Supporting the development of tailored learning provision in the implementation of "Upskilling Pathways”

Deadline: Jul 8, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

1.1. Programme/Legal base

This call for proposals is published under Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation ("EaSI")1 and amending Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion.

The European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" 2014-20202 is a European-level financing instrument managed directly by the European Commission to contribute to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, by providing financial support for the Union's objectives in terms of promoting a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

The EaSI Programme shall, in all its axes and actions, aim to:

(a) pay particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as young people;

(b) promote equality between women and men,

(c) combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;

(d) promote a high-level of quality and sustainable employment, guarantee adequate and decent social protection, combat long-term unemployment and fight against poverty and social exclusion.

Hence, in designing, implementing and reporting on the activity, beneficiaries must address the issues noted above and will be required to provide detail, in the final activity report on the steps and achievements made towards addressing those aims.

The EaSI annual work programme for grants and procurement was published on 25.10.20183.

1.2. Policy and economic background

The first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that “everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market”4.

In December 2017, the European Council called for further steps to be taken for implementing the Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways, intended for people with the greatest skills needs.

The European Agenda for Adult Learning5 underlines the need for adults to regularly enhance their personal and professional skills and competences, in response to multiple social, technological and economic changes and the instability and risks these provoke, not least for low-skilled and the low-qualified people. European labour markets are undergoing important changes that affect employment trends; among which, demographic change and economic migration on the supply side and the growing complexity of jobs on the demand side are becoming increasingly challenging and raise uncertainties about the nature and level of skills that will be required (especially digital skills and transversal skills such as problem-solving). Even jobs that traditionally required low-level qualifications, or no qualifications at all, are becoming more demanding.

In 2017, there were 61 million people, more than a quarter of the Union population aged 25- 64, who had left initial education and training with at most a lower secondary education qualification6. Furthermore, the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (‘PIAAC’) indicates that, in 20 Member States, similar proportions of adults aged 16 to 65 performed at the lowest level of skills proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. This “low-skilled challenge” should be urgently addressed.

These sources also show that low-qualified and/or low-skilled adults are less likely to find a job or to take part in learning, although these are key to their social inclusion and democratic participation, among other benefits. The aggregate net economic benefit (from higher incomes, reduced crime rates, etc.) of reducing the size of the low-skilled adult population in the EU (assuming a further decrease to reach 7.4% of adults being classed as low-skilled by 2025) is estimated at EUR 2 013 billion7 for the period 2015-2025.

Therefore, it is crucial for their individual well-being as well as for the good of society that they be provided with adequate upskilling opportunities, especially through tailored measures targeted at those furthest away from the labour market or education and training.

Yet, where arrangements exist for enabling adults to raise their skills levels, they are often not tailored to their specific needs. Other challenges include the absence of legal frameworks to guarantee and ease access to tailored learning provision in most countries, low take up by individuals who need it the most or no perception of its benefits.

1.2.1. Upskilling Pathways

The Council Recommendation of 19 December 2016 on “Upskilling Pathways: New Opportunities for Adults”8 recommends Member States to “offer adults with a low level of skills, knowledge and competences, for example those who have left initial education or training without completing upper secondary education or equivalent, and who are not eligible for support under the Youth Guarantee, access to upskilling pathways which provide them with the opportunity, according to their individual needs, to:

• acquire a minimum level of literacy, numeracy and digital competence;

and/or

• acquire a wider set of skills, knowledge and competences, relevant for the labour market and active participation in society, building on Recommendation 2006/962/EC on key competences for lifelong learning, by making progress towards a qualification at EQF level 3 or 4 depending on national circumstances”.

Upskilling Pathways should comprise three steps:

• “skills assessment (i.e. skills identification or screening);

• provision of a tailored, flexible and quality learning offer; and

• validation and recognition of skills acquired9”.

