R88 Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950

1. Definitions
2. Principles of Training
3. Scope of Training
4. Methods of Training
   • Training of Production Workers
   • Training in Undertakings
   • Training outside Undertakings
   • Training of Supervisors
   • Recruitment and Training of Instructors
5. Training of Disabled Persons
6. Organisation and Administration
7. International Co-operation in the Training of Adults

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 33rd Session on 7 June 1950, and

Having noted that the Conference has already adopted certain provisions concerning the problem of vocational training in general and certain special aspects thereof, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the vocational training of adults including disabled persons, which is the ninth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation,

adopts this thirtieth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty, the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Vocational Training (Adults) Recommendation, 1950.

I. Definitions

1. For the purpose of this Recommendation:
   1. the expression vocational training means any form of training for employment by means of which technical, trade or supervisory knowledge or skill can be acquired or developed, whether the training is given inside or outside an undertaking, and includes retraining; and
   2. the expression production worker includes any individual employed in or training for employment in any branch of economic activity in any capacity other than a supervisory or managerial capacity.

II. Principles of Training

2. 1. Vocational training of adults should be studied, worked out and developed in accordance with the situation and trend of the employment market, the efforts to improve or increase production, and the possibilities of absorbing trainees into suitable employment.
   2. Vocational training of adults should be studied, worked out and developed in co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations where such exist and adequate arrangements for such co-operation can be made.
3. Training should, as far as possible, provide adults with background knowledge related to the occupations they are learning and to the industries in which they wish to be employed, with a view, in particular, to facilitating upgrading.
4. Training of unemployed adults should not be used as a substitute for unemployment insurance or assistance systems but should be used to facilitate the re-employment of unemployed workers who require training in order to find suitable employment.

III. Scope of Training

5. 1. Appropriate training facilities should, as far as possible, be made available for adults, either by adapting training facilities for young persons or by setting up special facilities or by both methods.
   2. Such facilities should be organised, in accordance with the principles and methods set forth in the present Recommendation, in a manner which takes due account of national circumstances, the needs of the different branches of economic activity, and the interests of the workers.
   3. Such facilities should be sufficiently developed to include appropriate arrangements for initial, refresher, supplementary and upgrading training.
   4. Such facilities should include, inter alia, appropriate provision for the training of the following categories of persons:
      1. demobilised persons and war victims who need training in order to find suitable employment;
      2. disabled persons who need training in order to find suitable employment;
      3. unemployed adults who are unlikely to find further employment in their own occupations or who need training in order to help them secure re-employment in their own occupations;
      4. adults who wish to learn an occupation in which there is a long-term manpower shortage;
      5. workers who become redundant in their occupations as a result of technological developments;
      6. adults in over-manned occupations who wish to prepare for employment in other occupations;
      7. adults who seek to emigrate under Government-sponsored migration arrangements and who need training in order to adapt their skill to the employment situation in a country of immigration;
      8. immigrants admitted for employment who need training to adapt their skill to the employment situation in the country of immigration.
6. Priorities in admission to training facilities for adults outside the undertakings should be established, where necessary, according to the public interest.
7. Suitable training facilities should be made available for both production workers and supervisors.
8. Women as well as men should have access to training facilities for adults.

IV. Methods of Training

Training of Production Workers

9. 1. Vocational selection should precede admission to training.
   2. Such selection should be designed to determine the most suitable occupation for the worker and should include, as appropriate in individual cases and with suitable safeguards for the worker, an analysis of physical and mental capacity and of vocational experience, aptitudes and interests.
10. The training programme for each occupation should be worked out, in co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations where such exist, on the basis of a systematic analysis of the operations, skills, knowledge and safety factors involved in that occupation.
11. The duration of training should be determined having regard to:
    1. the level of skill to be attained at the end of training,
    2. the need to prepare adults as rapidly as possible for entry into productive work, or
    3. both of the above factors.
12. Measures should be adopted to provide systematic supervision of trainees as an important factor in ensuring effective training.

