Professional councils
In Estonian occupational qualifications system the labour market is divided into 14 sectors (on the bases of statistical classification of economic fields in Estonia) and each sector is managed by a professional council.
Institutions represented in professional councils are nominated by the Government (10-20 institutions) and persons representing these institutions are nominated by the Minister of Education and Research. Typically institutions represented in professional councils are: employers organizations of the sector; trade unions of the sector; professional associations of the sector; education and training institutions; responsible ministries.
The objective of the professional council is registering the viewpoints and suggestions of different institutions, and achieving a consensus upon working out, developing and implementing the occupational qualifications system of the sector.
The list of professional councils can be find HERE.
Professional councils are responsible for:
- making proposals for developing and updating occupational standards; approving them;
- giving right to awarding bodies to award occupational qualifications and to participate in supervision exercised over the awarding bodies;
- approving the procedure for awarding occupational qualifications;
- approving the amount of the fee for awarding and recertifying occupational qualifications;
- resolving disputes related to awarding of professional qualifications;
- making other relevant proposals concerning the sector (the amount of state-commissioned study places ect.) .
The professional council appoints experts who shall
- map (in working groups) the main occupations in this sector or activitiy field;
- develop the occupational qualification standards;
- work out the scheme for awarding occupational qualifications.
Cooperation between professional councils coordinates the Board of Professional Council Chairemen (BPCC). BPCC decides on the allocation of the initial occupational qualifications in the EstQF and the need to develop higher qualification levels, and approves the need for the development of the occupational qualification standards.
