QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS AS INSTRUMENTS OF PUBLIC POLICY
FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
Warsaw, November 8-9, 2012
TURKISH QUALIFICATION
FRAMEWORK -
VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR
TURKISH CONSTRUCTION SECTOR
TURKISH EMPLOYMENTS’UNION FOR
CONSTRUCTION INDUSRTRIES (INTES)
PART 1: TURKISH QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK- VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
SYSTEM
Turkish Qualification Framework
What is Qualification
Turkish Education System- Type of Qualifications
Qualification Levels
Structure And Aims of National Qualification System
Certification Bodies in Turkey - Voc-test Centre
PART II: İNTES - VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION SYSTEM FOR CONSTRUCTION
SECTOR
About INTES
Building Stones of Vocatinal Qualification System For Construction Sector
Outputs Of The Qualification System – Workers With Vocational Qualification Certificate
Action Plan for Future
PART I: TURKISH QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK (TQF)
STRUCTURE AND AIM OF TQF
Turkey has launched efforts to establish a national qualification framework compatible with that
of the European Union sometime ago. The framework is aimed to meet educational and training
needs of all individuals based on a lifelong learning approach. The purpose of the framework
also to enable individuals to acquire knowledge and skills in line with the expectations of the
labour market. It intends to combine qualifications related to the all components of the current
education and training system.
The model for the Turkey has been developed by the Committee for the Preparation of a
National Qualification Framework which is made up of the representatives of the Vocational
Qualification Agency, Ministry of Education, and the Higher Education Council and a technical
working group supported by the "Project for the Consolidation of the Vocational Qualification
Agency and the National Qualification System in Turkey."
The Vocational Qualification Agency (VQA) was set up under the Ministry of Labour in 2006 to
coordinates all work undertaken in the national vocational qualifications system and the Turkish
Qualifications Framework.
WHAT IS QUALIFICATION ?
knowledge, skills, and competences which an individual has and has been recognized by a competent authority
FOR TURKEY
achievement by an individual of learning outcomes meeting specific standards
FOR
EU
TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM- TYPES OF
QUALIFICATION
.
Qualifications Granted by Other Organizations:
MEB Qualifications:
They mean qualifications related to general, professional, and informal education programs organized after formal and informal training provided in public and private education and training institutions.
Higher Education Qualifications:
They mean qualifications recognized after associate, undergraduate, and graduate programs.
VQA Qualifications:
They mean qualifications based on national professional standards, which are granted to successful candidates after exams organized by authorized and accredited certification organizations.
They include qualifications defined by special laws and regulations in a specific field of vocational and/or technical education and training.
TYPES OF TURKISH QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK
(Total of 19 )
Y institution of higher education
VQA Ministry of Education
8 PHd degree Level 8 – Qualification Certificate
7 Master's degree Level 7 – Qualification Certificate
6 bachelor's degree Level 6 – Qualification Certificate
5 pre-graduate degree
pre-graduate degree (vocational)
Level 5 – Qualification Certificate
4 Level 4 – Qualification Certificate
Worker certificate Vocational and Technical secondary school Diploma
Secondary School Diploma
3 Level 3 – Qualification Certificate
Headwoeker Certificate
2 Level 2 – Qualification Certificate
Primary School Diploma
1
Academic
Vocational General
ACTION DATES
Action Plan For Strengthening of Employment and
Vocational Training
July 2010
Assembling the IQF Preparation Comission August 2010
Creating work groups from local and international
specialist
October 2011
Acceptance of the TQF level identifiers by the IQF
comission
April 2012
Acceptance of the draft TQF consultation document by the
IQF comission
June 2012
End of the TQF consultation process September 2012
Presentation of the TQF regulations for review December 2012
Creation of the TQF website and establishing a brand December 2012
Presentation of the TQF regulations for approval January 2013
Including the qualifications to the TQF March 2013
Preparation of the TQF- EQF Referencing report May 2013
QUALIFICATION LEVELS
• Terms "general" and "professional" are used for levels 1 to 4 of the TQF while "academic" and "professional" are used for level 5.
• Qualifications related to levels 6 to 8 of the TQF are described as qualifications with an academic and professional profile (tendency).
