). Their contribution as a voice of labour market is needed when governments are reforming education and training policies. All countries in the region need a shift from a supply- to a demand-driven VET and the role of social partners is crucial to contribute on this process. In summary, the SPM project has focused on two approaches to build capacities among representatives of national social partner organisations in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED): mutual learning at regional level between participants from all seven countries and to development of capacities of national organisations. Such approach has been complemented by different activities during 2012, including this second regional conference held in Istanbul (Turkey) 15 and 16 October 2012. The ETF project team has been supported by an Advisory Expert Committee (AEC) which met in March 2011 and October 2012. Members of the AEC represent social partners from the European Union and participating countries, ILO and Eurofound. From the beginning of 2013 the ETF activities to support social partners in VET in SEMED region will continue in the new Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean (GEMM) project. Following the request of Directorate General of Development Cooperation of the European Commission (DG DEVCO), the ETF designed a regional project for the Southern Mediterranean. The nine participating countries include Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Tunisia ( 1 ). The major aim of the GEMM is to reinforce multilevel governance (MLG) mechanisms and approaches to improve the quality and relevance of skills provision. Social partners are natural and relevant players in this project. 2. Implementation of the social partnership project (2011-2012) As mentioned earlier, the SPM project has consisted of two components. The first one is mutual learning at the level of Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region. The second one is development of capacities of national organisations in participating countries. The country component has focused on interventions in Egypt, Jordan, OPT and Morocco. ( 1 ) Syria: ETF activities with Syria have been suspended, in line with the position of the European Union. 1

2.1 The Mutual learning component This component started with the first regional conference that was organised in Turin in July 2011.Participants of the conference agreed on the economic and social pillars as a motivation for employers and trade unions to be engaged in Continuing Vocational Training (CVT). The economic pillar covers the importance of skill development and CVT to enterprises. The social pillar focuses more on link between the training, skills and employability. An important milestone of the project was a study visit to Finland for participants from Maghreb countries in December 2011. The visit focused on the role of social partners in policymaking, development and provision of VET and CVT. The second study visit was organised in Morocco for participants from Mashreq countries in May 2012. The visit was organised together with Moroccan social partners and it highlighted the important progress made by national social partners in VET policy analysis and policy making together with the challenges still to face. This initiative reinforced South- South cooperation. In 2010 ETF made a first mapping of social partners involvement in VET in the SEMED region aimed at identify social partner organisations in the region. In 2012, ETF complemented the mapping by analysing more in depth structures and methods of cooperation in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia through structured interviews of social partners (national authorities and other relevant institutional actors). The implementation of the mapping was supported by international experts. In addition, the project team has prepared a methodological note as a toolkit to support employer organisations and trade unions to be more active in VET and CVT policies and systems. The note addresses social partner representatives, who are not VET experts and aims at raising awareness of the importance of skills development. It explains basic concepts of VET and CVT. The paper advises social partners about how to organise their own work in this field. 2.2 Country activities The country activities of the SPM project have concentrated on four countries. In 2011, ETF established a contact with new independent Egyptian trade unions (EFITU), as well as reinforced contacts with Egyptian employer organisations. In the occupied Palestinian territory four workshops, three bipartite and one for trade unions, have been organised to support social dialogue on VET. ETF organised an awareness-raising workshop with Jordan Economic and Social Council. In Morocco the project organised a capacity workshop for the trade unions and employers to play a role in preparation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). 2.3 The Istanbul Conference First day of The Istanbul Conference was devoted to a meeting among ETF working team and Advisory Expert Committee members (composed by colleagues from ITC-ILO, Eurofound, European Economic and Social Council, ETUC and ITUC). Indeed, this meeting was extremely important for the success of the event. The second meeting of the AEC recommended ETF to more clearly present the shift from Social Partners in the Mediterranean project to the GEMM project. Secondly they asked clarification of concepts and thirdly simplification of the presentation. These three recommendations were useful as they helped ETF to communicate accurately the rationale of the GEMM project whilst keeping abreast of social partners project outcomes. The participants of the conference represent employers, trade unions and governments from the SEMED region: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Tunisia. The objectives of the conference were followings: 2

