The European Commission is calling for a new vision on the future of vocational education and training. Some 50% of all students in upper secondary education opt for vocational education and training ⁽¹⁾. According to the EU executive, the sector needs to be modernised to make it a more attractive and high-quality option, so that it provides young people with the right skills to find a suitable job and adults with an opportunity to update skills throughout their working life. Therefore, the Commission wants to encourage more people to take up vocational education, to improve the quality of the training on offer and to make it easier to move between jobs and countries.

The EU’s ministers are expected to discuss and adopt the Commission’s ten-year plan in the second half of this year. With funding for education, training and research being cut by budget-strapped governments around Europe, costly modernisation plans for vocational training may not be easy to push through. However, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, disagrees. She told Europoliticsthat her discussions with member states have convinced her that there is almost unanimous support for the idea that vocation training is the answer for future challenges. “If we want to be ambitious, as with our ‘Europe 2020’, then we have put these ideas into practice. The only way is to modernise our vocational training systems and invest money,” she said. “Otherwise, we might as well say that it is futile to be ambitious.”

Vassiliou also sees a geographical divide in Europe when it comes to vocational training. Central Europe and the Nordic countries are seen as strong areas for vocational training, whilst Southern Europe is weak. “There’s a very low image of vocational training in Southern Europe. Now they realise how important this is for employability in the future,” she said.

The Commission’s ten-year plan, proposed on 9 June, builds upon the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy and aims to link in with the forthcoming ‘Youth on the Move’ initiative. The plan outlines several “possible” ways to give vocational education and training new impetus. These include: 1. ensuring open and flexible access to training and qualifications at all stages of life; 2. promoting mobility so as to make it easier to gain experience abroad or in a different economic sector; 3. ensuring the highest possible quality of education and training; 4. providing more opportunities for disadvantaged groups (school dropouts, low-skilled, unemployed, ethnic minorities and the disabled); and 5. nurturing creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in students.

A document is available at www.europolitics.info > Search = 274067

“Otherwise, we might as well say that it is futile to be ambitious” 

Background

The EU’s education and training policy is based on Article 166 of the treaty. The Commission’s role is to support and supplement member states’ actions. It concentrates on exchange of best policy practices between countries. It has also designed and implemented common European tools as well as supported ‘innovative’ projects through the Leonardo da Vinci programme. Examples include the Europass common format for CVs, the European Qualification Framework (EQF), the European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) and the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework. With a budget of 1.7 billion euro in 2007-2013, or some 25% of the total Lifelong Learning Programme budget, Leonardo da Vinci supports developing, testing and implementing ‘innovative’ reforms. Member states can also use the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund to support development of vocational education and training.

⁽¹⁾ Participation rates vary from almost 80% in some countries to less than 15% elsewhere.