Argentina. Programme for Quality Employment and Vocational Training
Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MTEySS)

The Employment Secretary of the MTEySS, within the sphere of the National Bureau of Vocational Guidance and Training, devised the National Programme for Quality Employment and Vocational Training with the aim of activating the application of efficient mechanisms to implement employment and vocational training policies.

In this way, the Quality Programme is launched to become a unit for the development and implementation of technical assistance mechanisms that begin to be applied within the framework of the Integral Employment Plan "More and Better Jobs" through the Sectoral Qualification Programme and the Training Component of the Unemployed Heads of Family Programme.

The adopted definition of quality involves the group of methodologies and management criteria linked to:

• Labour competencies.
• Training and employment institutions associated with the process of Labour Competency Certification.
  

The applied actions are oriented towards the development of four fields of action: social dialogue, labour safety, equity in the access to decent work and management transparency.

Each of them has its own objectives:

• Social dialogue. The intention is to create spaces for the participation of different actors - trade unions, enterprises, non-governmental organisations, universities, etc. - in the discussion of topics related to qualifications and the processes of vocational training improvement.
• Safety. Compliance with occupational safety and health standards will be encouraged.
• Equity. Training and qualification recognition processes will be encouraged to promote professional development and employment quality for the population, in equal conditions.
• Transparency. It aims at ensuring the efficiency of public expenses on vocational training by advancing processes of qualification reconstruction and continuing improvement in the institutions that take part in the Plans and Programmes of the MTEySS.
  

Social dialogue is an adequate mechanism used by the MTEySS for its ability to favour agreements on measures aiming at strengthening quality employment.
In such sense, generating social spaces promotes the participation of actors involved in the processes of:

• Standardisation, assessment and certification of people's competencies.
• Institutional strengthening and quality management improvement in Vocational Training Institutions.
  

The mission

Assisting the enhancement of economic competitiveness and social equity by means of institutional mechanisms that ensure employment quality and the development of competencies in the working population.

The objectives

• Promoting social dialogue through the creation of a quality framework for employment and vocational training.
• Identifying quality dimensions and describers validated by the actors of production, labour and training.
• Strengthening management quality in Vocational training institutions by taking into account the contribution of national and/or international standards (ISO Standards, IRAM, National Quality Prize, etc.).
• Contributing to the development and dissemination of instruments that facilitate transparency in qualifications through the processes of standardisation and certification of competencies.
• Promoting continuous improvement processes in the vocational training programmes of the Employment Secretary.
  
• Beneficiaries of the actions developed by the Quality Programme

The activities of the Quality Programme are mainly oriented towards the employed and/or unemployed economically active population by means of:

a) The Production and Labour Sectors, with the aim of identifying, standardising, assessing and certifying competencies.
b) Vocational Training Institutions, as co-executing agents of training activities.
Operation of the Quality Programme

The Quality Programme has three functional units:

1. The Technical Unit of Competency Certification (UteCC)
It is linked to the production and labour sectors. It has the purpose of enhancing the situation of employment and employability of people within a framework of social dialogue. It intends to contribute to the sectoral recognition of qualifications by means of assessment and certification processes guided by labour competency standards.

2. The Assessment, Monitoring and Technical Assistance Unit (UEMAT)
It focuses on Vocational Training Institutions as executing agents of training activities. Its function is based on the definition of criteria and conditions that may be claimed from Vocational Training Institutions (VTIs) as co-executors of the training policies of the MTEySS.

3. The Registry of Training and Employment Institutions (REGICE)
It focuses on Vocational Training Institutions and Sectoral Certification Bodies. Its aim is to organise, register and offer updated information on a qualitative and quantitative basis. Such information refers to:

Training institutions that take part in the programmes and projects on vocational training developed by the Employment Secretary.

• Labour Competency Standards.
• Sectoral Certifying Body.
• Certified assessors.
• Certified workers.

For further information visit: http://www.trabajo.gov.ar/calidad/index.asp

Coordinator of the Quality Programme: Mónica Sladogna
Technical Assistant: María Ester Báez Vera
E-mail: calidad@trabajo.gov.ar
Telephone: 4310-5856 / 5620

The Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/Cinterfor)
Avda. Uruguay 1238 - Montevideo - Uruguay - Tel: (5982) 908 6023 - 902 0557 - 908 0545 - Fax: (5982) 902 1305
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