SOLITY, A TOOL TO MEASURE AND VALUE THE SOCIAL UTILITY

This post is part of the VET Gazette 1
AUTHOR
Grégoire Roquette
Researcher
AFPA
5-1_A_1626375430

SOLITY, A TOOL TO MEASURE AND VALUE THE SOCIAL UTILITY

As a member of the public employment service, Afpa has a long-standing commitment to the long-term unemployed, and social utility is one of the pillars of Afpa’s vocational training strategy.

  • This can be seen in training activities, support for trainees as well as in the internal management of human resources. The social impact of Afpa’s activities is partly measured by a number of tools and surveys:
  • Concerning training, we measure the satisfaction rate, the success rate in exams (75%), the gender mix in training courses (64%/36%) and the proportion of candidates presented for recognition of prior learning and professional experience (5%).

What is SOLITY?
SOLITY stands for “VET SOcial utiLITY Monitor”.
Funded in 2017 through the Erasmus+ Programme (590169-EPP-2017-IT-PI-FORWARD), it highlights the key role of Vocational Education & Training (VET) for the economic and social development at local, national and European level.
The project was led by ENAIP NET and implemented in partnership with other 3 VET providers at the national level (Agence Française pour la Formation Professionnelle – France; Le Forem – Belgium; Internationaler Bund – Germany) and 2 European networks of VET Providers (European Vocational Training Association; European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training).
Thanks to the SOLITY project, VET providers can benefit of:
A European Social Utility model, developed with the support of international experts, to analyse the impact of Vocational Education and Training on the social dimension in which training centres carry out their activities;
A self-assessment benchmarking tool to evaluate the social impact of training centres;
A set of policy recommendation on how to improve the image of Vocational Education and Training and contribute to make VET as “the first choice”
For more info, please visit: https://www.solityproject.eu/

The Solity indicator is an opportunity for Afpa to promote the social impact on a European scale
  • Concerning return to employment, the «Devenir survey» is about the follow-up of trainees at the end of their training course. Its objective is to measure access to and sustainability in employment, and the use in the profession of the skills and competences acquired in training.
  • Internally, Afpa is evaluated by the gender equality index, which monitors proactive policies to fight against wage gaps and access to promotion. Afpa has a score of 89/100. 

The Solity indicator is an opportunity for Afpa to promote social impact on a European scale. 

In addition, the Solity tool enables us to assess the social impact of activities that are not taken into account in the measurement tools currently in use by Afpa, in particular the proactive approach to fight against exclusion and social inequalities.

Afpa training courses, implemented through work-based training on a real-like platform are designed to accommodate people in difficulty for a more theoretical learning process.

In 2018, 31 Afpa centers contributed to the «HOPE» project – a project which combines accommodation, training and work placement for refugees. 1,000 refugees have benefited from this programme with an exam success rate of 71% and an integration rate of 62%. 

Finally, the review of the certifications delivered by Afpa is accompanied by studies and analyses in order to know the needs of companies in terms of skills, and the tension rates in the professions. Afpa’s main certifications (about number of trainees), in sales, construction and road transport train for professions characterized by high recruitment difficulties.

Thanks to Solity, Afpa will improve its data analysis tools, enhance its strengths in social integration and work on its weaknesses. In addition, it will enable a detailed evaluation for each of the Afpa centres in operation, in order to know the specialties of each one and encourage them to improve.

The Solity project carries social values, in the spirit of European construction. It’s a great collaboration to move together towards a more supportive and inclusive society.

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