Microcredentials – A New Path for Capacity Building in VET 

Craft College (Zagreb, Croatia), together with partners from Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Montenegro, started the Erasmus+ project Microcredentials – A New Path for Capacity Building in VET funded through the Call Building Capacities in VET. The general objective of the project is to reinforce the link between EU and non-EU countries of South-East Europe (Western-Balkans) through the analysis and definition of microcredentials in VET in order to support the relevance, accessibility and responsiveness of VET institutions and systems to changes on the labour market.

To share experiences and knowledge about the development of microcredentials, partners will organise a series of transnational and national peer-learning activities involving VET teachers and trainers, directors, experts and policy makers. Partners will propose a definition of microcredentials in their national context and a development methodology. Based on the definition, partners will design a joint course in from of a MC in the sector of engineering, specifically in 3D printing technology with a strong integration of employers in the design of learning outcomes. The new joint course will be tested in each country on a sample of VET students and learners with an accompanying mobility of VET teachers and trainers in the form of a Train the trainer event.

First Peer-learning activity

The first transnational peer-learning activity was organised by Craft College in Zagreb from 15th to 16th of March 2023, with the participation of over 30 representatives of secondary vocational schools, ministries of education, agencies and institutes for qualifications, the quality of vocational education and education institutes from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. The meeting enabled discussions and analyses to get to know different inspiring practices and identify perceived difficulties in the implementation process of microcredentials in different national education systems.

The first meeting showed that in some countries the qualification frameworks are already well developed and being applied, while in others it is still in the early stages of preparation. In some educational systems, the starting point are qualification standards, while in others, it is occupational standards. Providers who provide formal vocational education also differ – from secondary vocational schools to accredited institutions.

The partners are expected to prepare national analyses based on the understanding of microcredentials as defined in the Council’s Recommendations on the European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability (2022/C 243/02).