The achievements in VET area in the Republic of Moldova have been significant. They have been possible because the focal priorities of the ETF have coincided with the government and social partners’ priorities. The mix of legal changes, built capacity, raised awareness, concept development, and sector strategy formulation point to sustainable impact in the medium- to long-term.
As a lot remains to be done for an active role of social partners in the VET governance and for the lifelong orientation of VET, the ETF will keep these in focus. Moreover, in the approach followed by ETF the two priority areas have become more and more interrelated.
There will be changes however, considering the expected start of the EU assistance package and considering the third area, i.e. mobilising human and financial resources, which in principle will be addressed as part of (mainstreamed in) the two main areas.
Relevant facts that justify this choice are as follows: • The two main priority areas will be tackled by the upcoming technical assistance project (possibly followed by budget support). Why thus should ETF engage on similar/associated priorities? First, the TA will have the means to realise the (new) institutional infrastructure of the VET system and to work on technical aspects of the future Moldovan NQF, whereas ETF would add policy analysis, capacity building, dissemination and networking. Second, ETF will play its role in content-related monitoring and advice to the EU Delegation, to accompany the TA implementation at given points in time and assist the EU in measuring progress. This may involve (to be agreed with the EU Delegation): appraisals of the achievements based on set indicators; options as to how to proceed or change where necessary; advice on tools for self-monitoring by the Ministry of Education (e.g. on internal efficiency and external efficiency); round-tables with stakeholders; working meetings together with the EU Delegation and contractor. • The social partners’ role and responsibility in the VET system is undervalued. The contribution of social partners should become institutionalised and tangible, to shift from non-influence of the demand to influence of the demand on the delivery of VET. The EU TA will cooperate with the existing sector committees, whereas ETF will offer qualitative support in particular to: o discuss the full range of their possible functions in the perspective of enhancing the VET quality o facilitate the networking within each of the sector, and the networking between different sector committees o discuss stronger company-school cooperation e.g. forms of work-based learning, availability of equipment, curricula, CVT, etc. o discuss needs assessment and training funds for CVT o continue the exchange with the other Eastern Partners, which only ETF can ensure. • The lifelong orientation of the VET sector implies many facets, not all of which will be covered by the TA project. ETF can add policy advice – including on issues of access to education and training, on the CVT agenda, on entrepreneurial learning through the SBA assessment –, capacity and expertise building for e.g. using evidence for analysis and monitoring, etc. • Attracting human and financial resources to VET is not straightforward, considering for example the low prestige of the sector and existing inefficiency. Upgrading the status of work-based learning entails a clear contribution from the enterprises, it could thus be a suitable starting point. The Ministry of Education will have to address work-based learning though this is understated in the VET Strategy. The Strategy opens to internships, but less to more elaborated forms of work-based learning. The Ministry of Economy has instruments for training of entrepreneurs and for CVT and it has an interest in motivating companies to engage in HCD, by using incentives as per the SME Sector Strategy 2012-20. Besides, CVT funding emerged as a critical priority area from the regional mutual learning started in 2011, which also identified the necessity to increase the responsibility of the enterprises in CVT. ETF is in position to promote policy partnerships within the government and with the business community, a pre-condition for mobilising resources as it was also concluded by the 2011-12 SBA assessment. This short summary shows the connection between the resources issue and the governance and lifelong learning areas above (active responsibility involvement of the private sector, initial and continuing VET, non-formal learning, etc.). Hence, the approach will be to integrate the issue into the two priority areas.
To pursue the priorities ETF will make best use of its functions, namely: support to the EU - support the EU by accompanying the Technical Assistance project and possible budget support (the latter subject to confirmation) with complementary, not overlapping actions. This includes monitoring particularly on the content aspects of the project; advice to the EU Delegation; policy advice to the Ministries and social partners; knowledge and practice sharing between Moldovan and the other Eastern Partners; concepts and policy papers depending on the requests; etc. policy analysis - conduct policy analysis mainly but not exclusively through the biennial Torino Process and SBA assessments capacity development - build capacity as embedded approach throughout all activities dissemination and networking - systematically disseminate results and strengthen networks within the country. The exchanges between countries in the region are an ETF comparative advantage.