National Training Fund (NTF)

The National Training Fund (NTF) was established with Phare support by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in 1994. Its mission is to:

Untill 1997 NTF devoted the majority of its efforts to the education of a newly established private sector. With respect to limited resources NTF defined managers to be a key group in the transformation period. Besides strategic documents related to the current and future situation of the Czech management - in general and with respect to the selected sectors - a whole range of projects were implemented. We have created methodology and assessed the quality of the offer of education for management - in respect to both institutions and individuals. Later on the range of NTF activities substantially extended. Particularly in connection with the preparation of the Czech Republic for membership of the European Union we have also launched projects in the area of public administration.

The current priority of NTF, on which the Fund actively works in the most extensive cooperation with the private sector, state educational and academic spheres, is the creation of a nation-wide strategy of human resource development.

Besides the central project designed for human resource support the following activities belong to the major NTF projects:

Support of Public Administration Reform - apart from analytical and conceptual professional works performed within the scope of the preliminary project we are working on preparation of a whole range of follow-up implementation projects.

PALMIF - The Fund is involved in pro-active measures on the labor market focused on the moderation or prevention of unemployment.

SWIF - The Fund supports a wide range of initiatives of non-governmental entities in the social area.

Phare Vocational Education and Training Reform Programme issued from the need to adjust the specialized educational system to changes in the economy and society. The Programme objective is to participate in the long-term reform of specialized education, representing a decisive element of education, and thus to support the process of economic reform. Within the scope of the Programme several significant innovations of specialized education have been compiled and reviewed in cooperation with pilot technical schools representing all technical school types. The four-year programme that has already ended culminated in the compilation of a proposal of actual measures based on current results of the program and other work and on the results of public discussions, and in its submission to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

Leonardo da Vinci is a Czech coordination unit within this European programme designed for the support of innovations in vocational education and training.

National Observatory of Vocational Education and Training and Labour Market whose basic activity is to provide and analyze information, initiate and coordinate projects in the area of VET in the Czech Republic with respect to its relations to the labour market. Vocational education and training is perceived as a part of the human resource development and in this wider concept it includes, besides the system of schools, also other forms of continual education such as individual education and education at work.

Structural Funds - we participate in the preparation of the structure of the European Social Fund administrative work and we are involved in the whole range of related activities including the direction and coordination of a training programme for individual partners engaged in the preparation and operation of the structural funds.

One of the basic objectives of EU policy is economic and social cohesion, i.e. equalizing different economic and social level among member states, regions and groups of the population. In order to support the achievement of such an objective the EU applies structural policy within three basic areas: infrastructure, human resources, and productive investments. Structural Funds, Cohesion Fund and loans from the European Investment Bank constitute a major financial instrument of EU structural policy.

The European Social Fund is a financial instrument of EU policy in the area of employment and human resource development. The proposal of ESF orientation till the year 2000 fully reflects a higher level of coordination of employment policy within the EU known as European Employment Strategy, which is implemented by individual member states according to EU Directive through National Action Plans of Employment.

ESF will support and supplement activities of EU member states in the following widespread areas of state policy, particularly in the context of their National Action Plans:

ESF also contributes to the support of local (municipal, district) development, particularly by financing the local initiatives aimed at job opportunities creation.

An educational program regarding structural funds focused on central and regional participants will be one of the first actions. The European Commission granted approximately CZK 45 mill. to this program and NTF has been charged with its implementation. Educational programmes focused on (1) general information about objectives, principles, institutional framework, financial and administrative procedures of Social Fund and (2) experience and skills necessary for their management will be created within the scope of the Programme. The Programme will be carried out in 1999 - 2000.

Information Centre covers and analytically links up information activities focused on human resources and labour market development. National Resource Centre for Guidance (NRCG) has been recently established under NTF - similarly to EU countries - which has two main objectives: to improve the quality of advisory and information activities within the area of education, labour market and industry and to optimize the link-up of those activities between the Czech Republic and EU countries.

NTF also covers the project of Management Development Information Centre (MDIC) whose services focus on two target groups in particular: on managers and educational institutions within the area of management. Both groups are provided with background research from information databases and other sources based not only on access to important information sources but namely on qualification of information professionals who prepare such background research. MDIC issues a unique report magazine called "Management Digest" that develops knowledge of interesting new products and trends within management development in the form of annotations of our and foreign books and extracts from journal articles with the option to receive the entire article. The MDIC Project was successfully launched in 1996 and in 1998 it entered into its second phase.

Except for the aforementioned projects the Information Centre of NTF also links up information activities of other NTF programmes, including but not limited to the National Observatory and OECD Project.

The Corporate Management and Human Resource Development projects of the National Training Fund focused on the creation of advisory and educational know-how are based not only on the analysis of current offers of educational and advisory activities within this area in the Czech Republic but also on the analysis of the level of management and their needs in the industry and other sectors including building industry, health care, banking, and small business support in order to improve the level of management and human resource management and development.

The programme called "Management and Human Resource Development in Czech Corporations" represents the basic programme of the National Training Fund for industrial enterprises whose first, one-year pilot programme is in particular focused on strategic aspects of human resources development with special emphasis on conception, system and innovative attitude to the development of managers and other key staff.

Individual projects have been established hand in hand with the basic programme and are focused on top managers' development in disciplines that prove to be the weakest points in corporations despite the fact that there are good educational programmes within this area on the market. However, these are usually attended by specialists in such disciplines who often do not have the opportunity to use the acquired skills in their work and, as a consequence, they even leave their companies. This is usually the problem with young people who do not tolerate so well their insufficient assertion at work. Projects focused on improvement of pro-marketing and pro-innovative corporate management are currently implemented.

A module program called " Global Management" is prepared for managers - generalists, containing 6 basic managerial modules and 9 modules focused on various attitudes towards critical issues of company transformation and productivity improvement. A module program for human resource managers, including 8 modules covering basic thematic areas of human resource management is close to its completion. Both module programs have been compiled by top British specialists and lecturers in cooperation with Czech specialists and they reflect the newest trends and experience of European and world-wide management. NTF has also established a programme focused on corporate government, assessment of education needs, etc.

In connection with the overall support of management in the Czech Republic NTF pays permanent attention to the improvement of the quality of external offers of educational and other professional services for enterprises.

The objective of the National Training Fund is to help those enterprises that are willing to develop the issue of human resource management and development and provide for them, with their active participation, the best possible advisory and educational support.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department