Technical Regional Worskhop on National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) in the ECOWAS Region

In this context, UNESCO and ECOWAS as part of the initiative are organizing a technical workshop on 10-11 December in Abuja to review the experience in ECOWA countries in defining the structure of qualifications and the use of level descriptor to develop national qualifications framework. The aim is to build an overview of existing level descriptors at national and the way they are used for defining learning outcomes and classifying qualifications. The workshop also aims at supporting peer learning and capacity building of focal points identified by ECOWAS Member States. 

The workshop would provide the basis for a first analysis of the level descriptors and the learning outcomes terminology used in different countries in ECOWAS region. Learning outcomes state what a learner is expected to know, be able to do and understand at the end of a learning process. The way these learning outcomes are defined and written is of key importance to the orientation of education and training and – eventually – to the relevance of the resulting qualifications and programmes to individual learners needs, the labour market demands and society expectation in general.

The workshop will also allow for the identification of the extent to which descriptors used by ECOWAS Member States to define qualifications converge and/or differ. This will be conducted through a careful interrogation of the ECOWAS practices and benchmarking with international experience including UNESCO’s work on level descriptors. It is also expected that the participants will use a shared template to provide first illustrative information on a specific qualification (Carpenter).

The overall objective the workshop is start building a community of practices within ECOWAS and act towards a ‘common language’ allowing for a dialogue and cooperation in the field of recognition of skills and qualifications.