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The research report analyses the state of the Irish labour market through job advertisements, particularly looking at job displacements resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, such as digitalisation. Using a skills adjacency model, the report highlights reskilling and upskilling opportunities to help displaced workers get back to employment. It focuses on possibility (skill overlap between occupations), feasibility (similar education requirements and stable or...

The process of review started in 2019 with the agreement on the guiding principles and approach. An international expert panel was appointed, with an internal funding model review advisory group and data modelling working group established to support the panel’s work.

The review panel had to review the existing approach to funding ETBs to deliver FET by SOLAS in terms of its effectiveness in delivering on national objectives, facilitating ETB flexibility and autonomy in responding to...

Creating a unified tertiary system is one of the strategic priorities of the National FET strategy 2020-24. Key stakeholders, DES, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), SOLAS (the national authority for FET), Higher Education Authority (HEA), Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) and the Irish Universities Association (IUA) agreed on an action plan to work towards a more strategic and consistent transitions approach to FET and...

The National FET Strategy defined that CotFs should have the following characteristics:

1. consolidation: CotFs are single integrated colleges;
2. dual outcome focus: the offer of courses designed to facilitate immediate entry to careers and employment and those that link directly to further study in HE, epxloring opportunities for co-delivery with HE institutions;
3. access pathways: supporting a learning pathway from a network of FET providers offering Level 1 to 4 provision;
4. consistent...

Ireland’s Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-25 was launched in 2021 by the Ministers for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Minister of State for Skills and Further Education. The plan aims to expand the types of programmes available and increase the number of apprenticeships to 10 000 per year by 2025. The plan is to ensure equity of access by creating simplified routes to entry, and improved flexibility within the system so that underrepresented groups...

The policy roadmap ‘Green Skills for FET 2021-30’ sets a strategic direction for green skills initiatives throughout the Irish FET sector and points to key areas for the FET Sector in the transition to a green economy. The policy incorporates the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the Green skills action plan and responds to some other national policies and legislation, e.g. Skills for zero carbon (2021), Future Jobs Irelans (2019) and the Action plan for apprenticeships 2021-25....

The external review is conducted by review teams. National and international external reviewers are selected for their expertise in one or more specific areas, providing perspectives from education and training, quality assurance, learner voice, community and industry. SOLAS and the Adult Learning Association (AONTAS) provide support to the review teams.

The external review examines the following aspects:

Governance and management of quality

The review evaluates the comprehensive...

The DLH is located in the south of Luxembourg. On its 700 m2, the Hub offers open and multi-purpose spaces and multifunctional classrooms, an amphitheatre and computer laboratories dedicated to networks, cybersecurity and product design and prototyping. A virtual infrastructure can be used to create working environments of all kinds, simulating a wide range of operating systems, software and usage scenarios such as cyber-attacks. The DLH favours face-to-face learning, but all training can...

The strategy update was coordinated by the ministry responsible for family, labour and social security. The final version of the document was adopted in 2019. The strategy is implemented by 15 different institutions, including the ministries responsible for education, digitalisation, labour, health or justice. 

The implementation of the strategy goals includes strategic projects outlined in the Strategy for responsible development, and supplementary projects grouped in two areas: social...

The action plan includes the following five specific measures:

1. implementing the integrated skills strategy through the development of professional skills in formal and non-formal education, including skills related to green and digital transitions;
2. provision and professional development of staff for the VET system;
3. the development of career guidance and promotion of VET;
4. implementation of innovative and durable mechanisms of cooperation at national and international levels in VET,...

The System of vocational qualifications (SVQ) is based on Vocational qualification standards (VQS) developed by the Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA) with the assistance of vocational qualifications technical committees. The SVQ assesses in real or simulated working conditions the ability of a person to carry out specific tasks according to a VQS. At the same time, the SVQ sets out the framework for the design and development of training activities to prepare the...

The online alumni community platform is a network of graduates from all the pathways offered by the Department of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training. It will give VET graduates the opportunity to stay engaged with the department. Through networking and professional development opportunities, graduates will participate in and benefit from career insights and advice from other alumni and career professionals. Alumni can benefit from continuing education opportunities,...

The Cyprus operational programme THALIA 2021-27 includes two relevant HRDA actions.

