European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

1. Major legislative reforms, at various stages of approval in a number of countries, particularly France, Spain and Belgium (Francophone) can be noted. In these a common theme appears to be recognition of non-formal learning within an overall framework of lifelong learning. Even if vocational training policy remains a national prerogative, it seems to be more and more often informed, explicitly or implicitly by EU level or international experience. Similarly interesting innovative projects on which Cedefop is informed, frequently seem to either be planned from the start as a bi-lateral or in international activity, often with funding through an EU programme, or to acquire an "external" characteristic in the process of their development.
   
2. Many initiatives whether they are linked with legislation or new projects are placed within the framework of lifelong learning. The impact, at least in terms of the media of the recently published PISA study, has been striking, particularly in Germany, and references to its results are quoted as reasons for new initiative.
   

Legislative reforms

3. In January, the French National Assembly approved the law on social modernisation, which contains important measures concerning vocational training and the right to employment. It installs a system for the validation of acquired experience and gives the right to everybody, who has been employed, self-employed or involved in voluntary activities for more than three years, to have his/her experience validated and recognised as equivalent, in part or whole, to the knowledge necessary for obtaining a diploma delivered, in the name of the State, by education and training institutions. The law also has a chapter on the financing of apprenticeship ensuring more funds for apprentice training centres. In addition, it established regional employment and vocational training co-ordination committees with a view to improving the supply of training through a better analysis and evaluation of existing policies.
   
4. In February 2002 in the French speaking community of Belgium, a draft law providing for the validation of competences was published. This defines the concepts of competence, formal, informal and non-formal learning and will offer possibilities to the unemployed, employees and the self-employed to access a service providing validation without charge. The Walloon government has also approved measures aimed at harmonising the administrative and financial status of trainees with a view to making it more attractive to disadvantaged groups. All job seekers attending any training programme will now receive 1 euro per hour of training hour reimbursement for travel costs and for child day nursery.
   
5. In Spain a major piece of legislation, being prepared by the Ministries of Education, Employment and Public Administration, will modify existing education and training provision. Since the proposal was approved by the government in December 2001, there has been a wide and lively public debate. The objective is to create and regulate a national system of vocational training and qualifications, which will meet European criteria. The new framework will attempt to integrate the three existing VET systems and will be directed and co-ordinated by the central government, with the co-operation of the autonomous communities. It is expected to be approved by the government in June.

Education and training policy

6. The new government in Denmark, formed following the November election, is undertaking a series of expenditure reviews, which will also have implications for the educational field. Although these have not been finalised, it seems certain that among the areas hit will be non-residential folk high schools, adult education associations, free evening schools and Ministry of Education development funds.
   
7. A study in the Netherlands has looked at education and research in the year 2010 and suggests that long term policy should be focused on a practical pedagogical approach, specifically adapted to the character of vocational education, an adequate ICT-infrastructure and the permanent involvement of the social partners to ensure more flexible combinations of learning and working. Continuous development of a comprehensive method for the accreditation of prior learning is essential and in this context a rethinking of the financing of education is needed. Lifelong learning should contribute to the reduction of labour market inactivity and of those without basic qualifications.
   
8. FAS - the statutory Irish national training and employment authority has recently published its strategy document for the period 2002 to 2005. As far as training is concerned there is a change away from activities for the unemployed to one which is primarily concerned with supporting employers in up-dating the skills of those in employment and with focusing on the needs of low skilled and low paid employees.
   
9. The Norwegian government, focusing on quality, variety and the learning environment in schools and training institutions, has set up a committee to evaluate the education system. The main objective is to evaluate if the length of initial education should be reduced from 13 to 12 years. Schooling, from primary school, through secondary school including vocational education and transition to work, must be understood as part of the same process and be included in the perspective of life long learning. The committee will report in 2003.

Initial training

10. .In November, the French Minister for Vocational Education officially launched his "craft high school" (lycée des métiers) programme, which is aimed at reinforcing the synergy between different vocationally oriented education pathways, particularly the vocational and technological ones. These schools will be constituted around a coherent grouping of crafts within a single sector or across a number of sectors. They will be identified by regional and local authorities and will be awarded a quality label, valid for five years.
    
