Development of a Subsystem for the Assessment and Recognition of Qualifications Acquired in the Work of Specialists in the Manufacturing Sector

In a rapidly changing world, new challenges arise in the day-to-day operations of manufacturing companies, but the save in typical situations by applying standard / textbook solutions, but in an atypical situation in the workplace, even an exemplary graduate of a good educational institution often lacks knowledge and courage to take further action. In finding the right solution, employees often rely on their experience and precedents, seek advice and help from more experienced colleagues. In this way, the employee acquires knowledge and skills that significantly supplement and expand the educational qualification in the long run. We call such a totality of the latter knowledge and abilities - working constantly replenishing - a qualification acquired in work activities (QAWA). The educational qualification awarded to a person guarantees the possession of general knowledge and skills, but in the workplace the person continues to improve. And although a particular employer usually understands that his employee has grown significantly and continues to grow in terms of both the depth and breadth of knowledge and the abundance of skills, today Lithuania officially has no tools to recognize QAWA.

The MAIN IDEA of the project initiated by us was to create opportunities to identify, assess and validate the competencies / qualifications acquired in a person's work (QAWA). It was planed that this would initiate a development of the official/national sub-system* that would allow QAWA to be recognized more widely than in the company where the person works. The preparation of the QAWA descriptions and tools for their assessment and recognition is an excellent opportunity for employers in manufacturing sector or their representative companies, business organizations, and institutions to form a clear system of qualifications acquired from professional experience in the labor market. *All planned project results are focused on the manufacturing sector and the results of activities 1, 2 and 3 can be almost effortlessly adapted in each country (LT. LV and PL). The QAWA acquired in the manufacturing sector (R1) were better adapted to the Lithuanian situation, but they could be easily adapted in each country, as the qualifications framework operating in all countries is based on the European Qualifications Framework, and the job descriptions valid in all countries are based on the same ISCO-88 occupational classification.