Individual learning accounts (ILAs) provide credits to eligible groups of employed and unemployed individuals to attend training programmes and acquire new and/or upgrade existing knowledge and skills. They aim to promote lifelong learning by providing flexible upskilling opportunities and preventing social exclusion. Through ILAs, individuals gain access to training programmes on a broad range of issues...

HRDA implements the following activities/schemes:

Scheme for the employment and training of tertiary education graduates

The scheme supports the enhancement of productivity and economic competitiveness of companies and organisations by providing incentives to them to employ and train young tertiary education graduates. At the same time, it helps to ensure the smooth integration of these graduates into suitable job positions. More precisely, the scheme provides incentives to companies to...

The four HRDA schemes included in the RRP are as follows.

Training programmes for the acquisition of digital skills

The scheme caters for the acquisition of new and/or upgrading existing digital skills in the Cyprus workforce (public and private sector employees, the self-employed and the unemployed), through participation in training programmes to be implemented by accredited VTCs. The target, for the period 2023-27 is to have 20 210 individuals participating in relevant training...

Eight priority areas were identified in relation to the achievement of the objectives, five of which explicitly target VET, two target lifelong learning in parallel with VET ((f) and (h)) and one targets interlinking general education and VET (e):

1. centres of excellence in VET;
2. in-company training centres;
3. higher VET transformation;
4. quality assurance in IVET and CVET;
5. prevention of early school leaving;
6. basic skills;
7. individual learning accounts;
8. a new system of lifelong learning...

The strategy was developed in a challenging economic time. It needs to support the recovery of the labour market after the COVID-19 crisis and continue the previously implemented policies, including Youth Guarantee actions.

It is based on social innovation, models of public and private services and partnerships to offer adapted solutions and comprehensively address the increased societal complexity of contemporary Romania.

The strategy proposes a multi-annual framework plan with measures...

The minister delegated for vocational training announced an ambitious reform at the end of 2022.

Law No 2022-1598 of 21 December 2022 on emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labour market includes several provisions that reform VAE along three lines:

1. simplification: facilitating the admissibility stage, shortening routes and harmonising funding rules;
2. making validation paths more secure: the law individualises and strengthens the support provided to candidates, giving...

The main actions within the key point 'further developing lifelong learning in higher education' of the Higher education advancement fund are:

1. Agile offer of lifelong learning

There is a need for retraining, reorientation and reskilling. This includes developing micro-credentials and reshaping of programmes, in which social partners are involved. It is essential to strengthen cooperation with the private sector, e.g. in the context of dual learning. New, innovative pathways should also...

The programmes of the tourism sector are developed by the tourism schools of Portugal, in partnership with municipalities as agents closer to local realities and mobilisers of the strategic change that it is intended to achieve. They are addressed to tourism sector professionals from micro and small enterprises; entrepreneurs and managers in the tourism sector; and other people interested in working in the sector. The training aims to promote the adaptation capacity of the enterprises to new...

Financial support for programmes promoted and to be implemented by HEIs, in partnership or in consortium with enterprises, public and/or private employers and including local, regional and national authorities and public bodies. They may take the form of schools, alliances and/or programmes, oriented towards initial and post-graduate higher training of adults (including short-term post-graduate diplomas and masters' degrees), in all areas of knowledge. They work towards lifelong training, as...

Training voucher is a direct financial support for vocational training to be granted to employees and the unemployed as a way of providing individual access to training.

It is addressed to employees aged 16 or over, regardless of their qualification level, and unemployed individuals, aged 16 or over, registered in PES for at least 90 consecutive days, with qualification levels 3 to 6. For the unemployed, to receive financial support, the training must correspond to that defined in the...

Apprenticeship courses allow for academic and vocational certification, emphasising inclusion in the job market, boosted by a strong training component undertaken in a work context, and the pursuit of higher-level studies. Although dual learning has a strong tradition in Portugal, increased requirements for workers' skills and the need to deal with accelerated scientific and technological development, led to a new generation of apprenticeship programmes (Programas de Aprendizagem).

The programme Green skills and jobs (Trabalhos & Competências Verdes) comprises short and medium duration training courses, addressed to employees of companies directly or indirectly affected by the increase in energy costs, and to the unemployed, aged 18 or over, registered at PES. The training courses are integrated in the national qualifications catalogue, with a maximum duration of 375 hours, in the environment and energy areas: green hydrogen - fundamentals and technologies (300 hours);...