11. .In Denmark, efforts continue to be made to increase the number of training places and strengthening their practical element. Objectives include providing a total of 36 000 places by 2004 and reducing the number of dropouts by half. Vocational schools are redoubling their efforts to obtain apprenticeship places in companies by creating networks. More training places for ethnic minorities is also an objective. On a sectoral basis, after the reforms of the commercial training programmes in 1996 and the technical training programmes in 2001, the turn of the social and health care training programmes has now come. The reform implies substantial changes in structure and content, such as an emphasis on social and personal skills, and the trainee’s opportunities for further education. A prime objective is to improve the attractiveness of the programmes and thereby attract more young people to a sector in need of trainees and employees.
    
12. A report in Italy suggests that following reforms in recent years, apprenticeship is taking off. Not only are there 430 000 young people, 20 000 enterprises and a similar number of tutors, participating in apprenticeship, but the profile of trainees is also changing. Many now have a school-leaving certificate and are engaged in intermediate level technical tasks. 70% of apprentices interviewed were satisfied with their training experience. Eight out of ten enterprises surveyed indicated that they found it advantageous to have apprentices.
    
13. In November 2001, the Secretaries of State for Education, Trade and Industry and the Exchequer set a target that, by 2004, a quarter of young people in the United Kingdom would enter a modern apprenticeship. They were responding to the findings of an advisory committee, which reported in September, that modern apprenticeship was "marginal to national life". There will now be a national framework for apprenticeship and an entitlement to a modern apprenticeship place for all those (88.9% of the age group in 2002) who achieve five pass grades at the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level.
    
14. In Germany, a report showed that only 11.6% of young people remained without a training qualification and that training does help to compensate for poor educational levels, of the type defined by the PISA study. There is agreement that teachers in vocational schools need to have a practice-oriented initial and in service training and that for disadvantaged young people, there needs to be a long term development strategy stretching from school, through vocational preparation and training, to entry into employment. However, there are differences of opinion between trade unions and employers on issues such as special (short) training programmes for young people, who perform poorly, and about financing.
    
15. One of the objectives of the German programme to promote the vocational training of gifted young people is to raise the standing of VET by showing that it too can be a highroad to professional success. 14.6 million Euro will be spent this year to support some 14 000 young people, who have completed a dual vocational training or one of 16 health training specialist health care areas. This means that about 1% of those in vocational training receive support as gifted young people. This is approximately the same percentage as in higher education.
    
16. Recent changes in the regulations concerning the Spanish programme of training workshops and craft centres have been aimed at establishing two clearly separate stages in the process, the first is one of training and the second purely practical in a working situation.
    
17. In Austria, a proposed reform of the Crafts, Trade and Industry Act is at present at an advanced stage in the consultation procedure. The objective is to strengthen the country’s competitive position by liberalising access to occupations and reforming linked subsidiary rights. Thus there should be easier access to self-employment without reducing existing high standards. Changes in the requirements for access to occupations should facilitate recognition of non-formal qualifications. Examination processes should be reformed and simplified.


Continuing training

18. Changes introduced in Spain, in October 2001, in the regulations concerning experimental programmes to favour occupational integration, are geared specifically to providing ICT training for 3 000 trainers involved in training for the unemployed. They also provide financial support to marginalised groups (handicapped, immigrants etc.) and innovative actions to assist entry to employment and also to support entrepreneurs.
    
19. A recent United Kingdom study has found that the introduction of a national minimum wage may have reduced the willingness of employers to spend money on training for lower paid workers, including those aged 16/17, even though they fall outside the scope of the legislation. A further study found that one of the reasons for non-completion of national training qualifications was insufficient employer involvement and support. This in turn is triggered by employees changing employers and /or occupation.
    

Training in SMEs

20. A recent analysis of the Irish Skillnets programme has found not only that the programme has been generally successful but that it seems to have responded effectively to the needs of small (47% of participants) and even micro (43%) companies. The programme is based on the principle of the networking of companies usually on a sectoral or geographic basis, thus giving small companies greater purchasing power and negotiating leverage with training providers. There has been an emphasis on training, which is certified, and on the introduction of measures to accredit and validate non-formal learning that has taken place in the workplace.
    
