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Published on: 27/01/2021Updated on: 27/01/2021
RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) is a pathway to obtaining a diploma or qualification by validating and recognizing skills acquired through experience. IPERIA embraced this system from its creation in 2002 and even before as a pilot program. Today, it continues to innovate in RPL by participating in a national pilot program led by the General Delegation for Employment and Vocational Training (DGEFP), which aims to explore the validation of one or more skill blocks through experience. This unprecedented approach, if successful, could benefit all certifications in France at the end of the project. What is RPL by block? What are the challenges addressed by this system? How does the pilot work? We'll tell you everything.
IPERIA Spearheading Block-Based RPL at the National Level
Good news! The DGEFP selected IPERIA's application to pilot RPL by block in response to its 2019 call for proposals. Following several measures aimed at facilitating entry into RPL and revitalizing this declining system, the decree of November 21, 2019, authorizes, on an experimental basis, the implementation of actions aimed at acquiring one or more skill blocks. This provision seeks to verify to what extent the division into skills blocks constitutes:
- A driver for accessing the certification
- Quick access to employment
- A response to certain high-demand occupations
- A means of reducing training duration during career transitions
Removing Barriers to Traditional RPL
Between 2010 and 2019, IPERIA awarded more than 27,000 qualifications in "Childcare Provider/Childminder", "Dependency Personal Carer," and "Family Assistant," which were recognized by the individual employment and domestic work sector branches. As a certifying body, IPERIA has always sought to promote RPL. This qualification pathway corresponds to the reality of the occupations it professionalizes.
RPL by block could help remove specific barriers, particularly regarding prerequisites. In traditional RPL, employees must have "the necessary experience of the occupation in all its diverse activities and missions. For this reason, we set a minimum of 1,900 hours worked(or more than one year of experience) to be eligible for RPL," explains Mireille Dabadie, IPERIA's Certification Delegate. Discover her testimony about the RPL journey.
Some employees realize they lack experience in certain areas. This is particularly true for the domestic work sector, which has 1.4 million employees[1]. Part-time work is common due to the needs these jobs address, and activities are particularly gender-specific. A sector employee's experience often doesn't cover all the activities identified in certification frameworks.
Getting certified for their work experience – whether for a single skill block or a complete qualification – can be an employee's first meaningful professional recognition. This achievement often motivates them to pursue further professional development.
These are all challenges considered by the DGEFP, which IPERIA is pleased to support in this pilot program.
Focus on the Pilot: Target Groups, Timeline, and Implementation
Does RPL by block facilitate access to certification? Does it allow for more candidates? Is there less pressure on candidates? Is it a means of increasing certification success rates? And specifically, what benefits does it offer? These hypotheses will be studied and evaluated during the pilot.From January 1 to December 31, 2021, IPERIA will support 30 to 50 candidates through an RPL by block pathway. The goal is to obtain certification (single block, multiple blocks, full qualification) with support from partner training providers approved for RPL.
Target groups include personal carers, childcare providers, and childminders. Test groups will comprise candidates pursuing one block (out of the eight blocks in each qualification) or several skills blocks (2 to 7). In parallel, control groups will consist of candidates pursuing complete professional certification (8 blocks).
Implementation of RPL pathways will occur in the first half of 2021, and certification juries, the final step before obtaining blocks or qualifications, will be held in the second half.
The ability to obtain individual skills blocks through RPL represents a promising innovation. If the results of this pilot are positive, it will represent major progress for the domestic work sector and beyond. The Ministry of Labor aims to generalize the system and subsequently open RPL by block to all certifications. IPERIA, a key player in social innovation, has already helped promote and guarantee employees' skills in an entire sector lacking recognition. This approach to block-based RPL represents another step toward a skills-based society, a transformation that IPERIA is proud to support.
[1] Source: 2019 Professionalization Policy Review of the Individual Employment and Domestic Work Sector.
