ANNEX_II_PEM_Good_Practice_Guide.pdf

MCA Georgia

Industry-led Skills and Workforce Development Project Manager

Good Practices Capacity Building Manual

Submitted by:

In association with:

Aarhus TECH International (Denmark) and

ICON Institute (Germany)

Date of Submission: 05 June 2015

C O N T E N T S

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 ISWD project task 2 - The ‘Best Practice Activity’ 1

1.3 The Purpose of the Good Practices Manual – and how to use it 2

2 IDENTIFYING GOOD PRACTICES 4

2.1 What do we mean by ‘Good’ or ‘Best’ Practices? 4

2.2 Good Practice Principles in the ISWD Context 4

3 SOURCES OF GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES 6

3.1 Already existing good practices 6

3.2 International good practice examples 6

3.3 Good practices developed in response to specific TVET policy initiatives 7

3.4 Good practices developed though grant projects 9

3.5 Identifying, Evaluating and Recognizing Good Practices 10

4 USES OF GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES 11

4.1 Information Sharing and Knowledge Transfer 11

4.2 The Multiplication Effect – Ensuring Systemic Level Impact 12

4.3 Good Practices as a Basis for Continuous Improvement 13

5 FUNDING MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING GOOD PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT THOUGH THE

PICG 15

5.1 The role of PICG in supporting Good Practice Development and Replication 15

5.2 Small Grants for Good Practice Development and Replication 15

6 CAPACITY BUILDING TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND REPLICATION OF GOOD

PRACTICES 20

6.1 The role of Technical Assistance in supporting Good Practice Development and Replication 20

6.2 Capacity Building Training and Workshops 20

6.3 Dissemination of Materials to Support Capacity Building 21

6.4 Using Dissemination Events to Build Capacity 21

INTRODUCTION

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The Industry-Led Skills and Workforce Development (ISWD) project aims to improve the linkage between market-demanded skills and the supply of Georgian citizens with technical skills relevant to the local economy through Competitive Programme Improvement Grants (PICG), and provide assistance to strengthen TVET Sector Policy and Provider Practice. PEM GmbH has been contracted to manage the project.

According to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the project:

“Due diligence work conducted by MCA-Georgia identified a number of industry-oriented best practices amongst local TVET providers.

“These practices were often developed to meet a local need, were rarely developed nationally and included the use of tracer studies, industry advisory boards, and programmes that provide complementary business skills and/or generic work-ready skills.

“Building on best practices already employed domestically in isolated cases will facilitate readily adaptable and adoptable practices in the Georgian context.

“This Activity will thus identify and then fund capacity building for strengthening and documenting existing best practices. It will also provide capacity building for disseminating and support for uptake of those identified best practices by other TVET providers.”

1.2 ISWD project task 2 - The ‘Best Practice Activity’

Task 2 of the ISWD project is accordingly concerned with strengthening TVET provider practice.

The identification, development and replication of good – or best – provider practices is central to the objective of improving the quality and attractiveness of TVET provision in order to meet the needs of the economy for skilled technicians and to provide improved career opportunities for young people.

According to the ToR, project-related work on best or good practices should have the following priorities:

Priority areas.

Identified best practices should support the reorientation of TVET provision in Georgia to focus on labour market and industry needs. It is expected that most of the identified best practices will have strong links to the needs of both private and public sector employers.

The following priority areas have been agreed for identifying and promoting provider best practice:

• fostering relationships with industry;

• focusing on student employment outcomes;

• promoting gender and social inclusion in all programs;

• innovative delivery including flexible modular based programs; linkages to further education;

• innovative and responsive models of TVET teacher and assessor training;

• professional development.

Other areas may be proposed by the Project Manager.

It is expected that most best practices will relate to programs/professions currently authorized and or accredited by the National Centre for Education Quality Enhancement and relate to the Government of Georgia National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Dissemination and uptake.

The Project Manager will identify and then use appropriate methods and media to disseminate the documentation of best practices (including the annual TVET conference) The Project Manager will also use appropriate methods to promote uptake and adoption of identified best practices by other TVET providers in Georgia.

Proposed targets.

By the end of the fourth option year, MCA-Georgia has estimated that the Project Manager should have been able to identify, support, and document best practices in Georgia and have selected and supported the uptake of one or more of these best practices by at least 24 TVET providers in Georgia. As per Form Tech-6, bidders may propose alternate targets for the identification/strengthening/documentation and dissemination/uptake of best practices.

Eligibility.

