VOCATIONAL TRAINING NR. 11 EUROPEAN JOURNAL · 2014. 11. 4. · Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, Mongolia, Cuba and Vietnam. Leonardo da Vinci is an ac-tion programme

VOCATIONAL TRAINING NR. 11 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

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Perspectives from the West

Co-operation with Central and EasternEurope is the focus of this issue of theEuropean Journal for Vocational Training.Although part of the European continent,its history and its culture, these countrieshave been quite separate from the rest ofEurope for a very long time.

Since the dramatic political changes in thisregion at the end of the 80’s and the early90’s, both sides of what was known asthe ‘iron curtain’ have begun to grow to-gether although not always in a way thathas respected the customs and traditionsof each of the different countries involved.Vocational education and training is oneimportant element in this process, and isclosely related to history, culture, humanand social values as well as economic fac-tors. If this is neglected in the reformprocess, the reforms will fail - and theexamples are numerous.

What is meant by the Central and EasternEuropean countries? To a certain extentit is an artificial term invented as a para-phrase for the countries eligible to ben-efit from the European Union (EU) PHAREProgramme of co-operation and assist-ance. At present it covers: Albania, Bul-garia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Po-land, Romania, the Slovak Republic,Slovenia, and three countries of the formerSoviet Union: Latvia, Lithuania and Esto-nia. The countries of the former Yugo-slavia - apart from Slovenia - though geo-graphically part of this region are not yetfully included due to the specific post-war conditions. Ten of these countriesnow have a concrete political perspec-tive to become members of the EU andhave signed association agreements, onlyAlbania is in a different position. Anumber of EU programmes are, in princi-ple, already open for the participation ofthese countries. For this reason, the Edi-torial Committee of the Journal has de-cided to devote this special issue to thesecountries, which remain, for many peo-ple, unknown territory as far as the stateof play, the underlying principles, trends,

perspectives, problems and requirementsof vocational training are concerned.

This issue is also special as it brings to-gether two EU institutions of major im-portance for vocational training in Europe;the European Centre for the Developmentof Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), whichhas the objective of assisting the Com-mission in promoting the development ofvocational education and continuing train-ing within the EU; and the EuropeanTraining Foundation which deals with co-operation with Central and Eastern Eu-rope, the new independent states andMongolia, in the fields of initial and con-tinuing vocational training, the re-train-ing of adults and management training.Close co-operation between these two in-stitutions is indicative of the changes inEurope and necessary to foster their mu-tual development.

We don’t claim to provide the reader witha complete survey on events in this partof Europe and we also try to avoid themistake often made by numerous west-ern ‘experts’, particularly in the early 90’s,who treated these countries as if they werea homogenous ensemble in need of auniform, proven model of the marketeconomy with relatively simple patternsof skills requirements. Although the factthat there is no ‘European model’ of avocational education and training systemwas frequently emphasised, this has of-ten proved to be empty talk and recom-mendations have been made in a rathersimplistic way. Occasionally recommen-dations were also provoked by some part-ner countries themselves being attractedby, for example, the advantages of a sys-tem with high private sector commitment- which alleviates the burden on statebudgets - without paying due attentionto the fact that such systems have theirroots in long traditions, consolidatedawareness of the importance of invest-ment in training and last but not least fi-nancial means allowing for this kind ofprivate commitment.

The difficult question of the transfer ofsystemic approaches, know-how and ex-

EditorialShort Glossary of Acronyms

The EU PHARE programme:PHARE is the European Com-munity’s economic aid pro-gramme to support economicrestructuring and democraticreform in Central and EasternEurope. Its funding is used tochannel technical, economicand infrastructure expertiseand assistance to recipientstates. The aim is to helpeconomies in transition to es-tabl ish market economiesbased on free enterprise andprivate initiative.

CEECs - Central and EasternEuropean countries: In thisissue this refers to Bulgaria,the Czech Republic, Estonia,Hungary, Lithuania, Poland,Romania, Slovenia, Latvia andSlovakia.

