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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
National reforms related to transversal skills and employability

Spain

14.Ongoing reforms and policy developments

14.5National reforms related to transversal skills and employability

Last update: 13 March 2024

2024

The Ministry allocates €128 million to workers’ education

In November 2023, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD) launched a new call for grants for the training of employed and unemployed individuals, totalling €128 million. These subsidies are intended for entities that develop training initiatives linked to the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications within the professional sphere, aiming to the acquisition and improvement of the skills of the active population in sectors considered strategic in the Professional Training Modernization Plan. These sectors include hospitality and tourism, automotive, renewable energy, automated manufacturing and robotics, telecommunications and information systems, as well as green transition and circular economy, among others.

Additionally, the grants will cover scholarships and support for transportation, work/family reconciliation, meals, and accommodation for unemployed individuals participating in training activities. Furthermore, compensation to companies for the implementation of training modules in workplace settings is also part of the goal of these grants.

Groups of training entities with a national presence that have facilities duly registered in the corresponding Registry of Training Entities, may also benefit from these grants. The initiative aims to direct these aids towards small and medium-sized enterprises to provide their employee training.

The types of training encompass those related to professional certification, offered in full or modular formats, targeting employed individuals. In addition, training aimed at workers that responds to the qualification needs identified by companies will be considered. Those accredited entities that present programmes agreed upon with said companies may participate. The call also includes specific training programmes aimed at the unemployed.

2023

Reskilling and upskilling of the working population

In June 2023, the Agreement of the Sectoral Conference on the System of Qualifications and Vocational Training for Employment was issued. This Agreement approves the proposal for territorial distribution and the criteria for the distribution of 111 million euros intended for the development of reskilling and upskilling of the working population, linked to professional qualifications in strategic sectors, care of people and areas at risk of depopulation, within the framework of component 20 "Strategic plan to promote training professional", of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, in the 2023 budget year.

This measure will impact the training of more than 200 000 employed or unemployed people. Training actions will give priority to training in emerging and rapidly evolving skills and with future job creation prospective. Likewise, these actions will attend to training in those sectors that, as a consequence of the foreseeable evolution of economic and social conditions, will generate jobs in the future. These funds are preferably directed, without exclusivity, to the following eleven strategic sectors:

1. New advanced information technology.

2. Automated machine-tools and robotics.

3. Aeronautical equipment.

4. Modern rail transportation equipment.

5. Energy-based vehicles and new equipment.

6. Agricultural machinery.

7. New materials.

8. Biopharmaceuticals and advanced medical products.

9. Consumption chain: manufacturers and distributors.

10. Hospitality and tourism.

11. Care services.

 

2022

New Spanish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning

In May 2022, Royal Decree 272/2022 was published. The Royal Decree establishes the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (MECU) and the description of the levels not included (with the exception of level 5A) in the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (MECES), regulated in Royal Decree 1027/2011.

The purpose of this framework is to complete and integrate the general framework of Spanish qualifications, aimed at directing the classification, comparability and transparency of officially accredited qualifications.

Included in this framework are official degrees and certifications of the Spanish education system, as well as the certificates of professionalism in the field of Vocational Training for Employment standardised in current regulations.

The Spanish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning is an internationally recognized mechanism that, through self-certification, guides the balanced levelling of qualifications for their classification, connection and comparability. I also serves to facilitate the mobility of people in the European space and in the international labour market.

Certification, accreditation and recognition of teaching digital competence

In July 2022, the Education Sector Conference Agreement on the certification, accreditation and recognition of teaching digital competence was published.

The Agreement establishes the procedures for the accreditation of the digital competence of teachers. It represents a great step forward in this area for all the Educational Administrations, to subsequently develop their own regulations in the terms included in this Agreement.

Said accreditation will be carried out at the following levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2, being equivalent and recognized by all educational administrations. For this, the Digital Teaching Competence Reference Framework will be taken as a reference.

Financial support for worker training

The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD) announces financial support worth 24.5 million euro aimed at the qualification and requalification of the active population. The call, linked to Component 20 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, aims to promote the training of workers and the accreditation of their skills to thus improve their employability.

Companies, business associations and non-profit entities may apply for these grants for the implementation of training projects that allow workers to update their professional skills or acquire new skills, especially those linked to emerging sectors, such as New advanced technology of the information, automated mechanical manufacturing and robotics, aeronautical equipment or Biopharmacy and advanced medical products, among others.

The training actions will have a duration of a minimum of 30 hours and a maximum of 60, and must identify in their contents the unit or units of Competence of the Professional Qualifications included in the National Catalog of Professional Qualifications (CNCP), opens in window new to which they are associated.

The recipients of this training will be, on the one hand, the workers of the companies and business groups themselves and, on the other, people seeking employment or in a situation of special vulnerability.

This call, which ends on April 22, is part of the strategic action launched by the Ministry to improve the professional skills of workers and their recognition. The goal is to accredit the training of more than three million people by 2024.

Connecting the National Reference Centers with the business fabric

The future Organic Law on the Organization and Integration of Vocational Training, currently in parliamentary process, will promote the connection of the National Reference Centers with the productive fabric of their surrondings. These centers contribute to guaranteeing a quality training system, in accordance with the qualification needs demanded today. The network of National Reference Centers adds up to a total of 38 throughout Spain with the recent incorporation of the Andalusian Center for Comprehensive Training of Leisure Industries in Mijas (Málaga). With the inclusion of the aforementioned center, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD) responds to the need to have a reference center in the Vocational Training system specialized in the hospitality sector, which carries out innovation, experimentation and training actions . It will serve to detect new professional qualifications, promote collaboration networks with companies, or participate in the procedures for the evaluation and accreditation of professional skills, among others.