The best practice activity will be open to any public or private TVET college or university, public or private company or corporation, professional association, non-governmental organization (NGO), government agency or other legal entity active or planning to be active in Georgia in the provision of professional/technical training and education.

Organizations should be appropriately authorized and/or accredited by the Government of Georgia or have internationally recognized accreditation or approved certification to deliver training programs.

The ISWD project ToR envisages an interactive process in the Good Practice activities between the Project and providers that will based on:

• Identification of existing or proposed good practice examples;

• Capacity building within identified provider institutions to strengthen the identified good practices, drawing on international best practice;

• Documentation of the identified and strengthened good practices through a written case study;

• Dissemination of the identified and strengthened good practices;

• Replication of the identified good practices within other provider institutions.

1.3 The Purpose of the Good Practices Manual – and how to use it

This guide is intended to guide and assist providers in identifying, developing and replicating good practices.

Every TVET provider should have the objective of identifying, developing and implementing good practices.

The objective should be thoroughly embedded in their strategies, work plans and daily activities. The need to develop and embed good practices should be an integral part of their operational planning, course development, student recruitment, programme delivery, student assessment and all other aspects of their provision.

This document can thus serve as a general guide for provider institutions and other organisations involved in Georgian TVET reform.

In the context of the ISWD project, the document is also intended to support the implementation of other tasks of the project.

Specifically it will support:

• Task 1:

The Grant Programme will provide investment funding to support new or existing TVET programmes that develop innovative and effective approaches to employment-oriented skills development in Georgia by incentivising TVET providers to engage local and international industry and providing initial funding and technical assistance to overcome financial and capacity barriers to market entry, particularly in the more costly and complex higher-level STEM-related areas.

Although a separate activity, grant funding may be used to support some of the objectives of the Good Practice activity and there is indeed an implicit assumption that all projects receiving grant assistance will embody good practices.

To reinforce this point , it is specifically intended that the use of small grants of less than $10,000 will provide a mechanism for kick-starting the development of specific good practices in identified priority areas;

• Task 4:

Annual TVET Conferences to be held in 2016, 2017 and 2018 will provide a forum for the sharing, dissemination and showcasing of all identified good practices including those developed with ISWD project support;

A TVET Awards Scheme linked with the annual TVET Conferences will provide a means of publicly acknowledging and recognising the exceptional contributions of TVET providers who have made the greatest contributions to the identification, development and replication of good practices in their provision.

The manual will therefore help TVET providers to identify relevant good practices and develop strategies and approaches for embedding them in their TVET provision.

The general advice set out in the manual should be used in conjunction with information about specific identified examples of good provider practice that will be posted (and periodically updated) on the ISWD project and MCA-Georgia webpages.

IDENTIFYING GOOD PRACTICES

2 IDENTIFYING GOOD PRACTICES

2.1 What do we mean by ‘Good’ or ‘Best’ Practices?

‘Good practices’ or ‘best practices’ may variously be defined as:

“Practices that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or the most effective”;

“A method or technique that is the most effective and efficient way of achieving an objective”; or

“A procedure or method that consistently produces results superior to those achieved by other means”.

Each of the above is an equally valid definition in terms of the aims of the ISWD Project.

Although the terms ‘good practice’ and ‘best practice’ are often used interchangeably, the former is preferred because:

• Practices considered to be highly advanced within the context of a system in transition might not be considered as innovative in countries where they are already commonplace;

• Within Georgia relatively modest changes could have a major impact on some institutions whilst more radical changes could be appropriate for others. Practices that are not necessarily the most innovative or advanced may be entirely appropriate to achieving improvements in provision;

• When TVET institutions are at different levels of development, are operating in different regional environments and are subject to diverse economic, socio-demographic and cultural factors, it can be much harder for some to achieve what is achieved elsewhere with far less effort. The most important need is for them to achieve the best that is possible within their circumstances.

• In the context of the ISEWD project, it is important not to reinforce the differences between the best performing institutions and others, which are in greater need of support by targeting only those that are considered to be already relatively high achieving. The good practices concept should include those that can bring about improvements in lower performing institutions as well as practices that can only be implemented in the best.

Above all, there is a need for constant improvement and renewal. The importance of the identified practices is the contribution that they can make to that improvement process.

2.2 Good Practice Principles in the ISWD Context

In order to approach the identification, development and replication of good practices in a systematic way, there is a need for some objective criteria for defining the sort of good practices that will be promoted through the ISWD Project.

