29. How is certification of labour competencies defined?

It is a public, registered, formal and temporary recognition of the working ability shown by a worker. It is done based on the assessment of his competencies regarding a standard and without being necessarily subject to completing an educational process.(1)

Certification is the completion of a process of formal recognition of the competencies of workers; it involves the opinion of an authorised institution, the accreditation of the competency of a worker. Certification is usually granted as a recognition of the completion of a training process, based on training and practice as well as the assessed contents. This does not necessarily mean the assessment of competencies.

This broader concept of certification is meant to place it far from an academic notion of a credit obtained after completing certain studies and having correctly worked out a number of tests; the idea is in fact closer to a description of the actual labour abilities of a worker and, in some cases, the way in which he acquired those abilities becomes even less important. It is closer to the idea of recognising knowledge or prior learning, as it is called in some countries.

There exist some experiences in the scope of certification within the region since the 70s. For instance, a project carried out by Cinterfor/ILO in 1975 was oriented to measure and certify the qualification acquired by training courses or labour experience or by the combination of both. Since then, training institutions discovered that it was necessary to recognise labour abilities that workers had obtained during their working experience and to provide labour mediation systems with better tools to offer candidates the most appropriate jobs. Certification was then defined as a “process aiming at the formal recognition of occupational qualification of workers, without taking into account the way in which those qualifications were acquired”.(2)

The purpose of certification is recognising workers’ competency: such recognition implies both an assessment and a training process. Certification is a synthesis in the training process of a person but it is not the end; it is a continuous process validated throughout working life. The certificate implies an assessment process of the competencies recognised in it.

A labour competency certificate refers to a particular performance in which a worker has proved to be competent by means of the assessment of competencies. The certificate is based upon a labour competency standard and, as it was stated above, the standard was build up from the necessary competencies to have an effective performance at a particular working situation.

SENAI, Brazil, defines certification as the formal recognition process of the competencies of a person, without considering the way in which they were acquired.(3

In INEM, Spain, certification is defined as “the issuance of a certificate by labour authorities, training organisations or uthorised people who recognise that a worker is capable of applying the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours in order to perform a particular vocational activity.(4)

According to the Mexican system, certification is defined as a process in which a third party organisation recognises and certifies that an individual has proved to be competent in a specific labour activity, without considering the way in which he has obtained such competency and in accordance with a nationwide recognised standard.(5)

INA, Costa Rica, defines certification as the “official recognition of vocational qualifications of a person (knowledge, skills and attitudes), without considering the way in which they were acquired, both by means of participating in systematic actions of vocational training or as a result of developing a profession without prior training.”(6)

Many more countries, institutions and training systems are now taking measures for the recognition of competencies developed out of school. In Brazil, SENAI is advancing on a national strategic project which is doing pilot application in several occupational sectors in order to certify competencies acquired throughout experience. In Chile, SENCE, together with Chile Califica programme, which was working with the private sector, deals with another component which articulates training actions with the certification of competencies obtained at work for, initially, nine occupational sectors. In Argentina, the Ministry of Labour, financed by IADB/MIF, has developed a programme in four sectors of the economy which designs and tests mechanisms of certification and training of workers.(7)

The recognition of competencies developed in the exercise of the worker’s profession can become a powerful motivation to acquire new competencies; it creates better signs for the elaboration of training programmes and these become more accurate since they cater for the required training needs in order to reach a particular level of competency.

The certification of competency now attains a value related to the employability of workers as long as certificates refer to competencies in a broad sense and facilitate the transferability among different occupational contexts.

Besides, the term “continuing and life-long training” recognises the restricted validity of a certificate. In fact, the owner of a certificate must update certification within the agreed deadlines. This will guarantee that one has been aware of the changes that may have taken place in the organisation of work and technology within the occupational area.

Other characteristics of the certification of competency are:(8)

It is done within a consistent occupational framework which allows everyone to identify the contents of the occupation which is being certified. This is the way in which the following frameworks work: National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) in the United Kingdom, the Qualification Chart (“Matriz de Cualificaciones”) in Mexico or the National Catalogue of Qualifications (“Catálogo Nacional de Cualificaciones”) in Spain.

It requires a framework of legitimacy and appraisal for the certificate. This means it has to be appraised by entrepreneurs, workers and the State. The value of a certificate can be compared with that of money. A note will not be worthier because of its design, colour or size; its value will be that given by the society and economy which make use of it.

It must be carried out with a simple mechanism, without bureaucracy and it has to be less expensive for the user than other alternatives. If we go back to the metaphor of money,9 people use it because it is a better element of reference to understand each other than, for instance, exchanging apples for cheese or salt for rice.

It should be legitimate and credible. This means the certification process must be originated from a credible and socially acknowledged institutional mechanism. If there are many types and sources of certificates, the bad ones will soon replace the good ones. Many people will prefer obtaining certificates of lower quality which will surely be cheaper and less strict.

It should foster transparency. This implies that a worker should know what is stated in the certificate about him and what is expected from his performance. At the same time, the employer should be able to see the type and scope of the competencies of the worker.

It has to allow for the shaping of the concept of lifelong learning. Because it recognises all knowledge and skills acquired in every circle of life, but also because it is articulated with the offer of training opportunities that may be supplementary to those competencies not yet acquired. The process of competency recognition must offer all educational and training possibilities in order to promote the candidate’s vocational development. The creation of a learning culture implies, among other things, increasing training opportunities.

 

 

 

 

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1Irigoin, M.; Vargas, F., Competencia Laboral. Manual de conceptos, métodos y aplicaciones en el sector salud, Montevideo, Cinterfor/ILO, 2002.
2 Agudelo, Santiago, Certificación Ocupacional. Manual didáctico, Montevideo, Cinterfor/ILO, 1993.
3 SENAI, Metodologia de Avaliação e Certificação de Competencias, Brasilia, 2002.
4 INEM, Metodología para la ordenación de la Formación Profesional Ocupacional, Madrid, 1997.
5 CONOCER, Sistemas Normalizado y de Certificación de Competencia Laboral, Mexico, 1997.
6 Experience carried out by INA within the framework of Normalización, Formación y Certificación de Competencias Laborales, INA, 2001.
7 In Chile, the sectors are: gastronomy, incoming tourism, viticulture, mining industry, gas and electricity, IT, fruit culture, logistics and transportation, and metal-mechanic: see more information at: www.sence.cl; www.chilecalifica.cl. In Argentina the following sectors are covered: printing sector, food, motor vehicle and metal-mechanic; more information can be found at www.oitcinterfor.org/competencias/observatorio de experiencias
8 Vargas, F., Competencia Laboral en la práctica, Montevideo, Cinterfor/ILO, 2004.
9 Developed by Jean Björnavold in several documents for CEDEFOP.

 

 

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