NUKUS STATE PEDAGOGICAL INSTITUTE NAMED AFTER AJINIYAZ

RuEcvet

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

    574097-EPP-1-2016-1-CY-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP “Piloting ECVET to the national VET system of Russia and Uzbekistan / RUECVET” 

http://www.ruecvet.uz/eng/

DESCRIPTION The project is positioned to pilot the implementation of European Credit Transfer System for VET (ECVET) in the national HE&VET system of Russia and Uzbekistan by creating a long-term platform on the base of acknowledged HEIs engaged in the training of VET teachers for post-secondary non-tertiary education level. The key idea of the project is to focus the study of theoretical bases of functioning of ECVET and mastering of practical experience in Program Countries on the necessity of Russia and Uzbekistan to have the compatible and comparable VET system that serves both horizontally (within VET) and vertically (from VET to HE) at national and transnational level. The basic ECVET features such as learning outcomes, credit transfer, etc. will be tested and adapted to legislative rules of the Partners Countries; results of the projects will be submitted to national Ministries of Education for approval and further implementation. Potential beneficiaries of the project are HE & VET institutions, teachers & managers, VET facilitators (instructors, trainers) & VET learners, Industry, Education Policy Makers and the educational community and society at large in Russia and Uzbekistan. The piloting ECVET is considered as a key measure for facilitating the flexibility and internationalization of VET in Russia and Uzbekistan – while at the same time contributing to the development of a common educational area encompassing both the HE& VET field between Europe and neighboring countries. The global impact of our project is modernization, accessibility and internationalization of the HE & VET area in Russia and Uzbekistan by enlarging visibility and transparency of the knowledge, skills and competence acquired by learners in Russia, Uzbekistan and EU. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The overall aim of the project is to create a long-term platform for piloting ECVET in the national HE &VET systems of the two Partner Countries (Russia &Uzbekistan), in order to promote and facilitate compatibility, comparability and complementarity of VET qualifications both horizontally (within VET) and vertically (from VET to HE) at national and transnational level. THE SPECIFIC AIMS:

  • The first specific aim of the project is to create tools and procedures of adopting ECVET in HE & VET Institutions of Russia and Uzbekistan
  • The second specific aim is to raise awareness about the benefits of the ECVET features through a number of highly target dissemination and exploitation activities by means of four (4) ECVET National Training Centres (2 in Russia and 2 in Uzbekistan) established on the base of acknowledged HEIs providing VET teacher training.

The project also aims The project implementation will thus center around the following activities.

  • To facilitate and support the transfer and adaption of the ECVET to the national educational system of the two Partner Countries through a specific set of Recommendations/Methodological Tools based on pilot testing results.
  • To develop a network of key HE & VET institutions on the base of four National ECVETTraining Centres and to train its personnel and teachers.
  • To train VET teachers and other representatives of all target groups to use ECVET.
  • To create collection of resources, teaching materials, notes, stories and references intended to support National Training Centres and sponsors in convening and running Open Space Technology for accumulation and dissemination.
  • To develop a common approach for a common assessment and validation process for credit transfer at national and transnational level following the ECVET methodology.
  • To develop the multi-dimensional roadmap of ECVET evolution in Russia and Uzbekistan
  • To approve activities, methods and results by national Ministries of Education

[nextpage] The credit transfer procedure will be tested between the consortium institutions on two levels:

  • ECVET for facilitating transnational mobility between the consortium Partner Countries (Russia and Uzbekistan) and the Programme Countries (Cyprus, Malta and Latvia).
  • ECVET for facilitating lifelong learning with emphasis on the transparency and comparability of VET qualifications both horizontally (within the VET context) as well as vertically (with higher education ECTS). The special accent in the project will be given to exploration of the interaction between higher and vocational education in specific areas where a strong overlap and cooperation between HE & VET, such as hospitality, business management, engineering, IT, are observed.

The project output will be the platform ready for introducing ECVET in the national educational systems of two Partner Countries. Expert teams from three HEIs in three Programme Countries (Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia) will form the expert consultation group for transferring ECVET methodology and best practices to the rest of the consortium partners. EXPECTED RESULTS Please explain who will use these project outputs / products / results and how the consortium will reach them. Describe how the target groups (including participating institutions, stakeholders) will be reached and involved during the life of the project and how the project will benefit the target group at local, regional, national and or European level. Please structure your description according to the different levels of impact and stakeholders (limit 3000 characters). PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS/SHORT TERM IMPACT:

  • HE institutions will receive a new framework for the development of their ECVET Curricula and courses;
  • VET providers will benefit from applying ECVET in their study programmes;
  • Learners earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degree award in vocational education as well as working VET teachers and facilitators will receive training, hands on experience and training material;
  • VET learners will receive greater visibility and transparency of their learning outcomes and more opportunities;
  • HEIs with incorporated VET structures will create more flexible learning pathways within their own structures;
  • Industry will capture clearly the essence of received qualification by students that leads to better qualified training force according to the industry needs;
  • HE & VET institutions (RU&UZ) will benefit from the creation of the long-term platform on the base of four National ECVET Training Centres (NTCs) providing information/accessibility/training to tools, workshops and retraining courses.