Good practices should reflect some or all of the following principles:

Good Practice Principle 1:

They should normally be firmly based on a partnership approach between business and TVET institutions which, for example:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/accept http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/prescribe http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/correct http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/effective

• Targets a defined business or industry need by agreement with relevant business organisations or employers;

• Increases the extent of joint collaboration between TVET institutions and business, e.g. how TVET college advisory boards are used to ensure real and active involvement of employers in course planning, design or delivery;

• Provides a means of more accurately identifying/quantifying skill needs of local employers;

• Leads to demonstrable evidence of employer satisfaction, e.g. survey evidence or a stated commitment to employ TVET graduates;

• Utilises business facilities and workplaces for training and assessment;

• Utilises business senior workers and staff in upgrading TVET teachers’ knowledge and skills and in provision of training and guidance to TVET trainees.

Good Practice Principle 2:

They should normally represent a significant advance towards implementation of a demand-led competence-based TVET system to meet business needs which, for example:

• Targets identified skill needs in key STEM-related economic development sectors identified from the analysis of available labour market information;

• Includes the application/use of competence-based training and assessment methods

• Provides innovative ways of effectively integrating theoretical/practical learning though the design and organisation of learning activities;

• Includes skills sets or clusters of competences that have value in employment in their own right, including self-employment and entrepreneurial skills to support SME development;

Good Practice Principle 3:

They should reflect modern teaching and learning practices, for example by:

• Embedding a student-centred approach based on active learning styles;

• Focusing on the attainment of learning outcomes defined as occupational competences;

• Embedding competence based learning and assessment methodology;

• Including work-based learning though the organisation of placements/internships in companies;

• Making effective use of information technology in course delivery;

• Providing a tangible increase in the quality of course delivery/student assessment;

• Ensuring that TVET teachers are provided with industry experience and professional updating about changing technological and occupational requirements in the sector;

• Encouraging the use of industry practitioners as part time trainers and assessors;

Good Practice Principle 4:

They may also provide an increased focus on the needs of students, for example by:

• Increasing levels of student satisfaction;

• Increasing student knowledge and expectations about career opportunities related to TVET pathways;

• Integrating key competences into the development of practical competences and/or linking them with practical personal and career planning preparation;

• Providing a basis for progression to higher levels of TVET qualification linked with career development within the NQF or to other vocations in higher demand;

• Providing increased opportunities for female students to train for STEM-related occupations;

Good Practice Principle 5:

They should normally provide an innovative approach to finding tangible or concrete solutions to a defined problem or issue, for example by:

• Building on and extending already started improvements;

• Adapting an identified international best practice example to the particular circumstances of TVET in Georgia;

• Providing a more effective and efficient use of available resources and ensuring a measurable added value from the investment;

• Attracting private sector co-financing;

• Strengthening the human capacity of provider’s staff or of industry partners;

• Being capable of replication by others and supported by effective dissemination/marketing to provide long-term sustainability.

3 SOURCES OF GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES

Within the context of the ISWD project, it is expected that the good practice examples to be identified, developed and replicated will emanate from various sources:

3.1 Already existing good practices

Consultants of the ISWD project will actively seek out good practice examples in consultation with the MES, NCEQE, business organisations and other stakeholders. Such examples may be presented and quoted as part of the process of raising awareness about the need for a systematic approach to the identification of good TVET practices.

Fact finding about the current state of good practices in the country will include a survey of identified providers supplemented by desk research of documentation relating to previous developments in Georgia’s TVET system including the results of previous projects supported by other donors to identify possible already existing good practice examples.

This will be followed by an open call to providers to submit examples of good practices that they have developed or implemented.

These may be recognised in the annual TVET Awards Competition that will be launched in 2016.

3.2 International good practice examples

It is not intended that the project should simply import practices from elsewhere (an approach sometimes referred to as “policy borrowing”).

However learning from the experiences - successes and sometimes also failures -of those in other countries in tackling common problems and introducing similar approaches is important.

Many good practice examples from other countries have been documented by international institutions, for example:

• the European Training Foundation (ETF) (http://www.etf.europa.eu/);

• the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)

(http://www.cedefop.eu.int/);

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)

(http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28624/good-practice-education-training.pdf)

• UNESCO–UNEVOC (http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/).

Relevant good practice examples from elsewhere will be identified and selected to inform TVET development in Georgia, providing inspiration for those involved in developing new and improved programmes whilst also providing a means of referencing or benchmarking their achievements against what has been achieved elsewhere.

3.3 Good practices developed in response to specific TVET policy initiatives

Task 3 of the project is focused on providing technical assistance to the MES in specific areas of TVET policy development.

It will be important to develop some good practice examples in each of the relevant TVET policy areas to guide the implementation of policies and procedures developed through the TA component.

