Introduction

I. Background to the general survey

1. In accordance with article 19 of the Constitution, the Governing Body of the ILO decided at its 238th Session (November 1987) to invite member States to present reports on their law and practice respecting the matters dealt with in the following instruments:

-- the Paid Educational Leave Convention (No. 140) and Recommendation (No. 148), 1974;

-- the Human Resources Development Convention (No. 142) and Recommendation (No. 150), 1975.

The reports supplied in accordance with this decision and those submitted under articles 22 and 35 of the ILO Constitution have enabled the Committee, in accordance with its usual practice, to carry out a general survey on the effect given to the instruments under consideration.

2. This is the first time that these instruments have been dealt with in a general survey. Since the 1946 amendments to the Constitution introduced the obligation to submit reports on the effect given to Recommendations and unratified Conventions, the Governing Body has only once requested reports on matters relating to training, 40 years ago. (Endnote 1) This concerned the 1939 Vocational Training Recommendation (No. 57) and Apprenticeship Recommendation (No. 60); these were superseded by the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962 (No. 117), itself superseded by the Human Resources Development Recommendation (No. 150) in 1975.

3. By choosing to request reports relating to human resources development, the Governing Body intended to contribute to the study of an important issue of considerable contemporary relevance. The key role of training in economic and social progress is widely recognised. Raising the level of knowledge, qualifications and skills enables increased productivity, which in turn enables economic growth and the improvement of standards of living. Training gives access to occupations, while enhancing workers' mobility and ability to adapt to new tasks, thus safeguarding their chances on the employment market. It is an essential element in job satisfaction and personal development.

4. The increasing importance attached throughout the world to human resources development is owed to certain characteristics and trends in the development of modern societies: high demographic growth rates have forced developing countries to adapt increasing numbers of new workers to limited employment markets. In the industrialised countries, high unemployment may exist side by side with vacant jobs -- a sign of insufficient or inadequate training in particular. The changes now under way in the economies of several Central and Eastern European countries will involve major reconversion and restructuring, which in turn will call for an unprecedented retraining effort. It is now generally recognised that training should be an integral part of employment policy and adjustment measures, so that an examination of ILO standards on the subject and their application is particularly opportune.

5. In 1983, when it considered an in-depth study of the ILO's vocational training programme, the Governing Body pointed out the importance of a general survey of the application of standards on human resources development. The International Labour Conference, in a resolution concerning workers' access to education adopted at its 72nd Session (June 1986), then called on the Governing Body to request member States to submit reports on the application of the instruments on paid educational leave. (Endnote 2)

II. Context of the standards

6. The ILO's concern with training dates back to the beginnings of the Organisation. The preamble to the Constitution, which lays down the programme to be carried out by the ILO, includes "the organisation of vocational and technical education" among measures to ensure an improvement in working conditions. The Declaration concerning the aims and purposes of the ILO, adopted in 1944 by the Conference in Philadelphia, recognises "the solemn obligation of the International Labour Organisation to further among the nations of the world programmes which will achieve: (a) full employment and the raising of standards of living; (b) the employment of workers in the occupations in which they can have the satisfaction of giving the fullest measure of their skill and attainments and make their greatest contribution to the common well-being; (c) the provision, as a means to the attainment of this end and under adequate guarantees for all concerned, of facilities for training and the transfer of labour".

7. In 1921, the Conference adopted the Vocational Education (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1921 (No. 15). In addition to adopting Recommendations focusing on the particular vocational training requirements in specific branches of economic activity -- agriculture, building, merchant shipping, fishing -- the Conference later saw the need to draft instruments laying down principles and methods which would be generally applicable to all vocational training activities. The Vocational Training Recommendation, 1939 (No. 57), provided, in particular, that collaboration between all the interested parties should ensure co-ordination of the different training activities on the basis of a general programme drawn up in consultation with authorities responsible for general education and vocational guidance. The Apprenticeship Recommendation, 1939 (No. 60), also contained provisions aimed at protecting apprentices by emphasising the employer's duty to provide proper training and draw up a contract of apprenticeship. The Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949 (No. 87), defines vocational guidance as a continuous process which should benefit both young persons and adults, its principles and programmes being determined in co-operation with the representative organisations of employers and workers. The Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950 (No. 88), was designed to describe vocational training methods for certain categories of adults with particular difficulties of adaptation to the employment market.