SECONDARY STAKEHOLDERS/LONG TERM IMPACT:

  • Piloting ECVET will engage HE & VET Institutions in discussion and structuring their own perspectives on implementing and using ECVET in educational system of two Partner Countries;
  • VET Community at large (RU&UZ) will gain from the ECVET implementation for greater transparency and flexibility in VET qualifications;
  • VET Learners at large (RU&UZ) will benefit from the transparency, visibility and transferability of their learning outcomes for mobility purposes both for lifelong learning and geographical mobility;
  • Industry will benefit by having (1) better qualified training force according to the industry needs; (2) more visibility and transparency in the knowledge, skills and competence acquired by the labour force;
  • Member State VET providers will be able to engage in transnational mobility with VET providers from Russia and Uzbekistan;
  • Member State VET learners will be able to participate in geographical mobility with VET providers in Russia and Uzbekistan as a part of their VET qualification (credit transfer);
  • EU will benefit from the harmonization of the HE and VET sector within EU Member States as well as with neighbouring countries;
  • Regional Ministries of Education will receive the best practice approach about implementation of a key EU educational tool;
  • Policy Makers – Ministries of Education and Science in Russia and Uzbekistan will receive practical knowledge and results for the adaptation of a key EU tool for reforming the national VET sector.

HOW THE TARGET GROUPS WILL BE REACHED: All primary stakeholders have a direct involvement in the RUECVET consortium either as partners or as members of the Steering Committee, Technical Committee, Four NTCs, and 30 National Contact Points, which will be established from the onset of the project in the Partner Countries. Four NTCs (2 in Russia and 2 in Uzbekistan) will be the national guiding and validation bodies for all project results and will be used for dissemination and exploitation activities. The NTCs will become the base of a long-term platform designated for ECVET implementation and support. In addition, the Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy aims to reach all key target groups in order to raise their interest and involvement in the project. Promotional materials, publicity events, articles and interviews in the media, as well as targeted advocacy and increased internet activity will be utilized in a highly targeted fashion for engaging identified target groups. Please describe how the target groups (including participating institutions, stakeholders) will be reached after the project is finished(limit 3000 characters).

The consortium partners represent key stakeholders in the effort for the modernization, accessibility and internationalization of the educational area – HE & VET – in the European Member States and beyond. This fact alone ensures the partners’ long and established interest in the project results and methodology extending beyond the life of the project. In addition, the establishment of the Four National ECVET Training Centres (2 in Russia and 2 in Uzbekistan) is expected to remain active after the end of the project for at least three years. All core partners are committed in working towards the establishment of a long lasting relationship leading to the continuation and transferability of project results across all HE & VET programmes in their organization. Specific actions referring to sustainability activities for continuing to engage target group and stakeholders will be explored during the project implementation and finalized in a concrete sustainability plan – the multi-dimensional roadmap of ECVET evolution in Russia and Uzbekistan. Finally, the most key exploitation and sustainability activity particularly aims directly in the sustainability of results beyond the project’s end, namely the establishment National ECVET Training Centres (2 in Russia and 2 in Uzbekistan) for providing ongoing information and training on the development and implementation of the ECVET in Russia and Uzbekistan. In addition, the network of ECVET Representatives National Contact Points (NCPs) from each consortium HE/VET who has received training in the ECVET method will be prominently featured on the project website for support after the end of the project. These ECVET NCPs are expected to serve as the active key information providers to interested groups using Open Space Technology by covering at least the following two areas:

  • VET Providers/VET facilitators/HEIs: provide information regarding the application of the ECVET in their Curricula, courses, VET qualifications and about other training activities;
  • Policy Makers: provide information to policy makers regarding the technical specifications and benefits of the ECVET system.

Besides, the approach of Open Educational Resources used in the project will help to drive leadership in ECVET, including a way for hosting workshops, meetings, conferences, ECVET-style retreats, symposiums, and community summit events, focused on a global task to engage the largest possible number of participants in piloting and developing ECVET in Russia and Uzbekistan.

