Vocational Education and Training in Spain

 

The Spanish National System for Qualifications and Vocational Education and Training, known in Spanish as SNCFP, was established by Spanish Organic Act 5/2002, of 19 June 2002. It consists of instruments and actions which are necessary to promote and develop the integration of Vocational Education and Training, as well as to assess and accredit professional competencies. The SNCFP was created to respond to the demand for qualifications of people and enterprises in a society trying out a continuous process of change and innovation.

The SNCFP objectives are to adapt the professional training to the qualification demands of productive organizations, to facilitate the adaptation of supply and demand on the labour market, to extend lifelong learning beyond the traditional educational period, and to promote the freedom of movement for workers. For these reasons, it plays an essential role in the labour and education world. The Spanish National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications, known in Spanish as CNCP, is an instrument of the Spanish National System for Qualifications and Vocational Educational and Training (VET) which arranges the professoinal qualifications according to competences appropiate for an occupational performance.

The professional qualifications are identified in the productive system and they are susceptible of being recognized and accredited. Some of the main objectives of the CNCP are to integrate the existing programs on VET in order to adapt them to the characteristics and demands of the Spanish productive system and to be a referent to asses the professional competences. The CNCP comprises the most important professional qualifications of the Spanish productive system. It includes VET contents related to each professional qualification. The contents are organized in modules which are included in a Spanish Modular Catalogue of Vocational Education and Training. 

The Spanish National Institute of Qualifications, known in Spanish as INCUAL, is responsible for defining, drawing up and updating the CNCP and the corresponding Modular Catalogue of VET. The CNCP consists of professional qualifications arranged in professional families and levels of qualification taking into account UE criteria. the 26 professional families which make up the CNCP have been created according to professional competence affinity criteria. The 5 levels of professional qualification are based on the professional competence required for each productive activity taking into account different criteria like knowledge, initiative, autonomy, responsibility and complexity, among others, necessary for the accomplishment of every activity.

Level 1: competence in a reduced group of relatively simple working activities related to normalized processes, in which the theoretical knowledge and practical capacities involved are limited. 

Level 2: competence in a group of well-defined professional activities with the capacity to use particular instruments and techniques concerning, mainly, an execution activity which can be autonomous within the limits of the above-mentioned techniques. It requires knowledge on the technical and scientific fundamentals of the activity concerned and capacities for the comprehension and the application of the process.

Level 3: competence in a group of professional activities which require the command o different techniques and can be executed in an autonomous way. It involves responsibility on the coordination and supervision of technical and specialized work. It demands the understanding of the technical and scientific fundamentals of the activities concerned as well as the assessment of the factors in the process and the assessment of the economic repercussions. 

China's Education System

First of all, I have to say that China's Education System is considered one of the best in the world. The Ministry of Education is the one that manages education, which is free and compulsory for students from six to fifteen years old. After this age, students must pay fees and take entrance exams, which leads to a large drop in students at higher levels. Also, from childhood, great importance is given to teaching such as; value of hard work, daily discipline and respect for the elderly by age and hierarchy.

Regarding the value of work, mathematics is taught, for example, it is not because you do not have the talent, but because you need to work more on it. On the other hand, discipline is a fundamental element within education in China. Students study more than ten hours a day; classes last from approximately eight in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, however, after school they return home to continue with task that take several hours, often until nine or the at night. 

Also, students from big cities have additional music, arts and sports classes. Respect is also something that they are taught from a very young age. They speak to their teachers by the word teacher or theacher followeed by their last name, always with kindness and with gratitude to be offering the service of teaching, they even bow before them. Thanks to work, disciplinie and respect. China is now among the first places in educational quality in the world. 

In 2010, Shanghai ranked first on the international PISA exam (Program for International Student Assessment) in the areas of mathematics, reading and science. The most surprising thing about this event is that this was the first year that China participated in the PISA test. Similarly, promoting good behavior is an important part of education in China; Within each classroom, teachers are responsible for conducting student performance ratings, which motivates learning. 

For each correct answer or good behavior of the students or, points are added, on the contrary, if he makes mistakes or has a bad behavior, the asterisks are subtracted. The progress of each of the students is always visible on a board, which stimulates in a healthy way the sense of competence. It is worth mentioning that schools in China are divided into public and private. The level of education in private schools is much higher, which leads to a higher cost, which can reach up to one thousand dollars per month. 

It is important to point out that the foreign language has a great weight within the educational system; therefore they have 2-3 English classes a day. In elite schools, fith and sixth graders already speak English fluently. Since childhood, they have been taught that they must be the best, no matter in what category, this shows us why the Chinese have been leaders in science, culture and the arts for years. 

Music Education

In primary schools in European countries, children often learn to play instruments such as keyboards or recorders, sing in small choirs, and learn about the elements of music and history of music. In countries such as India, the harmonium is used in schools, but instruments like keyboards and violin are also common. Students are normally taught basics of Indian Raga music.

