The objective of the National Skill Certification System is to certify all competent professionals, irrespective of the manner in which they obtained their skills, i.e. through vocational training, professional experience or training undertaken in another country, namely of the European Union.
The skill certification process is designed to contribute towards the continuous improvement of workers, recognizing and certifying already acquired skills and identifying those that still need to be developed, so as to give them a competitive edge in the labour market, bringing them closer to the real needs of the productive tissue.
Skill certification therefore ensures that a professional has the skills necessary to exercise a profession according to a reference job description defined within the scope of the National Skill Certification System.
Skill certification is expressed by the issuance of a Vocational Aptitude Certificate, which is a document verifying that an individual has the necessary skills to effectively carry out a given profession. It can be obtained, once the academic qualification requirements have been met, in one of the following ways:
- By attending a duly approved vocational training course;
- Based on duly confirmed professional experience;
- Based on the recognition/equalisation of professional or training titles issued in other member countries or, in the case of reciprocity agreements of the recognition of titles, in non-member countries.
The Vocational Aptitude Certificate is issued by the Certifying Entity, with the period of validity being established on a case-by-case basis. In order to renew the Certificate, the applicant has to prove that he/she has kept his/her skills up to date.
The certifying entities are responsible for the certification of the vocational aptitude of individuals of a specific sector or vocational area and for the homologation of the respective vocational training courses.
The Homologation of Training Courses is the recognition by the nominated Certifying Entity that a training course meets the technical and educational requirements that ensure the quality of the training and that the said course, as it is organised, is capable of providing trainees who successfully complete the course with the necessary skills laid down in the reference vocational profile to carry out their respective profession.
The requirements for a training course to be homologated (recognised) are specified in the Certification Manual drawn up by the Certifying Entity.
The Certifying Entity is the body qualified to issue Vocational Aptitude Certificates relative to a vocational profile or set of vocational profiles and to homologate the respective vocational training courses.
For more information on the recognition, validation and certification of skills in Portugal, visit the site http://portal.iefp.pt/pnrq/index.html.