Transnational meetings

1. Transnational meeting

In the period of March 27-31, 2017 the kick off meeting and the workshop of 574097-EPP-1-2016-1-CY-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP “Piloting ECVET to the national VET system of Russia and Uzbekistan (RUECVET)” project funded by Erasmus+ program of EU were held in Nicosia, Cyprus. Two team members of RUECVET project: form NukSPI – project coordinator Asiya Tureniyazova and executor Ilesbay Kunnazarov were participants of this three-day workshop organized at the University of Nicosia and Intercollege near this University.     Participants took part in mapping exercise on development of learning outcomes for one discipline of specialty. Then every partner chose 3 courses for 3 specialties of 3 sectors of vocational education for further work on EU credits transfer. Grant holder Patrics Morevs from Liepai University (Latvia), technical leader Louisa Papalouizu from Nicosia University and National coordinator of the Russian team Vitaly Kopnov made presentations and other participants discussed financial issues, work packages, work plan, dissemination and sustainability, donation of partner universities and other issues. Logotype and 1-st leaflet of the project as well as project web site were presented there

2nd Transnational Meeting

PILOTING EUROPEAN CREDIT SYSTEM ECVET TO NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM OF RUSSIA AND UZBEKISTAN

11-15 September 2017. Kokand, Uzbekistan On 11-15 September 2017, the partners of the Erasmus + project “RUECVET / Piloting ECVET to national system of Russia and Uzbekistan” (Grant 574097-EPP-1-2016-1-CY-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP of the European Executive Agency EducationAudiovisual and Culture (EACEA) held a second meeting of representatives of the consortium and the Project Steering Committee at the Mukimi State Pedagogical Institute of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Key partners from Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, Russia and Uzbekistan discussed in detail the implementation of the project, the ECVET methodology, the necessary processes and execution phases, and a quality control plan. Within the framework of the second international meeting, a seminar on ECVET methodology and training units was organized. The seminar was divided into two parts. The first part of the seminar was devoted to the basic principles of creating a guide for ECVET implementation. Participants in small groups worked on the ECVET methodology, the methodological adjustments to ECVET needed for the vocational education systems in Russia and Uzbekistan were identified. In the second part of the seminar, were discussed the selected units of the learning outcomes for such qualifications as hospitality, welding, electrical engineering, social security, etc. In addition, was reached an agreement on the templates format for creating units of learning outcomes for the qualifications chosen for testing and discussed the issues of their adaptation to vocational education systems in Russia and Uzbekistan.

  1. I. Khamidova – the director of the College of Construction and Service, a deputy of the regional council, a member of the women entrepreneurs’ society, and curator of VET teachers – was participated in the meeting. In her speech, she gave detailed information about the current reforms in the field of VET and prospects for the development of this direction in Uzbekistan.

On September 13, 2017, in the framework of the project meeting was held an International seminar on “The role of national qualification frameworks in reforming higher education and vocational education”. The rector of KSPI A.G. Eminov, members of the project team of Uzbekistan, Russia and Europe, representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, NEO in Uzbekistan, the National Team of Experts, the Association of Employers, Organizations and Universities took part in the seminar.

TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 3

THE 3-RD TRANSNATIONAL MEETING OF PARTNERS IN LIEPAJA On 23rd-27th April, 2018 the 3rd transnational meeting of partners of RUECVET project was held at Liepaja University, Latvia. The focus of the 3rd RUECVET workshop activities was twofold:

  1. RUECVET methodology and work review. In this activity the European partners ensured that participants were clear about the RUECVET methodology, collectively reviewed the conversion of Study Programmes using ECVET/RUECVET methodology and the draft professional development programme of RUECVET Training Course/Workshops.
  2. Formation of ECVET partnerships. The main aim of this activity is to form ECVET partnerships for credit transfer and accumulation process and learn how to fill in the ECVET Learning Agreement. During the workshop the peer institutions were engaged in a preparatory exercise to identify ECVET partnerships based on qualifications, units of learning outcomes, assessment methods, documentation of learning outcomes, validation, transfer and accumulation.

The 3rd transnational meeting was very productive and successful as partner institutions were able to achieve all the targets put forward the agenda. Furthermore, participants of the meeting had a great chance to get acquainted with the historical background and cultural life of Liepaja and Riga. Picturesque buildings and breath-taking landscape of Latvia fascinated all the participants of the project.

