R150 Human Resources Development
Recommendation, 1975
Recommendation concerning Vocational Guidance and
Vocational Training in the Development of Human Resources
Recommendation: R150
Place: Geneva
Session of the Conference: 60
Date of adoption = 23:06:1975
The General Conference of the International Labour
Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing
Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Sixtieth Session
on 4 June 1975, and
Considering the importance of vocational guidance
and vocational training in the implementation of employment policies and
programmes, and
Noting the terms of existing international labour
Conventions and Recommendations of direct relevance to employment policy and, in
particular, of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention and
Recommendation, 1958, and of the Employment Policy Convention and
Recommendation, 1964, and
Noting that the General Conference of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation at its Eighteenth
Session in 1974 adopted a Recommendation on Technical and Vocational Education,
and
Noting that the International Labour Organisation
and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation have
collaborated closely with a view to ensuring that the instruments of the two
Organisations pursue harmonised objectives and avoid duplication and conflict,
and that they will continue to collaborate closely with a view to the effective
implementation of these instruments, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain
proposals with regard to human resources development: vocational guidance and
vocational training, which is the sixth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take
the form of a Recommendation,
adopts this twenty-third day of June of the year
one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five, the following Recommendation, which
may be cited as the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975:
This Recommendation applies to the vocational
guidance and vocational training of young persons and adults for all areas of
economic, social and cultural life and at all levels of occupational skill and
responsibility.
For the purpose of this Recommendation, the
qualification of the terms guidance and training by the term vocational
means that guidance and training are directed to identifying and
developing human capabilities for a productive and satisfying working life and,
in conjunction with the different forms of education, to improve the ability of
the individual to understand and, individually or collectively, to influence
working conditions and the social environment.
The definition contained in subparagraph (1) of
this Paragraph applies to guidance, to initial and further training, and to
retraining, whatever the way in which they are provided and whatever the level
of skill and responsibility.
In giving effect to this Recommendation, member
States should take account of guidelines supplementing its provisions which may
be formulated by regional conferences, industrial committees and meetings of
experts or consultants convened by the International Labour Organisation and
other competent bodies.
Members should 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, opportunities and problems,
both regional and national;
the stage and level of economic, social and
cultural development; and
the mutual relationships between human
resources development and other economic, social and cultural objectives.
The policies and programmes should be pursued
by methods that are appropriate to national conditions.
The policies and programmes should 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, account being taken of
the needs of society.
Such policies and programmes should also
encourage undertakings to accept responsibility for training workers in their
employment. Undertakings should co-operate with the representatives of their
workers when planning their training programmes and should ensure, as far as
possible, that these programmes are in line with those of the public training
system.
Such policies and programmes should have as
objectives
to ensure entry into productive employment,
including self-employment, which corresponds to personal aptitudes and
aspirations, and to facilitate occupational mobility;
to promote and develop creativity, dynamism and
initiative with a view to maintaining or increasing work effectiveness;
to protect persons against unemployment or
other loss of income or earning capacity deriving from lack of demand for their
skills as well as against underemployment;
to protect persons against excessive physical
or mental strain in employment;
to protect persons against occupational hazards
by making high standards of teaching occupational safety and health an integral
part of training for each trade or occupation;
to assist persons in their quest for
satisfaction at work, for individual achievement and self-expression, and for
the betterment of their lot in life through their own efforts to improve the
quality or modify the nature of their contribution to the economy;
to achieve social, cultural and economic
advancement and continuing adjustment to change, with the participation of all
concerned in reshaping the work requirements;
to achieve the full participation of all groups
in society in the process of development and in sharing the benefits deriving
from it.
With the above ends in view, Members should
establish and develop open, flexible and complementary systems of general,
technical and vocational education, educational and vocational guidance and
vocational training, whether these activities take place within the system of
formal education or outside it.
Members should aim in particular at
ensuring that all have equal access to
vocational guidance and vocational training;
providing, on a continuing basis, broadly
conceived and realistic vocational guidance for the various groups of the
population in all branches of economic activity;
developing comprehensive systems of vocational
training covering all aspects of productive work in all branches of economic
activity;
facilitating mobility between different lines
of training, within and between the various occupations and sectors of economic
activity and between different levels of responsibility;
co-ordinating vocational training for one
sector of the economy or branch of economic activity with vocational training
for other sectors or branches;
establishing patterns of systematic vocational
training in all branches of economic activity and for all types of work and
levels of skill and responsibility;
providing all workers with real possibilities
for re-entering the educational system, at a level which takes account of their
work experience;
establishing close co-operation and
co-ordination between vocational guidance and vocational training provided
outside the school system, on the one hand, and educational guidance and the
school system, on the other;
establishing conditions permitting workers to
supplement their vocational training by trade union education given by their
representative organisations;
undertaking research and adapting
administrative arrangements and methods as required for implementing the
programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training.
