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Resolution 2014 (2014) Final version
Raising the status of vocational education and training
1. The Parliamentary Assembly regrets
that, despite the benefits for individuals, enterprises and the economy
as a whole, vocational education and training (VET) are faced with
many challenges regarding lack of quality, social recognition, esteem
and attractiveness when compared to other education pathways, in particular
upper secondary and higher education.
2. VET can play a significant role in addressing the shortage
of technical skills as well as in raising employability and, particularly,
young people’s access to employment. To this end, urgent measures
are necessary to improve the quality of VET and create programmes
of studies that are adequate to meet the needs of the labour market.
3. The Assembly values the significant work undertaken on quality
assurance of VET, involving governments, social partners and European
Union institutions. It fully supports the proposal to establish
a European Area for Skills and Qualifications (EASQ), which will
increase VET visibility and importance, and provide an opportunity
to set an agenda for reform based on high-quality VET provision.
4. The Assembly considers that European-level guidelines and
overall strategies like the European Credit Transfer System for
Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) and the European Qualifications
Framework (EQF) following the European Union’s Europe 2020 Strategy
are the right tracks to be pursued also by Council of Europe member
States outside the European Union. Initiatives and incentives encouraging
transnational exchange and co-operation in VET should be strengthened
at European and national levels.
5. To achieve sustainable results, it is necessary for Council
of Europe member States to take specific measures to raise the status
of VET. However, this would not be sufficient without strong involvement
of all VET stakeholders and enhanced collaboration between them
and the competent public authorities.
6. The Assembly therefore recommends that member States:
6.1. ratify the European Social
Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163) and accept the provisions of its Articles
9 (the right to vocational guidance) and 10 (the right to vocational
training) as binding provisions;
6.2. create national and local strategies and policies for
VET according to national contexts as regards education and employment,
while considering good practices from other countries;
6.3. involve social partners, local and regional authorities,
employers’ federations and associations, and civil society in general,
in the formulation and implementation of VET strategies;
6.4. ensure equal access to education, including VET, for
all, including people with disadvantaged social backgrounds, migrants,
the unemployed, young people and people with disabilities;
6.5. improve the permeability of educational pathways and facilitate
access to other education and training opportunities, including
access based on merit to higher education for VET graduates;
6.6. provide financial incentives, such as grants and scholarships
for VET students and apprentices and for employers who act as trainers
in VET programmes;
6.7. encourage, in particular, the acquisition of entrepreneurial
competences in addition to the specific professional competences
in each profession;
6.8. initiate public awareness-raising campaigns aimed at raising
public awareness of the role and benefits of VET in terms of employability;
6.9. provide incentives for, and create partnerships with,
industry to support the continuous professional development of trainers
in VET;
6.10. develop strong and transparent national quality assurance
frameworks in VET;
6.11. promote mutual recognition of VET in Europe and ensure
proper implementation of the European Credit Transfer System for
VET (ECVET), the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the European
Area for Skills and Qualifications (EASQ);
6.12. develop cross-border networks and encourage co-operation
and exchange of best practices with European networks such as the
European Quality Assurance in VET (EQAVET) network.
7. The Assembly calls on public and private VET institutions
to:
7.1. provide programmes that
focus on the learner, taking into consideration new developments
and trends in the subjects studied, and encourage learning that
supports personal and professional growth based on merit and talent;
7.2. seek to enhance the quality of VET by attracting better
qualified teachers and staff members, by using interactive methods
of teaching and by providing adequate equipment for practical education;
7.3. improve communication with students, providing young people
and their families with transparent, exhaustive and relevant information
about the importance of VET education, its benefits and the possibilities
that it offers.
8. The Assembly urges the private sector to strengthen co-operation
with educational centres and VET providers in order to:
8.1. take an active part in the setting
up of VET programmes, seeking to ensure their consistency with the
changing needs of the labour market in terms of skills and competences;
8.2. offer VET students more opportunities for practical experience,
also with the aim of increasing employment opportunities for VET
graduates;
8.3. include in continuous VET specific modules allowing the
acquisition of information and communications technology competences
and proficiency in foreign languages, in order to foster mobility.
9. Finally, the Assembly calls on the European Committee of Social
Rights to follow up and evaluate the implementation of established
VET standards through the reporting system established under the
European Social Charter (revised).