8. The adoption of the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962 (No. 117), was an important landmark in the ILO's standard-setting activity on this subject. This very detailed instrument covered all aspects of training, except for training for management posts, seafarers and agriculture. It emphasised the role of national administration and co-operation between all the interested parties; contained provisions on information about training opportunities and vocational guidance; and encouraged "industrialising" countries to develop their training systems progressively.

9. The inclusion of provisions relating to the developing world in this Recommendation was the first sign of the profound conceptual move which made it necessary, in the early 1970s, to prepare the instruments under consideration in this survey. These instruments marked a move away from the traditional concept of vocational training purely as a means to achieve balance on the employment market and towards a broader and more dynamic concept of "human resources development" as a major factor of economic and social development. This new term embraced training and guidance as part of a continuous lifelong process of expanding the individual's opportunities for education, both in the individual's own interest and for the welfare of the community, thus contributing also to the achievement of social justice and equity.

10. The ILO began by drafting an instrument on "paid educational leave", a new term at that time. It thus tackled what was regarded as the most innovative aspect of training with a view to adopting, on the basis of a study of experience which was not widespread at the time, an instrument which would recommend that this form of continuous training of workers be generalised. A year later the Conference began the examination of a proposed instrument which was to place vocational guidance and training within the framework of general human resources development policies. The two sets of instruments which are the subject of this general survey are thus closely related.

11. It should be emphasised that, in the cases of both paid educational leave and human resources development, the Conference adopted the formula of a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation, even though a single instrument in the form of a Recommendation had been envisaged originally. (Endnote 3)

12. As stated in its Paragraph 77, the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975 (No. 150), supersedes the Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949 (No. 87), the Vocational Training (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1956 (No. 101), and the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962 (No. 117); while the Vocational Rehabilitation (Disabled) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 99), (Endnote 4) the Vocational Training (Fishermen) Recommendation, 1966 (No. 126), the Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970 (No. 136), and the Vocational Training (Seafarers) Recommendation, 1970 (No. 137), remain applicable to those categories of persons.

III. Practical activities of the ILO

13. The adoption of the instruments on human resources development provided the Organisation with comprehensive standards in an area in which it is very active. The training programme, like the employment programme, to which it is closely linked, is one of the most substantial technical co-operation programmes. (Endnote 5) Alone it accounts for over one-third of technical co-operation expenditure (see Appendix IV). It is financed mainly out of extra-budgetary resources, two-thirds of which are provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), but also by multi-bilateral donors, while an increasing share of projects is financed by the World Bank and regional development banks.

14. Nearly all developing countries have benefited from ILO technical co-operation in the training sphere, and in recent years some 300 projects were under way at any given time in 60 or so countries. These have ranged from a vast project lasting several years to set up training institutions or systems, to occasional assistance in the form of advice to governments and enterprises concerning their policies in this field. The main thrust of ILO activity is in three areas which will be examined in greater detail in Chapter IV: Vocational training, management development and vocational rehabilitation.

15. The main distinguishing feature of the technical co-operation activity of the ILO in the area of training is without doubt the way in which it encourages active contributions from employers' and workers' organisations. The regular involvement of the social partners enables their complementary objectives to be taken into account in preparing, carrying out and evaluating projects, and thus improves projects' success rate.

IV. Activities of other international organisations

United Nations system

16. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948, states that everyone has the right to education, and that technical and professional education should be made generally available (Article 26).

17. Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 States accept specific treaty obligations relating to the rights laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was drafted in close collaboration with the ILO and came into force on 3 January 1976. It includes technical and vocational guidance and training programmes among the measures which States Parties must take in order to achieve the full realisation of every person's right to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts (Article 6).

18. The Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights lays down procedures for the supervision of its application, involving the consideration of reports of States Parties by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). ECOSOC is empowered to make arrangements with the specialised agencies for them to report to it on the progress made in achieving the observance of the provisions of the Covenant falling within the scope of their activities. Under this procedure, the ILO communicates information to ECOSOC on ratifications of the relevant international labour Conventions and on the comments of the supervisory bodies concerning their application. (Endnote 6) In the case of the provisions of Article 6, paragraph 2, on vocational guidance and training, such information mainly concerns Conventions Nos. 140 and 142.

19. In a recent study, the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations noted that "human resource development has always been a major consideration in all development programmes of the Organisations within the United Nations system". (Endnote 7) In the general context of the UNDP, 11 per cent of budgetary resources and 8.5 per cent of the total budget were allocated for education and vocational training purposes during the period from 1980 to 1987.

20. Each of the specialised agencies has developed training programmes within its own sphere. Thus, for example, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is carrying out a technical co-operation programme consisting of assisting developing countries in strengthening their training potential at all levels in the maritime field. Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set up a division of development of human resources for health to carry out the planning, training and personnel administration activities necessary to ensure that national health systems are able to function.

Co-operation between the ILO and UNESCO

21. It is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which has the most extensive responsibilities in the general field of education and training, and nearly all of its activities, both standard-setting and practical, are aimed at human resources development in the broad sense of the term. It was thus found necessary after a time to supplement and elaborate on the provisions of the original agreement on co-operation and consultation concluded between the ILO and UNESCO. (Endnote 8) A Memorandum on collaboration between the ILO and UNESCO in matters of technical and vocational education and related matters, approved on 14 October 1954 by the respective Directors-General, (Endnote 9) identifies the essential concerns of each Organisation and recognises the areas which may be of equal interest to both. It is agreed that each Organisation will take into consideration the standards laid down by the other. The Memorandum of Agreement between the ILO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO, supplementing the UNESCO/FAO agreement on agricultural education, which came into force on 3 August 1961, (Endnote 10) recognised the ILO's responsibility for standard setting in this area. Moreover, UNESCO states that as the specialised agency with the main responsibility for implementing International Literacy Year (1990), declared by the United Nations General Assembly, it has endeavoured to step up literacy efforts in both industrialised and developing countries. Considering that the ability to read and write is a basic element of human resources development, it feels that it has thus contributed to furthering the objectives of Convention No. 142.

22. The desire to harmonise the standards drafted by the ILO and UNESCO was expressed in the reference, in the preamble to Recommendation No. 150, to the Recommendation on Technical and Vocational Education adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 18th Session (1974). The preamble to the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education adopted by UNESCO's General Conference at its 25th Session (1989) likewise mentions ILO Convention No. 162 and Recommendation No. 150.

23. In addition, a regular arrangement (Endnote 11) enables UNESCO to participate in the examination of the application of certain international labour Conventions, including Convention No. 142. The communication of reports submitted under article 22 of the ILO Constitution affords UNESCO the opportunity to transmit its observations for consideration by the Committee of Experts. In addition, a UNESCO representative is invited to join the meetings of the Committee of Experts examining Convention No. 142. The UNESCO contributions are greatly appreciated.

