The Education Working Group is a policy think tank and consists of representatives from each region. Any student is entitled to sit on this group and it meets four times a year. The group is chaired by the Education Officer and if you would like further information on becoming involved in this group please do not hesitate to contact the Education Officer to get involved at uss.education@gmail.com
The Education Working Group also briefs the National Board on Educational topics of special concern and works very closely with the Education Officer on the implementation of USS’s educational policies.
Members of the Working Group also contribute to the development of publications by USS in the educational context.
The diagram illustrates the outline National Framework of Qualifications. The 10- level structure is shown as segments in a fan. The Framework contains an initial set of 15 award-types for which descriptors have been published. The award types are listed in the outer rings of the diagram.
The diagram also illustrates the various awarding bodies whose awards are included in the Framework. These are shown as colored bands extending across the levels of the Framework as appropriate.
The Framework is a structure of ten levels. For each level, standards of knowledge, skill and competence have been set out, defining the outcomes to be achieved by learners seeking to gain awards. This introduces a new approach to the meaning of an award, that an award recognizes learning outcomes - what a person with an award knows, can do and understands - rather than time spent on a Programme. The ten levels accommodate awards gained in schools, the workplace, the community, training centers, colleges and universities, from the most basic to the most advanced levels of learning. All learning can thus be recognized, including that achieved through experience in the workplace or other non-formal settings.
Many existing awards will no longer be made as the Framework is implemented. Also, many learners hold Irish awards that were part of former systems and have already ceased to be made. It is possible to map most of these existing and former awards onto the new Framework, so that learners holding such awards are not disadvantaged. The task of working out the placement of such awards is already well advanced. Further information on placement can be found at www.nqai.ie , at www.fetac.ie and at www.hetac.ie