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Continous Vocational Training in Bulgaria and the Role of the Bulgarian Employment Agency - Bulgaria
Source: World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES)
In the context of "life-long learning" continuous training is one of the main factors for professional activity development and improvement. This means that knowledge and skills acquired within the formal education and training system very soon prove to be insufficient for a quickly changing reality and labour market needs, this is why they must be continuously updated. Continuous training nowadays is defined as an important guarantee for successful personal development and it supports individuals in fulfilling their social roles; at the same time, it's one of the basic factors for sustainable economic development.
Continuous vocational training is carried out in the form of vocational training, succeeding a certain minimum of general educational and/or vocational knowledge and skills, acquired either within the secondary school system, or at the various training institutions and organisations outside the system - training centres, schools, etc.
Under Bulgarian circumstances continuous vocational training constitutes:
Continuous vocational training as a factor for Bulgaria's future democratic development and its accessions to the EU is directly related to:
The new socio-economic environment in Bulgaria pre-determines the adoption of a new approach towards continuous vocational training.
Continuous vocational training in Bulgaria is based on a firm tradition. Up to 1989 workers, specialists and managerial staff were trained within a unified national, centrally governed system of training, qualification and retraining.
During the transition to a market economy continuous vocational training is implemented in the following ways:
The following governmental institutions take part in the implementation of continuous vocational training: the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Employment Agency, the National agency for Vocational Education and Training, regional administration bodies, etc.
The trainers in continuous vocational training are chiefly teachers and instructors from the vocational schools and the higher education system, as well as practitioners. The upgrading of their skills is carried out within the higher education or in specialized units, as well as in the "training of trainers" component under external projects.
The practice of continuous vocational training can serve as grounds for defining its strong and weak points:
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The fundamental legal, institutional and organizational basis is virtually present in the country as a necessary prerequisite for the creation of a contemporary continuous vocational training system, matching the needs of individuals and society, open to Europe and the world.
Factors, Challenges and Priorities for Continuous Vocational Training Development
One of the major driving forces of CVT development are the dynamically changing labour market requirements, A number of objective factors can be identified in this context:
The conditions in which CVT functions present the following challenges:
Considering the above mentioned factors and the challenges CVT poses, the following priorities can be drawn for the establishment of a modern continuous training system in our country:
The adoption of a new social policy is an important element of the Executive Program of the Bulgarian Government. The need for a change is conditioned by the pursuit of alleviating the burden of the transition and improving the socio-economic status of the Bulgarian citizens.
The Strategy is part of the integrated approach of the Government to implement reforms in the economy and the social life. It takes into consideration both the national experience and the tendencies, recommendations and guidelines of the European Commission and the Council of Europe in this area. The Strategy sets forth the future activities of the state, the local governments, the employers, the social partners, and the NGO, which are the key stakeholders in the social field.
The Strategy outlines the concrete policies and actions aimed at achieving the objectives outlined, namely:
The cornerstone of the new concept is the view that social policy should be considered globally, taking into consideration the interrelation of its separate elements and all the trends of overall state policy.
Increase of employment is one of the most acute problems in Bulgaria. Its solving is connected with a number of activities and measures that the Government has already initiated.
Among the changes already made was the division of the financial resources for unemployment compensation payments that actually are social insurance payments and the resources for financing active labor market measures. Until recently these resources were unified in the Vocational Training and Unemployment Fund. The National Employment Agency was funded only through it and suffered from permanent deficit that had to be covered by the state. Furthermore, over the last two years, NEA operated without an approved budget and this led to a lack of funding for any employment programs and respectively to increase in unemployment. Together with that, the unemployment compensation policy was structured in a way that led to a decrease in the motivation of people receiving compensation payments to start searching for a job. The amendment to the Law on Unemployment Protection and Employment Promotion and the adoption of a new Law on employment Promotion, in force since 1 January 2002, as well as the adoption of the Law on the amendment of the Code for Obligatory Social Insurance provided for a number of basic changes. The unemployment compensation Fund was transferred to the National Social Security Institute as an Unemployment Fund; this is how, for the first time the state engaged fully in funding the active labor market policies through the state budget. This was necessary in order to provide opportunities for the effective and efficient implementation of vocational training programmes, programmes for temporary and permanent employment, programmes for enhancing the employability.