Regional organisations

24. The European Social Charter, drafted in the Council of Europe with the collaboration of the ILO, includes in Part I the attainment of conditions for the realisation of every person's right to appropriate facilities for vocational guidance and vocational training among the aims to be pursued by the Contracting Parties. Each Article of Part II places States under the obligations corresponding to the aims set out in Part I. Thus, Article 9 provides that the State, with a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational guidance, undertakes to provide or promote a service providing free vocational guidance to both children and adults. Among the measures the State undertakes to adopt with a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational training, Article 10 mentions the granting of financial assistance in appropriate cases and the inclusion in normal working hours of time spent on training at the request of the employer. The participation of an ILO representative in a consultative capacity in the deliberations of the committee of experts appointed to supervise the application of the European Social Charter enables convergence in the implementation of these provisions and those of Conventions Nos. 140 and 142.

25. The Declaration adopted in December 1989 by the Heads of State or Government of Member States of the European Community entitled "Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers" contains a paragraph to the effect that every worker in the Community must have access to vocational training without discrimination on grounds of nationality, and that continuous and permanent training systems should be set up, enabling every person to undergo retraining, more especially through leave for training purposes. On 29 May 1990, the Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs adopted a Decision setting out an action programme for the development of continuing vocational training in the European Community.

26. The Arab Labour Organisation (ALO) developed its own standard setting in the field of human resources development when it adopted the Vocational Training Convention (No. 9) and Recommendation (No. 2) in 1977, and the Paid Educational Leave Convention (No. 10) and Recommendation (No. 3) in 1979.

27. Various initiatives are aimed at contributing to the promotion of ILO standards within the framework of various regional organisations. Thus, in May 1977 the Nordic Council organised a special tripartite conference in Copenhagen on Convention No. 140, attended by representatives of the Governments and employers' and workers' organisations of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The European Parliament, the assembly of the European Communities, adopted a resolution on paid educational leave in October 1987, urging "those member States which have not yet done so to ratify ILO Convention No. 140 as soon as possible".

V. Contents of the instruments

28. The Paid Educational Leave Convention, 1974 (No. 140), lays down the obligation of States which ratify to formulate and apply a policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice and by stages as necessary, the granting of paid educational leave for the purpose of training at any level, general social and civic education, and trade union education. The policy has to take account of the stage of development and the particular needs of the country and be co-ordinated with general policies concerning employment, education and training as well as hours of work. Employers' and workers' organisations and institutions concerned are to be associated with the formulation and application of the policy. The financing is to be on a regular and adequate basis. Leave may not be denied to workers on the ground of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. A period of paid educational leave must be assimilated to a period of effective service for the purpose of establishing claims to social benefits and other rights deriving from the employment relation.

29. The Paid Educational Leave Recommendation, 1974 (No. 148) adds that paid educational leave is not a substitute for adequate education and training early in life. It lays down the promotional measures which should be taken and contains suggestions as to responsibility for financing. Pointing out that workers should remain free to decide in which programmes they wish to participate, the Recommendation sets out the principles applicable to the grant of leave and the payment of financial benefits.

30. Under the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), States Parties have to adopt and develop comprehensive and co-ordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training, closely linked with employment, in particular through public employment services. These policies and programmes should take due account of employment needs and opportunities, and the stage and level of development and other economic, social and cultural objectives and be pursued by methods appropriate to national conditions. Designed to improve the capabilities of the individual, they have to encourage and assist all persons on an equal basis and be formulated and implemented in co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations. Open, flexible and complementary systems of education and training must be established and developed, and systems of vocational guidance and vocational training should be gradually extended.

31. The Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975 (No. 150), supplements the Convention with detailed guide-lines as to objectives and methods. It includes Parts dealing with training for managers and self-employed persons; programmes for particular areas or branches of economic activity; particular groups of the population; promotion of equality of opportunity for women and men; migrant workers; training of staff for vocational guidance and training activities; research; administrative aspects and representative bodies; and international co-operation.

32. These four instruments have a number of common features: they all call for the formulation of policies; the implementation of such policies must be gradual and take account of national conditions; and employers' and workers' organisations must be associated with the formulation and implementation of such policies. Each of these aspects will be further dealt with in this survey in the detailed examination of the provisions of the instruments and their application.

