Work Study Booklet and Follow-Up Booklet

Tool focus

All the tools presented and used by the Training Centre support training implementation phases focus on the tripartite relationship between the Centres, the trainees, and the companies:

1. Tripartite Commitment
2. The Skills Targeted and Their Evaluations
3. Missions in Companies
4. My Activities at The Training Centre
5. My Business Activities
6. Periodic Business Valuation Sheet
7. Follow-up 1 Of the Learner in The Company

Target group

Training centre managers, employers planning to hire apprentices, TVET providers (TVETPs), employers’ partners in the delivery of internships, industry mentors.

Introduction

The Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA) is a project implemented by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the European Training Foundation (ETF). SIFA is co-funded by the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) and the European Union (EU). SIFA aims to promote the occupational prospects of young Africans through the support of innovative skills development programmes and in close cooperation with the private sector as an integral and key stakeholder in the creation of jobs. One of the key activities of SIFA is knowledge creation and dissemination on topics relating to employment-oriented skills development through exchange and dialogue formats. These take place through the African Skills Portal for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (ASPYEE) and through regional and continental event formats such as Africa Creates Jobs (ACJ). Apprenticeship offerings, knowledge products and tools shall support SIFA’s audience in facilitating skills development on the continent. SIFA’s audience includes political decision and policy makers, private sector associations and other entities, TVET practitioners and other stakeholders involved in skills development and youth employment. The end beneficiaries of the programme activities are African youths. The African Union’s (AU) Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Decade Plan of Action focuses strongly on enhancing the quality of apprenticeships and engaging with the private sector. SIFA supports the implementation of the action plan and, via its ASPYEE portal, disseminates knowledge on existing approaches towards implementing apprenticeships in Africa, including lessons learned.

A comprehensive overview of the varying apprenticeship tools in the form of approaches, models, procedures, forms, etc. that are used in the African countries and easily accessible is missing. Easily accessible apprenticeship supporting tools and guidelines shall enable governmental TVET authorities, skills development practitioners in the private sector, TVET colleges, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), and Development Partners (DP) to improve the design and implementation of apprenticeship programmes and initiatives.

It is against this background and guided by a research and mapping concept²  that SIFA has supported the identification of practical tools applied that have facilitated the advancement and implementation of apprenticeships in selected AU member states. This paper is part of a series of papers presenting and discussing apprenticeship facilitating tools used within a diverse selection of apprenticeship programmes implemented in different AU member states. The papers' introductory TVET sections do not claim to be exhaustive. They serve solely to provide context for the sections presenting the apprenticeship programmes and tools. The tools do not necessarily represent the most advanced tools but rather robust tools that can be applied by apprenticeship projects at different stages of their advancement.

It is in this context that apprenticeship in Tunisia has been surveyed to identify practical apprenticeship facilitating tools.

The Programme: Menzel Bourguiba Sectoral Training Centre for Metal Construction

The Menzel Bourguiba Sectoral Training Centre for Metal Construction (C.S.F.C.M) was set up in January 1984 under the supervision of the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment.

The C.S.F.C.M is a state-owned institution that provides initial vocational training for young people in metal construction having the facilities (educational spaces and workshops) and training resources (pedagogical framework, support staff). The centre has the capacity to accommodate 800 learners.

The diplomas offered by the centre refer to three levels: Certificate of Professional Aptitude (C.A.P), Professional Technician Certificate (B.T.P), Brevet de Technician Superior (B.T.S) [Superior Technician Certificate].

The Centre offers three modes of training: Alternance, Apprenticeship and Continuing Education.

The Centre works very closely with companies for  work-based learning within the alternance training mode, and apprenticeship which is, among other things, facilitated through tripartite conventions and regularly held discussions.

With regard to the provision of the alternance and apprenticeship training modes, two tools are of general interest, which are presented in this paper:

1. The work study booklet
2. The follow-up booklet

The Tool: Work-Study Booklet

Alternance training consists of a succession of periods of vocational training in the Centre (C.S.F.C.M Centre) and periods of trade practice in a company. The periods/intervals are defined in the curriculum determining the alternating schedule.

The work-study booklet is a key linking tool for the work-based learning modes of alternance and apprenticeship. The booklet contains various sections covering important aspects of the training, thus supporting the relevant actors – apprentice/trainee, apprenticeship master, Center and company – throughout the training process in terms of:

1. Providing general information: Presentation of the actors directly engaged in the training, incl. names, positions and contact details.
2. Providing educational information: Timetable and course calendar, a summary of the educational programme (training plan), and schedule of the training periods alternating between theoretical parts offered at the centre and practical parts offered at the company.
3. Monitoring the apprentice’s progress: Assessment of the training offered during the company-based training period, incl. assessment of the apprentice’s learning progress, intermediate reports covering the training (content and learning), learning evaluation modes as well as trainee assessment by means of exams (pass level) related to the diploma.

Thus, the booklet can be seen as:

• a permanent source of information - providing practical information concerning the rights and duties of the apprentice, the organization of the training, classes and  trainers;
• a recording document for the apprentice, the company and the teachers – recording the progress as to adapting to the work situation, recording learning progress made, recording the interviews with the apprentices, company master instructors and tutors;
• a dialogue tool - representing a communication link between the parties to the training contract, i.e. the apprentice, the company, the apprenticeship supervisor, the Centre and the teachers;
• a common space – provided for all actors engaged in the training by establishing a common framework that facilitates accountability in terms of training and learning, incl. exchange between the company instructor, the centre tutor and the apprentice throughout the learning period.