1) To take stock of the implementation of the SPM project in 2011-2012 and 2) To advise ETF in planning the implementation of the new ETF project on Governance for Employability (GEMM). The new project will maintain the Mediterranean regional framework and South-to-South cooperation. Firstly, it is important to underline that the Istanbul event was an excellent opportunity to learn from the Turkish experience. ISKUR - Turkish Employment Agency presented the Turkish vocational education and training policies. This was followed by a panel discussion on which tripartite cooperation around continuing training of the workforce in Turkey was presented by representatives of government and Turkish social partners organisations. Further, the Istanbul conference made available linking social partners project outcomes with the new Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean (GEMM) project. Indeed, from the beginning of 2013, the ETF activities to support social partners in VET in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED) will continue in the framework of this multi-annual ETF project funded by the Directorate General of Development Cooperation of the European Commission (DG DEVCO). In this regard, the debate on the new project GEMM focussed on collecting opinions of the participants to understand how capacity building activities should be implemented in the context of GEMM project. Important question was: how products of social partners project can be used in ETF supported activities? The working questions in the fourth workshops facilitated by ETF in the Istanbul Conference strategically aimed at forging links between social partners project outcomes and those activities expected to be carried out in GEMM project. ETF will use lessons learnt in Social Partners project in preparation of the GEMM project. The participants of the conference vividly discussed on usefulness of above mentioned methodological note, preliminary results of mapping and experiences from study visits and national workshops. The questions to work with in the groups were followings: 1 st workshop Topic: study visits (questions): - What did you take away with you from your experiences of the Study Visits you attended in other countries? - What kind of follow-up did you make to ensure continuity and institutional memory? - How can we make better use of this tool (SVs) to foster Multi-Level Governance approaches in GEMM (preparation, dissemination, participants, period/duration etc.). 2 nd workshop National workshops (questions): - What did you take away with you from your experiences of the National Workshops you attended in other countries? - What kind of follow-up did you make to ensure continuity and institutional memory? - How can we make better use of this tool to foster MLG approaches in GEMM (eg. preparation, dissemination, participants, period/duration etc.) 3 rd workshop Methodological Notes (questions): - Comments on the methodological note: content, structure, style. - How would you use guidance notes in your organisation? - Would it be useful to produce other guidance note, e.g. on roles in tripartite cooperation? If yes, how can be produced working together? Should the national steering committees be involved in the task? 4 th workshop Mapping exercises (questions): 3

- How would you use mapping exercise in your organisation? - ETF is going to conduct a mapping exercise on Multi Level Governance in SEMED region, focusing on financing and quality assurance policy in VET and CVET. If you were in the national steering committee, how would you advise doing the mapping? How would you use the results of the mapping exercise? - How would you nominate the national steering committee to support GEMM project? Please give us your proposal. 3. Conclusions and recommendations: shaping together the way forward The Arab spring has changed the landscape of social partnership considerably. Democratization of countries is widening the space in which social partners can act. Many countries are experiencing the birth of new trade unions and employer organizations. Despite positive developments, the real and permanent change will take time. Some good lessons have been learned from ETF mapping the roles of social partners in VET in 2012 (Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia). The three countries have different traditions and structures of social dialogue. But there is one common element: a real cooperation between labour market and government is not always easy. Many Arab countries have a tradition of centralized decision making which is an obstacle to active and effective participation of employers and especially trade unions. Main messages from the participants concerning the Social Partners in the Mediterranean project were: firstly, the methodological note as presented in the conference did not fully meet expectations of the participants. This kind of tools should be adjusted to meet the specific country context. It should also be addressed separately to employers and trade unions. Secondly participants from Morocco and Tunisia commented findings of the mapping exercise in their countries. These remarks will be taken into account when