VI. Relationship with other international labour standards

33. As this is the first general survey of the Committee to deal with the instruments on human resource development, it would be useful to place them in the context of international labour standards as a whole. These are not merely added on to one another with each change of attitude reflected on the Conference agenda. On the contrary, each new instrument fits into a coherent body of standards which it strengthens, adapts and enriches. It will not merely regulate a specific subject in isolation but will fit into a much larger context, contributing dynamically to strengthening the provisions of other instruments. (Endnote 12) This interdependence of ILO instruments may be seen in the multiple links between standards on vocational guidance and training and other standards, in a twofold relationship providing confirmation, if such be necessary, of the ILO's interest in human resource development: on the one hand, many instruments, and in particular those relating to human rights, apply to training activities; on the other hand, the contribution of training and guidance to the attainment of objectives relating to employment or working conditions is recognised in several instruments in these areas.

34. The first of the fundamental standards touching on human rights concerns the prohibition of forced labour and its corollary, the principle of free choice of employment. In earlier general surveys the Committee of Experts considered that vocational training did not come within the purview of the Conventions on forced labour. The obligation to undergo education or training must be distinguished from "work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily" as defined in the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). It is recognised that a compulsory scheme of vocational training, by analogy with and considered as an extension of compulsory education, does not constitute compulsory work or service within the meaning of the forced labour Conventions. The Committee pointed out, however, that the distinction between training and employment was not always easy to draw, as vocational training usually entails a certain amount of practical work. (Endnote 13)

35. The same question of drawing a line between activities consisting mainly of work and those consisting mainly of training arises in connection with the applicability of the Conventions on the minimum age of admission to employment to work performed by children as part of their training. The earliest of these Conventions exclude from their scope work done by children in technical schools, provided that such work is approved and supervised by the public authority. Some add the condition that such work be essentially of an educative character and not intended for commercial profit. The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), merely excludes from its scope work done in schools of general, vocational or technical education. Neither does it apply to work done by persons at least 14 years of age as part of a programme for which a school or training institution is responsible, a programme of vocational training approved by the competent authority or a guidance programme. The logic of this Convention lies in its placing greater restrictions and requiring more guarantees if work is performed mainly in an undertaking: in this case, it requires the public authority to ensure that the training relationship is not a pretext for abuse.

36. When it adopted the Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970 (No. 136), the Conference decided that participation in such schemes should be voluntary. However, it considered that in the case of such programmes with the dual purpose of providing employment or training and at the same time contributing to development -- but which must in no case be permanent arrangements for education, training or employment -- exceptions to the principle of voluntary participation could be permitted, but only by legislation and in circumstances where there is full compliance with the provisions of the Conventions on forced labour and employment policy. One such exception would be education and training schemes which are compulsory for unemployed young people. In such cases the obligation to participate should be accompanied as far as possible by free choice of forms of participation: freedom to choose the type of activity and where it takes place.

37. The Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), provides that employment policy must aim at ensuring that "there is freedom of choice of employment and the fullest possible opportunity for each worker to qualify for, and use his skills and endowments in, a job for which he is well suited". It thus makes the connection between training and free choice of employment: while guaranteeing that no constraints are placed on persons obliging them to take up employment, employment policy must at the same time promote free choice by enabling each worker to train for employment which can subsequently be freely chosen.

38. The Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), defines discrimination as any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin -- or any other reason specified by the State Party to the Convention -- which has the effect of nullifying or impairing the equality of opportunity or treatment. States which ratify undertake to declare and pursue a policy with a view to eliminating any discrimination in employment and occupation, including access to vocational training. They must ensure observance of the policy in the activities of vocational guidance, vocational training and placement services under the direction of a national authority. The Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), lists the same seven criteria of discrimination with regard to opportunity to qualify for a job.