The policies and programmes of vocational
guidance and vocational training should
be co-ordinated with policies and major
programmes of social and economic development such as employment promotion,
social integration, rural development, development of crafts and industry,
adaptation of methods and organisation of work to human requirements and
improvement of working conditions;
take account of international economic and
technological interaction and co-operation;
be reviewed periodically in relation to current
and planned social and economic development;
promote activities which will stimulate workers
to contribute to improved international relations;
contribute to fuller understanding of
technical, scientific, economic, social and cultural matters;
create and develop an appropriate
infrastructure for providing adequate training respecting the essential
standards of occupational health and safety.
Members should gradually extend their systems
of vocational guidance, including continuing employment information, with a view
to ensuring that comprehensive information and the broadest possible guidance
are available to all children, young persons and adults, including appropriate
programmes for all handicapped and disabled persons.
Such information and guidance should cover the
choice of an occupation, vocational training and related educational
opportunities, the employment situation and employment prospects, promotion
prospects, conditions of work, safety and hygiene at work, and other aspects of
working life in the various sectors of economic, social and cultural activity
and at all levels of responsibility.
The information and guidance should be
supplemented by information on general aspects of collective agreements and of
the rights and obligations of all concerned under labour law; this information
should be provided in accordance with national law and practice, taking into
account the respective functions and tasks of the workers' and employers'
organisations concerned.
The main objectives of vocational guidance
programmes should be to:
provide children and young persons not yet in
the labour force with the basis for choosing a line of education or vocational
training in the light of their aptitudes, abilities and interests and of
employment opportunities;
assist persons in programmes of education and
vocational training to derive the maximum benefit from them and to prepare
themselves either for supplementary education or vocational training or for
entry into an occupation and for continuing education and training as and when
required during their working lives;
assist persons who are entering the labour
force, who seek to change their work activities, or who are unemployed, to
choose an occupation and to plan related education and vocational training;
inform employed persons of opportunities for
improving their occupational development potential, their level of performance,
their earnings and their position, of the educational and vocational training
requirements and of the facilities available for this purpose;
promote general awareness of the contributions
which are and can be made by the various sectors of the economy and branches of
economic activity, including those which have traditionally enjoyed little
prestige, to general development and to expanding employment;
assist co-operating institutions to provide
information and feedback on the effectiveness of particular training programmes
as an integral part of vocational guidance.
Members should ensure that such programmes are
compatible with the right to freedom of choice in selecting an occupation and to
fair promotion opportunities as well as the right to education.
In extending the scope of their systems of
vocational guidance, Members should pay special attention to
helping children and young persons at school to
gain an appreciation of the value and importance of work and an understanding of
the world of work as well as to familiarise themselves with the conditions of
work in as broad a range of occupations as possible:taking account of the
employment and career opportunities that may be open to them:and with
requirements for taking advantage of these opportunities;
giving children and young persons who have
never been to school, or who left school early, information on as broad a range
of occupations as possible and on employment opportunities in these occupations,
as well as guidance on how they may gain access to them;
giving adults in employment, including
self-employment, information on trends and objectives in development which
concern them and in particular on the implications of social, technical and
economic change for their field of work;
giving unemployed and underemployed persons all
the necessary information and guidance on possibilities of finding employment or
improving their employment situation and on means available for achieving this
purpose;
giving persons who meet special problems in
relation to education, vocational training or employment, assistance in
overcoming them within over-all measures aiming at social progress.
Both group vocational guidance programmes:
namely
the dissemination of factual material and counselling for groups of persons who
have similar vocational needs, and individual counselling should be made
available.
Individual counselling should be available, in
particular, to young persons and adults requiring specialised assistance in
identifying their occupational aptitudes, abilities and interests, in assessing
the educational, vocational training and employment opportunities which are
likely to be available to them, and in choosing a line of education, vocational
training or employment.
Individual counselling, and, as appropriate,
group vocational guidance activities, should take into account the individual's
specific need of information and support, with particular attention to the
physically and mentally handicapped and disabled as well as to socially and
educationally disadvantaged persons. They may include exercises in seeking and
evaluating information and in decision making, as well as exposure to expanded
career choices and goals, in order to develop the capacity to make an informed
choice. They should always take into account the individual's right to make his
own choice on the basis of comprehensive relevant information.
Individual counselling should, whenever
required, be supplemented by advice for remedial action and such other help as
may be useful for the purposes of vocational adjustment.
Members whose vocational guidance programmes
are in the early stages of development should, in the first instance, aim at
drawing the attention of young persons to the
importance of choosing general and vocational education taking full account of
existing employment prospects and of trends in economic and social development,
as well as of their personal aptitudes and interests;
assisting those groups of the population which
require help in overcoming traditional restrictions on their free choice of
education, vocational training or occupation;
meeting the needs of those with special
potential in fields of work which are of major importance.