This will require specific interventions to encourage providers to develop good practice examples relating to each of the targeted policy areas that may be replicated throughout the TVET system.

The TVET Sector Policy areas targeted in 2015 and 2016 are as follows:

• Developing models of TVET governance that align TVET policy to the needs of workforce development and workforce productivity

The planned activities will specifically include supporting thematic working groups of the NVETC to improve social partner contributions to TVET policy formulation, supporting development of effective and sustainable sector committees, and promoting practices at TVET provider level that will enable business to contribute more effectively in the planning and delivery of TVET provision relevant to their needs.

Technical assistance in this policy area will include the development and dissemination of good practice examples proving the benefits of increasing the level of active business involvement at all levels of the TVET system.

Good practices in this area could for example include innovative ways of motivating industry representatives to play a greater part in college affairs, for example by further developing the role of business representatives on college supervisory boards to involve them more deeply in specific activities, using targeted outreach activities to incentivise local employers to collaborate in joint initiatives and optimising the use of placements and internships to involve work-based learning and assessment opportunities for students.

• Developing processes to source and analyse labour needs data to inform the development of TVET programmes and student enrolment http://www.etf.europa.eu/ http://www.cedefop.eu.int/ http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28624/good-practice-education-training.pdf http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28624/good-practice-education-training.pdf http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/

There is a need to increase the capacity of TVET providers to obtain and use labour needs data to support the development and implementation of industry-relevant programmes and match the number of places provided to actual labour market demand, through methods including the use of tracer and transition studies, and the design and implementation of different methods (e.g. surveys, focus groups, structured interviews) to identify skill and recruitment needs of local employers.

Technical assistance provided in this area should lead not only to development of methodological, procedural and guidance documents but also to good practice examples of how TVET providers can gather and use relevant data to improve the relevance of their programmes and effectively target identified employment needs in their areas in ways that increase the attractiveness of TVET to potential students and optimise the use of TVET resources.

Good practices developed could include information materials aimed at soliciting cooperation from businesses, innovative consultation mechanisms, survey materials such as questionnaire templates focused on gathering particular information, and examples of the successful use of focus groups.

• Completing development of a quality assurance framework for TVET

This will include developing capacity of providers to support the piloting of competence-based training and assessment and the implementation of arrangements for quality assuring course delivery and student assessment for modular competence-based TVET qualification programmes. It will also include piloting of new arrangements for validating non-formal and informal learning.

Technical assistance in this area will involve not only the development of methodological, procedural and guidance documents but also good practice examples of the planning, implementation and quality assurance of competence-based assessment at provider level that can be used as exemplars to support the rolling out of new quality assurance procedures across the whole TVET system.

Such good practices might include improved measures to coordinate quality assurance within colleges resulting in an improved integration of different quality measures and a more effective use of available resources, an increased emphasis on continuous improvement at college level taking account of feedback from self-assessment processes, increased support to individual teachers and assessors, measures to involve industry representatives in quality assurance processes such as external verification of assessments, and so on.

• Supporting development of an emplaced system of career advice in schools and colleges

This activity will include measures to promote the attractiveness of TVET and particularly to encourage girls and students from vulnerable groups to enter programmes providing training for STEM-related occupations.

The activity is focused on career education as well as career advice and should include the development of linkages between STEM-related curriculum subjects and possible future career pathways in order to underline the relevance of the school curriculum to students’ employment ambitions.

The technical assistance should include some piloting of proposed practices with the aim of developing good practice examples of career advice and planning at provider level in order to help other providers in developing and implementing new approaches more effectively.

Examples of possible good practices might include linking career advice with the delivery of STEM-related subjects in the curriculum (mathematics, science) in order to reinforce their relevance, preparation of high quality information materials about STEM-related career opportunities, involvement of local employers in career education sessions for students, dedicated careers resource rooms in schools, and so on.

• Supporting the modernization of TVET teacher training and development in line with workforce development needs

This will particularly include a focus on increasing the capacity of TVET providers to plan and deliver competence-based training and assessment and will include the up-dating of teachers’ industry knowledge. It will also require training for instructors from work placement/internship providers to equip them to use modern student-centred teaching techniques and to carry out competence-based assessment.

The technical assistance here should also lead to good practice examples

– a range of examples should be identified or developed covering different aspects of TVET planning and delivery that can be used as practical tools in the training and development of TVET teachers.

