UNESCO Failure to Come Up With a Workable Definition for a Microcredential

UNESCO titled their 31 page Draft Preliminary Report "A conversation starter: Towards acommon definition of micro-credentials" (September 2021). Unfortunately the proposed definition is unusable, as it doesn't address what makes a microcredential different to other credentials: it is much smaller.

The UNESCO report proposes a micro-credential:

"1. is a record of focused learning achievement verifying what the learner knows, understands or can do;

2. includes assessment based on clearly defined standards and is awarded by a trusted provider;

3. has stand-alone value and may also contribute to or complement other micro-credentials or macro-credentials, including through recognition of prior learning; and

4. meets the standards required by relevant quality assurance."

However, every credential should have these characteristics. UNESCO seemed to have missed the hint in the name micro-credential. These are much smaller, but not necessarily literally one millionth, of a conventional qualification. I have, not entirely seriously, suggested these be called Deci or Centi-credentials, as in practice they tend to be one tenth to one hundredth of a three year degree.

Youth As Researchers

Greetings from the University of Canberra, where

Dr Mark Brennan, UNESCO Chair in Community, Leadership, and Youth Development, and Professor of Leadership and Community Development at Pennsylvania State University, isspeaking on "Opportunities for Research Innovation and Expansion through Youth-led Research". He started by pointing out that "More than one-half of the world’s population is under the age of 25 years, and over a third is under 15." He described "a youth-led research program, which engages youth in topics of concern to them and their communities.

The curriculum materials for the "Youth as Researchers" program are available free online from Pen State University (but no online course):

•  Youth As Researchers Training Manual
•  Youth as Researchers Workbook

However, the concentrations of young people are in poorer countries in South America, the Middle East and Asia, while the curriculum materials have been developed and tested in the USA and Ireland. This appears to be as much an exercise in promoting the value of Social Science in western universities as in helping young people in developing countries.

Youth-led Research

Dr Mark Brennan, UNESCO Chair in Community, Leadership, and Youth Development, and Professor of Leadership and Community Development at Pennsylvania State University, will be speaking on "Opportunities for Research Innovation and Expansion through Youth-led Research" at the University of Canberra, 12:30 pm 14 May 2018.

"More than one-half of the world’s population is under the age of 25 years, and over a third is under 15. The need to actively engage and empower this population has been recognized by major international organizations, NGOs, and local agencies as critical to achieving social, economic, environmental, and political development. Nonetheless, a generalizable, adaptive, and sustainable framework for achieving this global youth citizenship remains elusive. In response to this need, we present a youth-led research program, which engages youth in topics of concern to them and their communities."

UNESCO Policy Recommendations for Equitable and Affordable Higher Education

UNESCO have released a policy paper on "Six ways to ensure higher education leaves no one behind" (20 April 2017).

The six ways are:

1. Know your target for equity policies. Review equity policies periodically to make sure that the groups that most need help are getting it. Take advantage of household surveys and other monitoring tools to keep track of different groups. 
2. Put it in the law. Ensure equity and affordability across diverse higher education systems by guaranteeing principles of access within regulatory frameworks
3. Set up steering and monitoring agencies. Guarantee student protection by establishing national agencies to develop and follow up on equal opportunities policies, equity and affordability in higher education. Quality assurance bodies can play a role in the monitoring of equity policies.
4. Level the playing field. Use a combination of admissions criteria to ensure that all students have a fair chance at getting into the best universities, regardless of their backgrounds. Develop effective affirmative action policies that put equity front and centre in the admissions process.
5. Combine tuition fees with means-tested grants and loans. Concentrate public financial aid on disadvantaged student groups. Establish an agency to coordinate student financial aid disbursement and effective collection mechanisms.
6. Limit student repayments. Combine low tuition and fees with income-based loans to cap student repayment burdens at less than 15% of monthly income.

From: Six ways to ensure higher education leaves no one behind, Page 10, UNESCO, 20 April 2017.

Two additional measures I suggest may help:

1. Concentrate public financial aid on shorter introductory vocational programs. The funding needed for one student to undertake a three year degree could instead provide three students with a one year diploma, or six students with a six month certificate. Once the student is qualified for a well paying job they can fund their own studies.
2. Train Academics to Teach On-line:  On-line and blended learning provides considerable potential for providing equitable access to education. However, many university academics have minimal training in how to use computers for teaching. Academics should be trained in how to teach in blended and on-line modes using courses delivered in blended and on-line modes.