Within the framework of the Vocational Education and Training Programme for the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-VET) and in line with the OIC-TVET Strategic Roadmap 2020-2025, SESRIC organised a Training Course on “Development of National Vocational Qualifications Framework” on 26-28 July 2022 through an online video conferencing platform.

The training course was provided by competent experts from the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) of the Republic of Türkiye for the benefit of 115 experts and executives from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Authorities and relevant national institutions in 26 OIC Member Countries.

The main objective of the training course was to provide insights into the process of designing and developing vocational qualifications for a wide range of occupations in order to establish an effective and sustainable national qualifications system. The course also allowed participants to familiarise themselves with the most recent tools, materials, and methods used in developing new vocational qualifications or updating the existing ones.

The training course commenced with the opening statement of Mr. Onur ÇAĞLAR, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department at SESRIC, who highlighted the important role of the vocational qualifications framework (VQF) in increasing the quality of vocational education and training, human capital and the economic growth of the countries. He also stressed that cross-border labour mobility and recognition of skills among the OIC Member Countries through adopting a common reference of qualifications had been given utmost importance at the OIC level as it was emphasised, among others, in the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted by the 2nd OIC Summit on Science and Technology held in June 2021. He concluded his remarks by briefing the participants on SESRIC’s efforts in the field of TVET and thanking the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) of the Republic of Türkiye for their valuable contribution to the organisation of this capacity building training activity.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Mehmet ORDUKAYA, Director of Testing and Certification Department of the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) of the Republic of Türkiye, began by thanking SESRIC for jointly organising this important training course by mentioning the significant work of SESRIC carried out for the benefit of the OIC Member Countries since its establishment. Mr. ORDUKAYA briefed the participants about the initiatives and activities of VQA of the Republic of Türkiye in developing the national qualifications framework. He also added that their Authority has developed around 900 occupational standards so far, in a total of 27 sectors, and approximately approved 600 national qualifications. He expressed his hope that all OIC Member Countries can reach a high level of number national qualifications for many job sectors. He concluded his remarks by stating the readiness and willingness of the VQA to continue enhancing its collaboration with SESRIC and the relevant national institutions in charge of the vocational qualifications and occupational standards in the OIC Member Countries to foster sharing of knowledge, experience and best practices in the OIC region.

The OIC-VET is an initiative of SESRIC officially launched at the COMCEC Economic Summit held in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 09 November 2009. The Centre developed and designed this Programme to support and contribute to the efforts of the OIC Member Countries towards addressing the challenges and limitations faced in the area of TVET. The Programme also aims to enhance the quality of TVET systems in the OIC Member Countries, which in turn contribute to the development and competitiveness of their economies. SESRIC, in its capacity as the Executing OIC Organ of the Programme, monitors the implementation of the “OIC-TVET Strategic Roadmap 2020-2025”, and regularly submits the progress reports towards the implementation of the Roadmap to the Ministerial Sessions and the Follow-up Committee Meetings of the COMCEC. For more details about the OIC-VET and its activities, please visit: https://www.oicvet.org

All presentations of the training course are available at this link.

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