BEQUAL.APP

 

The central idea of the Bequal.app project is to develop, test and mainstream two online benchmarking tools for quality assurance in apprenticeships and work-based learning, one addressing VET providers and one addressing companies, involved in apprenticeships.

Context

The value of apprenticeship and work-based learning for supporting youth employment and matching skills with labour market needs is unquestionable as also the New Skills Agenda for Europe (June 2016) and the 2017 European Commission’s Work Programme have emphasised.
Despite the broad consensus among stakeholders including social partners, the introduction of apprenticeship in countries with no such culture and experience faces challenges; the two most important ones are:
1. To engage more companies in apprenticeship, with the focus on SMEs that are the vast majority of employers in Europe and especially in small countries.
2. To assure quality of apprenticeships, so as to avoid phenomena of exploitation, substitution of employment with apprenticeship and ensure that the apprenticeships have an added value for both the employer and the apprentice.
Responding to these challenges, the general objective of Bequal.app project is to promote and ensure the quality of apprenticeship and work-based learning.

The specific objectives:

1.  To develop a quality assurance framework for apprenticeship and work-based learning addressing VET providers and companies.

2.  To develop two self-assessment questionnaires for quality assurance in apprenticeship and work-based learning for VET providers and companies respectively.

3.  To develop an online platform on quality assurance in apprenticeship and work-based learning with various resources, documents, links, articles, videos.

4.  To develop two on-line benchmarking tools for quality assurance in apprenticeship and work-based learning, one addressed to VET providers and one addressed to companies.

5.  To establish the Bequal.app badge for companies, engaged in apprenticeships and work-based learning and demonstrate good practices.

Outputs:

O1. Benchmarking methodology and tools
O2. Two online benchmarking tools
O3. Online platform