The validation of acquired experience (VAE) is often presented as an affair for experienced employees. However, one can also learn in an association, a family, a community, or a leisure activity. Recognizing these acquired skills does not mean distributing diplomas: one must demonstrate them, and the law must allow it.
Following the publication, in these columns on November 6, 2026, of my article dedicated to the functions of the VAE, a friend raised an objection: if individuals capable of making significant scientific discoveries outside the university are exceptional cases, should we not admit that the scope of the VAE remains exclusively professional? This question deserves our attention, as it intertwines three distinct realities: the context in which a person learns, what they learn, and the conditions under which an institution agrees to recognize it.
What the Law Says
In France, the scope of activities considered has gradually broadened: volunteer activities, union responsibilities, certain elective mandates, high-level sports, volunteering. The law of December 21, 2022, has extended this movement: it removed the minimum activity duration of one year and explicitly opened the process to caregivers. The common condition remains that the person justifies "an activity directly related to the content of the certification sought" (Labor Code, art. L6411-1).
An association leader can learn to prepare a budget, coordinate teams, and evaluate projects. A person who sustainably supports a dependent relative can develop organizational, observational, and communication skills. These examples do not automatically entitle one to a certification. They show that the distinction between professional experience and extraprofessional experience does not solely determine the value of acquired skills.
Learning also Happens Outside of Work
Research on informal learning has long established this. A European comparison dedicated to VAE in higher education recalls that this learning takes place "within the family, in the workplace, in civil society, or through the interests and private activities of individuals" (Prawelska-Skrzypek and Jałocha, 2013). A recent study on shared gardens in Paris even analyzes a leisure practice "from the perspective of the learning it generates" (Bouterraa, 2026).
It is essential to distinguish between lived experience, the learning that results, and the skills that can be effectively demonstrated. A long experience is not necessarily rich in learning, and a person can act effectively without knowing how to explain what guides their practice. It is not enough to have learned; one must also be able to demonstrate it.
The Farmers of Salagnac
My doctoral research provides a Haitian example. In Salagnac, in the Miragoâne region, agronomy students were welcomed for three months into farming families. According to a former dean of the agronomy faculty, some farmers served as internship supervisors and transmitted know-how that "even professors armed with diplomas up to the doctorate level" could not convey. He added: "perhaps we were validating acquired skills without realizing it."
This example has its limits: agriculture was indeed the profession of these farmers, practiced outside any salaried employment. It shows that recognized experience is not limited to salaried work. It raises a question: how can a university utilize skills to train its students without having the means to officially recognize them?
The Doctorate, a Limiting Case
A doctorate certifies the ability to construct a scientific problem, conduct rigorous research, and produce an original contribution. Decades of experience are not sufficient: competence in action does not equate to research competence. However, research is also conducted in companies, public institutions, and international organizations. In France, a doctorate can be obtained through VAE under specific university procedures, even if this path, "open for 15 years, has struggled to be taken," noted in 2017 the call for papers of a conference.
The pertinent question is not whether a person possesses exceptional genius, but whether their work demonstrates the research capabilities required for the degree. A doctorate through VAE does not prove that all extraprofessional experience can lead to it; it shows that the training path alone is not the validity criterion for scientific accomplishments.
And in Haiti?
The law for the recognition and validation of acquired skills and professional experience (RVAEP), published in the Moniteur on February 25, 2019, is more restrictive: its article 12 excludes the bachelor’s degree, master’s, and doctorate. These limitations address legitimate concerns, such as protecting the value of diplomas and preventing insufficiently controlled certifications. On August 27, 2025, the State University of Haiti condemned the "illegal awarding of doctoral diplomas through the Validation of acquired skills and experience" by a private institution.
However, two debates must remain distinct. The first concerns the expansion of eligible experiences: community organizations, agricultural activities, local educational initiatives, support systems. The second, more delicate, would concern diplomas currently excluded and could not be envisioned without authorization, independent scientific expertise, a defense, and institutional control. In my thesis, I already emphasized the need to "limit the exclusion of those who have trained through non-formal learning strategies."
Ultimately, the decisive question is not only where a person learned, but what they learned, how they can demonstrate it, and under what criteria society accepts to recognize its value.
This text is an abbreviated version of an article published on boursiquotherve.com, which contains the complete references.
Hervé Boursiquot holds a PhD in Educational Sciences and is the author of Diplomas, Skills, and Validation of Acquired Experience in Haiti (L’Harmattan, 2023) and Community of Practice for Teachers: Challenge of Improving Education Quality in Haiti (L’Harmattan, 2024).
