27 October, 2003
© Beep Knowledge System and case owners, 2002-2003
Social Inclusion Cases
ECDL (Romania)
Executive summary of the case:
Timing of case
The importance of the ECDL programme for Romania was noticed by the Romanian
Government, which has introduced it in the Government Decision no.1007/2001.
Geographic setting
ECDL ROMANIA established a national network of aprox.70 approved test
centres, a network which is under an enlargement process, intending to
cover all Romania’s counties.
Type and use of ICT
In the company there are 9 employees. Their roles are: marketing, audit,
quality management, examinator, correction.
Also, each training center must meet certain conditions in terms of equipment
and personnel.
Main contributors
In Romania, ATIC (The Association for Information Technology and Communication
in Romania) has the exclusive rights granted by the ECDL Licence. The
administration and the organisation of ECDL programme in Romania are made
only by ECDL Romania.
Main beneficiaries
The European Computer Driving Licence mission is to raise the Information
Technology (IT) knowledge level and increase the competence in using personal
computers and usual computer applications for the general public.
Background
"Do you know how to use a computer?”. This question is heard
more and more often in many lines of business, all over the world, and
sometimes had to even answer this question. For us to give a positive
and a reliable answer, the Council of European Professional Informatics
Society (CEPIS) which is the most important European IT&C Association,
created European Computer Driving Licence – an IT skills certification
system, based on a set of standards and quality guidelines.
Objectives
Our Mission is to raise the level of knowledge about Information Technology
(IT) and increase the level of competence in using personal computers
and basic computer applications for all the citizens.
Resources (apart from ICT)
ECDL ROMANIA established a national network of aprox.70 approved test
centres, a network which is under an enlargement process, intending to
cover all Romania’s counties.
Activities
Approval - identification of centers which meets
the requirements. The centers are visited, the examinators are tested
Training - carried out by the approved centers. A programme is made available and approved course materials. The centers have the responsability of managing the activities further.
Examination - in the testing process there are involved both the testing centers and ECDL Romania. Tests are being examined and licences are being released based on the grades obtained.
Outputs and results
ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence is an internationally recognised
computer skills certification programme. It allows an efficient use of
the computer in the most diverse fields of activities. The best answer
to the question : “Do you know how to use a computer” is “I
have got the ECDL”.
Lessons and conclusions
The "new alphabet" must be learnt by many more people.
It must be stressed on the quality of the programme (teaching and testing)
An international standard is essential in order to assure programme relevance.
Background
"Do you know how to use a computer?". This question is heard more and more often in many lines of business, all over the world, and sometimes had to even answer this question. For us to give a positive and a reliable answer, the Council of European Professional Informatics Society (CEPIS) which is the most important European IT&C Association, created European Computer Driving Licence – an IT skills certification system, based on a set of standards and quality guidelines.
ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence is an internationally recognised computer skills certification programme. It allows an efficient use of the computer in the most diverse fields of activities. The best answer to the question : “Do you know how to use a computer” is “I have got the ECDL”.
Until now over 3 m people have joined the ECDL/ICDL certification programme, ECDL being used in more than 90 countries by leading companies, public administration or high level education institutions. Currently there is a network of over 15,000 Test centres world-wide. The support of the European Community is also proved by the fact that the ECDL Certificate no. 00001 was awarded to Romano Prodi by ECDL Foundation. ESDIS (Employment and Social Dimension of the Information Society) recommended ECDL to all members of the EU as the standard qualification of IT skills. To read this document, please click here.
ECDL demonstrates a fundamental level of IT knowledge and computer skills competency. To achieve an ECDL certificate you have to successfully pass one theoretical and six practical tests which assess the basic skills of the candidate in using a personal computer and its basic applications.
Achievement of this qualification is being seen more and more as the standard by which employers can benchmark the computer competency of both their current and potential human resources and based on which one can multiply his/hers job prospects and future opportunities.
To any job interview a candidate must prove his/hers IT skills. ECDL is the European certification validating that the holder has the required IT skills for getting the wanted job.
With ECDL the IT skills are world-wide recognised, irrespectively of the country it was issued. The ECDL Certificate obtained in Romania is recognised in over 80 countries, including the state members of the European Union.
