The Omnia Education Partnerships (OEP) team, led by Mervi Jansson, CEO of OEP and Chair of Finland’s Vocational Education and Training Quality Assurance Committee, visited Aramco’s Industrial Training Department (ITD) in Saudi Arabia as a part of the ongoing Center of Excellence audit.
OEP and Industrial Training Center of the International Labor Organization have joined forces to focus on digital excellence. As a forerunner in technology-enabled learning, Aramco is keen on networking and benchmarking best practices in this field. Rapid change, and especially digitalization, challenges vocational education and training on a global level and puts pressure on standards for learning environments and lifelong learning modalities. These are some of the mutual areas of interest identified by Aramco and OEP.
The overall OEP excellence audit process builds on the OEP Blueprint of Excellence – a research-based model analyzing how three global megatrends – innovation, greening and digitalization – influence the quality of vocational education and training within strategic, operational and pedagogical functions. The organization under audit can also select specific areas of excellence that are blended into the audit process. The OEP Blueprint model is based on the Finnish vocational education and training quality assurance framework, and the research that OEP experts conducted for the European Training Foundation on the Network of Excellence.
Demonstration of how XR is utilized in vocational training.
The initial excellence audit is carried out in three months and includes document and evidence review, a comprehensive onsite visit with observation, interviews and a workshop, followed by analysis and a second onsite workshop to share findings. The process is based on dialogue with an emphasis on co-creation. The audit may trigger development initiatives and the setting of milestones and KPIs, forming an updated roadmap for ongoing excellence
While the audit is a snapshot in time mirroring the status quo, the focus is on ongoing and needed future actions, given the heavy influence of the three global megatrends. This differentiates the OEP excellence audit from typical accreditation and quality audit processes.
During the first onsite visit, the OEP team indicated the Aramco ITD to be a true leader and beacon of high-quality vocational training, with ambitious plans for technology-enabled learning and aiming for the ongoing development of excellence.
More information:
Mervi Jansson, CEO, Omnia Education Partnerships
mervi.jansson@oep.fi