The implementation of all periods in the same company, as part of a project jointly managed by the Centre and the Company, allows the learner, as soon as he/she graduates, to be fully ‘operational’ and ‘fit’ for undertaking a variety of work-related tasks in the company. If the apprentice performs professionally well, demonstrates the good work ethic required and identifies with the company’s goals, he/she has a very high chance of being employed by the company after graduation.

The Tool: The Follow-Up Booklet

The follow-up booklet records the learner's course in the training centre and in the company.  The learner must always have this booklet at his/her disposal, both in the company and at the training centre.

The tutor facilitates and supports the learner when he/she is at the company. The training manager is monitoring and recording learning on behalf of the training institution.

There are seven key tools incorporated in the Follow-up Booklet:

1. Tripartite Commitment
2. The Skills Targeted and Their Evaluations
3. Missions Assignments in the Company
4. My Activities at the Training Centre
5. My In-Company Activities
6. Periodic Company Evaluation Sheet
7. Follow-Up of the Learner in the Company

Extracts from these tools are presented below.

Tripartite Commitment

The Skills Targeted and Their Evaluations

THE SKILLS TARGETED AND THEIR EVALUATIONS     Professional abilities Measurable and measured criteria Evaluation of the criteria Acquired Not acquired

In this form, the main professional skills that the trainee should learn each year, are identified, recording whether they were acquired or not.   EXAMPLE: Professional capacities 1. Prepare the work area and the equipment needed to perform the welds. 2. Check the supply of materials and sub-assemblies and/or parts to be positioned. 3. Make the welds on a mechanically welded assembly, pre-assembled using one of the most widely used processes in the business.

Assessment in the company - Activities at The Training Centre – In-Company Activities

There are the 3 grids that allow each trainee to identify and record their training path. These are: The assignments in the company - with a description of the assignments, the company, the period in which it took place as well as a more detailed description of the activities. Activities at the training centre – the modules, the themes and the progression signed off by the trainee's tutor are recorded; My in-company activities - difficulties encountered, missions carried out, state of progress are recorded in the company, as well as observations by the trainee and the tutor. At any point during the trainee's journey, it is known exactly what he/she has done, where he/she has done it, how he/she has done it, when he/she has done it. This ensures continuous control of the situation, alignment whenever necessary and the progress that is intended to be achieved.

MY ACTIVITIES AT THE TRAINING CENTER   Period from:                                  to:             TRAINING  MODULE THEMES ADDRESSED PROGRESSIONS                   Liaison Trainers / Tutor (Observations): ...................................................................................................................................................................         VISA Training Project Manager

IN-COMPANY ASSIGNMENT   TITLE  DESCRIPTION DATES COMPANIES STATUS

MY IN-COMPAY ACTIVITIES   Company Name:   The period from:     to:   My activities: (difficulties encountered, missions carried out, progress.)   ................................................................................   Learner Observations:   ................................................................................   Tutor's Observations:   ................................................................................                       VISA                     Learner                     Tutor

Company training period evaluation sheet

Company Name: ______     Learner's Name: ______   

The Company Training Period Evaluation Sheet is a very important grid to describe the progress of the trainee. It implies the assessment of the performance level and six defined assessment parameters related to the scale of job skills and the overall schematic assessment percentage (scoring according to a scale up to 20). This provides the basis for a Development and Action Plan in relation to the beginning of the training or in relation to the previous visit.

The follow-up of the learner in the company by the centre allows to assess the extent to which the objectives for each stakeholder have been met. In detail, the following items are relevant for the various stakeholders:

For the company:

• the assurance of active listening to the centre
• a presentation of the centre, the training, its progress, its expectations, and its deadlines
• the knowledge of the teaching resources and methods on which the work-study student can rely, including in the implementation of in-company assessments

These items, to be assessed on a regular basis, allow direct and constructive exchange and remove the obstacles that may interfere with the achievement of assignments.

For the trainee:

• a prerequisite for the presentations to be made within the frame of the training course
• identification of the expectations of the tutor and an update on the integration of the learner into the company
• verification of the expectations of the training centre
• a reminder of the resources available to him/her for the implementation of the assignments, incl. all teaching teams and tutors according to the blocks of skills and the other work-study students developing projects in similar establishments in compliance with the rules of confidentiality

For the centre:

• the assurance of a good understanding of the assignments) by the work-study student and the tutor
• the transmission of the tools to the tutor, which are necessary for accomplishing his/her tutoring function, i.e. training program, specifications of assignments projects in the company, definition of secondary tasks, skills assessment tools

The comprehensive and detailed way in which the tools are organized allows aligning the training with the work needs as well as the company's responsibility for the intern with the center’s monitoring. Thus, it will be possible to make the necessary adjustments at any time, based on a close tripartite relationship.

Equipping each intern with his/her own booklet will have a number of advantages. By means of the booklet, he/she will be able to:

• familiarize himself/herself with the terminologies, techniques and requirements on the job market;
• get the opportunity to apply the skills acquired in the training to concrete activities in the real world of work;
• develop work habits, entrepreneurial spirit and a sense of professional responsibility;
• acquire knowledge of the business organization (company), the sector of activity and the job market.

There are no major constraints in the application of these tools that are part of a process of connecting the trainee with the job market. It is the trainees' first entry into a company.

Although booklets represent a comprehensive set of tools, it is likely also a ‘management-heavy’ set of tools. Managing seven sets of individual tools will be resource-demanding especially when the number of trainees increases. This will require time to apply and an in-depth introduction to their objective and management when new companies or teachers/tutors are joining.

When considering introducing a similar set of tools it will be relevant to consider if your own system has the necessary resources to manage that many tools or if it would be preferable to merge some of the tools.