Modular training courses (Formação Modular Certificada) are addressed to adults aged 18 and over, employed or unemployed, who do not have the appropriate qualifications to enter or progress in the labour market, especially, those who have yet to complete basic or upper secondary education.

This is a modality that allows flexible training paths, through the realisation and certification of competence units and/or short duration training units (UFCD), that can be capitalised to obtain one, or...

Adult Education and Training courses (EFA) are a flexible training pathway of variable duration, according to the certification level. They enable the development of social, scientific and professional skills needed for the exercise of a professional activity and simultaneously obtain a basic school level certificate (fourth, sixth or ninth grades) or an upper secondary level certification (12th grade).

EFA courses are addressed to adults, employed or unemployed, with low and very low...

This measure is part of INCODE.2030. The Portugal digital academy is a national initiative that aims to bring digital competences to all Portuguese people  including migrants), investing in inclusion and digital literacy, in the education of new generations, in the qualification of the active population, in advanced and specialised training of senior staff and in research. It is a free course aggregator platform where all citizens can improve their digital competences regardless of age. The...

People who are entitled to unemployment benefit (regardless of their origin, as the right applies to people with foreign qualifications according to applicable provisions) are generally also entitled to take advantage of this measure.

The right applies to unskilled and skilled people. As a starting point, the definition of who is to be considered skilled or unskilled has to do with completed upper secondary, either general or vocational education. The decisive factor, however, in...

The regional education fund, for which the overarching legal framework is the Act on Active Labour Market Initiatives (LAB), is regulated by the Executive order BEK No 1974 of 11/12/2020) which provides subsidies for the municipalities' purchase of short vocational training courses.

The regional education fund supports, in principle, the unemployed. More precisely, it ensures guidance and upskilling opportunities are offered to unemployed people by their local job centre....

The job rotation allowance is a subsidy, paid by the local job centre. It covers the employer's total salary and training costs, including the salary of the employee and the temporary worker when an employee participates in continuing training and an unemployed person is temporarily hired in place of the employee who is trained at the time; this person is called a temporary worker. The rules for the job rotation allowance ensue from sections 149-153 of the Act on Active Employment Initiatives...

The Tripartite agreement on better and more flexible continuing vocational education was approved in 2017 and implementation started in 2018. The agreement had initially a lifespan until 2021. The main aspects of the agreement are as follows.

1. The creation of a ‘conversion fund’: around EUR 53.6 million (DKK 400 million) has been set aside, as of 5 March 2018, for a ‘conversion fund’, which will enable unskilled and skilled workers to undertake further training on their own initiative. The...

According to the requirements of the Employment Promotion Act, the national employment plans are prepared every year by a working group with the participation of experts from the responsible institutions, the social partners and the non-governmental sector. They are agreed by the social partners, members of the National Council for Employment Promotion and the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation and are adopted by a Decision of the Council of Ministers.

Priority target groups of the...

The project is managed by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ) in cooperation with the Employment Service of Slovenia. The Skills forecasting platform, a comprehensive online information system for labour matching and skills anticipation, is of key importance in tackling future challenges in the labour market and education system. It will contribute towards a well-functioning labour market and the creation of quality jobs, providing the...

The National strategy for regional development 2030 (NSRD) was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 17 September 2019. One of the objectives of the strategy is the development of human and social capital in the following subareas: vocational and higher education, continuing education, labour market and social capital. The strategy outlines several initiatives in these areas:

1. establishing mechanisms to encourage universities to cooperate with entrepreneurs;
2. increasing entrepreneurs’...

The Labour ministry is redesigning its approach to vocational education and training (VET) especially to RRF-funded continuing VET (CVET) programmes.

The main philosophy and rationale of the approach is that VET programmes should upskill and/or reskill unemployed individuals in high-demand specialties, in digital and green skills. Another aspect of the renewed approach is  that after completion of training, certification by independent and international awarding bodies should be obligatory.

The six strategic objectives of the plan are further analysed into sub-objectives that serve the effective implementation of the strategy.

More specifically, the implementation of the first strategic objective, Development and strengthening of VET and LLL with emphasis on quality assurance, is achieved through the following sub-objectives:

1. increasing the attractiveness of VET through the creation of new opportunities;
2. design of VET and LLL programmes and their quality assurance;
3.  ...

