The EfVET President, Vice Presidents and Board members participate in a conference in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The EfVET President Prof. James Calleja was a keynote speaker at a conference organised by the Foundation for the Management of European Lifelong Learning Programmes in Larnaca earlier this week. He also conducted a workshop session and participated in a panel discussion on the partnership between industry and providers of micro-credentials.

Other EfVET participants included vice Presidents Stefano Tirati and Vibeke Holtum Norgaard, Board Member Tibor Dori, and Susana Nogueira, Policy and Project Officer from the Secretariat. The invitation was extended to EfVET members by the former Vice President of EfVET, Dr. Stylianos Mavromoustakos, Director of the Foundation for the Management of LLL Programmes. Professor Petros Pashiardis, President of the Foundation, opened the conference.

In his presentation, EfVET President stressed the rethinking of education in an age of artificial intelligence and huge technological developments that are challenging the core pedagogy of today’s education and training programmes. Micro-credentials could be the short-, medium-, and long-term solution to attract and keep more learners in lifelong learning. He said that there are various ways of writing MCs to fit target groups, which could vary from high flyers in education to dropouts and to workers in need of upskilling and reskilling. Cooperation with industry and all stakeholders, including universities and vocational higher education institutions, is paramount to the success of MCS.

The conference had other distinguished speakers and over 100 participants from 15 countries. the workshop sessions and the focus on the Cypriot context provided several recommendations on the application of micro-credentials to E&T in formal and non-formal learning.