COMECON (Council for Mu-tual Economic Assistance)or CAEM (Conseil d’Assis-tance Économique Mutu-elle): Free trade organizationamongst socialist countriescreated in 1949 as a responseto the Marshall Plan. TheOrganization was dissolved inJune 1991. It comprised East-Germany, (ex-GDR), Bulgaria,Hungary, Poland, Romania,Czechoslovakia, the USSR,Mongolia, Cuba and Vietnam.

Leonardo da Vinci is an ac-tion programme for the imple-mentation of a European Com-munity vocational trainingpolicy. It promotes the devel-opment of innovation in vo-cational education and train-ing through pilot projects, ex-changes and surveys andanalyses, carried out by trans-national partnerships.


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perience lead those familiar with the prob-lems involved in reform and restructur-ing processes to the conclusion that thereis no way out of the need for each coun-try to find and determine its own wayindividually, using the exchange of ex-perience as a tool for clarifying lines anddirections of its own reform process,rather than for establishing a market forimport and export.

The communist systems in these countriesdid, nevertheless, have some common fea-tures, many of them linked to the economicsystem (planned economies). State minis-tries worked closely with large scale in-dustry to determine and organise trainingin vocational schools tied to particularenterprises. Specialisation was extremeand the profiles of professions narrow withlong lists of occupations. Labour marketneeds assessment was simplified (or evensuperfluous) in a system where demandwas decided by the state, small and me-dium-sized enterprises not permitted, andsocial partners unnecessary. As mobilityand flexibility of the workforce was notan economic requirement, lifelong learn-ing had quite a different meaning.

At the end of the communist era, somecountries were able to go back to pre-socialist times, revitalising, for example,the craft sector with very practically-ori-ented training. Others tried to retain as-pects of their existing systems, such asthe possibility to access higher educationthrough vocational training qualifications,which is also of interest to the EU Mem-ber States. Many countries follow school-based vocational training while at thesame time developing different lines toincrease - either simulated or real - prac-tical work placements.

Overall there is a readiness and motiva-tion for innovation on an impressive scalein this part of Europe which could welleven help to encourage reform in theEuropean Union Member States in thefuture.

Nevertheless, it is important to realise thatmajor changes will take a generationrather than a few years. The necessarydevelopment of core skills, such as learn-ing to be able to work as a member of ateam, to be creative, to feel responsible,to have the means to develop entrepre-

neurial skills (particularly in the contextof small and medium-sized enterprises)and the skills requirements for the increas-ing service sector, need time for changeand consolidation.

Regardless of the type of training system,social partners will have to play a moreactive and important role in the future.This means institution building, the de-velopment of a social dialogue culture,and improvement of skills and compet-ences. In addition, special support andencouragement is necessary for all the dif-ferent types of disadvantaged groups. InWestern Europe today almost one in fiveyoung people do not successfully com-plete their initial training.

Innovation and reform require a soundanalysis of information and data and agood research infrastructure. The re-search facilities in Central and Eastern Eu-rope have suffered and have not yet re-covered sufficiently. It is to be hopedthat this issue of the Journal will help tobring Eastern and Western research insti-tutions closer together, although at thesame time it is important to bear in mindthat exchange of experience betweenthose countries themselves is also veryvaluable in the reform process.

As mentioned previously at least ten coun-tries are moving towards European Un-ion membership. Apart from bilateral co-operation there are two programmes atEuropean level which support this proc-ess as far as vocational education andtraining is concerned. On the one handthe European Union’s Leonardo Pro-gramme can be described as a laboratoryfor innovation enabling institutions andindividuals to experiment and developnew ideas in a bottom-up and partner-ship approach. On the other hand, thePHARE Programme has provided assist-ance since 1989, gradually spreading itsscope from two countries at the begin-ning to a total of thirteen today. The pro-gramme will in future serve as the mainaccession instrument for these countries,the emphasis on partnership rather thanassistance. As far as PHARE support isconcerned, the keyword is now the ‘aquiscommunautaire’, in other words the ad-aptation to formal regulations, particularlythose governing the single market. In thefield of vocational training this term has

TEMPUS is part of the PHAREprogramme and aims to pro-mote the quality and supportthe development of highereducation systems by encour-aging their constructive inter-action with partners in the Eu-ropean Community.


