Skills and special talents to get qualification grades

Learned and acquired skills or plain inherent talent will soon get a corresponding qualification level that could be equivalent to a formal education with the establishment of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The NQF or QFEmirates was approved by the Cabinet in September last year as the only reference point for the development and accreditation of all qualifications in the country.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Thani Al Muhairi, Director-General of the National Qualifications Authority (NQA), explained how qualifications can be acquired without undergoing formal education under the new framework. He also spoke about the importance of NQA, its objectives, initiatives and services that will be launched before the end of this year.

NQA

The National Qualifications Authority is a federal entity established by a Presidential Decree in 2010 responsible for designing and planning policies and procedures for a unified national qualifications strategy, including the establishment of the NQF.

“The NQA aims at recognising the learning outcomes of every individual following international assessment standards, regardless of when, where or how the learning was acquired, and validating that the outcomes of any learning programme meet the requirements of the UAE labour market, enhance competitiveness and allow learners for further education progression (the concept of life-long learning),” noted Dr Al Muhairi.

Among its objectives are to develop a national qualification system; establish the national qualification registry information system; enhance the link between the UAE education system and labour market needs; develop the system of recognition of prior learning (RPL); accredit and assess vocational education and training (VET) providers; and foster and enhance lifelong learning in the society.

NQF

At present, qualifications are recognised only when obtained through the formal education system — schools, universities, vocational courses and training centres. But with the NQF, non-formal and informal education are both factored in to assess one’s competency (or RPL) which is recognised through levels 1 to 10 — from holding a certificate up to doctoral degree.

“Here at the NQA, we talk about level — this is our term. If we say level 7 to anyone at the NQA, they mean it’s a Bachelor. For you the bachelor degree is a university degree, otherwise, it is not a Bachelor if it’s not a university degree. But in future, if somebody shows you a certificate that says level 7, then he’s a Bachelor degree (holder) if the certificate is issued by the NQA. That’s the difference, that’s where RPL will get benefit from the NQF,” Dr Al Muhairi explained.

Citing the difference between non-formal and informal education, Dr Al Muhairi said non-formal education is received when an organisation send its staff for training and this is recognised by the certificate received from that institution.

Informal education, meanwhile, are skills that one practices but are not recognised, “like if you can make perfumes — you know how to make them but you don’t have somebody to certify you, or you can do sculptures or have a talent in drawing.”

Anyone who wants to get their skills appraised will only have to go to the NQA assessment centres. “We have many people who have talents and skills but there is (currently) no institution (here) that accredits or recognises their skills,” Dr Al Muhairi pointed out.

As part of the NQA mandate, qualification levels in future will be linked to the occupation classification system of the Ministry of Labour. For example, level 7 which is a Bachelor degree level means there will be certain occupation that only Bachelor degree-holders can occupy.

International level

According to Dr Al Muhairi, the QFEmirates is now being mapped with that of the UK’s five NQFs and will later on align this also with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

“That internationally, will give us a broader recognition for our qualifications,” Dr Al Muhairi said.

At the regional level, the NQA has led the development of the Gulf Qualifications Framework (GQF) — the first framework of its kind in the Middle East. “We submitted the final draft; it will be on the agenda of the 10th Ministries of Labour meeting in Kuwait in October for final approval,” he stated.

Initiatives

The NQA has by the end of 2013 approved the establishment of the Vocational Education and Training Awarding Council (VETAC) to be the first national entity responsible for the management of the country’s vocational and training sector.

“This in general theory is equal to CAA (Commission for Academic Accreditation) of the Ministry of Higher Education. This is equal to it and it will be responsible mainly of three major things — to develop a unified VET strategy across the UAE, to develop the national occupational skills standards (NOSS) and endorse them to allow training providers develop their qualification based on these NOSS, and to develop an equivalency system for VET qualification that is not recognised (RPL).”

The NQA has so far approved 50 national qualifications that are recognised by their respective industries as qualifications and endorsed by the VETAC. These qualifications, which are based on the NOSS, include diploma in aviation engineering, qualification in accounting and other technical education. The list will soon be posted on the authority’s website (www.nqa.gov.ae).