Training in Undertakings

13. 1. Employers should be encouraged to take measures, either individually or in co-operation with other employers, to provide training for adults in accordance with their employment requirements and to such an extent as the technical operating conditions of their undertakings permit.
    2. The training referred to in (1) above should be given in particular:
       1. on the job, or
       2. in normal workplaces but not on the job, or
       3. in separate workshops, or
       4. in such places other than workplaces or workshops as are best suited to the needs of training, or
       5. by a combination of these methods, according to the type and aim of the training and the technical possibilities of the undertaking.
14. Where training is given on the job:
    1. production work assigned to trainees should have real training value; and
    2. trainees should work under supervisors or skilled workers able to train them.
15. Where training is not on the job, such training should, once the necessary period of initiation has elapsed, be provided in conditions approximating as closely as possible to those prevailing in ordinary employment and should include, whenever possible, performance of actual production operations or operations of the same nature.
16. 1. Where the theoretical instruction needed for acquiring the necessary skill in the occupation being taught cannot be provided in the undertaking, trainees should be enabled to obtain such instruction outside the undertaking without suffering loss of wages.
    2. In such cases close co-operation should be maintained between the undertaking and the institution providing the instruction.
17. Adult workers in training should be adequately remunerated in accordance with criteria established by law or regulation, by collective agreement or by the rules of the undertaking concerned.

Training outside Undertakings

18. 1. Where training needs are not provided for within undertakings, the competent authority should take the necessary measures to ensure that training facilities are provided elsewhere.
    2. In such cases, the training:
       1. should be provided in conditions approximating as closely as possible to those which exist in the undertakings;
       2. should, subject to necessary safeguards against competition which would not be acceptable to employers or workers, include production work or similar work so far as is compatible with the requirements of training.
    3. With a view to ensuring that the methods and content of training are adapted to the requirements of industry and changes in technique, close co-operation should be maintained between training centres or other institutions, the employers' and workers' organisations concerned and the undertakings likely to employ trainees.
    4. Training should enable trainees to attain minimum work speed and skill and should include or be followed by a period of practical experience so that the trainees may acquire normal work speed and skill on the job.
19. 1. During training provided by or approved by the competent authority, adults not in receipt of remuneration should receive adequate allowances from the competent authority fixed with due regard for:
       1. any unemployment benefit or any other allowance which they may receive;
       2. other factors, such as age, family responsibilities, cost of living in the district concerned, and special personal expenses connected with the training, e.g. for transport or housing;
       3. the need to encourage adults to undertake and complete training in accordance with the requirements of the employment market.
    2. Adults desiring to take vocational training without financial assistance should in appropriate cases be permitted to do so.

Training of Supervisors

20. The competent authority should, in co-operation with the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, take all useful and desirable measures to facilitate the development of the most effective training methods.
21. Close co-ordination of public and private activities relating to the training of supervisors should be developed.
22. Programmes for training supervisors should be worked out on the basis of systematic analysis of supervisory functions.
23. 1. Facilities should be made available so that persons filling or designated for supervisory positions may receive training, particularly in:
       1. methods of work;
       2. human relations in employment;
       3. co-ordination at the different levels of the undertaking;
       4. teaching methods;
       5. adaptation to duties of responsibility implying mutual trust with respect to professional matters.
    2. Such training should be provided primarily by any or all of the following methods:
       1. discussion groups with demonstration and analysis of practical examples;
       2. training on the job;
       3. lectures;
       4. class instruction.
    3. Such training should be organised and developed, inter alia, by any or all of the following means:
       1. special courses in universities and technical schools;
       2. institutions specially responsible for providing such training;
       3. appropriate training within the undertakings;
       4. methods aimed at accelerated training.

Recruitment and Training of Instructors

24. 1. The competent authority should, in co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations and other bodies concerned, take any necessary steps to set standards relating to the minimum qualifications required of instructors responsible for the training of adults in specialised centres or institutions, whether public or private.
    2. Such standards should relate, inter alia, to:
       1. technical competence and general education;
       2. practical experience in the occupations to be taught;
       3. age;
       4. aptitude for training adults.
    3. The competent authority should ensure the application of these standards in training centres or institutions established, supervised or subsidised by public authorities, and should recommend their application in all other centres or institutions.
25. 1. Instructors responsible for training adults should be given specialised training including training of a theoretical and technical nature and training in human relations with a view to developing their technical and teaching skills.
    2. Such training should include, as required, in particular:
       1. initial training;
       2. supplementary training or refresher courses; and
       3. at regular intervals, practical work in undertakings.
    3. The competent authority should take measures to encourage and develop such training.

