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 Twenty-fifth Session on 8
June 1939, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with
regard to vocational training, which is included in the first item on the agenda
of the Session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form
of a Recommendation,
adopts this twenty-seventh day of June of the year one
thousand nine hundred thirty-nine, the following Recommendation, which may be
cited as the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1939:
Considering that the Preamble to the Constitution of the
International Labour Organisation mentions the organisation of vocational and
technical education among the reforms necessary for improving the conditions of
labour;
Considering that the International Labour Conference has
already to a certain extent dealt with this problem, particularly by adopting at
its Third Session (1921) a Recommendation concerning the development of
technical agricultural education and at its Twenty-third Session the Vocational
Education (Building) Recommendation, 1937;
Considering that at its Nineteenth Session the Conference,
by adopting the Unemployment (Young Persons) Recommendation, 1935, favoured the
generalisation of measures for vocational training, and that it was as a result
of a resolution adopted during that session that it was decided to include in
the agenda of the Conference the question of the vocational training of workers
in all its aspects;
Considering that the effective organisation of vocational
training is desirable in the interests of workers and employers alike as well as
those of the community as a whole;
Considering that the rapid transformation of the economic
structure of, and conditions in, various countries, the constant changes in the
methods of production, and the widening of the conception of vocational training
as a factor in social progress and in the general culture of the workers, have
in a number of countries led to a fresh examination of the whole of this
question and have given rise to a general desire to reorganise vocational
training on the basis of principles better adapted to present requirements;
Considering that, in these circumstances, it is particularly
desirable at the present time to state the principles and methods which each
Member should apply on its territory, with due regard to the special
requirements of the different branches of its national economy and of the
different occupations, as well as the customs and traditions of the country, and
subject to further special measures that might be required in respect of
vocational training for certain branches of activity such as agriculture or
maritime transport;
The Conference makes the following recommendations:
the expression vocational training means any form of
training by means of which technical or trade knowledge can be acquired
or developed, whether the training is given at school or at the place of
work;
the expression technical and vocational education
means theoretical and practical instruction, of whatever grade, given at
school for purposes of vocational training;
the expression apprenticeship means any system by
which an employer undertakes by contract to employ a young person and to
train him or have him trained systematically for a trade for a period
the duration of which has been fixed in advance and in the course of
which the apprentice is bound to work in the employer's service.
The work of the various official and private
institutions in each country which deal with vocational training should,
while ensuring free play to initiative and adaptability to the
requirements of the different industries, regions and localities, be co-ordinated
and developed on the basis of a general programme.
This programme should be based on:
the occupational interests and cultural and moral
requirements of the worker;
the labour requirements of employers;
the economic and social interests of the
community.
In drawing up this programme due account should also
be taken of the following factors:
the stage of development reached in general
education and in vocational guidance and selection;
changes in technique and methods of organisation
of work;
the structure of, and trend of development in,
the labour market;
national economic policy.
The co-ordination and development referred to in
subparagraph (1) should be undertaken on a national scale with the
organised collaboration of the authorities concerned with the different
aspects of the problem mentioned in subparagraphs (2) and (3), and of
the interested parties, including more particularly the occupational
organisations of employers and workers.
Compulsory education, which should be entirely
general in character, should provide for all children a preparation
developing an idea of, taste for, and esteem for, manual work, these
being an indispensable part of a general education and likely to
facilitate future vocational guidance.
The proposed preparation should aim, in particular,
at training the eye and hand of the child by means of practical work,
but the importance and character of this work should be consistent with
the general purposes of compulsory education. In drawing up the
programme of practical work, the nature of the principal industries in
the locality or district might be taken into account, but any attempt at
vocational training should be avoided.
This preparation, which should extend over a period
of at least one year, should begin at the latest at the age of thirteen
years and continue until the end of the period of compulsory education.
In order to determine the occupational aptitudes of
the child and to facilitate the selection of the future labour supply,
there should be available to children who intend to enter an occupation
requiring vocational training of long duration, and in particular to
those who propose to become apprentices, a preliminary preparation
constituting a transition from general education to vocational training.
