The leading trend of demography developments in all EU countries is the well-known phenomenon of aging population. Responding to this trend in a proper fashion is a task of the utmost importance for the future of EU. Preparation of vocational professionals catering to the senior citizen services sector is undoubtedly one of the key elements comprising the solution of adjusting to EU population aging. However, the current state of human resources’ preparedness to serve the senior services sector is generally not satisfactory. National VET systems of the EU countries will have to upgrade the existing and develop new training programmes to close the gap between the needs and demands of the growing senior services market. The project aims to develop and test innovative training practices in the field of senior care services and to foster transnational recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and competencies acquired in the field. The ACE partnership will develop an innovative training system for senior service workers with integrated ECVET competency assessment and validation system. The main characteristics of the training system include: 1. Unified training system: employing a single learning content across the partnership boundaries with integrated competence recognition and validation tools, which will achieve better job transparency and will support workforce mobility in the senior care service sector. 2. Modular design: training modules are to be concise and short since this offers higher scheduling flexibility of classes for trainees with different competence backgrounds and work experience and lend a sharper focus in targeting specific competence elements. Modular design will also permit future extensions of the instruction contents when a need for training of new competencies arises. 3. Employing web-based training in combining classroom instruction and e-learning training elements (blended learning concept), which will allow differentiated learning in a classroom, including validation of informal or non-formal competences. Expected impact on the national CVET systems will result in improved quality of training in the social care sector by matching better user needs (i.e. senior citizens' needs) with a skill set and competences of care staff. Notable improvement should be especially seen in engagement of transversal key competencies. Employment of the ECVET system for assessment and validation of professional knowledge, skills and competencies of care workers in the training system will have a positive impact in much improved care staff mobility and transferability of competences. In the long term we expect to see a snowballing effect as more CVET organizations provide higher quality training, eventually raising the quality of services provided in the senior and social care sector. The project consortium ACE is comprised by five partnership members, all with a prior experience in EU project implementation: 1. ACZ spol. s r.o. from Prague, Czech Republic, a CVET training organization and the coordinator, 2. ibs Institut from Bremen, Germany, a CVET training provider, 3. Socializacijos ir darbinio mokymo centras (SDMC) from Vilnius, Lithuania, counselling and social innovation organization, 4. Provicia di Livorno Sviluppo, a public body from Livorno, Italy and 5. Rehabilitation Centre for Physically Disabled People from Budapest, Hungary, a leading provider of rehabilitation services in Hungary. Each partnership member has been assigned an important role in the overall implementation plan according to its core expertise.
The leading trend of demography developments in all EU countries is the well-known phenomenon of aging population. Responding to this trend in a proper fashion is a task of the utmost importance for the future of EU. Preparation of vocational professionals catering to the senior citizen services sector is undoubtedly one of the key elements comprising the solution of adjusting to EU population aging. However, the current state of human resources’ preparedness to serve the senior services sector is generally not satisfactory. National VET systems of the EU countries will have to upgrade the existing and develop new training programmes to close the gap between the needs and demands of the growing senior services market. The project aimed to develop and test innovative training practices in the field of senior care services and to support transnational recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and competencies acquired in the field. The ACE partnership developed a new and innovative training system for senior service workers with integrated ECVET competency assessment and validation system. The main characteristics of the training system include: 1. Unified training system: employing a single learning content across the partnership boundaries with integrated competence recognition and validation tools, which promotes better job transparency and supports workforce mobility in the senior care service sector. 2. Modular design: training modules are concise and short, offering higher scheduling flexibility of classes for trainees with different competence backgrounds and work experience. It also allows to target better specific competence elements. Modular design will also permit future extensions of the instruction contents when a need for training of new competencies arises. 3. Combination of classroom instruction and web-based learning allows for differentiated learning in a classroom and even for including validation of previously acquired competences.within the training system. The initial field testing of the new course, conducted during the latter part of the project implementation, indicates that our goals were accomplished. Employment of the new training system should have a positive impact on quality of CVET training in the social care sector, resulting in a better match between the current and future needs of the senior poopulation and the skill set and competences of care staff. Utilizing the ECVET tool for assessment and validation of professional knowledge, skills and competencies of care workers in the training system will have a positive impact on much improved care staff mobility and transferability of competences. In the long term we expect to see a snowballing effect as more CVET organizations provide higher quality training, eventually raising the quality of services provided in the senior and social care sector. The project consortium ACE is comprised by five partnership members, all with a prior experience in EU project implementation: 1. ACZ spol. s r.o. from Prague, Czech Republic, a CVET training organization and the coordinator, 2. ibs Institut from Bremen, Germany, a CVET training provider, 3. Socializacijos ir darbinio mokymo centras (SDMC) from Vilnius, Lithuania, counselling and social innovation organization, 4. Provicia di Livorno Sviluppo, a public body from Livorno, Italy and 5. Rehabilitation Centre for Physically Disabled People from Budapest, Hungary, a leading provider of rehabilitation services in Hungary. In the course of the project implementation every member has accomplished important and even indispensable role in the partnership's effort to reach the project objectives.