Within the limits of the areas of competence conferred on the Community, this
Directive shall apply to all persons, as regards both the public and private
sectors, including public bodies, in relation to:
conditions for access to employment, to self-employment or to occupation,
including selection criteria and recruitment conditions, whatever the branch of
activity and at all levels of the professional hierarchy, including promotion;
access to all types and to all levels of vocational guidance, vocational
training, advanced vocational training and retraining, including practical work
experience;
When the common vocational training policy is put into operation, special
importance shall be attached:
to forecasts and estimates, at both national and community levels, of the
quantitative and qualitative requirements of workers in the various
productive activities;
to a permanent system of information and guidance or vocational advice,
for young people and adults, based on the knowledge of individual
capabilities, training facilities and employment opportunities, operating in
close co-operation with the productive and distributive sectors of the
economy, vocational training services and schools;
to the opportunity for every person to have recourse to the system
provided for above at any time before choosing his occupation, during his
vocational training and throughout his working life.
The school leavers who have the poorest results also often lack basic skills
that are taken for granted in the adult world. They find it difficult to
understand instructions, to complete forms, to communicate effectively by word
of mouth and writing, and to use the social and other services provided by
Member States. Hence some reinforcement of basic knowledge and skills, and help
with the application of these to practical situations is likely to be needed.
Many of those who leave school at the minimum school leaving age do so
because they find the school atmosphere uncongenial and unresponsive to their
adolescent interests. Therefore the vocational preparation proposed should be
set in a context appropriate to young adults and related closely to their
practical needs. Formidable tasks remain in developing the right approaches and
systems. It is possible that the relevant methods and techniques in the field of
adult education and training which have been developed in the Member States
since the Second World War may be useful. The preparation should equip young
people not only with the social skills needed at work, but also provide basic
practical training in a well defined area of skills, such as building,
engineering or office-work. This basic training should be so designed as to
enable the trainee to undertake a specific job in the chosen area and also
qualify him to move into recognized courses of operative or craft training.
Since the problems of many young people also stem from ignorance of the
world of work, contextual studies and practical experience should form part of
vocational preparation:
contextual studies would include material relevant
to people at work, such as the basic principles of economic and social
organization, the law relating to social security and employment, the roles of
management and of trade unions, the nature of the world of work, industrial
safety and hygiene, industrial relations and the use of guidance, training and
placement services;
practical experience of work could be provided by various means which could
include one of the following:
encouraging employers, where appropriate by
means of incentives, to take on young people for periods of practical
experiences without commitment,
simulating work experience in the training context,
organizing a publicly financed work-creation programme.
Where vocational preparation involves "in-plant" training or work
experience provided with aid from public funds, it is important that this is
organized so as to achieve the greatest benefit for the trainee. There is a
danger that the training or work experience will be too limited in scope,
restricted to specific skills of immediate utility, i.e. its content will be
influenced more by the need of the employer for immediate production than by the
broader needs of the trainees. Hence it is necessary for public authorities to
take measures to ensure the quality of such "in-plant" training and
work experience.
In order to ensure that no obstacles are placed in the way of young people
who wish to undertake such vocational preparation, governments should take
action in two areas:
young people threatened by unemployment should be given
reasonable leave of absence from their work in order to attend such courses,
with the aim of enabling them to keep their jobs or to find new jobs;
all young people attending these courses (both those who are unemployed and
those in employment) should be paid maintenance allowances. The allowance should
be related to means and should be sufficient to cover reasonable living
expenses, fees (if any) and the incidental costs of the courses, and should be
large enough to ensure that young persons attending such forms of vocational
preparation are financially better off than they would be if they remained
unemployed.
In order to achieve the recommended objective of providing adequate
vocational preparation for all unemployed young people, it will be necessary to
use all existing and potential educational and training resources. The Social
Partners have both resources and experience to contribute and should therefore
be associated with the planning, organization and implementation of vocational
preparation programmes.
Vocational preparation should be made available to young people between the
end of compulsory attendance and the age of 25 who are either unemployed or
thereatened by unemployment, and who have no other opportunity for vocational
training. Where necessary, priority should be given to those who leave school
with no formal educational qualifications.
The object of vocational preparation should include, as appropriate:
vocational guidance, aimed at relating the aptitudes and interests of the young
person concerned to training and to employment opportunities;
the reinforcement and application of basic skills such as oral and written
expression and elementary mathematical calculation, as well as the social skills
needed to work;
understanding the basic principles of economic and social organization, the
law relating to social security and employment, the roles of management and of
trade unions, the nature of the world of work, industrial safety and hygiene,
industrial relations, and the use of guidance, training and placement services;
practical initial training in a broad skills area which is so designed as to
enable the trainee to undertake a specific job in the chosen area and also
qualify him to undertake more advanced training at a later stage;
practical experience of work, either in an enterprise or by such other means
as provide equivalent experience.
Vocational preparation should use modern teaching methods appropriate to the
age and adult status of the young people.
In providing vocational preparation full use should be made of all existing
training resources and experience including those of employers, trade unions,
and other appropriate bodies. The Social Partners should be associated with the
planning, organization and implementation of vocational preparation.
Where vocational preparation involves the financing from public funds of
in-plant training and/or work experience, public authorities should ensure that
both the training and the work experience is of good quality and relevant to the
needs of the young people.
Young people threatened by unemployment should be given reasonable leave of
absence from their work in order to undertake vocational preparation, with the
aim of enabling them to keep their jobs or to find new jobs.
Allowances sufficient to cover maintenance, fees (if any) and the incidental
costs of courses should be paid, in accordance with means, to young people
attending publicly approved forms of vocational preparation. The maintenance
allowance should be large enough to ensure that young people attending such
forms of vocational preparation are financially better off than they would be if
they remained unemployed.
Action should be taken to inform young people of the schemes of vocational
preparation available and of the facilities provided to enable them to follow
the courses.
It is recommended that the Member States should introduce, continue or encourage
active measures designed to:
integrate training for women within a broader process of cooperation between
all the parties concerned: the education authorities and oganizations, school
and vocational guidance, the two sides of industry, the training organizations,
the lenders of capital, the central and/or regional and/or local authorities,
equal opportunities organizations, undertakings, women's groups or associations;
staff the guidance, training and placement services with persons qualified
to deal with the specific problems of women (e.g. equal opportunities
counsellors) and to take measures to increase the awareness of instructors;
reorganize the school, university and vocational guidance services in such a
way that they seek out rather than wait to be approached by the people
concerned;
encourage the participation of women and girls in training courses by
providing more decentralized and more widely distributed education and training
facilities;
develop awareness and information measures so as to offer women and those
around them images of women engaged in non-traditional activities, particularly
those related to occupations of the future;