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to be used in a more comprehensive senseenabling not only the adaptation of regu-lations such as the recognition of diplo-mas, but also for more structure and con-tent related measures to increase competi-tiveness in a common market, to improveaccess to training and to better providefor disadvantaged groups. It was clearfrom the beginning of the reforms thathuman resources development is a cru-cial aspect in the development of democ-racy and the reform of the economic sys-tem. It remains so in the process of be-coming a member of a unified Europewhere the institutions and networks thatsupport the functioning of training sys-tems are an integral part of society and

the “acquis communautaire” in our partof the world.

The articles in this issue of the EuropeanJournal tackle important topics: labourmarket needs assessment, standards andcurriculum reform, decentralisation, therole of the social partners - to name afew. It is hoped that they will stimulateinterest in the situation, development,problems and prospects in our neighbour-ing countries. The perspective has be-come richer and innovations have gainedconsiderable impetus. The greater Europecan only be built on partnership in thetrue sense of the word and not throughone way process.

Ulrich Hillenkamp

Let us add also a few words from theperspective of Central and Eastern Euro-pean countries (CEEC), countries “in tran-sition”. As Ulrich Hillenkamp pointed out,a system of vocational education andtraining is closely connected with thesocio-political climate of society.

In the totalitarian regime the rulers do notask the public whether to introduce a re-form or not. They are using their power toenforce the reforms without any feedback,discussions, without much responsibilityor monitoring the effects of the reform.The reform in a stable democracy is morecomplicated to implement since the pub-lic has the right to make suggestions andobjections. The preparation of reform hasto include certain criteria with regard tofuture stability and efficiency. Public opin-ion should be respected and participatingactors should be persuaded. The reformin societies in transition towards a demo-cratic system meets a lot of difficulties. Eve-ryone is eagerly expecting a fast reform.In a post-revolutionary period people donot ask “Why a reform is needed?”, butthe most frequent questions are “Why thereforms go so slowly?” or “Why the reformshave not been implemented yet?”.

But in its initial phase freedom sometimestakes the form of chaos. People are fo-

cusing on social interactions, relations,allocation of power. The short-term issuesare so enormous that many people forgetto take care of the structural long-termproblems. People are eager to act, solv-ing the problems at hand is in; thinkingabout long-term problems is out. Thereis hardly any t ime or capaci ty forconceptualisation.

The typical feature of post-revolutionaryperiod is an unstable government. Thisfact does not involve only CEECs. Forexample, Portugal in the period of itstransformation after 1974 had 12 differ-ent ministers of education within 10 years.Each new minister first criticised his pred-ecessor, then cancelled some existing pro-cedures and described his vision of re-form. At that time another minister re-placed him and the circle started again.The fact of frequent changes is more orless similar in all CEECs. Frequent gov-ernmental changes do not create condi-tions conducive to the successful reform.

The basic ideas concerning the futuredevelopment and role of education in theCEECs were clear from the very begin-ning of the transformation process. Theglobal transformation of CEECs will de-pend upon new skills and attitudes ac-quired through education. New skills can-

Perspectives from the East


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not be acquired if education remainsstructured and organised as in the timesof the centrally-planned economy.

But the realisation of goals is not as sim-ple as their formulation. It is impossibleto emerge from backwardness and toqualify as advanced by its own force only.We can learn this from successful exam-ples of countries like Korea, Taiwan orSingapore. None of them has developedin isolation. The problem of underdevel-oped countries is their lack of inner stimu-lants to advancement. Only a completeopening to the world and an intensivestruggle for integration into structures ofdeveloped countries are a preconditionof possible growth. Investment of foreigncapital brings to a country also new mod-els of management and of labour organi-sation, thereby the country also obtainsexternal stimuli of development.

