A semantic-based approach for aligning occupational and educational qualifications in the EQF perspective

• Valentina, Gatteschi; Fabrizio, Lamberti; Andrea, Sanna; Claudio, Demartini

• IADIS International Conferences Informatics 2010, Wireless Applications and Computing 2010 and Telecommunications, Networks and Systems 2010

• http://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/a-semantic-based-approach-for-aligning-occupational-and-educational-qualifications-in-the-eqf-perspective

• 26-28 July 2010

Nowadays, students’ and workers’ mobility in the Vocational Education and Training field is a relevant topic. However, although several European instruments are being introduced in this perspective (like the European Qualification Framework and the European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training), there are still relevant barriers to the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad. A way to overcome the above limitation is the creation of a European common profile that each education and training Authority could use as a reference for the corresponding national qualifications. In this paper, a methodology exploiting an ontology and taxonomy-based approach in order to identify a common European profile within the trade sector is presented. The devised methodology allows to compare the requirements of the labor world and the outcomes of the education and training routes with the aim of identifying a common denominator. By adding to existing qualifications the elements belonging to the common profile it would become possible to make a qualification transparently recognized in a true transnational perspective.