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Knowledge validation

ONLY THROUGH AN EXAM (without the need to attend a course) to validate (check) knowledge, according to Art. 40 of ZPO you can get:

  • CERTIFICATE (for complete course)

or

  • CERTIFICATE (for part of the profession)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CARRYING OUT THE VALIDATION PROCESS IN CPO

I. Conditions and procedure for validation of professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired through non-formal education or self-study in VET

  1. Validation is carried out by professions and specialties included in the List of professions for professional education and training under Art. 6 of the Vocational Education and Training Act (VET), for which the VET holds a license and under which it conducts vocational training.
  2. Validation includes procedures for:
    • 2.1. establishing the professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired by the person;
    • 2.2. recognition of a degree of professional qualification or of a qualification in a part of a profession;
    • 2.3. informing the person who has expressed a desire for validation about the goals, validation procedures and their sequence or directing the person to another institution, in case the CPO does not organize one.
  3. The implementation of the validation procedures, the obligations and responsibilities of the participants in the validation process are specified in the Rules for the structure and activity of the CPO.

II. Steps for successful implementation of the validation process in CPO

  1. The CPO, which will carry out validation procedures, should revise the regulations for the device and its activity, describing in it the organization of the validation process, as well as the duties and responsibilities of the participants in the validation process.
  2. The director of the CPO issues an order appointing a responsible person from the pedagogical staff or teaching staff for the organization and conduct of the validation procedures in the center.
  3. The duties and responsibilities of the person responsible for the organization and conduct of the validation procedures in the center are:
    • 3.1. organizes the work of the teachers assigned to participate in the validation procedures;
    • 3.2. proposes the composition of the commissions to the director of the CPO;
    • 3.3. annually informs the Educational and Methodological Council / Expert Council of CPO about the validation done by the institution;
    • 3.4. prepares reports, reports and other documents related to validation;
    • 3.5. sends to NAPOO information about the dates of upcoming validation exams (at least one week before the exam);
    • 3.6. scans and uploads the document issued by the validation to the IS of NAPOO, as well as enters information about the validated person.
  4. The director of the CPO issues an order determining the composition of the commission (at least three members) to establish the professional knowledge, skills and competencies acquired by the person, requested for validation.
  • The committee includes teachers meeting the requirements specified in the state educational requirement for acquiring a qualification in the profession for which the validation is carried out.
  • The composition of the commission may also include specialists from outside the institution who meet the requirements for trainers specified in the state educational requirements for acquiring a qualification in the profession.
    • 4.1. The duties and responsibilities of the commission for establishing the professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired by the person requested for validation are:
  • Determines the professional direction and the profession from the List of professions for vocational education and training under Article 6 of the Labor Code, in which the person wishes to validate his professional knowledge, skills and competences;
  • Performs a preliminary comparison of the professional knowledge, skills and competences claimed by the person with the learning outcomes included in the state educational requirement for acquiring a qualification in the relevant profession;
  • Prepares a protocol for comparison of the competences claimed by the candidate and described in the DOI;
  • Prepares an individual schedule for conducting the validation;
  • Refers to additional training or to the conduct of verification exams, when, after comparing the professional knowledge, skills and competences claimed by the person, a discrepancy is found with the learning outcomes in the state educational requirement for acquiring a qualification in the profession;
  • Prepares the necessary materials for the test, evaluation criteria, etc. and records the result of the test;
  • Tests the level of acquired professional knowledge, skills and competences after additional training (if necessary);
  • Prepares a report on the result of the verification of professional knowledge, skills and competences.

In the event that the DOI has not been adopted for the profession and specialty in which the person wishes to validate his knowledge, skills and competences, the curriculum and curriculum approved by the Minister of Education and Science for the relevant profession shall apply!

Preliminary matching covers:

a) analysis of the evidence presented by the person;

b) verification of claims made by the personprofessional knowledge, skills and competences for which it does not present evidence or the evidence presented does not correspond to the learning outcomes in the state educational requirement for acquiring a qualification in the profession;

  1. The director of the CPO issues an order appointing a consultant/one of the members of the commission for establishing the professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired by the person, applied for validation/ who:

assist the individual throughout the validation process;

is responsible for preparing, completing and submitting the portfolio and personal card of the person to the CPO archive;

prepares and registers the validation document issued to the person /Certificate of validation of a degree of professional qualification or Certificate of validation of professional qualification in a part of a profession/.

  1. The director of the CPO issues an order determining the composition of the commission for the preparation, organization and conduct of state examinations in theory and practice of the profession or examinations in theory and practice of the profession for the acquisition of a qualification in a part of a profession.

The duties and responsibilities of the commission for preparing, organizing and conducting state examinations in theory and practice of the profession or examinations in theory and practice of the profession for the acquisition of qualification in a part of a profession are:

  • Prepares, organizes and conducts state examinations in theory and in practice of the profession for recognition of a degree of professional qualification according to Art. 36 and 37 of ZPOO;
  • Prepares, organizes and conducts examinations in theory and in practice of the profession for recognition of professional qualification in part of the profession according to Art. 36 and 37 of ZPOO
  1. In order to carry out the validation procedures, a contract can be concluded between the CPO and the applicant, in which the rights and obligations of the parties, the organization, the implementation, material and financial security are regulated.
  2. The CPO develops an account plan for each procedure of the validation of a professional qualification, which is approved by the director of the center (it is desirable to determine unit prices).

