Principales actores involucrado en el Proyecto MECOCPAL
FINANCIAMIENTO COORDINACIÓN
5. Balance crítico
The organization of vocational and technical education comprises three essential phases:
• the determination of funding methods • physical and material resources • in-service training for human resources
The determination of funding methods
Funding for vocational and technical education activities may come from a vari- ety of sources. For vocational and technical education, the MEQ funds mainly initial training, in accordance with the budgetary rules in effect. For continuing education and training, funding is generally provided by EQ. Some activities can also be funded by the student or a business.
Operating and equipment replacement costs are established for each vocational and technical education program accord- ing to need. A cost analysis establishes the financial parameters of each program. All of these data and their methods of calculation constitute the budgetary rules for vocational and technical education.
31See <http://www.afe.gouv.qc.ca/anglais/index.htm>.
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Funding rules for vocational educationThe funding of vocational education involves two types of expenditures, that is, operating costs and capital costs.
Operating costs include:
• costs associated with human resources (mainly teachers)
• the cost of material resources, that is, mainly equipment subject to frequent replacement and raw materials used during instructional activities
• the costs associated with instructional support services, the management of vocational education centres and tech- nical services
Capital costs include:
• the investments necessary for the pur- chase of durable equipment and the construction and set-up of facilities • the replacement of worn or obsolete
equipment, instruments and tools Within the limits of the budgetary rules, the MEQ is responsible for operating costs and, since these costs are recurrent, it must make disbursements every year. Finally, funding allocated by the MEQ for vocational education is based on the num- ber of students certified for each module of a program of study.
In terms of capital costs, the MEQ subsidizes the greater part of new equip- ment purchases and the set-up of the facilities necessary for the implementa- tion of new programs of study. However, school boards, which have the power to levy taxes in order to earn income, are liable for any new investment resulting from the implementation of a new voca- tional education program. In addition, each
year, the MEQ reviews the funding para- meters related to the maintenance of existing equipment. Private schools pro- vide 100 per cent of the funding for the necessary facilities.
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Funding rules for technical educationColleges enjoy considerable autonomy in determining which learning activities are necessary to help students acquire the competencies targeted by a program of study. They therefore participate actively in the analysis of training approaches and themselves determine the most appropri- ate means of carrying out learning activities. Given the greater leeway enjoyed by CEGEPs, the MEQ does a predictive analysis of the refitting of facilities and upgrading of equipment required by the implementation of new technical pro- grams and produces an implementation cost estimate. It then asks the CEGEPs to validate the results of the analyses in accordance with their own vision of the implementation of the program before releasing them.
The MEQ provides all the funds neces- sary for facilities for public colleges. The amounts are based on the number of full- time enrollments per program.
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The participation of partnersSometimes socioeconomic partners are called upon to contribute to the organiza- tion and financing of resources in return for certain advantages, which allows the government to reduce implementation costs. These contributions include: • the implementation of work-study pro-
grams
Educational
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• the sharing of facilities • the loan of teachers
• financial contributions supported by legislative or fiscal measures
• the acceptance of trainees
Physical and material organization
The physical organization of the equip- ment and facilities necessary to achieve the program’s objectives is the responsi- bility of the technical education centre or college. The MEQ is responsible for setting standards for equipment, materials and facilities and, consequently, for determin- ing the investments necessary for the implementation of programs of study. These data are included in instructional and material organization guides for voca- tional education and in implementation cost estimates for technical education. Produced by the program development team, these documents are used to per- form impact analyses and to determine funding parameters.
In-service training for human resources
In-service training for human resources is the joint responsibility of the MEQ and the educational institutions. The MEQ subsidizes part of the in-service training of vocational education teachers. Colleges are entirely responsible for the in-service training of technical education teachers. Socioeconomic partners can also contri- bute to updating the training of teachers. Businesses may, for example, lend or pro- vide access to state-of-the-art equipment. They can provide specialists to present technological innovations, explain new
manufacturing processes or describe the new competencies required in the labour market. They can also provide training for teachers in the form of practicums.
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Pedagogical trainingWhen implementing new or revised programs of study, the MEQ covers the cost of activities intended to acquaint teachers with the programs and with the guides and tools made available to them. These activities help teachers appropri- ate the new programs. Training packages intended to help them understand the programs are also distributed. Ideally, all teachers of new programs should benefit from such in-service training.
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Technological trainingGenerally speaking, updating training for vocational and technical education teach- ers is the responsibility of educational institutions, but the MEQ may provide partial funding when significant changes have been made to the program in question.
2.2.4 Monitoring and Evaluation of