One of the crucial goals of the Recommendation is to bring together in a coherent way the many fragmented and partial offers proposed to adults by disparate providers and in multiple settings. Actions funded under this call should be developed in accordance with key principles outlined in paragraphs 11 to 18 of the Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways: coordination and partnership between stakeholders and sectors, outreach, guidance and support measures to learners and proper follow-up and evaluation of the implementation of the Recommendation.

Member States were to identify priority target groups for the delivery of Upskilling Pathways and outline appropriate measures for the implementation of the Recommendation at the latest by mid-2018 by building on relevant existing national arrangements10.

As foreseen in the Recommendation, the European Commission took stock of the implementation measures outlined by Member States in a Staff Working Document published on 26 February 201911. This stocktaking shows that few countries are setting in motion new ambitious agendas or triggering national debates on the existing offer of learning opportunities for low skilled adults, and there is a need to significantly step up efforts to increase the scale of measures and develop a holistic and long-term vision that could have a significant impact on the 61 million low-skilled adults living in the EU.

1.2.2. Tailored, flexible and quality learning offer

This section provides details how the terms “a tailored, flexible and quality learning offer to potential applicants” should be understood within the scope of this call.

The Upskilling Pathways Recommendation emphasises the importance of beneficiaries being offered education and training that meets their learning specific needs, as identified in the skills assessment they should undergo before taking part in any further learning. Links between skills assessment and the ‘tailored, flexible and quality learning offer’ are therefore essential. The offer would take as its starting point the learner’s current level of skill in each topic, and not oblige the learner to start again from scratch. However, the current education and training offer in most Member States often does not explicitly address basic skills needs and is not tailored enough to the needs of each person.

The offer of learning should include literacy and/or numeracy and/or digital skills (as required by the individual), or training leading to a qualification (but not necessarily, depending on the individual’s plans). In case a qualification pathway is pursued, the offer should from the outset be open to progression to a qualification at EQF level 3 or 4.

Depending on the skill needs identified, the offer might first need to build up learners’ basic skills (literacy, numeracy and digital skills), so that they have a solid foundation for progression to further learning and, ultimately, to a qualification, or, if the skills assessment shows that this is possible for the individual concerned, it could focus immediately on progression to a qualification at EQF level 3 or 4 or equivalent.

Therefore, links to the third step of Upskilling Pathways – validation - are also crucial so that beneficiaries have a clear record of their existing and new skills. Validation makes visible and values the rich learning that frequently takes place outside formal education and training – at home, at work, during leisure-time, etc. It can also increase the learner’s self- esteem, self-confidence and awareness of his or her capabilities.

The learning contents, format, methods, tools, materials, schedules and environments should be specifically adapted to the needs of low-skilled adults. For instance, many people who have dropped out of education and training prematurely struggle with abstract learning; this obstacle can be addressed by setting learning in the context of real life and work situations. Other common obstacles like the lack of available provision near where the learner lives, or family /work responsibilities, can sometimes be resolved through distance learning, blended learning or training at the work place.

To overcome barriers to participation, the offer of education and training should also be flexible and adapted to the learning habits of adults. Adults whose experience in the past has been negative are motivated by seeing that they are making progress; this can be achieved by structuring the education and training provision into manageable units of learning outcomes, as the Upskilling Pathways Recommendation also recommends. A unit of learning outcomes can be defined as a “component of a qualification, consisting of a coherent set of knowledge, skills and competence, that can be assessed and validated12”. A qualification comprises in principle several units and is made up of the whole set of units. Thus, a learner can achieve a qualification by accumulating the required units. A unit may be specific to a single qualification or common to several qualifications. In line with the principles of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training, the expected learning outcomes defining a unit may be achieved irrespective of where or how these have been achieved (via formal, non-formal or informal learning).13 The units that make up a qualification should be:

•   described in legible and understandable terms by referring to the knowledge, skills and competences contained in them;

•   constructed and organised in a coherent way with regard to the overall qualification

•  constructed in a way that enables discrete assessment and validation of learning outcomes contained in the unit.