finalising the reports. The conference held in Istanbul (Turkey) provided a very good opportunity to participants to learn on tripartite approaches to VET and CVT policy making. Indeed, such discussions allowed gaining relevant knowledge about successful tripartite partnership approaches shaping Turkish VET and CVT policy making Turkey has adequate structures for cooperation and social dialogue (e.g. the Economic and Social Council established in 1995). There are regional councils for employment and training issues. They all have a strong base in legislation. Turkey has also a tripartite training fund which finances training of work force in different regions. Trade unions and social partners have cooperated in capacity building of their representatives in various councils and bodies. They have also had joint projects to train work force, e.g. in the Metal Industry they have trained some 120.000 workers. In summary, among ETF partner countries Turkey has one of the most advanced systems of social partnership, which covers also employment and training issues. Turkish social partners and State Employment Agency ISKUR shared their experience in the conference. The participants in the conference expressed their willingness to learn more in detail Turkish VET and CVT systems based on tripartite dialogue. Regarding regional GEMM project (Directorate General of Development Cooperation of the European Commission -DG DEVCO-), the ETF presented and discussed with participants in the Conference about design of regional project for the Southern Mediterranean. The focus is on multilevel governance (MLG) of VET systems. The project will involve all countries in the ENP South region (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, OPT, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel). EU cooperation with Syria is currently suspended. ETF discussed with participants several key aspects to fine-tune GEMM project in order to make it more accurate according to current needs and resources in SEMED region. The meeting of the Advisory Expert Committee was also important to prepare these discussions. 4

In summary, key issues debated and acknowledged among ETF and stakeholders for implementing GEMM project are followings: -Two functions The modernisation of VET in the region is to shift from a supply-driven to a demand-driven provision (by labour markets and in particular SMEs and young people engaging in entrepreneurial activities), which requires engaging business sectors and civil society stakeholders in planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Among the different functions of VET, the issue of governance will be tackled in two specific and core functions: quality assurance and financing. It goes without saying that both are vital policy areas for steering governance of education and training systems. Quality assurance and monitoring: Any quality assurance system for VET should cover 4 phases - planning, implementation, evaluation and review - both at the system level and the provider level. Quality of VET provision in the region is often related to whether the curriculum is recent and competency-based, the qualifications of teachers and trainers sufficient and the technical equipment up to date. There is less concern with output and outcome factors for assessing the quality of VET programmes: the adequacy of the skills acquired during training, drop-out and completion rates, access and equity, employment rates and the type of employment obtained. Financing: The allocation of public funds is generally directed exclusively to public training institutions that in most countries continue to receive budget allocations from the central authorities regardless of their performance that has never been part of any conditions for funding. There are no performance-based indicators to help to decide the amounts allocated to individual training institutions, nor benchmarking of key indicators to compare performance. Diversifying funding mechanisms and optimising allocation and management of funds is still a pending reform. -Two components The first component focuses on the national level and on building capacities of governmental actors and employer and employee organisations to work in partnership in order to increase the relevance and quality of VET systems. The component has a policy learning approach and will be done by targeted study-visits to the EU or ENP South countries, mapping and analysis of governance in the region, regional annual conferences, national workshops, etc. The second component focuses on the local/territorial level with a double capacity building objective: (i) to enhance local youth and female employability and (ii) to increase the ability and competences of the VET providers and other skills development stakeholders to better respond to labour market needs. This will be done by implementing innovative pilot projects whose results and experiences will be widely disseminated among local, territorial, national and regional stakeholders. In the light of all these issues and debates and workshop outcomes, some other key conclusions and recommendations to shape the way forward among ETF and stakeholders in SEMED countries are followings: In the GEMM project it is important to ensure the ownership of countries. The new project can be linked to existing national structures such as TVET councils or ETF can invite stakeholders to participate in national follow up committees. Participants also proposed creation of a multi-country committee to support implementation of the project. So, an important message is to profit existing resources and knowledge gained among ETF and social partners to feed on GEMM. Social partners from the region recognize that they need to develop awareness and capacity to assume the role in the development of VET. They confirmed their interest to continue cooperation with ETF in the framework of GEMM project. Social partners 5

