BellTIME
Supported by the Erasmus+
Programme of the European Union
Modernising
Europass
A new start for Europass
On the 4th October 2017 the European
Commission adopted a proposal to revise the
Europass Decision. This follows the recognition
that changing trends in the labour market and the
rapid changes in technology have impacted on
the Europass framework.
The decision acknowledges that Europass must
change to maintain relevance for all end users in
a modern context.
In the European Commission's press release
announcing the revision of the Europass Decision
they stated:
"With this revision, the {European} Commission
aims to simplify and modernise (Europass) for the
digital age and to add a new feature using big
data to map and anticipate labour market trends
and skills needs."
Where are we now?
Although the New Europass has not been
finalised, work has already started. The Europass
Advisory Group (EAG) is a committee of
representatives of EU member states and
beyond. It includes representatives from the
National Europass Centres and partners who
work with other European initiatives. Quality and
Qualifications Ireland and the National Centre for
Guidance in Education are jointly representing
Ireland at meetings of this working group.
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During the EAG's first meeting in September
2018, it mapped out the plan of action for the New
Europass with the idea to launch in 2020. The
EAG will meet over the next two years to plan the
improvements and run expert workshops to
develop the tools further.
What is the New Europass going to
include?
The Europass Advisory Group set out a plan for
the next two years emphasizing that Europass
needs to evolve in line with the demands of end
users.
A new Europass web platform or portal will be
created, moving away from paper documents
which will enable allow users to create their own
Personal Environment/account. This has been
labelled the e-Portfolio for the time being.
This e-Portfolio will contain a personal profile
about the user's skills, qualifications, work
experience and record the individual's lifelong
learning.
The e-Portfolio should form a base which allows
for importing and exporting of digital information
in whatever form future labour and education
market needs dictate, utilising technologies of the
future.
Importantly the data contained in the online
environments could also (with compliance to data
protection) provide big data for the purposes of
informing policy on education and labour market
needs.
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