This preparation should take place after the
completion of the period of compulsory education: Provided that where
the laws or regulations in force in the country concerned fix the
school-leaving age at not less than fourteen years, this preparation may
be undertaken during the last year of compulsory education.
The duration of this preparation should be determined
with due regard to the occupation concerned and to the age and
educational qualifications of the young person.
In the curricula for this preparation, particular
importance should be attached to practical work, but such work should
not be given precedence over the theoretical courses or courses in
general education. Practical and theoretical instruction should be so
arranged as to be mutually complementary. The preparation should, by
aiming at the general development of the pupil's intellectual and manual
capacities and avoiding undue specialisation, make it possible to
determine for which of a group of occupations he is best suited to
undergo full training. Practical and theoretical instruction should be
so arranged as to secure continuity between this preliminary preparation
and subsequent vocational training.
A network of schools should be established in each
country, adjusted as regards number, location and curricula to the
economic requirements of each region or locality and affording the
workers adequate opportunities for developing their technical or trade
knowledge.
Measures should be adopted to ensure that, in the
event of economic depression or financial difficulty, the supply of
trained workers necessary to meet future requirements is not imperilled
by a reduction in the facilities for technical and vocational education.
For this purpose, consideration should be given particularly to the
grant of subsidies to existing schools and to the provision of special
courses to make good the loss of opportunities for training caused by
unemployment.
In countries in which a sufficient number of
vocational and technical schools has not yet been established, it would
be desirable that undertakings of such a size as to make such
arrangements practicable should meet the cost of training a certain
number of young workers determined according to the number of workers
employed by the undertaking.
Admission to technical and vocational schools should
be free.
Attendance at such schools should be facilitated, as
circumstances require, by the grant of economic assistance in such forms
as free meals, provision of working clothes and implements, free
transport or reduction in the cost of transport, or maintenance
allowances.
Courses should be organised in several grades,
adjusted for each branch of economic activity to the training
requirements of:
journeymen and similar grades,
staff in intermediate grades,
managerial staff.
The curricula for the courses in the different
schools and for the different grades should be so co-ordinated as to
facilitate transfer from one school to another and to enable promising
pupils with the requisite knowledge to pass from a lower to a higher
grade and to obtain admission to higher technical education at a
university or equivalent institution.
The curricula for technical and vocational schools should
be so drawn up as to protect the future vocational adaptability of the
workers and for this purpose it is particularly desirable:
that the primary object of the courses in the earlier
years should be to give the pupil a sound basis of theoretical and
practical knowledge, avoiding excessive or premature specialisation; and
that care should be taken to enable the pupil to
acquire a wide grasp of the theoretical principles underlying the
practice of his occupation.
In technical and vocational education of all grades,
subjects of general educational value and subjects relating to social
questions should be included in the curricula for full-time courses and,
so far as the time available permits, for part-time courses, other than
special short courses for adults.
The curricula should include courses in domestic
subjects, attendance at which might be either compulsory or optional for
young workers according to circumstances.
Workers of both sexes should have equal rights of
admission to all technical and vocational schools, provided that women
and girls are not required to engage continuously on work which on
grounds of health they are legally prohibited from performing, a short
period on such work for the purpose of training being, however,
permissible.
Appropriate facilities for technical and vocational
training should be provided for occupations in which women and girls are
mainly employed, including domestic employments and activities.
Where the nature of the occupation, the methods of
operation of the undertaking, the absence of an adequate system of
apprenticeship and traditions of craftsmanship, or other local
circumstances, make it impossible for young persons to secure
satisfactory vocational training while in employment, such training
should be given in full-time schools before they enter employment.
Where young persons are given vocational training in
the conditions referred to in the preceding subparagraph, the practical
training should be given in surroundings as similar as possible to those
of an actual undertaking and, where circumstances permit, should be
completed by periods of practical work at the place of work.