Members should make full use, in their
vocational guidance programmes, of all available facilities and media through
which the various groups of the population concerned can be reached most
effectively.
Wherever practicable, appropriate tests of
capacity and aptitude:including both physiological and psychological
characteristics: and other methods of examination should be made available for
use in vocational guidance as appropriate to the needs of individual cases.
Such tests and other methods of examination
should be used only in agreement with the person seeking guidance and in
conjunction with other methods of exploring personal characteristics; they
should be carried out only by specialists.
The results obtained in the application of such
tests and other methods of examination should not be communicated to a third
person without the express agreement of the person examined.
Where tests and other methods of examination
are employed in vocational guidance, they should be standardised for the age
groups, populations and cultures concerned and should be validated for the
particular purposes for which they are intended.
There should be a continuing programme for the
development and restandardisation, at regular intervals, of such tests and other
methods of examination in order to take account of changing conditions and life
styles.
Members should gradually extend, adapt and
harmonise the vocational training systems of their respective countries to meet
the needs for vocational training throughout life of both young persons and
adults in all sectors of the economy and branches of economic activity and at
all levels of skill and responsibility.
In doing so they should pay special attention
to
providing opportunities for promotion which
should be open, wherever possible, to persons with the desire and ability to
reach higher levels of skill and responsibility;
improving vocational training in sectors of the
economy and branches of economic activity in which vocational training is
largely unsystematic and in which obsolescent technologies and methods of work
prevail;
providing vocational training for members of
the population who had not received adequate attention in the past, in
particular for groups which are economically or socially disadvantaged;
effectively co-ordinating general education and
vocational training, theoretical practical instruction and initial and further
training.
Vocational training programmes should be so
conceived as to promote full employment and the development of the capabilities
of each person.
Vocational training programmes for individual
occupations and branches of economic activity should, as appropriate, be
arranged in progressive stages which together provide adequate opportunities for
initial training for young persons and adults
with little or no previous work experience;
further training which should enable persons
engaged in an occupation
to improve their performance or broaden the
range of activities which they can undertake, to proceed to higher-level work or
to gain promotion;
to update their knowledge and skills in the
light of developments in the occupation concerned;
retraining to enable adults to acquire new
qualifications for a different occupational field;
such further education as is necessary to
complement the training;
training in safety and health at the place of
work, especially for young persons and adults with little previous work
experience;
acquiring information on rights and obligations
in employment, including social security schemes.
Every effort should be made to develop and
utilise to the full, if necessary with public financing, existing and potential
vocational training capacity, including the resources available in undertakings,
in order to provide programmes of continuing vocational training.
In the provision of training, advantage should
be taken, as appropriate, of mass media, mobile units, and correspondence
courses and other self-instruction programmes.
Programmes of initial training for young
persons with little or no work experience should include in particular
general education which is co-ordinated with
practical training and related theoretical instruction;
basic training in knowledge and skills common
to several related occupations which could be given by an educational or
vocational training institution or in an undertaking either on or off the job;
specialisation in directly usable knowledge and
skills for employment opportunities which already exist or are to be created;
supervised initiation into a real work
situation.
Full-time courses of initial training should,
wherever possible, provide for adequate synchronisation between theoretical
tuition in training institutions and training given on the job in undertakings
in order to ensure that the former is related to the real work situation;
similarly, practical training off the job should, as far as possible, be related
to real work situations.
Training on the job arranged as an integral
part of courses given by training institutions should be planned jointly by the
undertakings, institutions and workers' representatives concerned with a view to
enabling the trainees to apply in actual
working conditions what they have learned off the job;
providing training in aspects of the occupation
which cannot be covered outside undertakings;
familiarising young persons with little or no
work experience with the requirements and conditions they are likely to
encounter at work and with their responsibilities within a working group.
Persons entering employement after completing
the full-time courses mentioned in Paragraph 19 above should receive
induction to familiarise them with the nature
and objectives of the undertaking and the conditions in which work is performed
there;
systematic complementary training on the job,
together with the necessary theoretical courses;
as far as possible, planned experience in a
series of activities and functions of training value, including adjustment to
the workplace.
The competent authorities should, in line with
national planning and national laws and regulations and after consultation of
employers' and workers' organisations, establish national or regional
further-training plans related to employment.
Undertakings should, in consultation with
workers' representatives, with the persons concerned and with those in charge of
their work, establish and review at regular intervals further-training plans for
persons in their employment at all levels of skill and responsibility; a joint
committee may be established for the purpose.
These plans should
provide opportunities to qualify for
advancement to higher levels of skill and responsibility;
cover technical and other training and work
experience for the persons concerned;
take account of the abilities and interests of
the persons concerned as well as of work requirements.
Persons in charge of the work of others should
have an obligation to make an effective contribution to the success of
further-training plans.