21. In Belgium (Wallonia), in January 2002 two training modules for the training of entrepreneurs in the social economy were launched. This project supported by the Minister for Employment and Training is aimed at the creation of job opportunities and at integrating poorly qualified people, who might be more likely to find and maintain employment in this type of enterprise.


Information and communication technologies and eLearning

22. A recent survey in Sweden has found that 81% of upper secondary school students have an e-mail address, while the number of students per computer varies between three and four, depending on whether the school is an independent or public one.
    
23. The Portuguese government, within the framework of the national employment plan, has created three specialised technology courses, which are at the post-secondary level and provide access to higher education. This joint initiative of the Ministers of Education, Employment and Solidarity and Science and Technology is aimed at those who have completed 12 years of schooling and a vocational training qualification in the area of information and communication technologies. The courses are of 1 500 hours duration and are free of charge. A budget of 4.2 million euro is being made available. Also in Portugal, the national employers’ organisation is preparing, with the universities and private organisations, a nation-wide programme, aimed at providing training for 70 000 people in new technologies.
    
24. In October the results of a French enquiry on the practice and use of eLearning as well as its cost effectiveness were presented. The enquiry carried out between June and September received 538 replies from learners, enterprises and training organisations. The findings revealed great expectations from all involved. Most training was in the area of bureautics, but also general education, crafts and languages. Use of the Internet was the favourite media. Not just cost effectiveness, but also greater flexibility, were seen as reasons for greater investment in eLearning. In Portugal too there has been a recent survey of accredited institutions, which use distance and eLearning techniques. In the same country, a special eLearning initiative has been launched to promote the integration of handicapped people in the labour market.
    
25. A new programme specifically geared to the eBusiness needs of small and medium-sized enterprises was launched by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland in autumn 2001. It followed a report, which found that SME’s were disadvantaged in comparison with larger companies and that only 1% were engaged in online learning. The programme’s objective is to deliver training to over 4 000 companies


Guidance

26. At the beginning of March, Iceland launched a database, which will contain extensive information on all learning opportunities at secondary level and above. This will be user-friendly and also decentralised in order to allow educational institutes to enter and maintain the information on their own provision. In the Netherlands the National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance will in future focus on making guidance counsellors aware of the international dimension of training. Apprentices and students should be aware from the start of their course, and not at the end, of international opportunities.


Lifelong learning and funding education and training

27. As part of a survey carried out in Germany, alongside the European wide continuing vocational training survey, 474 companies were asked about the impact of structural change and globalisation on their recruitment and qualifications strategies and on their contribution to the lifelong learning of their personnel and how the growing responsibility to look after one’s own training had affected their personnel. One finding was that this brings more stress due to the need for the individual to combine work, family and learning. Practising lifelong learning can also increase the financial burden. The German trade union confederation has called for a federal framework law for continuing training and has declared that the increasing transfer of the costs of training to the individual is unacceptable.
    
28. As a result of the extensive national consultation in Austria on the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning memorandum, a new forum is to be established. It will be concerned with the co-ordination of the whole area of adult education and continuing training. In it, experts will work on issues such as educational statistics and indicators, the role of public and other authorities, measures against marginalisation and quality assurance.
    
29. In Finland, the Ministry of Education approved in November 2001 a plan, which had been presented by the National Board of Education and had received general support by both the educational administration and education providers. This provides for the introduction of a performance-based funding system for upper secondary VET, that would evaluate and reward education providers, in particular in relation to the placement of their students in employment or further studies. The model will be introduced gradually and evaluation of schools will be based on four clusters of quantitative indicators.
    
30. In October, the Individual Learning Accounts (ILA) programme in England was suspended amid allegations of fraud and miss selling. The ILA programme was designed to encourage those with low skills into training through providing them with bank learning accounts. The first million account holders were given a subsidy of 240 euro and all account holders were entitled to substantial discounts on selected training courses. The Government’s original target was to attract one million people into the scheme in the first year (2000). This target was widely exceeded, with over 2.5 million people joining the scheme. During the summer the media had reported on abuses of the scheme, complaints regarding a number of training providers were made and there was widespread criticism that the accounts were not being taken up by the low-skilled as intended.