Where vocational training is given during employment,
it is desirable that separate workshops specially adapted for the
purpose of giving training should be set up within the undertaking
wherever the size and organisation of the undertaking make such an
arrangement practicable.
Opportunities for extending their technical and trade
knowledge by attending part-time supplementary courses should be
provided for all workers, whether or not they had received vocational
training before entering employment.
These courses should, as far as possible, be held in
establishments near to the place of employment or the workers' homes.
The curricula for these courses should be adjusted to
the special requirements of (a) apprentices; (b) young workers for whom
facilities should be provided to enable them to obtain better posts; (c)
adult workers who wish to acquire a technical qualification or to extend
or improve their technical or trade knowledge.
The time spent in attending supplementary courses by
apprentices and other young workers who are under an obligation to
attend such courses should be included in normal working hours.
Close collaboration should be maintained between
technical and vocational schools and the industries or other branches of
activity concerned, particularly by the inclusion of employers and workers
in the governing bodies of the schools or in advisory bodies to the schools.
Local or regional advisory committees should be
established to ensure collaboration between the competent administrative
authorities and the technical and vocational educational institutions,
public employment exchanges and organisations concerned, in particular
the occupational organisations of employers and workers.
The duties of these committees should be to advise
the competent authorities:
on the promotion and co-ordination of official
and private action in regard to vocational training, guidance and
selection in the locality or region;
on the drawing up of curricula and the adjustment
of such curricula to changes in practical requirements;
on the conditions of work of young persons who
are receiving vocational training, whether in a technical or
vocational school or in an undertaking, and, more particularly, on
measures for ensuring:
that the work done by them is suitably
restricted and is essentially of an educative character; and
that the work of pupils in technical and
vocational schools is not intended for commercial profit.
Measures should be taken to supply information to
interested persons, by means of brochures, articles, talks, films,
posters, visits to undertakings, exhibitions, etc., on the occupations
for which young persons can obtain training corresponding with their
inclinations and aptitudes, on the conditions upon which such training
can be obtained and the facilities that are accorded, and on the
advantages offered by each type of training in relation to the prospects
of employment and a future career.
The primary and secondary schools, vocational
guidance offices, public employment exchanges and technical and
vocational educational institutions should collaborate in furnishing
such information.
The qualifications required in the examination on
termination of technical and vocational training for any given
occupation should be uniformly fixed, and the certificates issued as a
result of these examinations should be recognised throughout the
country.
It would be desirable for the occupational
organisations of employers and workers to assist the competent
authorities in the control of these examinations.
Persons of both sexes should have equal rights to
obtain the same certificates and diplomas on completion of the same
studies.
Regional, national and international exchanges of
students who have completed their training would be desirable so as to
enable them to acquire wider knowledge and experience.
The occupational organisations of employers and
workers should, as far as possible, collaborate in organising these
exchanges.
Teachers responsible for theoretical courses should
be recruited from among persons with a university degree or a diploma
awarded after training in a technical school or teachers' training
college and should possess or acquire practical knowledge of the branch
of activity for which they prepare pupils.
Teachers responsible for practical courses should be
recruited from among persons qualified by practical experience, should
have extensive experience of the subject they teach, and should be fully
qualified as regards both theoretical knowledge of their subject and
general culture.
Teachers recruited from industry and commerce should
as far as possible receive special training for the purpose of
developing their teaching ability and where necessary their theoretical
knowledge and general culture.
The following methods should be taken into consideration
with a view to improving the qualifications of teachers and keeping their
knowledge up to date:
the establishment of contacts between undertakings
and the teachers responsible for giving practical training as, for
instance, by the organisation of regular "refresher" periods
of work;
the organisation by educational institutions of
special courses which teachers may follow individually and short holiday
courses for groups of teachers;
the granting, in special cases, of travelling or
research scholarships or special leave with or without pay.
Arrangements should be made between employers and
educational authorities for the appointment of persons employed in industry
and commerce as part-time teachers of special subjects.