For many decades the educational systemsof countries behind the ‘iron curtain’ wereisolated from the rest of the Europe. Asthe devastated economy can not recoverwithout foreign capital, the same is truewith the educational systems. Immediatelyafter 1989, all CEECs were inundated withforeign advisers, teams of experts fromdifferent international organisations, rep-resentatives of foundations, numerousWestern universities and the like. Manyof these came at the invitation of nationalauthorities and institutions, many spon-taneously and at the initiative of variousWestern bodies. There can be no doubtthat directly or indirectly, implicitly or ex-plicitly, this advice and outside modelsin general played an important role in thelaunching of education reforms in CEECs.

This does not mean that many of the ex-ternal recommendations have not beenput aside and that, in some cases, andespecially in a later period, a certain re-sistance, or even rejection of foreign mod-els and advisers has taken place. Overall,however, the maxim “return to Europe”or “catching-up” did certainly reflect a keyforce influencing the reform process, sig-nificantly helped by several large assist-ance programmes and especially the Eu-ropean Union’s PHARE Programme.

The role of foreign models and advisers issubject to an evolution, which could besimplified in terms of a transition “from

assistance to partnership”. The less devel-oped ones can communicate with the cen-tres of development in two ways: as cli-ents and petitioners or as partners. Thefirst way can bring some quick concretehelp which does not necessarilly mean alsosubstantive change of behaviour. The in-tended goal - to be accepted as a full mem-ber of a community - moves away. Thesecond approach - partnership - asks forenormous efforts. It means to work hardand to try to achieve the norms and stand-ards common in the developed countries.But only this effort can lead CEECs to thetransformation which is a condition of theirtrue European integration.

A challenge for policy making in theCEECs is to combine modernisation, struc-tural change and systemic reform. Mod-ernisation and structural changes can beobserved in west European countries aswell, but the issues related to systemicreform are particular to the transition ofthe CEECs. The successful transition intoa market economy requires “systemic”changes, as the institutions and actorshave to play new roles, enter new typesof relations, which imply different atti-tudes and different forms of behaviour.This is not something that can be orderedfrom above, but has to be learned by allthose involved. It should be seen as theoutcome of a complex and difficult learn-ing process rather than as the result of asingle legal act.

There is the famous prediction of thelength of the transition period of CEECsby Ralf Dahrendorf (1991): The establish-ment of a new political system can be re-alised in six months. The transformationof economy can be reached in six years.The change in people´s attitudes and ap-proaches will last sixty years. His hypoth-eses seem to be true, everyday life con-firms them, including the last one. It isconfirmed by a lot of frustrations and ten-sions as we cannot change human behav-iour and way of thinking overnight. Wecan only try to shorten the long period,but anyhow it cannot be done rapidly.

Articles in this issue give the readers whoare interested in “Co-operation with Cen-tral and Eastern Europe” a good pictureof the topic thanks to a balanced combi-nation of case studies and multinationalsurveys. The comparative surveys provide


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the global overview: Jacques Nagels de-scribes economic surroundings as the keyfactors for the development of vocationaleducation and training systems, AlenaNesporova analyses regional differencesin employment, unemployment and ac-tive unemployment programmes. IngeWeilnböck-Buck, Bernd Baumgartl andTon Farla from the European TrainingFoundation offer a comprehensive surveybased on information from the NationalObservatories established in CEECs withthe support of ETF. Case studies (LaszloAlex, Tadeusz Kocek, Martin Dodd, andthe interviews with Ministers from Hun-gary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic andRomania) give us deeper insight into thereality of West - East co-operation. Thanksto these articles, the reader can get a pic-ture about the situation in the majority ofCEECs. The article on social partners byJean-Marie Luttringer touches the heart of

“systemic reform” in CEECs. Tim Mawsonin his article looks at the future ways ofco-operation in the framework of EU pro-grammes Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates andYouth for Europe now starting to be ac-cessible also for CEECs.

Not just concerned only with differences,let’s finish with what we have in com-mon. No matter which part of Europe wecome from, we are all Europeans. Thiscontinent’s chance in competition with theUSA and Japan lies in the creation anddevelopment of a united Europe. If weview Europe from this perspective, itmeans overcoming a multitude of tradi-tional frictions and conflicts among Euro-pean nations, to create a unifying com-prehensive policy and strategies of co-op-eration. The European educators have theduty and chance to steer Europe in thisdirection.