The ECDL is an instrument used by leading corporations, national or multinational, which perceived the value and the advantages of this professional standard.
“The benefits of ECDL to IBM lie in developing a uniformity and standard level of competence across the whole site. We are looking to have a flexible workforce that can adapt as their roles change and the company develops. To achieve this we need to be committed to continual learning. And there are obvious benefits to the employees. They feel good about attaining the ECDL certificate. It gives them confidence and a sense of achievement, as well as new skills\".
Les Williamson
Resourcing Services Manager
IBM Greenock
The ECDL/ICDL programme is administered on a global basis by the ECDL Foundation (ECDL-F). The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization whose role it is to promote, develop and certify computer skills and IT knowledge.
This is achieved through the establishment of ECDL/ICDL Licensees in each country who administer the programme locally based on a strict set of ECDL-F standards and quality guidelines.
All Licensees must be members of their local professional computer society. Licensees approve independent Test Centres to conduct ECDL/ICDL testing of candidates.
In Romania, ATIC (The Association for Information Technology and Communication in Romania) has the exclusive rights granted by the ECDL Licence. The administration and the organisation of ECDL programme in Romania are made only by ECDL Romania.
Objectives
Our Mission is to raise the level of knowledge about Information Technology
(IT) and increase the level of competence in using personal computers
and basic computer applications for all the citizens.
Objectives:
- Establish over 200 acredited centers in Romania until the end of the year 2003;
- Raising the awareness in Romania;
- Raising the esential IT knowledge level and the abilities to use the computer in Romania;
- Raising the competencies and motivation of candidates;
- Raising the productivity of computer use.
Resources
ECDL ROMANIA established a national network of aprox.70 approved test
centres, a network which is under an enlargement process, intending to
cover all Romania’s counties.
The company has 9 employees. These people cover the following responsabilities, according to the activities carried out: marketing, audit, quality management, examiner, corrector.
The minimum necessary requirements for the acredited centers is:
a) technical requirements
server configuration
Pentium II-III 400 Mhz cu CDROM
128 Mb de RAM (256 Mb recommended)
Operating software: Microsoft W 98, Me, NT4, W 2000 sau W XP, or equivalent
Network: Protocol TCP/IP
The server must have a backup system.
PC configuration (minimum 6 PCs)
Pentium II (or equivalent)
64 Mb de RAM (128 Mb recommended)
Operating software: Microsoft W 98, Me, NT4, W 2000 sau W XP, or equivalent
Network: Protocol TCP/IP, LAN
Internet connection
Software to allow exams for the 7 modules
b. Staff requirements
Minimum two acredited examiners for each center
The examiners must graduate all modules in 25 minutes/module
Examiners can be students in the last two years of studies
Activities
Approval - identification of centers which meets the requirements. The
centers are visited, the examinators are tested
Training - carried out by the approved centers. A programme is made available and approved course materials. The centers have the responsability of managing the activities further.
Examination - in the testing process there are involved both the testing centers and ECDL Romania. Tests are being examined and licences are being released based on the grades obtained.
There are two issues to be described: one regarding what someone must
do in order to pass the ECDL exams and other regarding what an institution
must do to become ECDL acredited.
From the user point of view:
The ECDL certificate endorses that its holder has passed the tests corresponding to the 7 modules of the ECDL Syllabus:
Module 1 - Basic Concepts of Information Technology (IT)
Module 2 - Using the Computer and Managing Files
Module 3 - Word Processing
Module 4 - Spreadsheets
Module 5 - Database
Module 6 - Presentation
Module 7 - Information and Communication
When a candidate enrolls to start the certification process, he/she must buy a Skills Card on which the progress through the seven tests is recorded. As each module is passed, the accredited testing centre will endorse the Skills Card indicating the references as to the passing of the respective module. The Skills Card must be kept safely, a test passing record being made only on same. The exams are not authorized if the candidate is not in a possession of a valid Skills Card. When all modules are successfully completed, the Skills Card is presented for confirmation and an ECDL certificate issued.