The modular nature of these programmes, in general, offers autonomy to the provider in designing courses and flexibility for the learner to tailor a course to his or her needs, which makes them eminently suited to the needs of adult learners. They also allow the learner to register his/her own progress in learning.

A quality adult learning offer for low-skilled people features many other aspects, for instance the continuous professional development of their teachers and trainers, or alignment with local and regional labour market needs. While existing quality instruments may not be able to cope with the diversity and cross-sectoral nature of basic skills learners, they do, nevertheless, provide a basis for further development. In particular, building on the EQAVET14 model and experience is worth exploring.

Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of key features of effective practice for tailored, flexible and quality learning for adults with low levels of skills or qualification:

•   all aspects of learning (including content, structure, schedule, teaching/learning methods and learning supports) are appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the learner;

•   the offer takes into account the already acquired skills and is thus adapted to the learning needs of the individual

•   the offer ensures that the learner first acquires a firm foundation of literacy, numeracy and digital competences as a basis for further learning;

•   training connecting practical experiences and inspired by the learning-by-doing approach

•   trainings are divided into modules or smaller stepping-stones

•   modes of delivery are appropriate to the needs of the individual (e.g. distance learning, blended learning)

•   programmes are aligned to local and regional labour market needs and developed in cooperation with stakeholders

•   the offer of learning is quality assured

•   teachers and trainers delivering the education and training offer are experienced and qualified.

 

 

2. OBJECTIVE(S) – PRIORITIES – TYPES OF ACTIONS - EXPECTED RESULTS

2.1. Objectives – Priorities

The overall objective of this call, in line with the two calls published in 2017 (VP/2017/011) and 2018 (VP/2018/008) is to support participating countries in implementing the Upskilling Pathways Recommendation by putting in place coherent pathways comprising the three key steps: skills assessments; provision of a tailored, flexible and quality learning offer; and validation and recognition of skills acquired.

The specific objective of this call is to support the deployment of a tailored, flexible and quality learning offer for low-skilled / low-qualified adults (and where relevant for priority groups identified by countries in the framework of the Recommendation).

For each individual beneficiary, the tailored, flexible and quality learning offer should:

•   Be tailored to the needs of the individual; tailoring should be learner-centred, enabling the learner to navigate between offers which provide the skills and competences s/he needs to acquire, allowing her/him to accumulate and take the learning outcomes with them as part of the pathway, which in some cases may be interrupted but returned to.

•   Be based upon the results of an assessment of the skills of the individual;

•   Respond to the individual’s learning needs in literacy, numeracy and digital skills (and may in addition address wider set of skills) and/or need for progression towards a higher qualification;

•   May entail the learner changing from one programme to another, or from one provider to another, which should be a seamless process in which the learner’s achievements, learning outcomes and credits transfer with him or her;

•   Be accompanied by opportunities for the beneficiary to validate her/his skills, whether acquired through prior learning or through the learning offer, and whether leading to a qualification or not;

The provision as a whole should be:

•   pedagogically appropriate for adults, especially low-skilled/low-qualified adults;

•   easily accessible and available to all low-skilled/low-qualified adults.

The Upskilling Pathways established should also meet the enabling conditions mentioned in the Recommendation: outreach, guidance and support measures for the target group; and stakeholders coordination and partnership.

This call complements the support for provision for low-skilled adults that is provided through the European Social Fund and the Erasmus+ programme, by assisting each focus participating country15 to develop a coherent strategy for raising the levels of skills and qualifications of adults who lack an upper secondary education (or equivalent) or who lack proficiency in basic skills. This call should also complement related activities (ongoing or future) taking place at national, regional or local levels.

