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Access
principles & guides
- Best
Practice Guide for Professional Bodies
Australia's Best Practice Guide for Professional Bodies (Feb,1997)
was produced by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition
(NOOSR), Higher Education Division, in consultation with professional
bodies and other interested groups. The guide was produced to
help professional bodies critically examine their current assessment
procedures and information practices, identify gaps and make improvements.
It was intended as a useful tool for regulatory bodies seeking
to improve access for educated international candidates. It is
not profession-specific; rather, it provides guidance on those
aspects of assessment and appeal procedures that are essential
from a sound practice and service delivery perspective. Part I
contains the guiding principles for the assessment and recognition
of overseas skills and qualifications as well as general comments
on assessment, appeals and provision of information. Part II provides
more detailed information, including a checklist for an appeals
procedure document, profession-specific leaflets, and a candidate
information handbook. The guide is an excellent resource for Ontario
regulators developing access initiatives
(see www.detya.gov.au/noosr/bestprac/part2.htm).
- Draft
Access Principles for Regulated Professions & Trades
Draft Access Principles For Regulated Professions and Trades,
produced by MCTU in 1997, is based on the 1989 Access! Task
Force report. The principles provide a framework to promote
access objectives. There are two overriding principles: first,
that regulatory bodies should retain the right to ensure competency
of their members and, second, that everyone-both Canadian trained
and others-should have an equal opportunity to seek registration
in the profession for which they have been educated. The document
goes on to outline specific principles on registration, assessment
of qualifications, licensing and registration examinations, language
testing, bridge training/upgrading, and the right to appeal. For
example, the proposed principle on examinations is: "Examinations
or other assessment tools should be based on criteria relevant
to performing adequately in the profession or trade, and should
be designed to ensure they are valid, reliable and fair."
- General
Guiding Principles for Good Practice in Assesment
The General Guiding Principles for Good Practice in the Assessment
of Foreign Credentials was produced by the Canadian Provincial
Assessment Committee in collaboration with the CICIC (updated
in April 1998). The document starts with seven primary principles
and then outlines guidelines for assessment procedures and criteria
that would be helpful to regulatory body developing their own
assessment criteria. It also incorporates the Draft Recommendations
on the General Procedures and criteria for the Evaluation of Foreign
Qualifications developed by the Council of Europe and UNESCO.
The guidelines are divided into the following areas: general procedures,
processing time and delay, information requirements, fees, translation,
document requirements, status of institutions and programs, purpose/outcome
of assessment, level of study, assessment criteria, duration of
study program, and appeals. Under assessment criteria, for example,
the guideline states that a variety of assessment criteria should
be applied to determine the level and type of educational programs
in the home country including entrance requirements, duration
of study program, structure of program, contents of the program,
purpose of the degree and bridges to a traditional degree.
(see www.cicic.ca/pubs/prncpen.stm).
- ISO
17024, General requirements for certification bodies operating
certification of personnel
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) asked the Canadian General
Standards Board (CGBS) to participate in Working Group (WG) 17,
the committee tasked with developing ISO 17024, General requirements
for certification bodies operating certification of personnel.
This standard would set out the requirements for an organization
administering the training, testing and certification of personnel
from almost any profession. Because the CGSB is interested in
certifying personnel as a future business line, the invitation
was accepted.
(see www.pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/info/news/calibre/archives/article8-e.html)
- Skills
for Change How To Kit
The How To Kit is designed to help agencies develop sector-specific
workshops or information sessions on accessing professions and
trades. While the kit is primarily for agencies, it is also useful
to regulators who want to design similar information sessions
for internationally trained applicants. The information on p.3
on the handout kit is particularly useful (see www.skillsforchange.org/access/other/how_to_kit.htm).
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