The new integrated information technology system includes various subsystems such as an electronic archive, an accounting and human resource system, an internal portal, as well as the digital platform Hermes, covering the operational needs and all services provided by the HRDA using modern information communication technologies (ICT).

The system significantly enhances the utilisation of new information technologies by HRDA and at the same time contributes to promoting the use of ICT and...

Section 3 of the plan, Education and labour market, proposes the following reforms and measures in education and training:

Transforming HE institutions to adapt to new forms of learning and changing the labour market needs by 2026:

The plan foresees measures to increase the ability of higher education (HE) institutions to adapt study programmes to new forms of learning and new fields, particularly digital expertise, in line with changing labour market needs.  It includes especially...

Investment in education, training and lifelong skills development brings benefits both to individuals and to society as a whole. Education is the engine for job creation, economic growth, improved social conditions and prosperity.

The strategy focuses on the modernisation of the adult education system by creating opportunities for the use of digital technologies, as well as by increasing the digital skills and competences of the workforce for full participation in digital education and the...

The training programme is based on a set of specialised training sessions in management, finance, leadership, innovation and digital areas. According to accurately identified needs this training targets the members of the social board, heads of department, workers of social sector institutions and also unemployed people.

The Valorizar social programme is composed of short training units with a maximum of 350 hours.

The following five measures are set by the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30:

1. embedding the term ‘basic skills’ in the Lifelong Learning Act;
2. piloting tools for mapping, assessing and testing basic skill levels of low-skilled adults;
3. improving digital skills of citizens in line with the Reform 6 component ‘Digital Slovakia’ of the National recovery and resilience plan;
4. introducing piloting a financing scheme for support of non-formal learning of low-skilled adults...

The White paper (Meld. St. 32 (2020-21), approved on June 2021, presents a comprehensive policy to include more people in working life and society.

The government has identified six areas where there is a need to continue to develop and strengthen efforts to prevent social exclusion and include more people in working life and society: they include better coordination between education, work and health, and better adaptation for users with extensive and complex challenges.

The government...

The Wallonia Recovery Plan, adopted in October 2021, includes more than 300 projects and programmes, structured around 6 strategic priorities:

1. investing in youth and Walloon talent (priority 1)
2. ensuring environmental sustainability (priority 2)
3. boosting economic development (priority 3)
4. supporting well-being, solidarity and social inclusion (priority 4)
5. guaranteeing innovative and participative governance (priority 5)
6. supporting the rebuilding and resilience of disaster-affected...

The agreement responds to the training needs and emerging challenges faced by the sector, which require a continuous updating of knowledge and skills, increase in specific training offers, and the development of tailor-made continuing training.

The VET agreement is to be a common ground of a tripartite understanding, between the government and the social partners, in the following areas of intervention:

1. regulation and governance of the vocational training system (framework and regulation, regulation model and financing sources and quality improvement);
2. further development of the system’s instruments and responsiveness (improve the flexibility of the SNQ, strengthen responses to sectoral needs and dynamics and improve incentives...

The UPskill programme is the result of a partnership between the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) and Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP).

The main objective of the first call of the programme is to upskill 3 000 professionals (employed and unemployed) within a 3-year period. It provides intensive training (6 months) in specific ICT areas offered by polytechnic institutes...

Euroguidance Slovenia activities include:

1. collecting information on careers, labour market, education and employment possibilities (these are available free of charge in Euroguidance Slovenia library and career centres around Slovenia);
2. establishing and maintaining careers database, video clips about careers and information on education possibilities and financial aid;
3. providing guidance tools such as the Where and How online guidance programme;
4. organising training of guidance...

The process of designing the National recovery plan was managed by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy (MFiPR). In February 2021, the document was submitted for public consultation, which influenced its final shape. In May 2021 the plan was officially submitted to the European Commission.

Its main areas of focus are:

1. resilience and competitiveness of the economy;
2. green energy and reducing energy intensity;
3. digital transformation;
4. availability and quality of the health care...

In November 2020, the Act on the principles of the recognition of professional qualifications attained in other EU Member States was amended.

The most important changes include:

1. ensuring that new regulatory provisions (in this area) are justified, following the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination and indicating the entities to which they apply;
2. indicating how regulatory provisions comply with the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination;
3. indicating the...

In October 2020, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy and the public employment service (ADEM) presented the FutureSkills initiative, which consists of three parts:

National and sector-level studies
In addition to the production of key data on the evolution of job offers, ADEM conducts sectoral studies on the evolution of occupations, activities, and skills, contributes to national studies and will develop sectoral studies on the analysis of the evolution...