2.2. Description of the activities to be funded / Type of actions

Proposals must be centred around the following activities:

•   Enlarging the scale or scope of existing tailored learning provision for low-skilled / low- qualified adults that is considered to be effective (e.g. to cover a different low-skilled/ low-qualified target group); OR

•   Adapting existing learning provision to the needs of low qualified / low skilled individuals or priority groups as defined by countries, where relevant (e.g. embedding basic skills training, use tailored teaching methods); OR

•   Developing new tailored learning provision (if duly justified by the lack of appropriate existing provision) for low qualified / low skilled individuals or priority groups as defined by countries, where relevant (e.g. designing new modularised curricula for basic skills education) and/or testing it on a scale that allows conclusions to be drawn about its effectiveness.

In general, proposals must be centred around activities ensuring that the three Upskilling Pathways steps are available to low skilled and /or low qualified adults, including priority groups as defined by countries, where relevant. Therefore, skills assessment and mechanisms for validation of skills, appropriately linked to the tailored offer of learning, are essential to the design of the activities to be funded.

Where the proposal focuses on specific sub groups of low-qualified and/or low-skilled adults, it should provide the rationale of focusing on that specific sub-group. Taking into account that the young people not in employment, education and training (NEETs) benefit of the Youth Guarantee implementing measures, the proposals under this call should not focus on this specific target group.

In addition applicants can, if they so wish, include in their proposals activities related to key enabling conditions of Upskilling Pathways (outreach, guidance and support measures; stakeholder coordination).

2.3. Expected outputs/results

It is expected that the projects funded under this Call will support the deployment of tailored, flexible and quality learning provision for low-skilled/low qualified adults in the focus participating country16 concerned, thereby contributing to the implementation of the Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways.

 

 

2.4. Monitoring

4. Monitoring information

The Commission, with the support of an external contractor, will regularly monitor the EaSI Programme. Therefore, beneficiaries/contractors will have to transmit qualitative and quantitative monitoring data on the results of the activities. These will include the extent to which the principle of equality between women and men has been applied, as well as how anti-discrimination considerations, including accessibility issues, have been addressed through the activities. Related templates are attached or will be provided.

In setting up the action, beneficiaries/contractors must foresee the necessary funding for monitoring and reporting to the Commission. For events, it is important to get from participants their specific consent by a statement or by a clear affirmative action for processing and transferring their personal data including to an external contractor responsible for the monitoring of the EaSI programme. Beneficiaries/contractors should therefore inform all participants via a Privacy Statement that is not only published online, but is also provided individually to each participant (e.g. as part of the email where the beneficiary /contractor first contacts the individual concerned) that the Commission/external contractor would be processing their personal data. A model Privacy Statement is available on the Europa website of the EaSI programme https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081&langId=en&furtherCalls=yes&callT ype=2

Beneficiaries/ contractors shall be able to demonstrate that consent was obtained subject to conditions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data (i.e. keep a record that shows how the consent was obtained and whether it was valid) and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

 

3. TIMETABLE

a) Publication of the call

03/2019

b) Deadline for questions and requests for clarification

01/07/2019

c) Deadline for submitting proposals

08/07/2019

Swim, Courier and Post : 24:00 Brussels' time (CET)

Hand deliveries 16:00 Brussels' time (CET)

d) Evaluation period (indicative)

07-10/2019

e) Information to applicants (indicative)

11/2019

f) Signature of the grant agreements (indicative)

12/2019

g) Starting date of the action (indicative)

01/2020

3.1. Starting date and duration of the projects

The actual starting date of the action will either be the first day following the date when the last of the two parties signs the grant agreement, the first day of the month following the date when the last of the two parties signs or a date agreed upon between the parties.

Applicants should note that if their project is selected, they may receive the grant agreement after the start date of the action that they have indicatively set in the application form. It is therefore advisable to number the months in the work programme instead of indicating the name of the month.

Any expenditure incurred before the signature of the Grant Agreement will be at the applicant’s risk. No expenditure can be incurred before the date of submission of the application.

An action grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can demonstrate in the grant application the need to start the action before the grand agreement is signed.

The project's duration should indicatively be between 12 months and 24 months.

 

4. AVAILABLE BUDGET AND CO-FINANCING RATE

4.1. Available Budget

The total budget earmarked for the EU co-financing of projects under this call is estimated at 4 000 000 EUR.