Organisational responsibility for the
establishment, implementation and review of further-training plans should be
clearly defined and should be assigned, as far as possible, to a special unit or
to one or more persons operating at a level commensurate with such
responsibility.
Workers being trained within an undertaking
should:
receive adequate allowances or remuneration;
be covered by the social security measures
applicable to the regular workforce of the undertaking concerned.
Workers receiving training off the job should
be granted educational leave in accordance with the terms of the Paid
Educational Leave Convention and Recommendation, 1974.
Initial and further training leading to
recognised occupational qualifications should be covered as far as possible by
general standards set or approved by the competent body, after consultation with
the employers' and workers' organisations concerned.
These standards should indicate
the level of skills and knowledge required of
candidates for the various vocational training courses;
the level of performance to be attained in each
major activity or function of the occupation concerned during each phase of
training and, as far as possible, the content and duration of training and the
facilities and equipment needed to ensure that the level of performance
indicated may be attained;
the part of the vocational training to be
provided by the system of formal education, by vocational training institutions,
by undertakings through trainning on the job, or by other means;
the character and duration of any work
experience that may be required in vocational training programmes;
the training content, on the basis of the
principles of multi-purpose training and occupational mobility;
the methodology to be applied, taking into
account the objectives of the training and the characteristics of the trainees;
any examinations to be taken or other means of
assessing achievement;
the certificates to be issued on successful
completion of vocational training.
The same occupation may be covered by more than
one vocational training standard when, and for as long as, the conditions in
which the work is carried out and the activities it involves vary widely between
different sectors of the economy, branches of economic activity or undertakings
of different sizes.
Standards covering the same occupations should be co-ordinated
in order to facilitate job mobility, with full recognition of the qualifications
already held and of work experience in the occupation.
Guidelines indicating the desirable
organisation and content of vocational training should be established for
occupations, levels of skill and knowledge and levels of responsibility for
which the standards provided for in Paragraph 24 of this Recommendation are
shown not to be appropriate.
Such guidelines may be necessary in particular
to cover
training for future supervisors, specialists
and managers and for persons already employed in these capacities;
training for training officers and for
managers, supervisors and instructors of vocational training;
vocational training for branches of economic
activity in which there are large numbers of self-employed persons or of small
undertakings;
the improvement of vocational training for
branches of economic activity in which there has been little or no provision for
the necessary systematic vocational training, and for undertakings using
obsolescent technologies and methods of work.
Such guidelines may also be appropriate for the
first training in employment of persons who have just completed full-time
courses of initial training in educational and vocational training institutions.
Vocational training standards and guidelines
should be evaluated and reviewed periodically, with the participation of
employers' and workers' organisations, and adjusted to changing requirements,
the periodicity of review being determined by the rate of change in the
occupation concerned.
Members should gradually establish standards
and guidelines or, as the case may be, extend their applicability until all
major occupations and all levels of skill and responsibility are covered.
Priority should be given to vocational training
for occupations and levels of skill and responsibility of key importance for
social and economic advancement.
Training for management and supervisory
functions should be provided for persons in charge of the work of others, for
professional and specialist personnel participating in management and for
persons being prepared to assume management and supervisory functions.
The competent authorities should, in line with
national planning and national laws and regulations and after consultation of
employers' and workers' organisations, establish plans for training for
management and supervisory functions and for self-employed persons.
The content of programmes of training for
management and supervisory functions should take account of the level of the
current and prospective responsibilities of the trainees.
The programmes should be designed in particular
to:
develop an adequate knowledge and understanding
of the economic and social aspects of decision making;
foster attitudes and abilities for leading and
motivating other persons, while respecting human dignity, and for developing
sound industrial relations;
develop initiative and a positive attitude
towards change and a capacity to appreciate the effect of change on other
people;
develop the capacity of assuming new
responsibilities on the job;
develop awareness of the importance of
education, vocational guidance and vocational training for the personnel of the
undertaking;
develop awareness of the conditions of workers
in their occupational life, concern for their welfare and knowledge of labour
law and of social security schemes;
develop understanding of the value of efforts
towards self-improvement;
provide the basis for further training in
accordance with changing requirements.
Vocational training programmes for
self-employment should take account of the social situation of the worker and
include, in addition to training specific to
the technical field concerned, training in the basic principles and practices of
business management and of training other persons;
develop awareness of the need to take
initiatives and assess and accept risks.
Such programmes should provide regular
opportunities for updating training and be reinforced by a continuing flow of
information on new developments in the technical field concerned, as well as on
sources of finance and, if necessary, on the most efficient marketing methods.
Appropriate programmes of vocational guidance
and vocational training should be established for particular areas or branches
of economic activity in which comprehensive improvement action or major
structural change is required.
Such programmes should form part of national
vocational guidance and vocational training programmes as a whole and be co-ordinated
with other action to develop the area or branch of economic activity concerned.