In primary and secondary schools, students may often have the opportunity to perform in some type of musical ensemble, such as a choir, orchestra, or school band: concert band, marching band, or jazz band. In some secondary schools, additional music classes may also be available. In junior high school or its equivalent, music usually continues to be a required part of the curriculum.

At the university level, students in most arts and humanities programs receive academic credit for music courses such as music history, typically of Western art music, or music appreciation, which focuses on listening and learning about different musical styles. In addition, most North American and European universities offer music ensembles, such as choir, concert band, marching band, or orchestra, that are open to students from various fields of study.

English study

English study is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the United Kingdom, the US, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the Middle East, among other areas), English linguistics, etc.

More broadly, English studies explores the production of and analysis of texts created in English (or in areas of the world in which English is a common mode of communication). In most English-speaking countries, the literary and cultural dimensions of English studies are typically practiced in university departments of English, while the study of texts produced in non-English languages takes place in other departments, such as departments of foreign language or comparative literature.

English linguistics is often studied in separate departments of linguistics. This disciplinary divide between a dominant linguistic or a literary orientation is one motivation for the division of the North American Modern Language Association (MLA) into two subgroups. 

The English Major (alternatively "English concentration" or "B.A. in English" is a term in the U.S. and a few other countries for an undergraduate university degree focused around the consumption, analysis, and production of texts in the English language. The term may also be used to describe a estudent who is pursuing such a degree.

Stundents who major in English reflect upon, analyse, and interpret literature and film, presenting their analyses in clear, cogent writing. Although help-wanted postings rarely solicit English majors specifically, a degree in English hones critical thinking skills essential to a number of career fields, including writing, editing, publishing, teaching and research, adevertising, public relation, law, and finance.

A digital divide

A digital divide is an economic and social inequality with regard to access to, use of, or impact of information and communication technologies (ICT). The divide within countries (such as the digital divide in the United States) may refer to inequalities between individuals, households, businesses, or geographic areas, usually at different socioeconomic levels or other demographic categories.

The divide between differing countries or regions of the world is referred to as the global digital divide, examinig this technological gap between developing and developed countries on an international scale. The term digital divide describes a gap in terms of access to and usage of information and communication technology.

It was traditionally considered to be a question of having or not having access, but with a global mobile phone penetration of over 95%, it is becoming a relative inequality between those who have more and less bandwidth and more or less skills. Conceptualizations of the digital divide have been described as "who, with which charateristics, connects how to what":

Who is the subject that connects: individuals, organizations, enterprises, schools, hospitals, countries, etc. Which characteristics or attributes are distinguished to describe the divide: income, education, age, geographic location, motivation, reason not to use, etc. How sophisticated is the usage: mere access, retrieval, interactivity, intensive and extensive in usage, innovative contributions, etc. To what does the subject connect: fixed or mobile, Internet or telephony, digital TV, broadband, etc.

Different authors focus on different aspects, which leads to a large variety of definitions of the digital divide. "For example, counting with only 3 different choices of subjects (individuals, organizations, or countries), each with 4 characteristics (age, wealth, geography, sector), distinguishing between 3 levels of digital adoption (access, actual usage and effective adoption), and 6 types of technologies (fixed phone, mobile... Internet...), already results in 3 x 4 x 3 x 6 = 216 different ways to define the digital divide. Each one of them seems equally reasonable and depends on the objective pursued by the analyst".

UNED

The National University of Distance Education, known in Spanish as UNED, is a distance learning and research university founded in 1.972 and is the only university run by the central run by the central government of Spain. It has headquarters in Madrid, Spain, with campuses in all Spanish autonomous communities. In addition, there are 14 study centres, and 3 exam points, in 13 countries in Europe, Americas and Africa. 

The University awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or continuing education units. UNED combines traditional onsite education with distance learning programs. With over 260.000 students, this university is the largest in Spain and the second largest in Europe.

UNED was founded in 1.972 following the idea of the UK's Open University to provide quality higher and continuing education opportunities to all through a distance education system. It awards the same qualifications as other Spanish universities and has the same entry requirements.

This implies that it is not "Open". Even though the study is at distance, admissions are as strict as for "on-site" education and exams are supervised as in the other Spanish universities. However, some special features of UNED make it different from most other Spanish universities: it is nationwide in scope, applies the most advanced teaching technologies and has a wide social influence with radio and TV programming.

UNED is a university where distance is no object for the fact that, through its educational methodology, UNED is the only university that offers the possibility of obtaining formal qualifications adapted to the European Higher Education Area (AHEA) from anywhere in the world.

Likewise, UNED is the only with centres in the Americas, Africa, Europe and all the Autonomous Communities of Spain; finally, training at UNED is carried out using new technologies, principally the Internet. UNED's mission is to be present as a centre of excellence throughout the world.