There are many possible good practice examples related to teacher training and development that might be developed, but possible examples are likely to include ways of optimising work placement and internship opportunities to develop and assess occupational competencies, involvement of representatives of enterprises as instructors or assessors, the effective use of information and communication technologies in the delivery of learning and assessment, the increased integration of theoretical and practical learning in course delivery, and so on.

3.4 Good practices developed though grant projects

It is intended that the ISWD PICG will provide a vehicle for the development and replication of good practice examples and these will be showcased in project dissemination and through the annual TVET conferences that will be held in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Through the Grant Programme providers will be incentivised to propose good practice examples from their institutions for consideration by the project. In general, every grant-funded project should be concerned with the development or implementation of identified good practices in TVET. Thus:

• Grant projects should provide a laboratory for the development of new and innovative initiatives and approaches;

• They should also be a primary source of good practice examples that can be replicated elsewhere.

Relevant examples are expected to come to light in the course of scrutinising applications from providers bidding for grants as well as from the outputs and reports of the grantees.

As already noted, however, there will additionally be a special provision for Small Grants specifically to kick-start good practice development. This is separate from the main grant scheme.

Unlike the main grant scheme, the small good practice grants are not intended to fund substantial pilot projects leading to the development of new or improved TVET programmes. Instead, they will provide targeted support to those who would like to develop a specific idea or tool that will lead to new or improved practices within their institutions.

The Small Grants mechanism is described in Section 5 of this Manual below.

3.5 Identifying, Evaluating and Recognizing Good Practices

As noted already, there will be various sources of good practices in the ISWD Project.

Some of these examples will be identified by the Project team and others will result from technical assistance activities in Task 3. However there are some specific activity areas that are required to develop good practices and in which good practices will receive some officially recognition:

• Good Practices developed though PICG grant projects: These will be identified, evaluated and monitored though mechanisms based on those set out in the Grant Operations Manual. In the case of most grant projects the procedures will be followed exactly as described in the Manual.

• Small Grant projects (less than USD 10,000) specifically intended to develop particular Good Practices proposed by TVET institutions outside the framework of the main PICG. For these, a simplified version of the procedures will be applied (see Section 3.4 above);

• Good Practices proposed for official recognition via the Annual TVET Awards Competition in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (See Section 3.1 above). In these cases, the good practices will be identified though an annual Call, and will be evaluated by a Technical Evaluation Panel specifically established for that purpose.

USES OF GOOD PRACTICES EXAMPLES

4 USES OF GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES

4.1 Information Sharing and Knowledge Transfer

Mutual Learning

TVET reform represents a transformational process in which many new ideas and approaches are introduced.

Even though many of the methods and tools introduced to the TVET system are often not very new and indeed may have been used extensively elsewhere, adapting them for use in Georgia will inevitably create new challenges which will be faced by each institution which will each have to find innovative, creative and inventive solutions.

Peer learning and knowledge transfer are an essential requirement for successful TVET reform.

Different institutions facing common problems should find ways of cooperating and sharing their experiences in order that approaches that are found by an institution to have been successful can be replicated within other institutions.

The development of information sharing networks involving knowledge transfer between TVET providers will be actively promoted by the ISWD Project and are an implicit part of ISWD Task 2: Improving Provider Practice.

Adapting and Replicating Good Practices in Different Contexts

The Good Practices Activity should aim to provide examples that can help providers to develop their strategies and approaches based on learning from the experiences of others.

Georgia needs a coherent TVET system based on a clearly defined policy and using common approaches, methodologies and procedures. Many of these will be new and outside the experience of most providers. Although guidance and support will be given, it is not possible to provide answers to everything at a systemic level. TVET providers are faced with the challenging and often difficult problem of how to apply national policies and approaches within their specific institutional contexts, some of which will be unique to the institution.

In this context, Good Practices examples will help TVET providers to understand how others have found solutions to common issues and problems. Mutual learning and knowledge transfer can provide a valuable resource to help providers to develop and implement programmes that comply with the requirements of the national TVET system.

However, every provider should approach the replication of good practices developed elsewhere with an element of flexibility in order to adapt what they have learned from others to their own circumstances. What works in one place may not work so well elsewhere.

This means that Good Practices should not only be adopted, but their replication may require some adaptation to meet particular circumstances. This is particularly important in the case of practices developed by TVET providers operating in very different contexts or, indeed, where the good practices in question are practices imported from abroad.

4.2 The Multiplication Effect – Ensuring Systemic Level Impact

Documenting Good Practices

The Good Practice Activity is expected to lead to the identification and/or development of a large number of ‘good practices’. These will be developed by – and within – particular organisations, but will have little impact outside those organisations unless they are widely shared with others. For this reason the documentation (and subsequent dissemination) of identified good practices will be a vitally important factor in ensuring the sustainability of what is developed though the ISWD Project.