Among the areas or branches of economic
activity for which such programmes may be required, particular attention might
be given to rural areas, to branches of economic activity using obsolescent
technologies and methods of work, to industries and undertakings in decline or
converting their activities, and to planned or newly established industries.
Programmes for rural areas should aim at
achieving full equality of opportunity of the rural and urban populations as
regards vocational guidance and vocational training.
They should be conceived within the framework
of national development policies, taking account among other things of patterns
and trends in migration between rural and urban areas.
Programmes for rural areas should make adequate
provision for the special vocational guidance and vocational training needs of:
agricultural workers, including plantation
workers, small owner-occupiers, tenant farmers and sharecroppers and other
persons engaged in agriculture and related activities, particularly in relation
to agrarian reform and other major changes in supply, production and
distribution systems in the areas concerned;
persons engaged in non-agricultural
occupations, with special emphasis on education, communications, transport and
other services and craft occupations.
Such programmes should take account of
differences in needs according to the type of rural activity involved, its
degree of mechanisation, specialisation and modernisation and the scale on which
it is conducted.
Programmes for rural areas should include
training in organising co-operatives and in managing undertakings.
Countries in which facilities and programmes of
vocational guidance and vocational training for rural areas are as yet little
developed should concentrate initially on:
providing information for young persons and
adults in rural areas on the objectives of and action proposed for making
improvements or major structural changes in the area and on the implications of
such action for their work and lives;
providing systematic education and vocational
training, full time or part time as appropriate, for young persons in employment
to complement informal learning on the job;
providing short programmes of upgrading
training or of retraining for adults through existing vocational training, or
extension of other advisory services;
developing social and economic leadership in
rural areas and encouraging participation by broader groups of the population in
development action;
encouraging a desire for self-improvement.
Such countries should keep their priorities for
rural areas under review so as to work progressively towards
developing comprehensive vocational information
and guidance services for the rural population as a whole;
introducing or generalising systematic initial
training for young persons;
introducing comprehensive programmes of further
training on a continuing or recurrent basis to meet the needs of adults.
Countries which, for financial reasons or lack
of trained personnel, are not in a position to provide adequate services for the
rural population as a whole, might consider:
concentrating action temporarily on limited
geographical areas where important lessons may be learnt for subsequent action
in other areas;
giving preference to landless labourers and
other economically weak groups in rural areas, which are in greatest need of
economic and social justice.
B. Branches of Economic Activity Using Obsolescent
Technologies and Methods of Work
Programmes for branches of economic activity
and occupations in which the use of obsolescent technologies and methods of work
is widespread should be developed as appropriate along similar lines to those
for rural areas.
The aim should be to provide vocational
guidance and vocational training for persons employed in or entering these
branches of economic activity or occupations which will enable them to
participate in or contribute to the modernisation of methods and products and to
benefit from changes introduced.
Extension and other advisory services for
self-employed persons and small entrepreneurs in these branches of economic
activity and occupations should provide them with information on possibilities
of innovation in their work, and on related vocational training and other
services.
In planning vocational training for such
branches of economic activity and occupations particular consideration should be
given to
needs and opportunities for extending the scope
of or for specialising the activities of undertakings, and the vocational
training implications of such extension or specialisation;
possibilities of improving vocational training
practices and, in particular, of providing opportunities for continuing
training;
possibilities of combining training services to
managers of undertakings with other action for raising the level of performance;
the creation of new opportunities for gainful
employment.
Vocational training for such branches of
economic activity and occupations:
may be conceived initially as a complement to
the learning systems by which work knowledge and skills are traditionally
acquired;
should take account of the needs both of young
persons receiving initial training and of persons already working in these
branches of economic activity and occupations, including the small entrepreneurs
and other persons who give initial training to young persons.
C. Industries and Undertakings in Decline or
Converting Their Activities
When industries or undertakings begin to
decline, workers affected should in good time receive vocational guidance and
vocational training to facilitate a change in skills and provide the opportunity
of finding new employment.
When industries or undertakings change their
products and methods of production or the services they provide, workers
affected should in good time receive training, organised in co-operation with
the industries or undertakings concerned, to enable them to adapt themselves to
their new tasks.
In planning vocational guidance and vocational
training in connection with the establishment of new industries, account should
be taken of:
needs for workers, specialists, managers and
administrators during the construction phase and after the new plants have been
commissioned, and of any need for retraining persons employed during the
construction phase with a view to placing them in other jobs after
commissioning;
needs for independent workers and entrepreneurs
to undertake subcontracting for the new industries;
the need to provide information relating to and
vocational training for new activities rendered possible or necessary by the
change in the economic conditions in the region;
the need to provide vocational guidance and
vocational retraining for persons whose knowledge and skills are rendered
obsolete by changes in the structure of demand for labour within the region;
the need to provide new opportunities for
independent workers and entrepreneurs whose business may suffer from the
competition created by the new industries.