STRUCTURE AND AIMS OF NATIONAL QUALIFICATION SYSTEM
Vocational Standarts Vocational Qualifications
Measurement and Evaluations –Exams
Certificates
Vocational Qualification System
Vocational standards and qualifications which are the components of the qualifications
system are established by voluntary organizations assigned by the VQA. Technical working
teams set up by those organizations (employees, employers, academics, engineers, etc.)
prepare drafts. Draft documants submit to the sectoral committees of VQA. The committee
responsible to conducts examinations of standards and qualifications which are proposed to
be recognized at the national level and decide to submit them to the Board of Directors.
Sectoral committees are composed of the representatives of the Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Labor, Higher Education Council, employees, employers, and the VQA.
There are a total of 25 sectoral committees. More than 50 organizations have signed
protocols with the VQA to establish vocational standards and qualifications. A total of 329
vocational standards were publish in the Official Gazette by October 2012. The VQA Board of
Directors approved 120 qualifications.
CERTIFICATION BODIES IN TURKEY - VOC-TEST
CENTRE
Measuring and evaluation tests and certification activities, other components of the
Qualifications System, are conducted and carried out by Authorized Certification
Bodies (Voc Test Centers). The primary function of the certification bodies, a new
and fundamental element of the qualifications reform in Turkey, is to evaluate
candidates based on vocational qualifications and to certify them (1).
Act 5544 on the Vocational Qualifications Agency and the Vocational Qualifications,
Examinations, and Certification Regulation constitute the legal basis of the activities
of authorized certification body. According to the Regulation certification
organizations should first be accredited with the Turkish Accreditation
Agency(TURKAK) in accordance with TS EN ISO/IEC 17024 Employee Certification
standards. TÜRKAK verifies institutional capacity as well as specific requirements
related to evaluation in line with specific national vocational qualifications.
VQA authorization is based on the assumption that VocTest Center is currently
accredited. It is complementary and is not intended to repeat the accreditation.
The activities of VocTest centers are monitored by both VQA and TÜRKAK every
year.
NATIONAL QUALIFICATION SYSTEM
Turkish
Qualification
Framework
National
Qualification
System
Sector
committees Authorisation/
Assigments
Vocational Qualification
Authority
Vocational
Standarts
National
Qualifications
Assigned
Institutions
Authorised Body
Developing
Exam
Materials
Appliying
Examinations Certification
Desicion
Qualification
Certificate
Authorisation to
VOC TEST
Centre
Acreditation to
Educational
Institutions
TURKAK
Accreditation
Turkish
Ministry of
Education
Acredited Training
Institutions
Revision of
Training
Programme
Providing
Training
Labour
Market
Candidates
QUALITY ASSURENCE OF THE SYSTEM
1. Step
• TURKAK Acreditation
2. Step
• VQA Authorisation
3. Step
• Accreditation and Authorisation
17024
Personal
Certificati
on
Standarts
ISO 9001
Quality
Control
System
Auditors
(Administrat
ive and
Technical )
Quality
Manual
Book
National
Qualifications
Auditing
every year
By
TURKAK
and VQA
Observation
of certificated
person
Certification
tracking
PART II:TURKISH EMPLOYMENT UNION’S FOR
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES (İNTES) AND
VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION SYSTEM IN
CONSTRUCTION SECTOR
İNTES was established in 1964 and today made up of 130 members who are the leaders of the
construction sector in Turkey. INTES is a member of the Turkish Confederation of Employer
Associations (TİSK), which is the organization gathering the employer associations under its title.
INTES is the only employer association representing the construction industry.
İNTES has made considerable efforts to increase qualifications in the construction industry where
unqualified labor is intensively employed. Progress made in establishing a vocational qualification system
particularly in the Turkish construction industry captures attention. Efforts made set an model to
other sectors.
BUILDING STONES:
A. EUROPEN UNION PROJECTS
İNTES has successfully completed 9 projects sponsored by the EU in the fields of vocational
training, vocational standards, measurement & evaluation, safety and health at work,
certification, and employment in the construction industry since 2004.
Around 3000 workers attended vocational training programs under the projects and successful
candidates were emloyed in the sector. Various study visits were paid in order to observe
the best practices in EU members.
Lastly, INTES successfully completed an EU project entitled VOC-TEST Programs - Center for
Vocational Qualification and Certification Center in the Construction Industry.
B. COOPERATION WITH VQA
İNTES was the first and only company authorized to establish vocational standards and national
qualifications as the representative of the construction industry under cooperation protocols that
it concluded with the VQA in July 2008 and in December 2009.