III. Implementation of validation procedures in VET

  1. The person wishing to validate his professional knowledge, skills and competences submits an Application (accompanied by copies of documents for evidence) to the director of the CPO according to the template, according to the appendix to Ordinance No. 2 of November 13, 2014 on the terms and conditions for the validation of professional knowledge, skills and competences.
  2. The Application completed by the candidate is registered.
  3. The Director of the CPO issues orders that determine the responsible persons (consultants) and the composition of the commissions in the validation process.
  4. A meeting of the consultant is held with the candidate for validation, at which an Information Card for the initial interview and counseling is filled in and instructions are given to fill in the Candidate’s Form with the evidence attached by him. The consultant starts filling in a personal card to validate professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired through informal training and self-study.
  5. The person wishing to be validated completes the applicant form, describing the evidence (attached to the application, as well as additional specified during the interview when filling out the Information Card). The form indicates which documents are submitted additionally.
  6. The form together with the additional documents are collected in the applicant’s portfolio.
  7. All supporting documents submitted are cross-checked with the originals (provided by the applicant) and certified “true to original”.
    • The following documents can be presented – employment record or transcript-extract from the employment record, service record, insurance record, document on educational level, attestations, references, certificates and certificates from previous professional training, artifacts, photos of artifacts, etc. to prove the acquired professional knowledge, skills and competences requested for validation.
  8. The committee for establishing the professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired by the person, applied for validation, examines the evidence presented in view of the requirements of the current DOI for the profession and draws up a protocol for comparing the competences claimed by the candidate and described in the DOI (a separate protocol for each competence ). The committee ends the protocol with a conclusion: “the relevant competence is recognized” or “the relevant competence is NOT recognized, indicating learning outcomes for which there is no evidence.
  9. Along with filling in the comparative table, the commission also prepares a timetable for the candidate, which indicates dates for checking specific learning outcomes, dates for validation exams, deadlines for additional training, dates for consultations.
  10. The Commission fills in a Protocol on the result of the verification of professional knowledge, skills and competences for each competence for which a test was conducted.
  11. VET notifies NAPOA in writing about pthe upcoming exams at the center at least one week before the dates of:
    • The state exams in theory and practice of the profession for recognition of a degree of professional qualification;
    • examinations in theory and practice of the profession for recognition of professional qualification in part of the profession.
  12. The Commission for the preparation, organization and conduct of state examinations in theory and practice of the profession or examinations in theory and practice of the profession for the acquisition of qualification in a part of a profession prepares protocols (protocol for admission to state examinations for recognition of a degree of professional qualification, protocol for the evaluations of the examinations for the acquisition of a professional qualification, protocol for the conduct of a written examination for the recognition of a professional qualification, examination materials, etc. in connection with the conduct of the examinations).
  13. After conducting the exams, the person is issued a Certificate of Validation of Professional Qualification in a part of a profession or a Certificate of Validation of Professional Qualification.
    • Until the regulation of these two documents in Regulation 4, it is permissible to issue a Certificate of Validation of Professional Qualification.
  14. The certificate is registered in a registration book.
  15. The documents created during the validation procedures – application, information card, form, comparative table, schedule for conducting the validation, materials related to additional training, comparison protocols, certified copy of the issued certificate, etc. are included in the person’s portfolio.
  16. The person’s portfolio is stored in a folder in a place specified by order of the director of the CPO, and after the completion of the validation – in the archive of the institution for a permanent period.

IV. Interruption and resumption of validation procedures

  • A person can interrupt the procedure of validation of his knowledge, skills and competences at his will at any time, and for this he must submit an application of his intention to the CPO.
  • Validation is also interrupted when no application has been submitted by the person and he does not perform the procedures provided for in his schedule for conducting validation for more than six months.
  • At any moment, the person can resume the procedures for validating the same professional knowledge, skills and competences by submitting a new application to the CPO. These procedures continue in accordance with the current DOI for the acquisition of a qualification by profession at the time of submission of the application. The person submits only additional documents, /if any/ acquired or amended after the procedure was interrupted.

If learning outcomes have been established and recognized prior to the interruption, no new comparison protocols shall be drawn up for them upon resumption of validation procedures.

V. Documents to assist CPO teams performing validation procedures:

REGULATION No. 2 OF NOVEMBER 13, 2014 ON THE CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURE FOR VALIDATION OF PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND COMPETENCES;

  1. Application for validation (appendix to the Ordinance on Validation);
  2. DOI for acquiring qualifications in professions;
  3. Curriculum and curriculum approved by the Minister of Education and Science for a profession for which no DOI has been adopted;
  4. Materials issued within the framework of the project “New opportunity for my future” /http://validirane.mon.bg/:
  • Handbook for the validation of professional qualifications acquired through non-formal and independent learning;
  • Completed sample toolkit for validation of professional qualification acquired through non-formal and independent learning.
  • Sample protocol for comparing the competencies claimed by the candidate and described in the DOI;
  • Sample protocol for the result of the verification of professional knowledge, skills and competences;
  • Sample protocol for admission to state exams for the recognition of a degree of professional qualification;
  • Sample protocol for the evaluations of the examinations for the acquisition of a professional qualification;
  • Sample protocol for on-duty when conducting a written exam for recognition of professional qualification;
  • Sample personal card for validation of professional knowledge, skills and competences acquired through non-formal education and independent learning;
  • Sample* of an information card;
  • Sample* of the applicant’s form with a description of the evidence presented;
  • Sample* of a certificate for the acquisition of a qualification by profession (can be used until the certificate and the validation certificate are regulated in Regulation 4);
  • Protocol on the result of verification of professional knowledge, skills and competences.

*Patterns were developed based on the forms used in the project “A new opportunity for my future”. Their use is optional, but recommended.

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