The total budget of the youth plan is EUR 6.7 billion, with measures to support young people aged 16-25 after the COVID-19 crisis. It mobilises a set of tools: hiring assistance, training, support, financial assistance for struggling young people, etc. to respond to different situations.

Under priority 1 - facilitating entry into working life;

1. compensation of EUR 4 000 of costs to the businesses for any young person recruited between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021;
2. exceptional support to...

France Relance has a budget of EUR 100 billion in total over two years, out of which 15 billion is for vocational training. The main measures in terms of education and vocational training offered in both IVET and CVET (excluding exceptional employment subsidies) are:

Training young people in strategic and promising sectors

1. 100 000 qualifying training courses via the Regional skills investment pacts; with a revaluation of the remuneration for trainees undertaking professional training;
...

The programme to develop quality and equality in VET is mainly implemented through comprehensive development projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The projects are mainly wide-ranging network projects with one coordinator. This secures the efficient direction of the projects and the transition of the results as part of national development and VET provider everyday routine.

Following its memorandum on e-inclusion, the Government approved the Plan for Digital Appropriation 2021-24 on the 12 February 2021. This plan was proposed by the Digital Inclusion Coordination and drawn up in consultation with stakeholders on the ground.

The implementation is organised in four areas defining 17 projects including 66 actions.

Raising awareness and destigmatising: raising citizens' awareness of digital tools and services, how to use them and on the support or training...

In 2020, the Walloon government adopted an action plan aiming to boost a new dynamic in vocational training, to make it an essential lever in terms of professional integration and economic recovery. The action plan will be part of the recovery plans and programmes adopted by governments as well as the new European skills strategy in favour of sustainable competitiveness, social equity and resilience.

This plan is made up of one structural axis and six distinct operational axes aimed at...

The Precariousness plan for better access to training in Brussels (Plan Précarité) was drafted in 2018 and introduced in 2019. This plan introduces various incentives to learners of Bruxelles Formation and OISPs (socio-professional integration organisations) in Brussels with which the institution collaborates. It focus on four types of measures:

a. measures related to the financial benefits of trainees and to well-being in training:

• extension of the training allowance (EUR 1/hour) and...

On 14 July 2016, the Brussels Regional Government and the French-speaking Brussels Government adopted a Note on the creation of training and employment centres (Pôles Formation Emploi, PFE) in the Brussels Region. Since then, the governments of the Brussels Region and COCOF have adopted several structuring principles for the creation, governance and operation of training and employment centres.

Established on a sectoral basis, these centres are the result of a public/private partnership,...

Under the Decree of 20/02/2014 and the Decree of the Walloon Government (AGW) of 08/09/2016, the action plan for learning languages (plan langues) of Forem, the Walloon office for vocational training and placement, offers financial assistance for learning Dutch, English and German. Learners can complete a year, or a semester, abroad in the academic year immediately following graduation from upper secondary school.

The Forem annually convenes the providers who practically organise the stay...

The Start Digital project was submitted by the Employment and Training department of the SPW (The Walloon Public Service) as part of the EaSI (Employment and Social Innovation) programme. The project brings together 13 education and training partners from Wallonia, Brussels and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation thus involving all the partners in education and training for adults in French-speaking Belgium (excluding higher education).

The project broadly targets jobseekers or learners over...

The action plan for the digital transition has three main pillars. Each one comprises three sub-pillars:

1. Capacity building and digital inclusion of people
   1. digital education,
   2. professional training and reskilling,
   3. digital inclusion and literacy,
2. Digital transformation of enterprises
   1. entrepreneurship and investment attraction,
   2. existing companies (with a focus on SMEs),
   3. scientific and technological knowledge transfer to the economy,
3. Digitalisation of the public...

In October 2020, the training programme Youth + Digital (Jovem + Digital) was launched under the responsibility of the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP). This programme targets young unemployed people aged 18-35, who are upper-secondary or higher education graduates and registered at IEFP. It may also include those who have not completed the last year of secondary education or who are undergoing a process of recognition of prior learning at secondary level.