The EU grant requested should indicatively be between EUR 200 000 and EUR 1 000 000.

The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

The Commission reserves the right to increase the amount of the funds and distribute them to proposals admitted in the reserve list, if available. This top-up is limited to 20% of the initial budget of the call.

4.2. Co-financing rate

Under this call for proposals, the EU grant may not exceed 80% of the total eligible costs of the action. Applicants must guarantee their co-financing of the remaining amount covered by the applicants' own resources or from sources other than the European Union budget17.

 

 

 

5.ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submission referred to in section 3(c)
Applications (meaning, the application form, including budget and description of the action including work plan) must be submitted using the electronic submission system available at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/swim, and by sending a signed, printed version of the complete application form by post or courier service (one original dossier and one copy; see section 12).

Failure to comply with the above requirements may lead to the rejection of the application.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their project proposal in English, French or German in order to facilitate the treatment of the proposals and speed up the evaluation process. It should be noted, however, that proposals submitted in any of the official languages of the EU will be accepted. If the application is submitted in a language other than English, French or German, it should be accompanied by an executive summary in English, French or German (see section 14, checklist).

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
6.1. Eligibility of the applicants (lead and co-applicants) and affiliated entities18

Please be aware that the project has to comply with the eligibility criteria for the entire duration of the grant agreement. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU, ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, British beneficiaries, co-beneficiaries and affiliated entities will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article II.7.2.1(a) for mono- beneficiary and Article II.17.3.1(a) for multi-beneficiary Grant Agreements.

a) Place of establishment

Legal entities properly established and registered in the following countries19 are eligible as lead applicant, co-applicants:

•   EU Member States;

•   Iceland and Norway in accordance with the EEA Agreement;

•   Albania, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey20

  b) Type of entities

To be eligible, applicants must be legal persons properly constituted and registered in one of the EaSI participating countries.

Mono applicants must be public entities that are in charge of (meaning have the responsibility for) the definition and/or implementation of national or regional policies for upskilling/re-skilling adults (e.g. governmental authorities, public agencies, regional public authorities etc.). Local authorities are excluded as mono applicants, but could be part of a consortium.

c) Consortia21

Actions may involve consortia at regional, national or transnational level.

Lead applicants (in case of consortia) or co-applicants must be public or private entities (profit or non-profit making) in charge of – or involved in (meaning having a degree of responsibility for, or influence over) - the organisation and/or financing and/or provision of educational services to adults such as skills assessment, validation of competences, education and training, orientation and guidance.

If the lead applicant is not a public entity in charge of national or regional policies and actions for upskilling/reskilling adults, such an entity must be at least a co-applicant or associated entity in the consortium of the proposal submitted.

Actions may involve affiliated and associated entities22.

In the case of an action to be implemented by a transnational consortium, the application must make clear which country will be the focus country of the project. A focus country is the country in which each project's activities should be concentrated – and this should be clearly defined in the proposal.

If a proposal submitted by one applicant is not considered to be eligible, the application will be rejected.

For consortia, if the lead applicant is considered not to be eligible, the application will be rejected. If a co-applicant is considered not to be eligible, this organisation will be removed from the consortium and the proposal evaluated on that basis. In addition, the costs that are allocated to a non-eligible co-applicant will be removed from the budget.

d) Affiliated entities

Legal entities having a legal or capital link with applicants, which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation and which satisfy the eligibility criteria, may take part in the action as affiliated entities, and may declare eligible costs.

For that purpose, applicants shall identify such affiliated entities in the application form.

 

6.2. Eligible activities

a) Geographical Location

To be eligible, actions must be fully carried out in eligible participating EaSI countries (see section 6.1).

b) Types of activities

The grant will finance the activities of the kinds indicated in section 2.2.

c) Core activities

Project management and project coordination are considered to be core activities and may not be subcontracted.

 

(TRUNCATED)

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