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"Norte" Model - Technical Standardisation of Competencies - Guatemala
Source: ILO/CINTERFOR
The Technical Training and Productivity Institute INTECAP, of Guatemala, has incorporated the occupational competency approach in its institutional management. It has devised in that connection the "Norte" model (standing, in Spanish, for Technical Standardisation of Competencies).
In its conceptualised model, INTECAP has defined occupational competency as:
The aptitude, skills, abilities, knowledge and attitudes required to perform correctly certain productive functions in an occupational context. Capabilities and functions are defined by the productive sector and are to be measured in the workers’ occupational performance.
INTECAP recognises three types of competencies:
Basic competencies: those required for a person to perform in any productive activity, such as reading, the ability to interpret texts, apply numerical systems, express themselves and knowing how to listen. Such skills are acquired gradually along life and in formal education.
Generic competencies: knowledge and abilities associated with the development of various occupational areas and branches of productive activity, i.e. they are the competencies defining a concrete profile for the different activities of the world of labour (economic sectors and branches), for example, analysing and evaluating information, working in teams, contributing to the safety and hygiene of the work place, planning activities, etc. These competencies may be self taught, acquired through educational and training programmes or on the job.
Specific competencies: skills associated with technical knowledge and abilities, required for the performance of a productive function. They are usually conveyed in specific language and refer to the use of certain tools and instruments, like, for example: welding with oxy-acetylene equipment, preparing the mill for hot rolling, or evaluating a candidate’s performance. They may be acquired through a training process, on the job, or through self instruction.
This model is being applied both for the design of training plans and teaching aids, the certification of competencies and in counselling on the Management of Human Resources.
Since 1998, INTECAP has been adapting the model for evaluation, certification and training of occupational competencies to its institutional structure and activities on the basis of technical standards to enhance the quality of human resources for productive functions and meet the training needs of the country’s productive sector. The experiences were compiled of countries like Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, as well as European nations like Italy and Great Britain, to get a suitable frame of reference for the methodology from different points of views and in different areas of application.
In view of the importance and numerous applications of occupational competencies, INTECAP has taken on the responsibility for developing not only a model for training based on competencies, but also a model for the Management of Human Resources.
The so-called NORTE model consists of five components:
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