Identified good practices will therefore be documented in the form of written case studies that will describe them in detail including an analysis of any necessary pre-conditions and of the factors contributing to their success. The descriptions will include specific reference to all aspects considered to be relevant to their replication.

Each good practice example will be written up in a common format, together with any supporting documents, photos or audio-visual materials that are necessary to enable them to be understood. This will be based on information that should be provided by participating providers, using a standard template designed to enable them to present all the required information.

It is intended that the ISWD Project web page will provide the primary medium for the publication off fully documented good practices. The full set of documented good practices will be published by the end of the Project in a Compendium of Good TVET Practices.

However it is also recognised that abbreviated summaries of selected good practices will be important as ‘success stories’ for publicity and awareness raising purposes and will therefore be included in ISWD Project publicity materials.

Disseminating Good Practices

Dissemination of - and information sharing about - good practices is central to the ISWD Project approach to communications and outreach and will be embedded throughout activities carried out within Task 4 of the Project.

Thus, the sharing of information about good practices is something that will be included in everything from meetings with stakeholders to PR activities such as press briefings.

Annual TVET Conferences to be organised in 2016, 2017 and 2018 are specifically planned to provide a focus for showcasing good practices, through conference presentations, workshop discussions and ancillary activities such as a linked exhibition including stands organised by providers and a careers fair.

Annual TVET Awards that will be linked with the conferences will specifically provide a medium for making good practices visible. In the months leading to each conference, there will be a call for applications for annual TVET awards. The award categories have not yet been decided but it is likely that they will recognise such things as institutional improvement, innovation, partnerships with business, skill levels of students, student employment destinations etc. A special awards brochure will be produced, detailing the achievements of award winners as part of the publicity to be provided for the event.

Translating Good Practices into TVET System Reality

Good practice examples have limited impact unless policy decisions are made and necessary actions taken to ensure their replication and their incorporation into TVET policy at a systemic level.

The sustainability of the outputs of projects is often limited because many of them are not followed though at a systemic level after piloting. This is a special danger for grant projects – grant funding is provided for a limited time to support certain activities but, when the funding comes to an end, the outputs are too easily forgotten.

The Good Practice Activity should not only lead to a list of published good practice examples; there should be an explicit aim of ensuring that:

• The examples are taken up and used by as many TVET providers as possible in order to raise the general quality of TVET provision in Georgia;

• The examples are used to inform TVET policy development and, where appropriate, followed through in the design and implementation of TVET reforms at a systemic level.

The adoption of relevant good practice examples can also contribute to the achievement of indicators for evidence-based monitoring of progress towards meeting policy objectives in TVET.

The European Training Foundation, UNESCO and the ILO have jointly agreed a set of indicators for assessing the TVET system performance1 and overviews of EU Member State and partner countries’ progress towards meeting EU 2020 objectives are published annually2. Widespread adoption by providers of published good practices in areas covered by the Indicators could potentially help Georgia to relating to improve its TVET performance and progress towards meeting its objectives stemming from the recent EU Association Agreement.

4.3 Good Practices as a Basis for Continuous Improvement

Using Good Practices as a Tool for Institutional and Organisational Improvement

The concept of good practice lies at the heart of the approach to improving the quality, relevance and attractiveness of TVET.

Some good practices will explicitly reflect improvements in the way TVET provider institutions are managed. However the ISWD Project Good Practices Activity is intended to have the general effect of increasing the effectiveness of all TVET provider institutions by improving their efficiency and their capacity to deliver improved TVET provision by providing them with replicable solutions to identified problems and exemplars that can be emulated in order to improve their performance and TVET provision more generally.

A provider introducing and improving specific new practices to meet a particular goal will normally go through a process that includes conceptualisation, design, planning, implementation, evaluation and improvement.

http://www.etf.europa.eu/webatt.nsf/0/E112211E42995263C12579EA002EF821/$file/Report%20on%20indicators%20April% 202012.pdf).

2 On the way to 2020: data for VET policies - Country statistical overviews, Update 2013, CEDEFOP, Luxembourg, 2014 http://www.etf.europa.eu/webatt.nsf/0/E112211E42995263C12579EA002EF821/$file/Report%20on%20indicators%20April%202012.pdf http://www.etf.europa.eu/webatt.nsf/0/E112211E42995263C12579EA002EF821/$file/Report%20on%20indicators%20April%202012.pdf

Reflection and self-evaluation should be part of that process. Institutional learning and development are implicit in the approach. A learning organisation is one that continuously transforms itself by absorbing new ideas and thinking and using them to improve institutional performance.