Jaroslav Kalous


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Innovation and reform:training in Central andEastern Europeancountries

Economic analysis and background

The completion of the first phase of transition in Poland, Hungary,the Czech Republic and Slovakia ........................................................................... 9J. Nagels; D. SimonisIn the four countries examined, the phase of transition towards rampantcapitalism is drawing to a close.

Labour markets and training in Central and Eastern Europe ........................ 20Alena NesporovaLabour market responses to the economic decline that characterized all Centraland Eastern European countries in the first phase of their transition, havediffered greatly from country to country.

Challenges and priorities for vocational trainingin Central and Eastern European countries ....................................................... 29Inge Weilnböck-Buck; Bernd Baumgartl; Ton Farla“(…) the CEECs have embarked upon reform of their vocational education andtraining systems. New institutional arrangements have been introduced as thefirst step towards reform, but many new challenges remain.”

Institutional aspects

Political questionsMinisters from Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia and Romaniarespond to questions on the process of vocational educationand training reform in their countries ............................................................... 43Peter Kiss; Juris Celmin; Slavko Gaber; Virgil PetrescuAn understanding of the approach of the central authorities to meet thechallenges posed by the move to a democratic system and a market economy isessential to appreciate the process of change

The role of the social partners in the developmentof vocational training in countries in transition ............................................. 48Jean-Marie LuttringerHow do the social partners at European level view their role and what is thesituation in the countries “in transition”?


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International co-operation

International co-operation in curriculum developmentfor vocational education and training - Polish experience ............................. 53Tadeusz KozekEducation reform in Poland has been the result of conflicting tendencies.Revolutionary ideas would mix with evolutionary one, whilst the inertia ofexisting structures would hinder change. Foreign assistance, unable to meet allexpectations, launched some major innovations, however future success dependson how the reults are used.

German-Hungarian co-operation to support Hungarian reformsin vocational training ........................................................................................... 63Laszlo AlexThe dynamism in many social areas in Hungary has been impressive since1990, including vocational training. Several reforms have already beenimplemented or are well on the way; some would merely appear to be.

Modernisation and reform of vocational educationand training in Estonia - A case study ................................................................ 70Martin DoddInternational assistance can act as a catalyst for reform, but its success dependsupon the competence, commitment, clear vision and enthusiasm of all thoseinvolved at every level.

The opening up of the Leonardo da Vinci programmeto the countries of Central and Eastern Europe ................................................ 75Tim MawsonParticipation in the EU’s programmes in the field of education and training isnot only to help the process of developing the skills and resources to modernisetheir economies, but is also part of an overall accession strategy for the countriesof Central and Eastern Europe.

Key facts

Vocational education and training in Bulgaria ................................................. 80Vocational education and training in the Czech Republic .............................. 82Vocational education and training in Estonia ................................................... 84Vocational education and training in Hungary ................................................. 86Vocational education and training in Latvia ...................................................... 88Vocational education and training in Lithuania ............................................... 90Vocational education and training in Poland .................................................... 92Vocational education and training in Romania ................................................ 94Vocational education and training in Slovenia ................................................. 96

Economic indicators ............................................................................................. 98Map: GDP per capita as % of EU average .......................................................... 100

Reading

Reading selection ................................................................................................ 101


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J. NagelsLecturer, Free Univer-sity of Brussels

The completion of thefirst phase of transitionin Poland, Hungary, the CzechRepublic and Slovakia

General background

The transition in Eastern Europe andthe globalisation of capitalism

The process of transition in Eastern Eu-rope in the years 1989-91 can only be un-derstood within the context of a processof the geographical expansion and ex-tremely rapid deepening of capitalism asan economic system. In the south, in thosecountries which had opted for a “third-world” type road to development (rela-tively protectionist economies geared to-wards the substitution of imports), nei-ther having command economy nor a free-market economy, capitalism has spreadlike wildfire in India, south and south-east Asia, Latin America, Egypt and Alge-ria. All these countries which had estab-lished a significant public sector in thepost-decolonisation period, have wit-nessed a wave of privatisation over thelast decade, rapidly unravelling the na-tionalised sector as private - national orforeign - capital took over state-ownedenterprises.