Thirty six vocational standards set by INTES have been published in the Official Gazette to
date. National qualifications related to 22 vocations among them were approved by VQA Board
of Directors. INTES is currently developing qualifications for 20 other vocations.
İNTES has concluded cooperation protocols with numerous public and non public organizations
within the sector with a view to increasing efficiency of works. It has also signed cooperation
protocols with leading universities offering studies in the field of construction in the interest of
adding an academic dimension to qualification efforts. Thus, all stakeholders take part in the
process.
Excavator Operator Wooden Formworker
Dozer Operator Panel Formworker
Freight Broker/ Engraver Loader Operator Concretor
Grader Operator Heat Insulation Worker
Tower Crane Operator Sound Insulation Worker
Mobile Crane Operator Water Insulation Worker
Concrete Plant Operator Fire Insulation Worker
Concrete Pump Operator Health And Safety Staff (Construction)
Boring Machine Operator Worker For Scaffolding And Working At Height
Crushing- Screening Plant Operator Gypsum Board Applicator Worker
Asfalt Plant Operator Gypsum Applicator Worker
Finisher Operator Carton-pierre Applicator
Roller Operator Plasterer
Heavy Construction Equipment Maintenance and Repairman Mason
Asfalt/ Concrete Milling Machine Operator Construction Painter
Distributor Operator Ceramic Tile Plater
Conkresor Operator Natural and Cast Stone Setter
Industrial Piping Fitter Roof Applicator Membrane
Structural Steel Mounter Roof Applicator Panel
Structural Steel Mounter Roof Applicator Tile
Arc Welding Worker Precast Concrete Component Instalation Foreman
Tunnel Form Worker Precast Concrete Component Prestressing Master Worker
Barbender Precast Concrete Component Boiler-Curing Master Worker
Hydrolog Precast Concrete Component Production Line Officer
İNTES
C. TECHNICAL SPECIALIST DATABASE-
TRAINING OF TRAINERS PROGRAMME
Subjects of Trainings Target Groups
Preparetion od vocational maps
Job analysis
Development of
vocational standarts
and qualifications
Development of examination
materials
Management of
examinations
Academicians
Field engineers/ field technisians
Technical instructors
Expert trainers of firms
D. QUESTION BANKS
Theoritical and practical questions regarding the vocations whose national qualifications have been
approved are prepared by the field specialist.
Question percentage weights are determined according to units, learning outcomes of each qualification.
Questions which prepared by the question writer are evaluated by the question evaluation committees
including measurement and assessment specialists and academic advisers. By the time there are nearly
3000 theoritical and practical questions in the database of software. Questionbank is a living procces.
E. APPLICATION OF PILOT EXAMINATION -
DETERMINATION OF VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
LEVEL
Pilot examinations are held in order to analyze the practicability of examination and
certification methods defined as part of qualifications in parallel to the establishment of test
materials and development of national qualifications. Pilot examinations determine the
performance of test materials developed, test the practicability of national qualification
standards in real life, and make significant contributions to the improvement and development
of test methods.
İNTES has organized a large number of tests in different parts of Turkey since 2010 with a
view to measuring and assessing vocational knowledge, skills, and competences of up to 5000
Turkish workers.
F. TURKISH TRAINING SITE (TES)
Turkish training Site was founded by İNTES and The Union of Turkish Construction Workers (YOL-
İŞ) in 2004. Similar institutions in Germany that was considered as a model in the
establishment of the Training Site. TES is a multi-purpose occupational training centre which
can offer vocational training in various branches. The training worksite, located in Ankara.
Every year thousands of workers undergo specialist training on various subjects at the Site.
This site is olsa use for the measurement and evaluation examinations
G. VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION AND
CERTIFICATION CENTRE ECONOMIC
ENTERPTRISES (INTES MYM)
INTES has set up Vocational Qualification And Certification Centre
Economic Enterptrises (INTES MYM) to carry out all the certification procedures in 2010 .
The centre aims at evaluating and documenting the competencies of the people working or
desiring to work in the construction industry, by taking into account the requirements of
the labour market.
OUTPUTS OF THE SYSTEM :
CERTIFIED LABOUR FORCE IN TURKISH
CONSTRUCTOR SECTOR
STEPS TOWARDS THE CERTIFICATION
Acreditated by Turkish Acreditation Agency accordance with TS EN
ISO/IEC 17024 personel certification standard on 05.01.2012
authorized by the VQA to perform certification based on
national qualifications on 19.01.2012
Vocational Qualification Certificate for 18 vocations
ompletion of the accreditation and authorization process, Vocatinoal Qualification
Exams are held in line with requests coming to the INTES MYM. Between January to
June, a total of 229 candidates were taken into the examination and 150 candidates
were entitled to receive certificates.
