European skill accreditation system
The European Commission's White Paper "Teaching and Learning: Towards the Learning Society" contains five general objectives in the field of education in the European Union. One of these is "to encourage the acquisition of new knowledge", for which the White Paper sets out an experimental project entitled "Opening up new avenues for validating skills". The Commission has now published more detailed proposals for this project. The project aims to complement existing paper qualifications by providing validation, recognisable across Europe, for skills which are not recognized in the holder's existing qualifications. For example, management and decision-making skills, or inter-personal abilities, which are often the subject of in-house training by employers and, therefore, not transferable to new jobs. As labour markets become more flexible and employment contracts become shorter, the need for transferability of these types of skills is growing. The project will establish permanent and accessible skill accreditation mechanisms, which will allow individuals to validate their knowledge, regardless of how it has been acquired. Holders of a "European skills card" will be able to demonstrate to employers that they have abilities in a range of areas such as: - Core knowledge areas: mathematics, sciences, informatics, languages; - Vocational/technical skills: marketing, business management techniques, accounting; - Key skills: logistics, organizational techniques; communication, risk management. The accreditation systems will be based on software packages accessed using telematics and the Internet. The project will aim to ensure the widest possible access for individuals across Europe through the establishment of networks of test centres.