What are Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks?
Alongside the Polish Qualifications Framework, Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks (SQFs) are being developed as sector-specific extensions of the descriptors typical of qualifications of a vocational nature. Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks translate the principles of the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS) into the realities of individual industries, highlighting their specific characteristics and directions of development.
The main principle behind the development of sectoral frameworks is that they should be created by the industry for the industry. A broad group of experts representing different aspects of activity within a given sector is involved in developing each framework, including representatives of employers, chambers and sectoral organisations, representatives of education and training at all levels (higher education institutions, vocational schools, training companies, etc.) and representatives of regulatory institutions. The resulting draft is then consulted widely within the sector to verify whether the provisions of the SQF reflect its actual needs. Sector stakeholders are therefore both the creators and the intended users of the solutions set out in the sectoral framework.
An SQF offers a number of benefits:
- a clear plan for building and developing a workforce by organising the set of qualifications that are important to sector stakeholders, i.e. those sought by employers,
- a consistent and reliable way to assess employees’ potential by making it easier to compare qualifications and identify employers’ needs,
- reliable verification of job candidates’ competences, resulting in more effective recruitment,
- greater opportunities for cooperation in the European labour market, thanks to the recognisability of qualifications and the credibility of the company’s workforce competences,
- more reliable planning of long-term investment and organisational development by making it possible to identify skills gaps in the market and have a real influence on changes to education and training programmes,
- an effective response to deregulation in the industry – an SQF makes it possible to develop recommendations or standards for employing people in specific positions within an organisation without the need to introduce new regulations.
Sectoral frameworks are included in the IQS by means of a Regulation issued by the Minister-Coordinator of the IQS. The process of including an SQF is initiated by the minister responsible for the relevant industry, either on their own initiative or at the request of an interested entity.