39. With regard to discrimination on the ground of sex, the Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951 (No. 90) mentions, among other appropriate forms of action to facilitate the application of the principle of equal remuneration, measures ensuring that workers of both sexes have equal or equivalent facilities for vocational guidance or employment counselling, for vocational training and for placement, and measures encouraging women to use such facilities.

40. Several instruments have extended the application of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment to distinctions which had not been expressly referred to by Convention No. 111 as grounds of discrimination. Some of these instruments provide for special measures for particular categories or groups of the population with a view to promoting effective equality of opportunity and treatment. Such measures often relate to training.

41. Thus, States which ratify the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97), undertake to apply, without discrimination, to immigrants lawfully within their territory, treatment no less favourable than that which they apply to their own nationals in respect of certain matters, including apprenticeship and training. In terms parallel to those of Convention No. 111, the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), includes an undertaking to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote and guarantee equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation for migrant workers and their families lawfully within their territory. The accompanying Recommendation (No. 151) confirms that such equality of opportunity and treatment applies to access to vocational guidance and placement services and to vocational training.

42. The Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107), stipulates that persons belonging to the populations concerned must enjoy the same opportunities as other citizens in respect of vocational training facilities, while the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), provides that members of the peoples concerned must enjoy opportunities at least equal to those of other citizens in respect of vocational training measures. In addition, both instruments prescribe the provision of special training facilities whenever programmes of general application do not meet the special needs of populations or peoples concerned.

43. The Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), applies to the latter "where such responsibilities restrict their possibilities of preparing for, entering, participating in or advancing in any economic activity". All measures must be taken to enable such workers to become and remain integrated in the labour force, including measures in the field of vocational guidance and training. The accompanying Recommendation (No. 165) specifies that vocational training facilities and, where possible, paid educational leave arrangements to use such facilities should be made available to workers with family responsibilities.

44. According to the Older Workers Recommendation, 1980 (No. 162), older workers should, without discrimination by reason of their age, enjoy equality of opportunity and treatment with other workers as regards, in particular, access to vocational guidance services, vocational training facilities, in particular further training and retraining, and paid educational leave, in particular for the purposes of training and trade union education. To this end, appropriate measures should be taken "such as those provided for in Paragraph 50 of the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975".

45. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159), concerns specific measures of vocational rehabilitation based on the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between disabled and other workers. However, it specifies that existing services for workers generally, including vocational guidance and vocational training, "shall, wherever possible and appropriate, be used with necessary adaptations". Convention No. 159 thus follows the same logic as Recommendation No. 150, which it mentions in its preamble.

46. The instruments which are the subject of this survey contain provisions which are consistent with this body of standards on equality of opportunity and treatment. In Convention No. 140 the principle of non-discrimination as applied to the grant of paid educational leave is formulated in a particular manner, the origin of which should be recalled: presented with a proposed text according to which paid educational leave would "be available to all workers without any discrimination", the responsible Conference Committee, during the first discussion, expressed its concern to avoid any misunderstanding as to the meaning of the term, by referring to the definition in the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111); (Endnote 14) during the second discussion the responsible Committee stated its misgivings that such wording, which appeared to require the grant of paid educational leave to "all workers", would contradict the possibility envisaged in other Articles of a progressive application of such grant of leave by means adapted to national conditions and taking account of the stage of development. (Endnote 15) The final wording of Article 8 eliminates these two risks of ambiguity by expressly referring to the seven criteria of discrimination laid down in Convention No. 111 as impermissible grounds for denying leave: "Paid educational leave shall not be denied to workers on the ground of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin."

47. The provision on equal opportunity and treatment contained in Article 1(5) of Convention No. 142 was introduced as it stood during the first discussion -- "encourage and enable all persons, on an equal basis and without any discrimination whatsoever" -- without being contested or elaborated on during the second discussion. Nevertheless, it is clear that the seven criteria laid down when the 1958 Convention on discrimination was adopted apply. Moreover, by adopting an open wording, the Conference did not rule out the possibility of defining other distinctions as discriminatory for the purposes of the application of this provision. In this respect, account should be taken of the development of the Organisation's standard-setting activity as regards equal opportunity and treatment, recalled in paragraphs 40-44 above.