Information sharing about good practices challenges organisations to generate institutional responses based on systemic learning and development. This will often involve challenge beliefs, attitudes and values. As a result, the ability of the organization to react to challenges and opportunities and manage change is increased.

Using Good Practices as a Basis for Benchmarking and Comparison

Benchmarking is a useful management tool widely used in business that involves comparing own practices against externally defined identified good or best practices as part of an on-going improvement exercise - with the goal of always keeping abreast of the most effective approaches and solutions.

The benchmarking approach aims to understand and evaluate the current position of an organisation in relation to an identified good practice and to identify areas and means of improvement. In this way, good practices may be regarded as providing a sort of standard against which other practices may be measured.

Benchmarking thus involves looking outward (e.g. outside the organisation, sector or country) to examine how others achieve their performance levels and understand the processes they use. When the lessons learnt from a benchmarking exercise are applied appropriately, they can lead to improved performance or results.

Benchmarking typically involves four main steps:

• Understanding the practice selected for benchmarking;

• Analysing other practices selected as a basis for comparison;

• Comparing own practices with those that have been analysed;

• Identifying and implement measures to close that gap.

Typical tools used in carrying out benchmarking include an information gathering questionnaire, a criterion-based appraisal form and a scoring sheet.

Benchmarking is thus an important self-evaluation tool. However it can also be used as an objective basis for external evaluation carried out by others. It is thus a potentially important part of the quality management system for TVET as well as an instrument for facilitating continuous improvement.

Consideration should be given to including information relating to the benchmarking of good practices within the Education Management and Information System (EMIS) of the MES.

FUNDING MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING GOOD PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT

5 FUNDING MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING GOOD PRACTICE

DEVELOPMENT THOUGH THE PICG

5.1 The role of PICG in supporting Good Practice Development and Replication

The use of grant schemes as a financial instrument is commonly directed at addressing sector issues in order to create, pilot or test models that seek to provide solutions to identified problems and/or examples of effective practices that are replicable elsewhere.

The impact of a grant scheme is mainly at the level of creating models providing pre-conditions for further actions rather than resolving problems at a systemic level.

The grant scheme provides a basis for trying out new or innovative approaches at an institutional level. Their replication across the TVET system requires further action by the appropriate authorities which require policy decisions and often a legal basis.

Thus, a focus on knowledge generation is important to optimize the benefits of a grant scheme. This will lay the basis for longer term replication through other interventions.

5.2 Small Grants for Good Practice Development and Replication

The ISWD PICG includes provision for Small Grants (USD 5,000 – USD 10.000) to be awarded to TVET providers to support the strengthening of TVET provider practice by identifying, documenting, disseminating and promoting the uptake of best practices across the sector.

The Purpose of the Small Grants scheme

The Small Grants scheme is intended to support the following:

• Capacity building (measures) for strengthening and documenting existing industry-oriented best practices among TVET providers;

• Ensuring a greater focus of TVET Provision on identified labor market and industry needs;

• Improving the delivery of TVET provision including modularization of programs and improvements in quality.

Financial provision and contracts

The overall indicative grant fund amount available under the Small Grants Scheme is USD 250,000. The Small Grants budget will be allocated in 3 rounds of funding in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Each institution can submit only one application for a project to be financed in each round of the Small Grants scheme. The implementation period for each Small Grant project will be up to a maximum of 12 months.

All Grant Contracts financed by this Grant Scheme will be VAT exempt.

MCA-Georgia is the contracting authority for Small Grants contracts and the scheme is administered by PEM GmbH. Contracted grant recipients are the direct beneficiaries of the PICG financial support. Grant beneficiaries will receive capacity building support through consultations, training, advice and monitoring support to help them perform the specific activities of their projects.

Grant beneficiaries will be solely responsible for the execution of their contracts and will have obligations in relation to the following project management functions and activities:

• Co-operating with and assisting PEM, MCA-G and the MoES in conducting the risk assessments activities throughout the project;

• Co-operating with and assisting PEM, MCA-G and the MoES regarding monitoring visits, checks and reports throughout the project;

• Preparation of quarterly and final technical and financial reports;

• Cooperation with the grant scheme evaluation and the preparation of the good practices and implemented projects compendium;

• Project activity documenting and archiving;

• Modifications requests, and,

• Contract addenda

Eligibility of applicants

The Grant Programme is open to any public or private TVET provider or university, public or private company, professional organisation or NGO operating in the field of TVET.