and stakeholders engagement in GEMM activities was identified as a challenge, especially at the local level. Focussing on this aspect, at the local level GEMM project will build on addressing innovative pilot projects whose results and experiences will be widely disseminated among local, territorial, national and regional stakeholders. Further, the project can build whenever be possible on existing initiatives to develop the pilot project (e.g. ETF actions in Tanger- Morocco- and/or in Medenine region- Tunisia-). In this respect, it is more than necessary to forging links between local and national level activities within the project. The engagement of the civil society has been identified as very relevant. Participants of the conference appreciated the South - South cooperation as examples from other ETF partner countries, like Turkey, are in many ways closer to the Arab countries realities than EU member states. Regarding knowledge and learning- sharing tools, the use of study visits can be developed by organizing a briefing session before the visit. Secondly, by extending visits an extra day could be dedicated to working analysis and planning of follow up. Thirdly, during country missions after the study visit, a dissemination event could be organized where learning can be shared and debated with wider audience of stakeholders. The debate on methodical note in the working group allowed to five-tune approaches among ETF and stakeholders to make this knowledge tool more useful and adapted to national and, consequently, regional realities. Indeed, the second guidance note could present examples of tripartite cooperation and platforms. To improve the ownership of the countries, it the content from participating countries should be delivered by national actors. Development of a kind of tripartite charter in VET/CVT was an idea welcome by participants. The mapping of VET governance as part of GEMM was highly welcomed by the participants. They supported the idea of concentrating on quality assurance and financing policies and mechanisms. The participants requested a deeper diagnosis of current situation and involvement which naturally will be based on findings of the Torino Process 2012. Outcomes of the mapping will be exchanged between south countries which reinforces the regional SEMED approach. Mapping could lead to benchmarking between all countries including JOR, MOR and TUN which participated in 2012 mapping of social partnership in VET. Assessment and self-assessment dimensions should be taken into consideration for the mapping, as well as, mapping of involvement of civil society organizations in the region. Mapping shall focus on policies and mechanisms, stakeholders, roles and functions: National, territorial, local and sectoral levels should be analysed. These components are crucial ones to grasp multilevel governance dimension. Political and technical recommendations should be given as a result of the mapping to support discussions across the region and within countries. Indeed, the challenges go beyond the existing legal framework and administrative structures to the implementation of policies. Eventually based on the findings actions for reform can be proposed by national stakeholders or ETF. ETF Country Managers will need to be effectively involved in GEMM project to ensure follow up in the country related to national follow up committees, cooperation with stakeholders (including national follow up committees) and follow up of cross country activities. ETF will internally discuss on the potential role to be played by an advisory expert committee or group of external experts from international organisations in the framework of new GEMM project. 6

The participants expressed needs and willingness on learning and sharing terminology in multilevel governance related issues to support performance in the GEMM project. Finally, key ETF follow-up actions are: It has been agreed with the conference participants to give them access to all the background documentation, presentations and conclusions. A dedicated page of the ETF website has been designed for such a purpose and all participants received a message with the related link. It has been agreed with the participants to provide, by early November, the project team with their comments on the Methodological note. It has been asked to participants from Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia to provide, by early November, the project team with their comments on the SP mapping reports in their country. The social partners mapping in Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan should be summarized to make it available and disseminated to a wider audience. ETF agrees to take all the necessary steps in order to ensure a smooth transition from the Social Partnership project to GEMM. In this respect, ETF will communicate in due time and manner initiation and planning of GEMM activities as soon as the project will formally takes over. It has been agreed that a launching event for GEMM will take place in October 2013 (Marseille, France). Turin, 12 November 2012 (For further information, please contact Mr Petri Lempinen, ptl@etf.europa.eu) 7