The other initiative is the NOSS template developed by the NQA and distributed to all industry sectors in the UAE to use in developing their qualifications.

“For example, if you are an oil company and you want to unify your specific oil occupation with other oil companies, then you submit your NOSS to the NQA and then we’ll adopt them. Also submitting your NOSS to the NQA will allow us to inform universities to use these NOSS in designing their (programmes),” Dr Al Muhairi said.

The NQA is also chairing the teacher licensing and recruitment committee, which is established to develop the NOSS for teachers who will be working in the public and private schools across the UAE.

The NQA is a strategic partner with the Absher Initiative, developing career guidance for the Emiratis for the labour market. This guide will be used to classify occupation that are targeted by UAE nationals and will be adopted by the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council and Tanmia.

Special passport

“We have many strategic partnership with other organisations, private and governmental, to improve the labour market,” said Dr Al Muhairi, noting that the NQA is linking the requirement of specific occupation with the NQF.

“We are working with the Abu Dhabi Dialogue countries to develop a skill-recognition passport. This will allow workers from Abu Dhabi Dialogue countries like the Philippines, India and Pakistan to have their workers’ skills recognised in the UAE and in other countries.”

This means an employee who wants to return home after working for several years here can get a certificate from the NQA of his skills level and this will be recognised in his home country.

“You go online for the application process. Then we might ask you to go to an assessment centre, we may ask you some questions by computer and you get specific grading system, and then we transfer that into a level… If you joined us at level 4, you will leave with level 7 and we will give you a certificate as proof that you have the skills of level 7,” Dr Al Muhairi explained.

There will be assessment centres within the UAE and in Abu Dhabi Dialogue countries.

“We are also partnering with specific international bodies to recognise this passport to facilitate the transition of skills across countries,” he said, noting that the process is on the design stage but the deadline to submit the first draft to the Cabinet is on June 2015.

Services

There are a number of new services that the NQA will implement in succession till the end of the year.

First is the awarding body registration service for those entitled by law to supervise and license schools and training providers for vocational education. They include the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and the Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ACTVET).

“We developed a registration system and they will be registered soon under the NQA,” said Dr Al Muhairi but clarified that “we are not supervising them; we are (only) facilitating their work” as the regulator of the qualification.

The other services include the registration of the NOSS already developed by some of the UAE key industry sectors such as oil and gas, and aviation; the formation of the NOSS development committees and the assessment and registration of VET providers and the recognition (equivalency) of foreign vocational qualifications service.

“Foreign qualifications are two types — delivered in the UAE and delivered outside the UAE. We will be having a system to allow qualification holders to come to the NQA for equivalency. Right now, there is nobody who is responsible for giving this qualification equivalency. Equivalency will be used for employment and for continuation of study and proving that this person has this accredited qualification.”

Goals

The qualification framework is a new concept in the UAE and the region. According to Khaled Al Obaidli, director of Vocational Qualifications and Labour Market Strategies at the NQA, one important feature of the framework is to integrate “small knowledge and skills” and recognise them so they don’t lose their value.

“The ultimate goal of the NQA is to develop a crisp qualification registration information system — a smart government initiative that will allow qualification holders to get access to their qualification and their progress in the UAE,” said Dr Al Muhairi.

Anyone who is enrolled in accredited training providers and institutions will get their information entered in the NQA database, linking this with their national ID number, and later on they can request for a “transcript”.

Employers, government bodies and organisation can get access to the type of qualifications that are in high demand, what institutions are attracting more employees and job classifications available in the UAE. This will help investors and business people understand the qualification system in the UAE and get reliable information on statistics and skills indicator in the UAE.

These information will also help parents design their kids’ future.

“Through the (NQA) website they will get information about qualification, the skills that are offered in the UAE, what is the demand for them, what is the forecast of the qualification needed in the UAE in the next five years,” Dr Al Muhairi pointed out.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com