Institutions applying for grants should be duly established and registered in accordance with the relevant Georgian legislation, and are directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project with their partner/s, i.e. not acting as an intermediary.

Provider institutions may submit their applications for Small Grants either on their own or in partnership with appropriate partners such as employers. They may also engage subcontractors to carry out defined activities such as web site development, printing or the hire of consulting services. Subcontractors are not beneficiaries or partners and are subject to procurement rules set out in the standard PICG contracts.

Provisions on Fraud and Corruption specified in the MCC Programme Procurement Guidelines will be applicable to all granting activities. The following organisations are not eligible to apply for Small Grants:

• Political parties, groups or institutions, or their subsidiaries and affiliates;

• Organizations that advocate, promote or espouse anti-democratic policies or illegal activities;

• Any person or entity that has been blacklisted in participation in procurements funded with World Bank assistance, debarred or suspended from participating in procurements funded by the US Federal Government, or otherwise prohibited by applicable United States law, Executive Order or United States policies including under any then-existing anti-terrorist policies;

• MCA-Georgia and PEM GmbH Board members.

Eligible projects

The scheme is open for the development of all kinds of innovative or good practices such as those concerned with:

• Surveys by providers to identify skill needs of local employers;

• Workshops and trainings related to the introduction or adaptation of specific good practice models (national or international);

• Staff development and training activities to increase the institutions’ capacity to develop and implement good practices

• Information sharing networking between providers;

• Knowledge transfer between Georgian TVET providers and providers in other countries (e.g. study visit or work shadowing);

• Presenting of effective teaching approaches, such as exemplary practice orientation, internships, e-learning technologies or training methods such as computer based learning or distance learning.

• Introduction/extension of student-centred and active learning styles within the provider;

• Competence-based training and assessment, especially optimising opportunities arising during work placements/internships;

• Improved systems of student support, and improved career education and advice for students;

• Transition and tracer studies;

• Development of training and learning materials, assessment instruments, textbooks, workbooks and handouts in print;

• Stakeholder engagement strategies at provider level including marketing, PR and promotion strategie/plans/campaigns aimed at raising the profile of TVET among employers, potential stidents and parents, including production of visibility materials both audio-visual and printed materials

• Development of new models of business/employer involvement in TVET activities at provider level;

• Aspects of quality management, such as the introduction of quality control mechanisms or benchmarking;

• Knowledge management and organizational learning;

• Best practice dissemination and information sharing by providers including information systems.

The projects should typically benefit the entire training institution as a whole, not only a single subject or vocation within it.

Costs

The grant to the project is awarded on a cost-reimbursement basis. In reviewing quarterly and final financial reports, MCAG determines exactly which costs are eligible for payments and applications including ineligible costs will result in a lower payment than the Grant Beneficiary may have expected, and in certain circumstances can lead to the recovery of the pre-financing payment. Only “allowable costs” can be taken into account for a grant.

A full list of allowable and non-allowable costs is provided in the information pack about how to apply for Small Grants. It should be noted that the following costs are not eligible: Purchase of equipment and furniture, salaries, operating (overhead) costs of project implementation (office rent, heating, electricity etc.)

cannot be supported. These should be the own contributions of the training institution and its partners.

Recommendations to award a grant are always subject to the condition that the checking process, which precedes the signing of the grant agreement does not reveal problems requiring changes to the budget. It is therefore in the applicant's interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget.

Application and selection process

With the launching of the Small Grants Scheme:

• A help desk will be available at the ISWD project office to respond to prospective candidates and applicants to inquiries relating to the application process and results at the different stages

• One-day information sessions will be held to provide detailed information about the program;

• Training workshops will be held to orient potential applicants on good practice definitions and expectations, scheme and application requirements and how to respond to key elements of proposal preparation.

The application process under the Small Grants scheme will take place in one stage process with a submission of full application.

The application form must be filled in carefully and clearly so that it can be properly assessed and should be submitted in a sealed envelope according to the defined procedure.

An evaluation of the quality of the proposals, including the proposed budget, and of the capacity of the applicant and his partners, will be carried out by a Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) in accordance with pre-determined evaluation criteria.

The criteria are set out in an evaluation grid to be used in selecting Small Grants projects as follows:

Evaluation Category Maximu m Points

Compliance with basic Small Grant Scheme principles and objectives:

• How relevant is the proposal to the principles and objectives of the

Grant Scheme?

• Is there evidence that the proposal meets a defined need either of the

TVET system or of…