Definition of 'Vocational Education and Training (VET)'

For the purposes of the QATRAIN2 project, Vocational Education and Training (VET) is defined as any form of initial education or training and apprenticeship which contributes to the achievement of a vocational qualification recognised by the competent authorities in each partner country and that normally leads to employability. VET students are those who have completed compulsory education and are under 25 years of age.

Overview of the Project

QATRAIN2 (Quality Assurance and Accessible Training 2) enables teachers and trainers to integrate disabled people into mainstream Vocational Education and Training (VET) by removing unintended barriers to their entry and successful participation. Such improvements opens up a wider range of opportunities and qualifications to disabled people that enhances career options and is a major step to reducing discrimination against them.

Full accessibility for disabled people to mainstream VET requires adjustments in teaching, learning and assessment and teachers and trainers are best positioned to do this. But competence concerning provision for disabled people in VET is not a feature of teacher training in most countries. QATRAIN2 has transferred to VET, through a process of thorough review and adaptation, a resource with a very successful track-record in tertiary education. Two new countries have participated (Romania and Turkey) and new websites have been set up in all 5 countries specifically to address the needs of users in VET. This is an important resource to be drawn on in initial and continuing teacher training.

It is complemented by a toolkit for identifying needs and promoting the use of the project's resources in meeting these needs and by a guide to analysing courses using a module on the teaching of entrepreneurialism as an example. The partnership includes a strong range of experience and user groups and is well-integrated into stakeholder networks at national and European levels. The impact of the project will raise awareness of, and enable staff to respond to, increased participation in mainstream VET by disabled people - which has been shown to be a powerful combination for change in tertiary education.

Aims

1. To conduct research in each country to identify a set of core learning activities representative of non-tertiary VET and support the development of a revised online SCIPS/Qatrain package for non-tertiary VET.
2. To develop four versions of this revised package, each translated and adapted to meet its national context. The information will be organised to enable VET staff to access material directly relevant to their work in ways that will be directly usable by teachers and trainers of VET.
3. To produce a toolkit that will enable VET providers and individual VET staff, to identify their training needs in relation to developing inclusive learning and teaching practices that support disabled people.
4. To ensure that VET staff and disabled people have an appropriate, continuing role in the development of the project and the materials it produces.
5. To develop, adapt and translate a module about the teaching of enterprise as both an introductory tutorial for the online package, and to help improve the employability of disabled people.
6. To ensure that the outcomes of the project are maintained after the formal end of the project and that the websites continue to provide support for VET once funding for Qatrain 2 has finished.

Targets (groups, sectors and end-users)

• Teachers and trainers in non-tertiary VET
• Disabled people
• Disadvantaged people
• Course developers
• Managers in VET
• VET providers
• Policy makers
• Providers of training for teachers and trainers of VET

Outcomes

The following results will be produced within this project:

1. A comprehensive, online searchable resource in the UK, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania;
2. A promotional resource in Turkey;
3. Online toolkit for identifying needs and promoting awareness in the UK, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey;
4. A guide to European Policies concerning disability and VET;
5. A module in entrepreneurialism that will also provide an introductory tutorial for the QATRAIN2 resource;
6. A report synthesising and comparing research results from the needs research programme in the partner countries;
7. A promotional guide for the QATRAIN2 resource;
8. A compendium of management tools.