Transnational meeting 4

The 4th Transnational Meeting of the project participants.  «Piloting ECVET to the national VET system of Russia and Uzbekistan / RUECVET»  Tver, 10-12th July, 2018

The fourth transnational meeting of RUECVET partners was held at Tver State University (Tver, Russia) from 10-12th July, 2018. According to agenda two-day RUECVET methodology and delivery of the continuous professional development course and 1-day Steering Committee meeting were held here. There were 30 participants from three European countries: University of Nicosia & Intercollege (CY), Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MT), University of Liepaja (LV); eight universities and vocational training institutions from Russia and Uzbekistan. The Russian partners: Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University, Tver State University, Voronezh State University, Novosibirsk College of Chemical Technologies named after D.I. Mendeleev, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography. The Uzbekistan partners: Kokand State Pedagogical Institute, Nukus State Pedagogical Institute, Navoi State Pedagogical Institute. The first meeting day began with the welcome speech of the acting rector of Tver State University Lyudmila Skakovskaya who mentioned that TSU is proud to be the member of RUECVET project and wished the productive work to Consortium participants. The key activities of the 2-day workshop and 1-day Steering committee meeting were: – opening of RUECVET Training Center in the Institute of Pedagogical Education and Social Technologies of Tver State University (equipped with computers with grant funds of the project); – signing of Memoranda of Understanding between TSU and NukSPI, RSVPU, TSU and NCCT; Partnership Agreement between TSU and NSPI; – visiting the Associated partners: College of service and tourism (hotel for training); Torzhok’s College; Gold-Embroidery factory (to get acquainted with the educational process, training workshops equipment and students’ works).

During the meeting RUECVET partners discussed and agreed on a number of issues: – readiness of functional maps, Units of Learning Outcomes and Converted Study Programmes for the selected 24 qualifications; – the Russian version of the ECVET Master Guide; – recommended improvements by EACEA after 18th months of work; – ECVET Quality Assuarance documents; – transnational and national mobility; – analysis and review of E-platforms; – E-guide and its correspondence to the ECVET guide; – presentation and revisiting the content of the CPD course; – training centres activities, equipment, work plans; – plans for the future activities. In addition, all Russian and Uzbek partners with monitoring from the European partners took part in group discussions concerning the teaching / learning materials for the CPD courses, including E-platform.

Russian and Uzbek partners discussed the development of the Website, that is the main instrument of the project results dissemination. As recommended by the experts when evaluating the interim report of the project, it is necessary to update the site with each of the results obtained. The issue of a mobile training application for VET-trainers was considered upon the existing learning management systems. A special attention was made to the development of 4 ECVET National Training Centres aimed at offering off-line and on-line learning on ECVET and ECVET workshops as well. The 4 transnational meeting was full of productive activities revealing strong and weak points of the project work and ways to effective fulfillment of the project objectives.

TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 5

THE 5TH TRANSNATIONAL MEETING OF RUECVET PROJECT

On November 6-10, 2018 Nukus State Pedagogical Institute (Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan) hosted the 5thtransnational meeting of RUECVET project under the Erasmus+ program of EU.

In the opening ceremony of the meeting the rector of NukSPI B. Otemuratov welcomed all the guests and led the official launching ceremony of the National ECVET Training Centre at NukSPI. The NTC was equipped with the modern computer technologies, multimedia devices for videoconferencing and organizing training courses both in on-line and off-line regimes. The coordinators of RSVPU, TvSU and KSPI shared with their own experience on leading the such ECVET NTCs at their universities.

The main issues to discuss on the meeting were reports of partners on the results of works planned on the last meeting and discussion of the action plan for the next period. The seminar was aimed to discuss the issues of development of the electronic resource base, like Master Guide, and other teaching materials, as well as issues regarding organization of activity of NTCs and delivery of the CPD course/workshops.

Participants reported about the overall project progress that is what has been achieved and what needs to be achieved in the meeting. That was emphasized that all works were due to date, all deliverables were provided according to the action plan. Partners discussed some issues regarding ECVET partnerships in Russia and Uzbekistan, namely joint activity on piloting ECVET in these countries in the frame of the signed Memorandums of Understanding.

During the seminar participants discussed issues of activity of the national ECVET training courses in both countries, creating e-learning environment for the future trainees: the structure, volume, content and methodology of these courses, noted the need in the didactic materials for the course on Canvas platform, discussed the issues of formation of target groups, time schedule and etc.

The new web site of the project was presented. This site is adapted for browsing at any kinds of mobile devices, it is interactive and has a function of on-line/off-line communication in a question-answer form for consultations with national ECVET experts.

The meeting, organized at NukSPI, was very effective and advantageous for all project participants. Guests have learned about culture and visited the historical places of Karakalpakstan and ancient town Khiva.