Measures should be taken to provide effective
and adequate vocational guidance and vocational training for particular groups
of the population so that they will enjoy equality in employment and improved
integration into society and the economy.
Particular attention should be paid to such
groups as:
persons who have never been to school or who
left school early;
older workers;
members of linguistic and other minority
groups;
handicapped and disabled persons.
A. Persons Who Have Never Been to School or Who
Left School Early
Measures should be taken to provide all persons
who have never been to school or who left school before acquiring a general
education adequate for integration into a modernising society and economy with
vocational guidance, general education and training in basic skills, due account
being taken of opportunities on the employment market.
Vocational guidance for persons who have never
been to school or who left school before acquiring adequate literacy and
numeracy should be as broadly conceived as possible, while taking account of
special educational and vocational training facilities, and other opportunities
for education, training and employment that may be expected to be available to
them.
Arrangements for providing such persons with
basic skills and general education might include:
part-time instruction in knowledge and skills
relevant to their work, and general education linked with that instruction, for
children employed in the family farm or business or in other areas of the
economy;
courses in relevant basic skills and related
general education for young persons and, if appropriate, adults, to facilitate
their entry into systematic vocational training or to broaden their
opportunities for employment and promotion;
arrangements for special vocational training
combined with productive work for young unemployed persons, supplemented as
necessary by courses of general education, with a view to giving them such
education, skills and work habits as are necessary for useful and remunerative
economic activity;
instruction in literacy and numeracy,
particularly for adults which is linked with vocational training in the
knowledge and skills required in a particular occupation or type of work and for
active participation in development action; such instruction should be co-ordinated
with general measures for the eradication of illiteracy;
special educational and technical upgrading
courses for young persons and adults in employment to raise the level of their
performance or improve their opportunities for advancement;
special courses in skills urgently required in
employment for persons with little or no formal education.
Special vocational training methodologies
should be developed and applied for the arrangements provided for in this
Paragraph.
The certificates obtainable through such
arrangements should be co-ordinated with those obtainable in the system of
formal education and by persons trained by other means.
Measures to meet difficulties faced by older
workers in employment might include as appropriate:
identifying and changing as far as possible
working conditions which are likely to accelerate the physical and mental
processes of ageing;
providing older workers with the vocational
guidance and vocational training which they require, with special reference to
any need for:
updating their knowledge and skills by
providing them with relevant information at the appropriate time;
upgrading the level of their general education
and occupational qualifications by the use of specialists in adult vocational
training, so that it may match that of better educated and trained young persons
entering or already in the same occupation;
informing them at the appropriate time about
facilities available for further training and carrying out such training at the
appropriate moment, namely before the introduction of new working techniques and
working methods;
making available to them, as appropriate,
other positions in their own or in another occupation in which they can make use
of their talents and experience, as far as possible without loss of earnings;
ensuring that they are not debarred from
vocational training by unrealistic age limits for admission;
developing a vocational training methodology
adapted to the needs of older workers;
taking all necessary measures for the
provision of technically and pedagogically competent instructors, well prepared
to carry out further training adapted to the special requirements of older
workers;
encouraging older workers to take advantage of
the vocational guidance and vocational training facilities or opportunities for
transfer which will help them to overcome their problems;
educating the general public, and particularly
vocational guidance and vocational training staff, the staff of employment and
other relevant social services, employers and workers, on the adjustments in
employment which older workers may need to make and on the desirability of
supporting them in such adjustments.
Measures should also as far as possible be
taken to develop work methods, tools and equipment adapted to the special
requirements of older workers and to provide training in their use.
Members of linguistic and other minority groups
should be provided with vocational guidance which would inform them in their own
language or in a language with which they are familiar, or if necessary through
interpreters, of prevailing conditions and requirements in employment, of the
rights and obligations of all concerned and of assistance available for solving
their particular problems.
Special vocational training programmes should
be provided as necessary for linguistic and other minorities. In the case of
linguistic minorities such training should, if possible, be given in the
vernacular and should, as appropriate, include language training.
Whenever they can benefit by it, persons who
are handicapped or disabled should have access to vocational guidance and
vocational training programmes provided for the general population.
Where this is not desirable owing to the
severity or the nature of the handicap or disablement or the needs of specific
groups of handicapped or disabled persons, specially adjusted programmes should
be provided.
Every effort should be made to educate the
general public, employers and workers, as well as medical and paramedical
personnel and social workers, on the need for giving persons who are handicapped
or disabled vocational guidance and vocational training which would enable them
to find employment suitable to their needs, on the adjustments in employment
which some of them may require and on the desirability of special support for
them in their employment.
Measures should be taken to ensure, as far as
possible, the integration or reintegration of the handicapped and the disabled
into productive life in a normal working environment.
Account should be taken of the Vocational
Rehabilitation (Disabled) Recommendation, 1955.
