The new RPL: collective work for an optimized pathway

Published on: 21/02/2024Updated on: 21/02/2024

IPERIA, recognized for its role as a skills certifying body for the individual employment and domestic work sector for 30 years, was invited to participate in the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Meeting, organized by C2RP (Carif-Oref Hauts-de-France) in Lille. Nadège Turco, Deputy Director of IPERIA, thus spoke at a roundtable dedicated to "certifying bodies", alongside Franck Giuliani, Director of FCU Côte d'Opale and President of the national Continuing Education at University network, Norbert Jaouen, National Head of RPL at the Ministry of National Education, and Christine Mayor, Project Officer at DREETS Hauts-de-France. We were there.

Contributing to the renewal of RPL

The Regional Council and the State have entrusted C2RP with the mission of facilitating the RPL process and ensuring the reform's adoption by professionals closest to the field. More than an informative meeting, the RPL Meeting is a time for discussion between users and the ecosystem to serve the process and identify continuous improvements that could be implemented before building regulatory texts.

An opportunity for candidates

Bruno Drolez, Regional Director at the Regional Directorate for Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity of Hauts-de-France describes the RPL reform as a "quadruple opportunity" for candidates. It allows everyone, regardless of age, education level, or status, to have their professional experience validated to obtain certification recognizing their qualification, know-how, and ability to master and practice a profession.

Since late 2022, a major overhaul has simplified and accelerated the process, placing every chance on the candidate's side. Each certification aspirant receives close support, significantly reducing the risk of dropping out.

Professional training is evolving and driving ambition. The challenge? Increasing from 30,000 to 100,000 applications nationwide annually within just three years.

Co-building at the heart of commitment

The success of this system is the result of long-term work undertaken by various sector stakeholders. "It is indeed the interaction between 4 categories of actors [editor's note: certifying bodies, funders, pathway architect support officers, and guidance/information point advisors] that will be key in the success of this new RPL system" as Yves Muchembled, Director of C2RP, emphasized in the first minutes of the Meeting.

The RPL reform is a reform originating from the territories, built with partners such as certifying bodies, the result of collective work for a "seamless" pathway for candidates.

Olivier Gérard, Special Witness, France RPL Project Manager and Prefigurator of the RPL public service, sets the tone for expectations: "getting feedback from users and the ecosystem to improve again and again before building regulatory texts." He already notes 29,800 active applications on the portal in less than 6 months. A real success.

Committing to every candidate

As a key sector actor, it was only logical that IPERIA participated in the renewal of RPL.

Much more than just a supporter of the training organization network accredited by the branch, IPERIA ensures all aspects of promoting professionalization. It is this complete expertise that C2RP requested.

IPERIA's key role

In crucial moments, IPERIA knows how to be there and bring its sense of innovation and expertise from the field and needs, as Nadège Turco emphasizes: "For us as a certifying body, expertise extends beyond. We play a key role in monitoring professions and skills early on, enabling us to determine when certification and skill recognition are necessary. The expertise doesn't stop there: "Then, the process we know unfolds: organizing juries, issuing certificates, and coordinating the network of professional jury members composed of both employer and employee representatives. IPERIA is a 360-degree certifying body: it builds the frameworks submitted to France Compétences, constructs evaluations, and questionnaires. It recruits jury members, organizes juries, evaluates skills, delivers the final result, ensures employment follow-up, and COEPS... That's our added value.

IPERIA at the heart of reflection

IPERIA once again demonstrates the legitimacy of its approach: "The sector prioritizes pathways and personalized support. This means guiding individuals step by step, staying engaged throughout the program, and continuing support to help them successfully achieve certification. The strength of the qualification is important. We support people who may have difficulties in showcasing their entire global pathway but who can, at a given moment, show that they have professional experience and showcase it to an individual employer."

"The future is certification"

The whole challenge is there, dealing with humans, with people who above all want a diploma, a qualification. Nadège Turco explains: "We had to do a lot of education and still need to today, to make people understand that the skills block is a certification, that it's not the entire qualification. The way we will then potentially support them in getting this certification is essential. Today, with France RPL, we have complementary training and we can say there is also a future for certified individuals and this future is certification. This means that we need to support candidates, that IPERIA needs to continue to commit to their side to lead them to complete certification." More than ever, IPERIA and the branch are therefore committed to RPL candidates: "Commitments are needed because we need to make people want to come, and typically in the sector, social partners have chosen to have the branch cover salaries and living expenses for employees in an RPL process."

Architect of each candidate's pathway

Our Deputy Director reminds the assembly of IPERIA's vocation: "Our objective is to ensure we secure pathways, that they respond to an employer's need in the sector and that they stay there as long as possible."

IPERIA positions itself as a true pathway architect for each candidate: "We prescribe the pathway, in light of what we know about the professions, the skill, etc. A certifying body knows how to do this. It's very important when we're with our network of training organizations, to think of this as support and not as training. We are the branch's pathway architects, with a branch agreement."

IPERIA wishes to thank C2RP for its invitation, as well as all actors, present or not, around the roundtables of this morning, for sharing their expertise and ambition in favor of the individual employment and domestic work sector.