The 7 exams should be passed within three years from the date of the first exam. There are no penalties for failing a test, you only need to try again until you succeed. Of course, one will have to pay to sit for another exam.
There is an intermediary certification granting the ECDL Start (after passing 4 of the 7 modules). ECDL Start is also accepted by most of the European employers and institutions, where the knowledge covered by the 4 modules is sufficient. After receiving the ECDL Start you still can take the other 3 exams for getting the full ECDL, within the allowed 3 years period of time since the first test.
The capabilities and qualifications of an ECDL certificate holder are recognized world-wide in over 80 countries.
From the institution point of view:
In each country where the ECDL Licence has been granted there is an ECDL national operator that accredits the test centres. In Romania, ATIC – The Association for Information Technology and Communications from Romania is the Licensee and ECDL Romania administers the licence.
After making sure that it satisfies the ECDL standard, presented in the ECDL Test Centres Standard section, any centre that intends to be ECDL accredited must issue a solicitation to ECDL Romania. The minimum technical requirements can be found in the 4th page of the form.
In order to get the ECDL accreditation, the centre submits to ECDL Romania an accreditation form. After receiving the form, ECDL Romania designates an accreditation officer to visit the centre to ensure the location and other requirements for a testing environment are met. The centre must pay an audit fee for this visit to happen. The centre must also elaborate an ECDL book of guidelines, after a draft sent by ECDL Romania. The next audits of the centre will be based on these guidelines. If the first audit is successful, after the accreditation of two testers, the sub-licence contract may be closed.
At present, ECDL Romania is authorizing a network of test centres all across Romania, monitoring the existence of the required quality standards imposed by the ECDL Foundation. This network is counting up to 70 test centres at the end of the year 2002.
The test centres and ECDL Romania signed a sub-licence contract and, for an annual sub-licence fee, the centre may train and test candidates for the certificate. In all this time, the centre must follow the ECDL standards, which is an essential stipulation in the renewal of the contract.
An acredited test centre is not bound with having only ECDL activities. The only stipulation of the ECDL standards regarding this situation is that during the examination of the candidates no other activities may take place in the examination room.
Also, the technical requirements are not too demanding, knowing that the applications used for the examination are wide spread among the computer users. This aspect is very important because the ECDL authorization usually does not ask for supplementary expenses for meeting the required software and hardware standards.
The accreditation costs go as follows: 500 EURO the audit fee, another 500 EURO the sub-licence fee for the first year of activity, plus the cost of the accreditation of two examiners, which includes the preparation for their ECDL activity at the test centre.
Output and Results
The Association for Information Technology and Communication in Romania
(ATIC), member of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies
(CEPIS) has the exclusive rights given by the ECDL Licence in Romania.
The administration and the organisation of ECDL programme in Romania are
made exclusively by ECDL Romania, the only entity authorised by ECDL Foundation
and ATIC to promote and to develop ECDL programme in Romania.
The importance of the ECDL programme for Romania was noticed by the Romanian
Government, which has introduced it in the Government Decision no.1007/2001,
stating that:
“The training courses will be based on the “European Computer
Driving Licence” (ECDL) pattern, which has been adopted as standard
by governments in many countries. The Ministry of Education will recommend
this approach to all technical high schools; ECDL has been proposed to
the EU member states as the standard diploma of basic qualifications in
operating computers.
The plan calls for 30 training hours per public servant, both for those
taking computer literacy courses and for those taking advanced courses.
ECDL courses will address the particular issues related by the incentives
for public servants. In order to avoid the requirement that employees
enrolled in the program should take days off, whenever possible distance
learning methods will be used.
The training courses will need a lot of actual operating computers and
will require adequate structures all over the country. ECDL training centres
and ECDL testing centres will be established in all county capitals, in
as many as possible high schools and in some universities’ departments.
The first stage of the program will address 250,000 public servants”.
The certification of the candidates could be done only in test centres approved by ECDL Romania according to the standards of ECDL Foundation. The list of approved test centres could be found at Test Centres.
