10.6 Recognition and validation of skills acquired through youth work
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Existing arrangements
So far, there are not any existing arrangements when it comes to the recognition of the skills and competences acquired by young people participating in youth work activities.
Following EU Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01), the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports developed a project for the establishment of a validation mechanism on non-formal and informal learning in Cyprus, as mentioned in section 10.5. With the finalisation of the project, the Ministry has assigned the Youth Board of Cyprus in 2024, with the task of coordinating the development of the occupational standards for the youth worker in order to validate the skills acquired through youth work. For this purpose, the Youth Board is working closely with the Human Resource and Development Authority, the Cyprus Youth Council and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth.
In addition to that, young people who participate in youth work activities through the Erasmus+ Youth Programme, have the opportunity to use the Youthpass certificate, as a tool to document and recognise learning outcomes.
There are not any existing arrangements when it comes to the accreditation towards a qualification (full or partial) within the system of formal education for young people participating in youth work activities. The project “Establishment of Validation Mechanisms for non-formal and informal Learning - Pilot Implementation" resulted in the development of a mechanism for the validation and recognition of competences acquired through the participation in volunteering activities and their link with credits in higher educational institutions, which, however, has not been implemented.
Skills
There are no top-level policies and/or recognition mechanisms identifying specific skills and competences that can be acquired through youth work. As mentioned in section 10.5., the occupational standards of youth worker that is under development, include a set of competences.