48. The instruments on paid educational leave and human resources development also provide for specific measures in favour of particular categories in order to ensure that the principle of non-discrimination is fully applied. Under Article 9 of Convention No. 140, special provisions must be established where workers find it difficult to fit into general arrangements by reason of their belonging to a particular category of workers or their employment in a particular category of undertaking. Particular categories of workers include "workers with family responsibilities" -- the first time this wording appeared in an ILO instrument, replacing the traditional formulation, "women with family responsibilities". Article 3(1) of Convention No. 142 lays down the obligation gradually to extend systems of vocational guidance, including appropriate programmes, to disabled persons. A section of Recommendation No. 150 (Paragraphs 57 to 60) is devoted to particular prospects of vocational guidance and training for migrant workers. Another (Paragraphs 45 to 53) deals with measures for persons who have never been to school or who left school early, older workers, members of linguistic and other minority groups and handicapped and disabled persons.

49. The logical connection these instruments draw between non-discrimination in access to training and free choice of training should be pointed out. Paragraph 13 of Recommendation No. 148 states that paid educational leave should not be denied on discriminatory grounds and is followed by another fundamental principle: "Workers should remain free to decide in which education or training programmes they wish to participate" (Paragraph 14). As for Convention No. 142, both principles are embodied in a single sentence in paragraph 5 of Article 1: "The policies and programmes shall encourage and enable all persons, on an equal basis and without any discrimination whatsoever, to develop and use their capabilities for work in their own best interests and in accordance with their own aspirations."

50. The standards on employment provide further confirmation of how smoothly the standards on human resource development fit into a body of standards to which they are connected in a number of interdependent relationships.

51. The Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), provides that a policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment shall aim at ensuring that there is a fullest possible opportunity for each worker to qualify for a job for which he is well suited. Article 4 of Convention No. 140 provides that the policy designed to promote the granting of paid educational leave should be co-ordinated with general policies concerning employment, while the policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training adopted and developed under Convention No. 142 must be closely linked with employment (Article 1(1)) and take account of employment needs, opportunities and problems (Article 1(2)).

52. The standards adopted in 1975 may be considered "pilot standards" on the contribution of vocational guidance and training to the objective of full, productive and freely chosen employment, as is clear from the express reference to them in subsequent instruments on employment. The Termination of Employment Recommendation, 1982 (No. 166), includes training and retraining among the measures which should be considered with a view to averting or minimising terminations of employment for reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature, or mitigating its effects. It specifies that in assisting the workers affected in obtaining training or retraining, regard may be had to the Human Resources Convention and Recommendation, 1975. In addition, consideration should be given to providing income protection during any course of training or retraining. The part of the Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168), concerning promotion of productive employment states that the measures envisaged shall be taken in the light of the Human Resources Development Convention and Recommendation, 1975.

53. The part played by training in the improvement of working conditions has long been recognised in the standard-setting activity of the Organisation. The importance of appropriate training has been emphasised, in particular, by several instruments on occupational safety and health, from the Prevention of Industrial Accidents Recommendation, 1929 (No. 31), to the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167). The Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) contains provisions on the essential role to be played by training in national policy on occupational safety and health and in its implementation both at the national and at the enterprise level.