Quality assurance

31. By August 2003 educational institutions in the VET sector in the Netherlands will be fully responsible for the examination of courses they provide. How they perform this task will be tested externally. A national examination quality centre will be established and will define national standards to which all educational institutions will have to conform in order to obtain a licence. Without such a licence, an institution will have to enlist the services of another licensed institution.
    
32. A recently published evaluation of Finland’s competence-based qualifications system, introduced in 1994,drew attention to some weaknesses, but was overall positive in its conclusions. In 2000 17 000 adults obtained complete and 10 000 partial, qualifications, while 32 000 people took part in competencies tests. In the autumn of 2000 there were a total of 388 titles in the qualification structure. The aim of the competence-based qualifications system is to provide adults with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in tests that are independent of the way in which these skills have been obtained, and to increase the collaboration between the labour market and vocational adult education.
    
33. To improve the recruitment for technical subjects the Ministry of Education and Research in Norway has decided to set up a centre for enhancing basic skills in mathematics. The centre will coordinate the development of new and improved methods and learning strategies for mathematics. It will be situated in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and will work with other bodies to make mathematics a more attractive subject for students in schools and in teacher training institutions. The centre will be functioning from August 2002.
    
34. The National Training Organisations (NTOs) for England and Wales and their over-arching NTO National Council are to be replaced by a new network of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and a national Sector Skills Development Agency. The NTOs are employer-lead sectoral bodies responsible for raising skills levels. The new arrangement follows a review of the existing network and concerns about the effectiveness of some of the sector representatives. It is expected that there will be fewer SSCs, with some covering more than one sector. They will be responsible for developing occupational standards, such as Modern Apprenticeships. The Government expects them to be instrumental in reducing skills shortages and in improving training frameworks and standards. The Sector Skills Development Agency and the first of the new SSCs will be operational from April.


Higher education/teacher training

35. In Belgium (Flanders), reforms are making higher education more flexible, so that for example from the 2002/3 academic year, the universities and the institutes of higher education will be able to award both bachelor and master degrees. In particular the centres for the training of teachers will bring together the strengths of the universities (geared particularly to theoretical aspects) and the higher education institutes, whose strengths are linked with teaching practice. The Minister for Education has also received a report, which he commissioned and which calls for far-reaching concrete steps to make it easier for handicapped people to participate in higher education.
    
36. A report on the future development of universities in Ireland was published in January and has generated debate in academic circles. The report, which reviewed international trends in higher education, calls for the strengthening of links between the universities and both industry and the wider community. It also advocates broader access for mature, disadvantaged and post-graduate students and more flexible teaching to facilitate lifelong learning.

Internationalisation (co-operation across boundaries)

37. In September, the Federal German and Dutch education ministers agreed a common declaration to strengthen co-operation in the fields of education and training, with a special emphasis on encouraging mobility between the two countries. Employers in the construction sector in Belgium (Flanders) and in the Netherlands faced with severe skilled manpower shortages, have developed a sectoral network for placement and information. This involves not only a common database of job opportunities in the areas covered, but also tests to help in selection processes. Many countries have reported on measures aimed at improving both the quantity and quality of mobility in the VET sector. In December, as the culmination of a process involving the definition of criteria for assessing mobility projects, the Austrian Minister of Education awarded quality labels to a number of projects carried out within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The four criteria developed comprised the results achieved, innovation, quality in implementation and overall impact. The importance of language learning in the quality of mobility was illustrated by an Austrian-lead Leonardo da Vinci project FOLLO.WWW, which is concerned with developing a virtual tour through the key production areas of a wood processing company.

Michael Adams
jma@cedefop.eu.int

Brussels

27 February 2002

The above note has been prepared by Cedefop as background information for the meeting of the Directors General for Vocational Training to be held in Santiago de Compostela on 22 and 23 April 2002. It is based on information received from members of Cedefop’s documentary information network, in particular, their contributions to Cedefop Info, issue 1/2002. This note and the full text of Cedefop Info 1/2002 will be made available on Cedefop’s Internet site (http://www.cedefop.eu.int) and in its European Training Village (http://www.trainingvillage.gr). Cedefop would be pleased to receive feedback and reactions on the content and usefulness of this note.

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