V. Training of Disabled Persons

26. The principles, measures and methods of training set forth in this Recommendation should apply to all disabled persons in so far as medical and educational conditions permit.
27. 1. Measures should be taken to ensure that disabled adults have access to adequate and appropriate training facilities.
    2. Disabled persons should have access to such facilities whatever the origin and nature of their disability and whatever their age, so long as there are reasonable possibilities of training and employment.
28. 1. The training of disabled persons should, wherever possible, enable those concerned to carry on an economic activity in which they can use their vocational qualifications or aptitudes in the light of employment prospects.
    2. For this purpose, such training should be:
       1. co-ordinated with selective placement, under medical advice, in occupations suited to the nature of the disability and in which the performance of the work involved is to the least possible degree affected by the disability;
       2. provided, wherever possible, in the occupation in which the disabled person was previously employed or in a related occupation; and
       3. continued until the disabled person has acquired the skill necessary for working normally on an equal basis with able-bodied workers if he is capable of doing so.
29. 1. Where necessary, training of disabled persons should be preceded by suitable medical rehabilitation.
    2. Such rehabilitation should be designed to facilitate the subsequent training of the disabled persons concerned, and should include, as appropriate, the supply of suitable prosthetic appliances, psychological treatment, and physical and occupational therapy.
    3. In appropriate cases, training of disabled persons should be commenced during medical rehabilitation.
30. As appropriate, medical supervision of disabled persons should be provided during training.
31. Wherever possible, disabled persons should receive training in company with and in the same conditions as able-bodied persons.
32. Special facilities should be set up or developed for training disabled persons who by reason of the nature of their disability cannot be trained in company with able-bodied persons.
33. Measures should be taken to encourage employers to provide training for disabled persons; such measures should include, as appropriate, financial, technical, medical or vocational assistance.
34. Policy relating to the training of disabled persons should be formulated and applied on the basis of close co-operation among the bodies concerned with medical rehabilitation, social security, vocational guidance, training and employment of disabled persons, and in co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations.

VI. Organisation and Administration

35. 1. Appropriate co-ordinated programmes for the training of adults should be drawn up, developed and revised periodically by or on the initiative of the competent authority in co-operation with the employers' and workers' organisations representing the branches of economic activity concerned, and taking into account national, regional and local conditions.
    2. Such programmes should be co-ordinated with other aspects of the general programme for vocational training.
36. 1. The competent authority should, in co-operation and by agreement with the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, take all necessary and desirable measures to facilitate and co-ordinate the development of public and private activities relating to the training of adults.
    2. Such measures should include, as appropriate:
       1. determination of the scope and character of training requirements and of the facilities available;
       2. setting of standards relating to the conditions and methods of training;
       3. establishment of curricula for training in the different industries and occupations;
       4. technical assistance to the organisations and undertakings providing training;
       5. financial assistance to such organisations and undertakings.
37. 1. The responsibility of public authorities for the training of adults should be clearly defined.
    2. Such responsibility should be entrusted:
       1. to one authority, or
       2. to several authorities the activities of which should be closely co-ordinated.
38. Close and continuous co-operation should be maintained between the public employment service, the training services and the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, in particular to recruit adults for training and to place them at the end of training.
39. 1. Training should be developed with the assistance of advisory committees set up at the national, regional and local levels as necessary, and composed of representatives of the authorities and bodies concerned, including employers' and workers' organisations.
    2. Such committees should be responsible for advising, in particular:
       1. at the national level, on the development of policy and programmes for training of adults;
       2. at the regional and local levels, on the application of measures taken nationally, their adaptation to regional and local conditions and the co-ordination of regional and local activities.
40. 1. The competent authority should encourage the development of industry advisory committees to assist in applying training programmes for adults in the industry which they represent.
    2. Measures should be taken to ensure participation of employers' and workers' organisations in carrying out policy relating to the training of adults, for example, by the participation of their representatives, in either an executive or advisory capacity, in the bodies responsible for managing schools or centres for the training of adults or supervising their technical operation.
    3. The competent authority should encourage employers to co-operate with representatives of workers employed in their undertakings in the carrying out of training programmes therein.

VII. International Co-operation in the Training of Adults

41. 1. The States Members should co-operate, where necessary and practicable, and where desired with the help of the International Labour Office, in measures to promote the training of adults.
    2. Such co-operation should include, for example, action on terms to be mutually agreed between the countries concerned, to promote training by such methods as:
       1. the provision in one country of training facilities for selected personnel from another country to enable them to acquire skill and experience not available in their own country;
       2. the loan of experienced personnel from one country to another to help organise training;
       3. the preparation and provision of handbooks and other materials for training;
       4. the exchange of qualified personnel; and
       5. the systematic exchange of information on training questions.

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