VII. State of ratifications

54. To date, the Paid Educational Leave Convention (No. 140), which came into force on 23 September 1976, has had 21 ratifications, while the Human Resources Development Convention (No. 142), which came into force on 19 July 1977, has been ratified by 44 States. Appendix II to this survey contains detailed information as to the States bound, but it may be noted that all the States which have ratified Convention No. 140 have also ratified Convention No. 142. In 1979, both Conventions were classified by the Governing Body as instruments, ratification and application of which should be promoted on a priority basis, (Endnote 16) and this priority was confirmed in 1987. (Endnote 17)

VIII. Available information

55. The Committee gathered its information from the 282 reports under article 19 of the ILO Constitution: 70 on Convention No. 140, 50 on Convention No. 142, 82 on Recommendation No. 148 and 80 on Recommendation No. 150. A summary table of the reports received is contained in Appendix III. The Committee also used the information contained in the reports supplied under articles 22 and 35 of the Constitution on ratified Conventions. In addition, it noted with interest and took due account of the comments received from the employers' and workers' organisations to which the government reports had been communicated in accordance with article 23, paragraph 2, of the Constitution. (Endnote 18)

56. The nature and extent of the information thus supplied to the Committee vary considerably from one country to another. Some reports only partly cover the matters dealt with by the Conventions and Recommendations; others confine themselves to remarks which are so general as to make it difficult to evaluate precisely the effect given to the instruments; on the whole, little information has been supplied on their application in practice. The Committee further notes with regret that several governments of States which have ratified one or both of the Conventions have not supplied the information required on the application of the relevant Recommendations. In line with its usual practice, the Committee has had to supplement its information by referring to legislation, official documents issued at the national and international level, reports and studies carried out by the competent technical branches of the Office, or other appropriate sources.

IX. Outline of the survey

57. The survey is divided into two parts, one on the instruments concerning human resources development and the other on those relating to paid educational leave. It has seemed logical to begin with the examination of the standards and practices relating to the broader of the two subjects. Thus, the following topics will be dealt with in turn in the first six chapters: policies and programmes of human resources development, vocational guidance, vocational training, programmes for particular areas and on branches of economic activity, the promotion of equal opportunity, and international collaboration and technical co-operation. The second part, on paid educational leave, contains a chapter on policies for its promotion, followed by one on the granting of it. The prospects and difficulties of ratification of both Conventions will be examined in a separate conclusion, which will also contain some final remarks.

58. References in this survey to national situations are intended merely as an example of the different practices relating to the instruments under consideration; they do not by any means claim to be exhaustive. The names of States which have ratified the Convention in question have been underlined.

Endnotes

Endnote 2

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Endnote 5

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Endnote 18

Cross references
Constitution: Article 19
Constitution: Article 22
Constitution: Article 23
Constitution: Article 35
Conventions: C009 Placing of Seamen Convention, 1920
Conventions: C010 Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921
Conventions: C097 Migration for Employment Convention Revised), 1949
Conventions: C107 Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957
Conventions: C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
Conventions: C122 Employment Policy Convention, 1964
Conventions: C138 Minimum Age Convention, 1973
Conventions: C143 Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975
Conventions: C155 Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981
Conventions: C156 Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981
Conventions: C159 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983
Conventions: C162 Asbestos Convention, 1986
Conventions: C167 Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988
Conventions: C168 Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988
Conventions: C169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989
Recommendations:R002 Reciprocity of Treatment Recommendation, 1919
Recommendations:R003 Anthrax Prevention Recommendation, 1919
Recommendations:R015 Vocational Education (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1921
Recommendations:R031 Prevention of industrial Accidents Recommendation, 1929
Recommendations:R057 Vocational Training Recommendation, 1939
Recommendations:R060 Apprenticeship Recommendation, 1939
Recommendations:R087 Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949
Recommendations:R088 Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950
Recommendations:R090 Equal Remuneration Recommendation, 1951
Recommendations:R099 Vocational Rehabilitation (Disabled) Recommendation, 1955
Recommendations:R101 Vocational Training (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1956
Recommendations:R117 Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962
Recommendations:R126 Vocational Training (Fisherman) Recommendation, 1966
Recommendations:R136 Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970
Recommendations:R137 Vocational Training (Seafarers) Recommendation, 1970
Recommendations:R151 Migrant Workers Recommendation, 1975
Recommendations:R162 Older Workers Recommendation, 1980