Measures should be taken to promote equality of
opportunity of women and men in employment and in society as a whole.
These measures should form an integral part of
all economic, social and cultural measures taken by governments for improving
the employment situation of women and should include, as far as possible:
educating the general public and in particular
parents, teachers, vocational guidance and vocational training staff, the staff
of employment and other social services, employers and workers, on the need for
encouraging women and men to play an equal part in society and in the economy
and for changing traditional attitudes regarding the work of women and men in
the home and in working life;
providing girls and women with vocational
guidance on the same broad range of educational, vocational training and
employment opportunities as boys and men, encouraging them to take full
advantage of such opportunities and creating the conditions required for them to
do so;
promoting equality of access for girls and
women to all streams of education and to vocational training for all types of
occupations, including those which have been traditionally accessible only to
boys and men, subject to the provisions of international labour Conventions and
Recommendations;
promoting further training for girls and women
to ensure their personal development and advancement to skilled employment and
posts of responsibility, and urging employers to provide them with the same
opportunities of extending their work experience as offered to male workers with
the same education and qualifications;
providing day-care facilities and other
services for children of different ages, in so far as possible, so that girls
and women with family responsibilities have access to normal vocational
training, as well as making special arrangements, for instance in the form of
part-time or correspondence courses, vocational training programmes following a
recurrent pattern or programmes using mass media;
providing vocational training programmes for
women above the normal age of entry into employment who wish to take up work for
the first time or re-enter it after a period of absence.
Special vocational training arrangements and
programmes, similar to those envisaged in clauses (e) and (f) of subparagraph
(2) of Paragraph 54 of this Recommendation, should be available to men having
analogous problems.
Account should be taken of the Employment
Policy Convention and Recommendation, 1964, in the implementation of measures
for the promotion of equality of opportunity of women and men in training and
employment.
Effective vocational guidance and vocational
training should be provided for migrant workers, so that they will enjoy
equality of opportunity in employment.
Vocational guidance and vocational training for
migrant workers should take into account that they may have a limited knowledge
of the language of the country of employment. Paragraphs 51 and 52 of this
Recommendation should be applied to them.
Vocational guidance and vocational training of
migrant workers should take account of:
the needs of the country of employment;
the possible reintegration of migrant workers
into the economy of their country of origin.
Account should be taken, as regards vocational
guidance and vocational training for migrant workers, of the relevant provisions
of international labour Conventions and Recommendations concerned with such
workers. These questions should also be the subject of agreements between
countries of origin and countries of employment.
Provision for the training of staff should
cover all persons responsible either full time or part time for planning,
organising, administering, developing, supervising or giving vocational guidance
or vocational training.
In addition to receiving training in vocational
guidance, including individual counselling, persons giving vocational guidance
should be familiarised with the world of work generally and with the conditions
of work and functions of persons engaged in a broad range of occupations at all
levels of skill and responsibility as well as with the employment and career
opportunities in these occupations and with the training courses and training
facilities available for them; they should also be acquainted with general
aspects of collective agreements and of rights and obligations under labour law.
The training of persons giving vocational
guidance should as appropriate include study of the physiological, psychological
and sociological characteristics of different groups and of specialised guidance
methods.
Persons engaged in giving vocational training
should have comprehensive theoretical and practical knowledge as well as
substantial work experience in the technical field or functions concerned,
together with technical and pedagogical training acquired in educational and
training institutions.
The training of such persons should, as
appropriate, include study of the various characteristics and attitudes of
different groups of trainees and of specialised training methods.
Persons engaged in vocational training for
particular branches of economic activity should be familiarised with the social,
economic and technical aspects and conditions of the particular branch of
economic activity concerned.
For instance, in addition to technical and
vocational education and vocational training in their speciality, persons
engaged in rural development activities should receive training in such fields
as:
the economics of agriculture, forestry and
other rural activities;
methods and techniques of farm and forest
management;
rural sociology and institutions;
mass communication and extension training
techniques;
the activities of co-operatives where such
exist.
Persons engaged in vocational guidance and
vocational training activities for particular groups of the population should be
familiarised with the special social and economic problems of these groups.
Persons responsible for planning, organising,
administering or supervising vocational guidance or vocational training
programmes, including directors and managers of vocational guidance or
vocational training institutions or services, training directors and officers of
undertakings, and vocational guidance and vocational training consultants,
should have had experience of giving vocational guidance or vocational training
respectively.
Wherever possible, persons with such
responsibilities in regard to vocational training programmes should have had
experience of work in undertakings on other than vocational training duties.
All persons engaged in vocational guidance and
vocational training activities should be given frequent opportunities of
refreshing and updating their knowledge of social, economic, technical and
psychological elements relevant to their line of work and of learning about new
methods and techniques applicable to their work.
