First European Qualifications Passport for Refugees issued in Greece
54 persons have been granted a European Qualifications Passport for Refugees. The method used is developed by NOKUT. The purpose of the Qualifications Passport is to help refugees to get to work more quickly or get admission to further education.
Norway and NOKUT have been central in the development of the pilot project European Qualifications Passport for Refugees.
– We were one of the few countries in Europe that already had a procedure for assessment of qualifications held by refugees, says Stig Arne Skjerven, Director of Foreign Education in NOKUT.
– The project is based on methodology developed in connection with the establishment of NOKUT's Recognition Procedure for Persons without Verifiable Documentation (UVD-procedure) and the pilot project NOKUTs Qualifications Passport for Refugees (pdf). After the flow of refugees across the Mediterranean increased dramatically in 2015, NOKUT and our British sister office, UK NARIC, proposed to establish a European Qualifications Passport for Refugees. The Council of Europe addressed the challenge. NOKUT is assessment coordinator in the pilot project. We are proud to announce that the Council of Europe and Greek authorities have issued 54 European Qualifications Passport for Refugees in Greece during spring 2017, Skjerven explains.
Aims to make it easier for refugees to get jobs and admission to further studies
The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is an assessment based on available documentation, self-evaluation of own qualifications and structured interviews with candidates, held by executive officers from NOKUT and ENIC-NARIC offices in three other countries. On basis of this information we give a standardized assessment of the applicant's formal qualifications. This may be the number of years of higher education and the level of the education, as well as supplementary information about work experience and language skills.
What happens next?
The Council of Europe is working to expand the scheme to include more countries and partners from 2018. In future, it will be important to establish acceptance for the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees at current end-users and important stakeholders, especially higher education institutions.
Read more and see a sample of the passport:
Facts about the pilot project Recognition of Qualifications held by Refugees
The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is part of the pilot project Recognition of Qualifications held by Refugees initiated by the Council of Europe. Partners in the project are: The Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs and qualification and recognition centres in Greece, Italy, Norway and the UK. The UNHCR Office in Greece also supports the project.