European common principles
The European principles should be used as a guide and common reference point for development and implementation of methods and systems for validation.
The need for common guiding principles
The need for common guiding principles for validation have been stated repeatedly in recent years, most significantly in the Copenhagen declaration (November 2002) on increased European co-operation in vocational education and training. The 31 Ministers of Education and Training, the European social partners and the Commission stated that there is a need to
“…develop a set of common principles regarding validation of non-formal and informal learning with the aim of ensuring greater comparability between approaches in different countries and at different levels.”
Developing a set of common European principles for validation of non-formal and informal learning is a way to bring added value to ongoing work at local, regional and national level. According to the Copenhagen declaration the main motivation for developing such principles is to strengthen the comparability (and thus compatibility) of approaches at different levels and in different contexts.
The European Inventory will, amongst other things, help to monitor the implementation of the European Common Principles in the coming years.
Download
- Conclusions of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council on Common European Principles for the identification and validation of non-formal and informal learning
- Background document on the Common Principles
- Working Group H (Making learning attractive and strengthening links between education, work and society) of the objectives process |
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