Page 52 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1

STS364 Maria F.
work undertaken in a number of member countries, Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Centre for
the Development of Vocational Training, existing standards related to labour
statistics and education statistics.
The Guidelines distinguish between Qualifications and Skills, there are used
the definitions made by UNESCO in International Standard Classification of
Education (ISCED) 2011 and International Standard Classification of Education:
Fields of Education and Training 2013 (ISCED-F 2013).
Qualification is defined as the official confirmation usually in the form of a
document, obtained through (i) successful completion of a full education
program; (ii) successful completion of a stage of an education program
(intermediate qualifications); or (iii) validation of acquired knowledge, skills
and competences, independent of participation in an education program
(acquired through non-formal education or informal learning). For formal
qualifications the data is collected about the level of education and field of
study. Non-formal qualifications are not officially recognized as equivalent to
formal qualifications.
Skills are defined as the innate or learned ability to apply knowledge
acquired through experience, study, practice or instruction, and to perform
tasks and duties required by a given job. The skills are classified in the
following way:
 job specific/technical skills that relate specifically to certain types of
jobs or job fields, it is difficult to transfer them from job to job;
 basic skills are the prerequisite for further education and training, and
for acquiring transferable and technical and vocational skills;
 transferable/portable skills are relevant to a broad range of jobs and
occupations and can be easily transferred from one environment to
another.
In ISCO 08, skill specialization is considered in terms of four concepts: the
field of knowledge required, the tools and machinery used, the materials
worked on or with: and the kinds of goods and services produced. Due to job
requirements different levels of skills proficiency are required: low level,
moderate level, high/advanced level, none.
ILO methodology suggests classifying the mismatch of persons in
employment separately in qualifications and skills.
Due to ILO definition qualification mismatch refers to a situation in which a
person in employment, during the reference period, occupied a job whose
qualification requirements did not correspond to the level and/or type of
qualification they possessed. Over-qualification and under-qualification due
to the level of study and field of study mismatch could be observed. Skill
mismatch refers to a situation in which a person in employment, during the

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