The...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the physical presence of trainers in the classroom or training areas is no longer required, there is no obligation for the training programmes -provided to unemployed or employed individuals- to be carried out at a certified vocational training centre (VTC) or at the premises of the enterprise, while Internet connectivity and ability to use e-learning tools is a precondition for all participants (organiser, trainers, trainees).

For increased flexibility,...

The Special scheme for the vocational training of the unemployed in organisations of the public and broader public sector, local government authorities, non-governmental organisations and non-profit institutions, caters for the vocational training and work experience of unemployed individuals and is part of HRDA’s activities for the integration of the unemployed and inactive persons in employment . The scheme also provides opportunities to organisations to utilise human resources through the...

The targets presented in the roadmap and the measures needed to achieve it are based on the state of play in education and research as well as on key factors for changing the education and research environment. Finland's demographic trend is the most significant factor affecting the education system. The birth rate is dropping, age groups are smaller, and people live in growth centres in increasing numbers. The report (roadmap) outlines the guidelines for the future of the Finnish education...

In 2021, the National Agency for Education and PES have been tasked by the government to analyse information exchange between the spheres of education and the labour market, with the objective to ease the transition for the unemployed to municipal adult education. Their mission includes analysing cost-effective means of sharing information, what data are needed and how it can be used, proposals for legislative revisions and if needed, proposals for operationalised support at the local level...

The reform of continuous learning, in line with the Government Programme for 2019-23, is prepared by a parliamentary group that includes members from all parliamentary parties. Labour market organisations, education providers and other key organisations and ministries are represented in the monitoring group.

Policy areas:

1. provision and financing of education;
2. identification of prior learning and students’ income;
3. increasing opportunities for retraining, continuous professional...

The strategic goals included in the Quality strategy are to be put into practice by using development measures. The development measures proposed for each VET actor have been set out for the next 3 years (2020-22). The actors are VET providers, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish National Agency for Education, working life committees and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre. The monitoring and the review of the quality management strategy will take place at the end of the...

Several measures have been developed by the education and labour ministries to stimulate enrolment in lifelong learning. The measures concern both the supply side and the demand side of the adult training market.

On the supply side, the education ministry has introduced three initiatives to stimulate the development of flexible VET and higher professional education courses, responding to the needs of (working) adults.

Through the Subsidy scheme for flexible vocational education third...

The Qualifica programme is based on:

1. cooperation and coordination among education, labour and higher education ministries in the development and implementation of policy tools and instruments;
2. combining adult education and professional training with recognition, validation and certification of competences (RVCC process);
3. promoting the coherence of the network of training courses;
4. promoting tailor-made training.

2016 legislation introduced Qualifica centres as a key tool of the...

The Qualifica passport is a guidance instrument and personalised register of all qualifications, achieved learning outcomes and competences acquired or developed by an individual. It is a key instrument of the Qualifica programme, enabling the evaluation of everyone’s training, as well as allowing the identification of possible missing components and aiming to build a tailored training pathway. It is an instrument available in electronic format that allows adults to list their education and...

The FET strategy 2020-24 was developed in consultation with the FET sector and other key stakeholders. Consultation was wide-ranging and included bilateral meetings, regional workshops and a public call for submissions. Strategy development also involved developing an understanding of the policy context, the evolving environment and the nature of FET provision in Ireland, and then benchmarking this against other international approaches to further and vocational education and training.

A...

This report contributes to the development of the evidence-based FET, in policy and practice, by providing the voice of the stakeholders, learners from some of the most vulnerable groups in society, educators, and employers.

In summary, the main challenges for reducing barriers to FET are: the lack of information and clarity around individual courses; the role of SOLAS and FET in general; addressing the negative socio-cultural attitudes towards FET; improved awareness of, and barriers to,...

The development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the lifelong learning strategy 2021-27 is under the authority of the education ministry, and is internally coordinated by the European and International Affairs, Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Office..

The monitoring of policies and actions included in the lifelong learning strategy are mandated to the national and the technical lifelong learning committees. Representatives from various stakeholders, including the...

The four pillars of action of the service are:

Personalised guidance from career counsellors and expert career guidance: each young person can arrange a personal appointment with a counsellor so that he/she can receive personalised counselling. Appointments are carried out at all youth information centres in all five districts in Cyprus;

Skills testing

This is an important tool that can lead young people to self-knowledge and guide them to the most appropriate choice of field of study and...

The Regulation modifying the VET core curricula and the Regulation establishing the new classification of occupations were adopted in March 2017. They provide the occupations and curricula for the new structure of vocational education.