İNTES MYM need to be well embedded within sectors to ensure that it can perform in
accordance with the needs of sector. Facilities, resources and staffs must be developed
according to quality system. Centres are still in an early phase of its operations. It need
to communicate their activities to potential costumers in the sector.
Sample: Workers FOR SCAFFOLDING( Level 3) National Qualification:
11 STRUCTURE OF THE QUALIFICATION
11-a) Mandatory Units
12UY0056–3/A1 Occupational Health and Safety
12UY0056–3/A2 General Scaffolding Erection
11-b) Optional Units
-
11-c) Grouping Alternatives for the Units and Additional Learning Outcomes
Success must be achieved in the exams of all the mandatory units.
12 MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Measurement and evaluation to be conducted for the purpose of certification according to the National
Qualification for Scaffolding Operative (Level 3) shall be carried out at testing and certification centers or at
sites where the necessary conditions are created. Testing shall be conducted in two sessions as theory and
practice. Units for the qualification can be administered separately or all at once upon request.
The theory exam shall consist of multiple choice questions with four choices, true/false questions and gap
filling questions. However, the total number of true/false questions and gap filling questions shall not exceed
25% of the total number of questions in the exam.
13 VALIDITY OF THE CERTIFICATE The certificate shall be valid for 5 years starting from the
date of issue.
14
MONITORIZATION FREQUENCY
A performance monitorization report is prepared at least
once within the validity period of the certificate in order to
ensure the ongoing competency of the certificate holder.
15 MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
APPROACH TO BE USED FOR THE
RENEWAL PROCEDURE OF THE
CERTIFICATE
Provided no situation has arisen to call for the annulation of
the certificate and no complaints regarding performance of
the certificate holder have been filed to the relevant
certification center during the validity period of the
certificate, the validity period of the certificate shall be
extended for 5 more years upon the presentation of
documents demonstrating that the certificate holder has
worked effectively for a total of 18 months in the validity
period.
Those who are unable to document that they have worked
during the validity period shall undergo a practice
examination. The validity period of the certificates of those
observed to be successful shall be extended for 5 more
years.
Upon the expiration of the validity period (10 years after
the first examination date), theory and practice examination
shall be taken again.
Demand from firms or
individual application
Examination
Organisation
TES- in
Ankara
Worksite- Out
of Ankara
Theoritical Exam:
Printing exam
paper for software
Optic form
Application of Theoritical
and Practical Examinations
Evaluation of the Exam in
software
Certification Desicion -
Certification Committe
Acreditaed
Qualification
Certificate
Practical Exam:
Evaluation
according to
performance
criteria
Assigment of the Exam
Committee
Academision
Engineers
Technicians
Technical Instructures
Exam Observer
İNTES MYM Technical Staff
LIST OF VOCATIONS UNDER THE SCOPE OF CERTIFICATION
Wooden Formwoker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0011- 3)
Barbender (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0012- 3)
Industrial Piping Fitter (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0013- 3)
Construction Painter (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0023-3)
Tunel Form Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0025-3)
Plasterer (Level 3) (Reference Code / 11UY0024-3)
Panel Formworker (Level 3) (Reference Code /12UY0050-3)
Concretor (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0049-3)
Mason (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0048-3)
Health and Safety Staff (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0052-4)
Ceramic Tile Plater (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0051-3)
Heat Insulatıon Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0057-3)
Sound Insulation Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0059-3)
Water Insulation Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0058-3)
Fire Insulation Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code /12UY0060-3)
Workers for Scaffolding (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0056-3)
Gypsum Board Applicator Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code /12UY0054-3)
Gypsum Applicator Worker (Level 3) (Reference Code / 12UY0055-3)
ACTION PLAN FOR FUTURE
İNTES has set its current goal by taking account of the qualification system as follows:
• Development of Informal Vocational Training Programs Based on National Qualifications and
lecture notes
• Authorization of other VOC Test Centers
• Accreditation of vocational training institutions
• Efforts are under way to establish an infrastructure needed for attaining those goals.
QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS AS INSTRUMENTS OF PUBLIC POLICY
FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
Warsaw, November 8-9, 2012
Thank you
Aslı KARATEKİN- İNTES
