The European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning.
IMPLEMENTING THE EQF IN THE SPORTS SECTOR 2006 – 4537 / 001 – 001 LE2 707EQF "Implementing EQF-Sports" project is part of a process lasting since more than ten years intending to link all stakeholders of the sports sector (public authorities, social partners -employers and employees representatives-, the European sport movement, the education and training providers, and support organisations such as EOSE) to specific European networks/organisations collaborating with each other in the field of vocational education and training. At the end of the year 2005, a strategic committee called the "European Sport Workforce Development Alliance (ESWDA)" was created to bring together the key European stakeholders and network organisations working in the sport sector to share and discuss issues around the development of the European Sport Workforce. The stakeholders active in this alliance coordinated by EOSE are the European Association of Sport Employers (EASE), the European Olympic Committee (EOC), The European Non Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO), UNI-EUROPA (UNI-MEI), the European Network of Sport Science, Education and Employment (ENSSEE), the European Health and Fitness Association (EHFA) and the EU-Sports Office. The content is a direct outcome of the "Vocasport" project, supported by the "Euroseen" Leonardo project, funded by the European commission (Sports Unit) and run in 2004 under the scientific direction of the European Observatoire of Sports and Employment (EOSE). Within that framework, more than 100 key stakeholders coming from the 25 EU countries have been invited to comment a pre-report on the situation, trends and perspectives of the VET in sports in Europe and to present their views on key actions to be promoted. They have considered that the EQF/Copenhagen process was providing key responses to sectoral problems. In particular, implementing the flexibility and the transparency of the sports VET systems has been seen as a way to tackle 4 of the main weaknesses of sports national systems: a) short careers; b) high mobility of workers; c) dominant non formal learning; d) numerous volunteers with no recognition of their competences. |
