Vita Žunda
Q-Placements project manager
QP Train-the-Trainer Workshop
Riga, October 13-15
Full Title:
«Q-Placements: VET-Enterprise Cooperation for Quality
Assurance of VET Placements and Apprenticeships:
Introducing Q-Placements Model»
«Q-Placements» stands for «quality of placements», i.e.,
quality of apprenticeships or other kinds of work-based
learning
Project partners and countries:
P0, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Latvia)
P1, Baltic Bright, Ltd., Management Coordinator
(Latvia)
P2, Official Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Terrassa (Spain)
P3, National Centre for Education (Latvia)
P4, MBO Raad, Dutch Association for Vocational Training and
Adult Education (the Netherlands)
P5, Center RS za poklicno izobraževanje, Institute of the
Republic of Slovenia for vocational education and training
(Slovenia)
Backround: VET quality issue
 Labour market relevance > Work-based learning
 Quality of work placements, apprenticeships, internships
largely influences the quality of VET as a whole;
 How to ensure the quality of VET work placements?
Assumption:
Quality is determined by 2 groups of factors
 How the system is built (legislation, incentives, mechanisms of
motivation); VET QA systems
 Skills and attitudes of people involved;
Quality of communication and cooperation between VET and Host
companies; between VET tutor and trainee, between host company tutor
and trainee.
Aims of Q-Placements project:
To improve the quality of national and transnational work
placements through:
Better cooperation between VET and enterprises/host
companies;
2) Better skills of tutors from VET and host companies to
provide support and guidance for trainees before, during
and after placements;
1)
Target groups of Q-Placements Project:
 VET tutors supervising VET work placements
and
Tutors in host companies supervising VET placements;
 Quality managers of VET, management of VET
institutions, management of host companies;
 Stakeholders supporting VET quality, policy makers
Donors of Inspiration
 Baltic Training Programme Project – my personal experience
What was key to success? Quality of guidance, good cooperation
 HansaVET Project
Training VET teachers/supervisors of placements/coordinators of
mobilities to provide guidance
- How to support VET students in placements
- How to find host companies (match-making)
- How to make cooperation successful
Donors of Inspiration
Q-Placements project, Q-Placements network
initiated by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Terrassa, Spain
Q-Placements Handbook
www.q-placements.eu
BPV Protocol, the Netherlands
Synergies of thinking:
 Quality of VET placements:
Quality of cooperation: 3 parties/partners, 3 stages
Quality of guidance
3 partners:
Support/guidance provided to
- VET trainee
from/by:
- VET tutor (placement supervisor)
- Host company tutor (mentor/supervisor)
during 3 stages:
-before placement
-during placement
-after placement
The main tasks of Q-Placements project:
Joint Training Programme for
Tutors from VET and Tutors from Host companies
Joint Training workshops in partner countries
Q-Placements project steps 1-2
 Step 1: Preparation and analysis
Q-Placements Handbook: what do we take from it?
 Step 2: Developing Training methodology, Guidelines
for joint training of tutors from VET and Host
companies;
European Train-the-Trainer Workshop for trainers from
partner countries > Lead Trainers
The training methodology will be adopted by each partner country
or adapted for each partner country
Q-Placements project steps: 3-4
 Step 3: Joint training workshops for tutors from VET
and in partner countries
Tutors from VET and tutors from host companies are trained together;
They improve skills of cooperation, mutual communication, agree on
better procedures, more effective guidance for VET trainees;
Collecting feedbacks and recommendations;
 Step 4: Testing and mainstreaming
Trained tutors are testing the approach, their new skills with actual VET
students in placements
Seminars with policy and decision-makers
Expected outputs:
 Overview of current quality assurance of VET placements in
Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia;
 Joint training programme for tutors fromVET and Host
companies tutors for ensuring higher quality of placements;
 Trained tutors from VET and from Host companies in Latvia,
Nehterlands, Spain, Slovenia; Lead-trainers for new trainings
 Recommendations, proposals for improved procedures, policies,
etc;
Our Progress so far: Step 1
Needs Analysis
 Results of the survey
see at www.qualityplacements.eu, section «Outputs»
 Overview of VET QA systems, quality assurance of
work placements;
Good practices
 EQAVET
Problems to be addressed
Examples
 Your case descriptions
 Talking about motivation;
Latvian regulations on organizing VET placements:
«The trainee must be introduced to the goals of the work
placement ....»
Our Progress so far: Step 2
 Developing a Joint Training Programme ....
 EU level Train-the-Trainer Workshop
We are
here!
Using the best expertise of partner countries;
Lead-Trainers who can develop national training programmes and
manage workshops in the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, Latvia
Q-Placements contact information:
Website:
www.qualityplacements.eu
Project manager: Vita Žunda
vita.zunda@balticbright.lv