The classification of occupations defined 213 vocational education occupations, which could be offered from 1 September 2017. It covered first stage sectoral programmes, vocational upper secondary programmes, and post-secondary programmes. The Regulation...

The education strategy applies an integrated approach to the development of the education system to make better use of Estonia’s high-quality education for the benefit of people, society and the economy.

It continues to support the contemporary approaches to teaching and learning, considers rapid technological developments, strives to ensure the next generation of teachers and the renewal of teachers’ roles, and it focuses more on the skills policy, including a clearer division of the roles...

A training speciality consists of ‘the grouping of professional competences, contents, and technical specifications that respond to a set of work activities framed in a phase of the production process and related functions, or to the acquisition of transversal competences necessary in a professional environment and context’. The Order TMS/283/2019 foresees mechanisms for dissemination, monitoring and evaluation to ensure compliance with the objectives set. Accreditation procedures, career...

The committee was ask to identify and provide recommendations on the financing of subsistence for adults who need better opportunities to complete primary and secondary education.

This project runs from 2016 till 2019 and is aimed at providing an opportunity to undergo an internship in an enterprise. The eligible target groups include jobseekers registered at the Labour Office, parents on (or after) a parental leave, persons over 50 years, and those with no qualification or having only a low level of vocational qualification (up to two years of vocational training). Since May 2017, graduates have been also included in the eligible target group. Interested eligible...

The project 'Development of programmes for upskilling in continuing vocational education and training 2017-22' (the PINPIU project) aims to develop formal VET programmes for upskilling employees, helping them to respond to changing needs in the labour market. It targets mainly employees in small companies which are less likely to participate in CVET. The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for VET (CPI) is coordinating the project, preparing 20 pilot programmes in cooperation with...

The 2014-20 ESF-supported programmes, such as Non-formal education and training and the On-the-job training, that targeted the long-term unemployed and low-skilled aged 50+, were also adopted under the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour. They sought to improve employability through training for competences in demand in the labour market.

A 2016-22 project, Comprehensive support to companies for active ageing of employees targeting the employed over 45 (with emphasis on those older...

The Youth guarantee implementation plan for 2016-20 (following the 2014-15 round) was adopted in May 2016. One of its activities, the Project learning for young adults (PUM-O) targets those aged between 15 and 26 who left education and training early or dropped out to help them complete their education and/or find a job. The activity consists of project work that combines work-related content with fun experience and encouragement for active job search, continuing education and achieving...

In July 2016, the Slovenian Qualifications Framework (SQF) Act came into force, serving as the legal basis for SQF implementation and full operationalisation. The SQF register describes qualifications in accordance with SQF and EQF levels and contains 1 684 qualifications (1 358 educational qualifications, 312 national vocational qualifications and 13 supplementary qualifications). The adoption of the SQF Act in 2016 opened up the system to supplementary qualifications awarded on the labour...

Despite the lack of systemic approach, developments in guidance and counselling are continuing through ESF projects coordinated by the national coordination point for lifelong career guidance within the Public Employment Service of Slovenia (ZRSZ) and its branches:

1. the 2015-22 project 'Strengthening counselling work with young people' at the employment service of Slovenia (Krepitev svetovalnega dela z mladimi na Zavodu RS za zaposlovanje) aims at finding new ways to increase accessibility...

The e-Guidance portal, established in 2015, takes account of labour market analysis and skill needs anticipation and addresses a wide range of users, from pupils to the unemployed. It aims to provide easy access to information necessary to choose an education and training programme, look for a job, and achieve career objectives. It offers a Career compass (Kompas karijere), a tool that enables different user groups to find targeted information.

A new version of the RPL tool, the My competence folder (Min kompetencemappe), was launched in 2017.

Ordinance No 232/2016 consolidated the rules of RVCC, introduced Qualifica centres, described a simple process of creating and authorising them, strengthened the teams of professionals in these centres and expanded the network.

The RVCC process comprises two paths, education and professional, each based on a different set of standards:

1. the key competence standards (for education validation);
2. the professional competence standards (for professional validation).

The RVCC process also...

The aims of the project Improving the quality and content of 21st century vocational training and adult education (GINOP - 6.2.4) include the review of the examination system, the development of a validation system and the preparation of a methodology for VET content development that is compatible with open and innovative learning settings as well as the demands of the economy. Uniform criteria were also developed to strengthen the external evaluation system in CVET. Criteria include...