Now we focus on the unemployed person as an active job seeker, at whom all opportunities for employment, training and retraining are targetted, the goal being his/her social and economic reintegration in society.
Prospective labour market developments towards the creation of an environment favourable for increasing employment and reducing unemployment are related to the following positive expectations:
Parallel to these positive expectations we should deal with the consequences of a number of negative factors:
The organization and implementation of vocational training and retraining of unemployed and employed people is a significant part of social work in the broad sense, conducted by the Employment Agency and its divisions - the Labour Office Directorates. This activity is carried out in such a way and with such a scope as to create conditions for mobility and quicker labour force adaptation to labour market needs.
The establishment and maintenance of a high level CVT requires good coordination between institutions on the national, regional, as well as local level. As evident in Appendix 1, the decentralisation of training is pertinent to EU practices aiming to achieve a satisfactory level of interaction.
The Law on Employment Promotion /LEP/ clearly and accurately regulates the basic activities and actions towards acquiring vocational qualification. The particular provisions are laid down in Articles 59 to 66 of the LEP.
Vocational Guidance, Information, Consultation and Organization of the Training
Vocational guidance is a term covering vocational information as well as consultation. Vocational information aims to supply information of sufficient quantity and quality about the particular occupational field and the occupations as to their prospective development on the national and regional scale and the opportunity they offer in terms of job placement.
Vocational consultation includes a more concrete information and assistance in choosing a particular job, training organisation, etc. to meet practical needs. The vocational guidance services offered at Labour Offices are as follows:
Information can be individual, including self research, by using specialized information materials, or in groups - information of people with common interests;
Vocational consultation of adults - individually or in groups. The aim of consultation is to assist individuals and their choice of occupation (specialization) during initial training or retraining and the ways of its acquisition through information and advice in accordance with the conditions and opportunities the labor market offers, the occupational standards and the clients' wish.
Information and Consultation Units at the Labour Offices
Vocational-information centers - their purpose is to provide conditions for solution of clients' problems in their individual choice of profession, search of opportunities for vocational training and development, moreover, they serve to promote employment through providing comprehensive, reliable and accessible information. They practice two basic forms of working with clients:
Self research is providing clients with free access to all means of information without preliminary request or individual visits schedule, determining the frequency and pace of getting information individually; choice of job without registering one's wishes or personal data; self-service through all available media; creating conditions of independent decision and freedom of choice.
Vocational Guidance Software
The Interests - Training - Jobs and Interests - Higher Education - Jobs meant for worker occupations and for professions requiring university education respectively, allow the clients, in accordance with their preferences called interests, to obtain a list of the jobs suitable for them on which they could concentrate in the process of their vocational guidance. Other types of software are "A Test by Holland", "On the Threshold of Choosing a Profession"; those allow the results to be printed out.
The training for vocational qualification of unemployed and employed people organised by the Labour Offices and funded by the state budget is implemented by virtue of the LEP and the Rules for its implementation.
The Employment Agency organises vocational training compatible with labour market needs, employer requirements and an approved plan. Each vocational training course organised by the Labour Office and financed with state budget means is conducted on the grounds of a previously concluded contract between the Labour Offices, the training companies, the trainees and the employers. All registered unemployed persons are eligible for inclusion in a state funded training course designed to meet labour market demand.
Labour Offices organise vocational training for unemployed people in the following cases:
Vocational training of unemployed people is funded by the state; the maximum amount of funds that may be spent for the training of a single person is 200 leva, while the unemployed person also receives a scholarship in the course of the training.
Whenever a person has to move to another locality to attend a training course, his/her transport and accomodation expenses are covered by the state.
Workers and employees of SMEs are also entitled to training delivered by the Labour Offices if they have been employed under a labour contract during the last 12 months or if the requirements to their voacational competences have changed due to changes in production.
The state's active policy approach to employment and unemployment is reflected in the considerable amount of actual social work done to motivate unemployed people to a proactive behaviour on the labour market and a timelier adaptation to its needs.
The job seekes' better mobility and adaptability to labour market conditions call not only for high level vocational skills, but also for greater effort into a particular type of behaviour, self presentation and self marketing. These efforts should be focused on:
By Venelin Terziev
Deputy Executive Director
Employment Agency, Republic of Bulgaria
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