National Initiatives Concerning the Career Guidance/Information/Vocational Counselling - Norway

Source: CEDEFOP

Vocational Guidance and Follow-up Service

In principle, the labour market authorities have the overall responsibility for the provision of educational and vocational guidance for all groups. They supply the training institutions with updated information material and other guidance tools, but the implementation of the task and contact with pupils and students is handled by staff at the educational institutions.

All pupils are entitled to vocational guidance both during compulsory school and in upper secondary education and training. School counsellors, who are found at every school, organise the guidance with assistance from the teachers, and often in co-operation with other educational institutions, enterprises and the social partners.

Since 1994, all the counties have established a follow-up service which is a body subordinate to the county school authorities. The follow-up service acts as a safety net for school drop-outs and other youngsters between the ages of 16 and 19, who are neither in the education system nor in regular work. The aim of the follow-up service is to provide the necessary information, guidance and practical assistance to direct the individuals into an activity leading to general matriculation, a formal vocational qualification or a partial qualification that can improve their access to the labour market.

Every young person in the 16 to 19 age group has a legal right to upper secondary education/training (Reform 94), and must be contacted by the follow-up service if they have not applied for, or if they do not attend, education/training. A yearly average of 7 - 8% of all young people in the 16 to 19 age group are contacted by the follow-up service. Of these, 60% eventually accept an offer of training or work.

Three main institutions are established with the aim to strengthen the international co-operation and exchange of information about education, training, the labour market and living conditions:

• the EURES office, which is a part of the European EURES network,
• the National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance (NSY - Nasjonalt senter for yrkesveiledning) established with support from the Leonardo da Vinci Programme.
• the National Academic Information Centre (NAIC), which provides information and guidance concerning higher education opportunities abroad to students and advises Norwegian universities on the evaluation of "foreign" qualifications as a basis for further studies in Norway.

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