Reference guides developing the common employment services portfolio were approved and published in 2018. These reference guides, developed jointly with the regions, comprise protocols for:

1. career guidance; 
2. qualification and training for employment; 
3. self-employment and entrepreneurship;
4. guidance and labour intermediation.

The qualification and training for employment protocol aims to promote training for up-skilling and reskilling and to facilitate transition to employment, in...

Vocational training for employment in the labour scope was last reformed in 2015. The reform aimed at an efficient system for monitoring and prospecting the labour market, based on coordination of all actors (administrations, social agents, experts). It also aimed at:

1. promoting the assessment of the impact of training (on accessing and maintaining employment);
2. enhancing enterprise competitiveness;
3. improving workers' skills;
4. meeting labour market needs;
5. ensuring efficient use of...

Since September 2017, several collaboration agreements between the State Public Employment Service (Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal, SEPE), the education ministry, and 11 Autonomous Regions have been approved. The agreements allow for implementing work plans of 25 national reference centres (Centros de Referencia Nacional, CRNs), of the 52 planned. CRNs are public institutions specialised in the different professional branches, in charge of carrying out innovation and experimentation...

During the fourth quarter of 2018, the National Institute of Qualifications (INCUAL) carried out a review of the entire national catalogue of occupational standards. It aimed to set up a 2019 work plan that would accommodate the need for updating occupational standards and (where appropriate) designing new ones which could have greater significance or impact on employment.

The INCUAL is responsible for defining, updating and adapting the Spanish national catalogue of occupational standards...

eCollege provides online courses, including computer programming, data science, office productivity and web and graphic design. In 2015, eCollege awarded two major four-year contracts worth EUR 7.5 million to Cenit college and Enovation solutions. Cenit college is responsible for the management of e-tutoring and related support services, while Enovation solutions handles monitoring and reporting services. This eCollege partnership is to ensure that online education and training is...

In line with the national skills strategy, SOLAS prepared a further education and training (FET) policy framework for the skills development of employed people. It addresses provision for the skills development of the employed at levels 1-6 on the national framework of qualifications (NFQ) (levels 1-5 on the EQF). This policy framework outlines how the FET sector can ensure that employees' skills are current and relevant and thus contribute to Ireland's future growth. Drawing up the policy...

The Law 92/2012 on the reform of the labour market defines for the first time in Italy the validation of non-formal and informal learning, as one of the key elements to ensure and implement lifelong learning in a comprehensive and systematic manner, establishing rules and regulatory requirements (standards) concerning the characteristics of the system and the stakeholders involved, ensuring transparency, usability and broad accessibility of validation/certification services (IVC).

In recent...

A national strategy on lifelong learning has been defined, together with the implementation of legislative norms on the identification and validation of competences acquired in different contexts, through which the National system for the certification of competences has been launched. Since 2012, as a consequence of the Recommendation for validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012), a national legal framework on validation of competences has been progressively developed in Italy.

Five-year action plans were launched in 2016 to address unemployment in the most vulnerable districts. Training centres and regional education centres, i.e. secondary VET schools, in originally 12 and gradually 20 districts (out of 79), identified as underdeveloped, were partially funded by ESIF.

The training centres are meant to provide practice-oriented training for the disadvantaged unemployed or low-qualified. The regional education centres are expected to address the specific needs of...

The education ministry has started an international project (with a budget of EUR 350 000) aimed at elaborating a National skills strategy for the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with the OECD. A launch conference was held on 29 January 2019 and a final OECD report is expected by the end of March 2020.

In 2018, the public employment service of Slovenia completed a pilot project, Occupational barometer, to predict future changes in the labour market and determine training of the unemployed according to labour-market needs. The qualitative research was conducted for seven (out of 12) regional offices, classifying occupations in three groups: shortage, balance, and surplus. For the shortage occupations, several main reasons were identified: lack of candidates for the occupation; lack of...

In 2015, a National Delegation for Validation was appointed by the Swedish Government to follow up, support and promote coordinated development work in the area of validation at the regional and national level and to propose a national strategy for validation. The Delegation proposed a strategy in March 2017, expressing its view of the significance and function of validation, and of the development areas that need to be prioritised. A formal consultation on validation was launched by the...