ECDL ROMANIA established a national network of aprox. 150 approved test centres, a network which is under an enlargement process, intending to cover all Romania’s counties. Among these centres there are educational institutions (universities, high schools and even some elementary schools-mainly dedicated to get ECDL Start), training centres for public administration, and training centres in all the important cities of the country.
Before ATIC received the ECDL licence for Romania, a number of pilot programmes took place. We could mention here the programme of the Ministry of Education “100 successful teachers”, which used 6 ECDL modules in a distance learning programme. Besides, the Ministry of Education intends to extend the use of ECDL in the educational programme and many educational institutions have already received approval or are about to receive it.
Another pilot programme was organised by the National School of Political And Administrative Studies Bucharest (SNSPA), which introduced ECDL training and testing as a component of an international training programme. During this pilot programme, ECDL testers from Denmark were in Romania for supervising the testing sessions. Now the programme is finalised and SNSPA joined the accredited Test Centres of the ECDL Romania network.
Nowadays there are approx. 1300 people registered within the programme which covers about 75% of Romania''''s teritory. Almost all universities and many colleges are being acredited as ECDL centers.
Here are some of the companies which use ECDL:
Romania: Romanian Banking Association, The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and Bucharest, Romanian Businessmen Association, Universities of Bucharest, Iasi, Craiova, Bacau, The Academy of Economic Studies, PCNet
France: AXA, Crédit Lyonnais, Tarkett Sommer, Cofiroute, Castorama, Unibail, Renault DTSI, KPMG, SONOVISION ITEP, Matra Datavision, Banque de France, SPB, Grand Optical.
Germany: Siemens, Henkel, BMW
Ireland: ISB, AIB Bank, Bank of Ireland, First National Building Society, Pfizer, Siemens-Nixdorf, Guiness, IBM, Irish Life Insurance, Northern Telecom, Irish Country Meats, Telecom Eireann, Bio-Medical Research, ACC Bank, Sea Ray Boats, Ministry of Agriculture, Dublin City Hall, Institute for Public Administration.
Italy: Italian Railway Society (FS), National Society for Electricity
Lessons and conclusions
IT culture and computer knowledge is needed at the broadest level.
The programme is succesful only if the training is followed by certification
The accent must be put on the quality of the programme
International standardization assures programme relevance
IT literacy addresses various domains with similar interests: Administration, Education, Corporate, Individuals
References and links
ECDL CENTRES WORLDWIDE - ECDL LICENCEES
Europe
www.ecdl.at/ - Austria
www.ecdl.be/ - Belgium
www.ecdl.com.cy/ - Cyprus
www.ecdl.cz/ - Czeck
www.dansk-it.dk/ - Denmark
www.ao.ee/ - Estonia
www.tt-tori.fi/ - Finland
www.pcie.tm.fr/ - France
www.ecdl-portal.de/ - Germany
www.ecdl.co.uk/ - Great Britain
www.ecdl.gr/ - Greece
www.ecdl.iif.hu/ - Hungary
www.ecdl.ie - Ireland
www.aicanet.it/ - Italy
www.ecdl.lt/ - Lithuania
www.ecdl.nl/ - Netherlands
www.datakortet.no/ - Portugal
www.ecdl-ru.com/ - Russia
www.drustvo-informatika.si/ - Slovenia
www.ati.es/ - Spain
www.dfs.se/ - Sweden
www.ecdl.ch/ - Switzerland
www.ecdl.org.tr/ - Turkey
Africa
www.icdl-unesco.org/ - Egypt
www.mftsite.com/ - Iran
www.icdl.org.za/ - South Africa
Australia and Asia
www.acs.org.au/icdl - Australia
www.ittqc.com/home.html - Hong Kong
North America
www.csb.bm/ - Bermude
www.icdlcanada.com/ - Canada
www.icdlus.com/ - USA
South America
www.sadio.org.ar/ - Argentina
Contact Information
Organisation: ECDL Romania S.A.
Name: Ana Dulu
Address: 12, Sf. Spiridon St., ap.5, 70234, Sector 2, Bucharest, Romania
Telephone: +4021 2108453; +4021 2108599;
Fax: +4021 2108599
E-mail: office@ecdl.org.ro
Web: http://www.ecdl.org.ro