One of the main roles of the Education and Training Service Centre is to write curricula and programme descriptions and collaborate with its contracted partners in their development. ETSC programmes are diverse and meet the needs of both the learners and the labour market.

Accredited educational providers are responsible for running the courses in accordance with these curricula, with funding from the Education Fund. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has evaluated the curricula for credit at the upper secondary school level.

ETSC programmes are of various types, for example, vocational courses in areas such as the tourism, office, fish processing and trade sectors. Some programmes are tailored for people with dyslexia, based in part on the methodology of Ron Davis.

Other ETSC programmes develop basic skills in subjects such as Icelandic, mathematics, English and ICT. These general curricula are often a starting point for adults with limited schooling who wish to re-enter education.

For every curriculum that ETSC has developed, it has published a promotional brochure with a brief programme description (as an appendix). These brochures are mainly used by the educational providers responsible for teaching the various programmes.

Guidance

The Education and Training Service Centre (ETSC) coordinates the development of career guidance for the target group in cooperation with accredited educational providers around the country. Included in this cooperation are regular seminars organized by ETSC.

Initially the focus was on workplace guidance, where the counsellors visited companies and presented the value of lifelong learning and the benefits of seeking career guidance. Following the changes on the labour market after the economic crisis in 2008, the counsellors are servicing job seekers to a greater extent.

Over the years, the career guidance services have become better known and people are increasingly seeking guidance and counselling on their own initiative. For individuals belonging to the ETSC’s target group, guidance and counselling are free of charge.

Validation

Validation of prior learning is a systematic process whereby all knowledge and competencies an individual has gained through various activities – such as work experience, work-related learning, non-formal and informal learning, formal learning, social activities and family life – are formally documented and validated.

The Education and Training Service Centre has developed methods for validation of non-formal and informal learning. The role of the ETSC is to ensure quality and guarantee that the approved methodology is implemented in the sectors where the validation is being applied, as well as manage the implementation of the validation process in new sectors.

On continuing projects, ETSC provides counselling, but when initiating validation in new sectors, it is very actively involved: Representatives from ETSC are members of project steering groups, provide counselling to partners, coordinate training for validation staff and publish guidelines and checklists.

Centre for andragogy – Training of instructors

The Education and Training Service Centre (ETSC) is a centre for educational consulting and the development of adult education. The Centre develops courses for teachers in various areas of adult education on an on-going basis which are then available to its contracted partners, along with follow up and consultation.

These courses cover various basic elements in andragogy and also focus on specialized teaching methods, such as creative strategies, assessment and distance learning technologies.

ETSC keeps an up-to-date and extensive database of books and other materials relevant to the various fields of adult education which is available to our contracted partners.

Promotion

The Education and Training Service Centre publishes an annual journal called Gátt. Its purpose is to strengthen the discussion on adult education in Iceland, collect and share experiences and promote the current trends in education, theories, data, tools and Web sites.

Included in Gátt are diverse approaches to adult education aimed at a broad group of interested parties: policy makers, leaders, teachers, participants and others interested in innovations in the field.

The publication of Gátt coincides with ETSC’s annual conference which takes place in the autumn. This conference provides an opportunity to discuss adult education from various perspectives. At the conference ETSC also presents awards to learners who have achieved results in their studies, by taking initiative and having the courage to overcome various obstacles.

Quality

ETSC has placed great emphasis on quality in learning by developing quality indicators for educational providers and by providing training courses for instructors. The quality indicators that ETSC has developed are based on Nordic and European quality assurance systems. ETSC has also developed a system for accredited learning providers in a European project called European Quality Mark (EQM). Further information can be found at www.europeanqualitymark.org.

Other projects

The Education and Training Service Centre has in recent years undertaken several projects for its owners, partners, stakeholders and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. In addition, ETSC hosts a large project: the Nordic Network for Adult Learning (NVL)

The Nordic Network for Adult Learning (NVL) is a project initiated and financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers ETSC hosts the project on behalf of Iceland. NVL is a forum for Nordic adult learning where the focus is on disseminating experiences and innovations. NVL promotes dialogue between different networks, initiates new networks and creates new co-operation models in order to enhance Nordic cooperation. For further information, visit nvl.org