Research demonstrates that the sector of office administration is very important and popular and is will continue to be one of the first professions in demand until 2020. EUPA_NEXT deals with this sector. EUPA_NEXT is the continuation of a very successful project EUPA (Leonardo DOI) that has developed a qualification framework for administration personnel in four EQF levels (levels 2,3,4 and 5) as well as the assessment tool and training materials for level 2. EUPA_NEXT aims to assign credits to the qualification framework (levels 3-5) using ECVET and develop curricula and training materials for the trainer for the same levels as well as e-books for the learners. EUPA_NEXT will certify all curricula and training materials with ISO. Additionally EUPA_NEXT aims to develop an assessment for the certification of levels 2,3,4 and 5. The assessment will be ISO certified with a relatively new standard ISO170324 that certifies personal competences. More specifically, EUPA_NEXT objectives are to: 1.Facilitate the understanding of EQF & ECVET policies & explore different methodologies for the assignment of credits 2. Develop a comparative report on the situation of the countries on EQF and ECVET 3. Provide ISO certification for the materials and assessment developed under project EUPA (level 2 materials) and accredit with ISO the materials and the assessment for levels 3,4,5. EUPA_NEXT is a COMPLETE SOLUTION for administration personnel (in 4 levels) 4. Provide flexible pathways to learning and validation (classroom trainings, ebooks, ony assessment). 5. Develop a "how to" practical guide for the validation of formal, non formal & informal learning for any non regulated profession, 6. Make a policy recommendation for official recognition of EUPA_NEXT. The main target groups of EUPA_NEXT are: - VET institutes and VET trainers delivering training courses in office administration - Students in VET studying office administration -Vet policy makers -office administrators that are interested in validating their knowledge, skills and competences in different EUPA_NEXT levels -unemployed people that through EUPA_NEXT may enter the labour market EUPA_NEXT activities include: 1. Development of a comparative report on the situation of the countries of the consortium in EQF and ECVET 2. Identification of several methodologies for ECVET application, selection and implementation of one 3. Development, pilot testing, ISO certification and evaluation of training curricula, training materials and assessment tools as well as trainer's guides 4. Development of ebooks and promotion of flexible pathways to learning 5. Composition of a policy recommendation for official recognition of EUPA_NEXT as the European certification of administration personnel 6. Composition of a Best practices guide - a step by step approach for the validation of formal, non formal and informal learning 7. Several dissemination events targeting VET Institutes and trainers, Vet students in the area of office administration, policy makers, employers etc The following methodologies are used for the development of the project: 1. Desktop research and interviews with experts for the development of the comparative report on the situation of the countries of the consortium in EQF and ECVET 2. Desktop research for the identification of different ECVET methodologies 3. Brainstorming techniques for decision making as far as the selection of ECVET methodology is cocnerned 4. Expert input for the certification of materials and assessment 5. Desktop research and expert input for the development of curricula and training materials 6. Expert input for the development of assessments 7. Different evaluation methodologies (forms, workshops etc) 8. Piloting for testing products 9. Expert input for policy recommendation and best practices guide At the sector level the impact envisaged is the development of a European certification for administration personnel in several levels by applying the principles of EQF and ECVET and using an internationally recognized standard: the ISO standard for certification of competences. At the policy level EUPA_Next is an ECVET project that will explore different ECVET methodologies and will apply one. Partners will benefit from the exercise of ECVET and at the same time the countries participating in the consortium will also benefit from this exercise. In the long run EUPA_NEXT materials will be available on line and more VET providers and trainers may use the materials. A policy recommendation will be made for EUPA_next to become officially recognized as the European Certification for administrative personnel.
Research demonstrates that the sector of office administration is very important and popular and is continue to be one of the first professions in demand until 2020. EUPA_NEXT deals with this sector. EUPA_NEXT is the continuation of a very successful project EUPA (Leonardo DOI) that has developed a qualification framework for administration personnel in 4 EQF levels (levels 2,3,4 and 5) as well as the assessment tool and training materials for level 2. EupaNext aimed to develop a certification for administration personnel in 4 different levels. However, it is noted that the sector of Administrative Personnel has been used as a case study as the project aims to validate the knowledge, skills and competences of non regulated sectors. More specifically, EUPA_NEXT objectives were to: 1.Facilitate the understanding of EQF & ECVET policies & explore different methodologies for the assignment of credits 2.Develop a comparative report on the situation of the countries on EQF and ECVET 3.Review, curricula, materials and assessment developed under the previous project and develop curricula, materials and assessment for levels 3,4,5. Then certify curricula and materials with ISO and the assessment with ISO17024 (all levels). EupaNext provides a complete solution for the validation of knowledge, skills and competences of administration personnel. 4.Provide flexible pathways to learning and validation (classroom trainings, ebooks, only assessment). 5.Develop a "how to" practical guide for the validation of formal, non formal & informal learning for any non regulated profession. The qualification framework developed by the Eupa project had adapted a rather holistic approach. EupaNext has reviewed the qualification framework, taking into consideration the current trends and has analysed each of the learning outcomes into knowledge, skills and competences. Although that was an additional task not recorded in the original application, the consortium considered that to be an important task, as the QF would guide the consortium for the development of curricula/ training materials/ assessments, making more specific the required knowledge, skills and competences to be developed. Although EUPA project had developed materials, curricula and assessment tool for level 2, even those were reviewed during the current EupaNext. Therefore, EupaNext assigned credits to the qualification framework (levels 2-5) using ECVET. EupaNext has developed curricula and training materials for the trainer. Training materials included PowerPoint presentations and methodological tools to be used by the trainer. Ebooks for learners were also developed. EupaNext has certified all curricula and training materials with ISO. Additionally EUPA_NEXT has developed assessment tools for levels 2,3,4 and 5 and has certified those as well with a relatively new standard ISO17024 that certifies personal competences. Curricula, training materials and assessment (in all levels) were pilot tested. Last but not least the project has developed a best practices guide for the validation of any non regulated profession, The main target groups are: - VET institutes and VET trainers delivering training courses in office administration - Students in VET studying office administration -Vet policy makers - Office administrators that are interested in validating their knowledge, skills and competences in different EUPA_NEXT levels - Unemployed people that through EUPANEXT may enter the labor market EUPA_NEXT activities include: 1.Development of a comparative report on the situation of the countries of the consortium in EQF and ECVET 2.Identification of several methodologies for ECVET application, selection and implementation of one 3.Development, pilot testing, ISO certification and evaluation of training curricula, training materials and assessment tools as well as trainer's guides 4.Development of ebooks and promotion of flexible pathways to learning 5.Composition of a Best practices guide - a step by step approach for the validation of formal, non formal and informal learning 6.Several dissemination events targeting VET Institutes and trainers, Vet students in the area of office administration, policy makers, employers etc At the sector level the impact envisaged is high through the development of a European certification for administration personnel in several levels by applying the principles of EQF and ECVET and using an internationally recognized standard: the ISO standard for certification of competences. At the policy level EUPA_Next is an ECVET project that has explored different ECVET methodologies and selected one to apply. Partners and participating countries benefited from the exercise of ECVET. In the long run, project partners will continue to provide the training and certification to the administrative personnel.They will maintain the materials, curricula and assessment current and fresh and they will try to convert EUPANEXT to a EU stardard.