Members should make provision for research and
experimental programmes designed with a view to:
determining criteria for setting priorities and
establishing strategies for the development of vocational guidance and
vocational training for particular branches of economic activity and groups of
the population;
determining and forecasting employment
opportunities in the various branches of economic activity and occupations;
increasing knowledge of the psychological,
sociological and pedagogical aspects of vocational guidance and vocational
training;
evaluating the internal efficiency and external
effectiveness of individual components of the systems of vocational guidance and
vocational training;
determining the direct and indirect costs and
benefits of alternative patterns and methods of providing vocational guidance
and vocational training;
improving, for the population concerned, the
psychological tests and other methods used for the identification of talent, the
appraisal of aptitudes and interests, and the assessment of levels of knowledge
and skill attained through vocational training;
increasing available information on occupations
and their requirements.
Public authorities and bodies concerned with
general education and with vocational guidance, technical and vocational
education, vocational training, training of staff for human resources
development and management training, public authorities and bodies concerned
with planning and implementation of employment and other social and economic
development policies, and bodies representative of the various branches of
economic activity and occupations, and of the various groups of the population
concerned, should collaborate in establishing policies, and in planning and
implementing programmes for vocational guidance and vocational training.
Representatives of employers' and workers'
organisations should be included in the bodies responsible for governing
publicly operated training institutions and for supervising their operation;
where such bodies do not exist, representatives of employers' and workers'
organisations should in other ways participate in the setting-up, management and
supervision of such institutions.
In addition to participating in the
establishment of policy and the planning and implementation of programmes,
representative bodies should, subject to national laws and regulations and
within the framework of national planning
encourage and assist their members to:
provide opportunities and facilities for
vocational guidance and vocational training;
support the provision of such opportunities
and facilities;
make full use of them;
provide vocational guidance and vocational
training as necessary to complement the action of other bodies, services or
persons and provide information which will facilitate such action;
participate in research.
The respective roles and responsibilities of
all those concerned with the development of human resources should be clearly
defined.
In administering programmes of vocational
guidance and vocational training provision should be made for
advising the bodies, services, institutions and
undertakings concerned on the social, technical and methodological aspects
involved in the implementation of the programmes;
furnishing supporting services and facilities,
such as research, standards and guidelines for the organisation of vocational
guidance and vocational training and audio-visual aids and information on
appropriate techniques and methods;
organising publicly controlled examinations or
applying other means of assessing achievement for occupations covered by
vocational training standards;
training of staff;
making available research findings and other
experience to persons or bodies responsible for planning and implementing the
programmes;
providing adequate financial support for
implementing the programmes.
Members should periodically review programmes
of vocational guidance and vocational training with a view to
achieving the best use of staff, facilities and
media;
adjusting the organisation, content and methods
of vocational guidance and vocational training in the light of changing
conditions and requirements in the various branches of economic activity and the
needs of particular groups of the population, as well as in the light of
advances in relevant knowledge;
determining other action which may be required
for the effectiveness of national policies for the furtherance of the goals
referred to in Paragraphs 4 to 6 of this Recommendation.
Members should co-operate with each other to
the fullest extent possible, with the participation, as desired, of governmental
and non-governmental regional and international organisations, as well as
non-governmental national organisations, in planning, elaborating and
emplementing programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training.
Such co-operation may include:
the provision, on a bilateral or multilateral
basis, of assistance to other countries in the planning, elaboration or
implementation of such programmes;
the organisation of joint research and
experiments with a view to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the
planning and implementation of programmes;
making facilities available or establishing
joint facilities to enable persons concerned with vocational guidance and
vocational training to acquire knowledge, skill and experience which are not
available in their own countries;
the systematic exchange of information on
vocational guidance and vocational training, including the results of research
and experimental programmes, by means of expert meetings, seminars, study groups
or exchange of publications;
the progressive harmonisation of vocational
training standards for the same occupation within a group of countries with a
view to facilitating occupational mobility and access to training abroad;
the preparation and dissemination of basic
vocational guidance and vocational training material and aids, including
curricula and job specifications, with a view to their use in a group of
countries or a region with similar requirements or working towards the
harmonisation of vocational training levels and of vocational guidance
practices.
Members should consider establishing or
contributing to the joint establishment or operation of centres for a region or
group of countries to facilitate exchange of experience and promote co-operation
in programme development and methodological research.
The Vocational Rehabilitation (Disabled)
Recommendation, 1955, the Vocational Training (Fishermen) Recommendation, 1966,
(FNB) See under: XIV. Particular occupational sectors, (b) Fishermen
below. (FNE) the Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970,(FNB)
See under: II.
Employment, (a) Employment policy above. (FNE) and the Vocational Training
(Seafarers) Recommendation, 1970, (FNB) See under: XIV. Particular occupational
sectors, (a) Seafarers, Training below. (FNE) remain applicable to the categories
of persons covered by their terms.