In the OECD countries, capitalism has beendominant for a long time - indeed sincethe advent of the first industrial revolu-tion. These economies nevertheless re-tained a number of enterprises directly runor at least controlled by the state. Thesenationalised enterprises - some dating backto the nineteenth century, others to theSecond World War - were mainly found inthe commercial or quasi-commercial sec-tors of the economy - the railways, postalservices, telecommunications, airlines,water and electricity distribution - and ina number of countries in purely commer-cial enterprises such as coal mines, ironand steel works and commercial banks. InNorth America, Japan and Western Europe,Thatcherism and Reaganism and their likehave privatised these public or semi-pub-

lic enterprises or are in the process of do-ing so. This marks a deepening of capital-ism, which is eroding the nationalised baseof industry and increasingly dominatingeconomic activity.

In the east, capitalism has begun to pen-etrate an immense geographical area towhich its doors had previously been firmlyclosed: Central and Eastern Europe, in-cluding the former Soviet Union, Chinaand Vietnam. At the lowest estimate, 1,700million men and women have been car-ried away by the tidal wave of the transi-tion towards the market economy. Neverbefore in history in such a short periodof time, 1989 - 1992/3, have so manycountries swung from one economic sys-tem to another.

From the command economy to “un-bridled” capitalism

By becoming internationalised and globa-lised, capitalism has gone through a pro-found change; a “civilised” form of capi-talism has given way to an “unbridled”form of capitalism. “Civilised” capitalism,dominant for a relatively short period ofhistory, 1945 - 1975, was characterised byfull employment, a relatively fair distri-bution of national income, an advancedlevel of social security, tangible growthin the satisfaction of collective needs(health, education, culture) and marketmechanisms flanked by powerful stateintervention at both the level of labour-market and monetary regulation (theBretton Woods system and fixed parities,1945 - 1971).

The opening-up of the goods, services,currency and capital markets at interna-tional level exacerbated competition in theworld markets, triggering, among others,new forms of concentration of capital atglobal level: mergers-cum-acquisitions

The process of transition inEastern Europe in the years1989-91 can only be under-stood within the context ofa process of the geographi-cal expansion and ex-tremely rapid deepening ofcapitalism as an economicsystem. In essence, the tran-sition process in the CEECsis not a question of a switch“from the command to themarket economy”, but“from the command econ-omy to rampant capital-ism”.

D. SimonisAssistant, Free Univer-sity of Brussels


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Table 1

Indicators of development in 1938

Country Average per Workingcapita income populationin current US$ in agriculture (%)

Poland 104 67Hungary 112 54Czechoslovakia 176 30

Germany 337 28United States 521 22

Source: KASER, M.C. and RADICE, E.A., The Economic History of Eastern Europe, 1919-1975, Oxford,1985, Vol. 1, p.532.

between increasingly oligopolistic multi-nationals which, in an effort to boost theirprofits, have been restructuring their busi-ness activities, outsourcing segments ofproduction to other countries serving astheir workshops, organising “Euro-shop-ping” among the Member States of theEuropean Union and provoking competi-tion between workers from different coun-tries. This process - which has only justbegun - has come up against the resist-ance of the labour world in some coun-tries, but in global terms it is advancingand leading towards an “unbridled” capi-talism, characterised by high unemploy-ment and insecurity for workers, an in-creasingly inegalitarian distribution ofnational income in view of the growth inthe relative proportion of capital incomes,in which the mixed form of the economyis being called into question by the pri-vatisation of traditionally public sectors.

This form of capitalism which is now pre-dominant is implanting itself as the capi-talism of Eastern Europe. In essence, thetransition process in the Central and East-ern European countries (CEECs) is not aquestion of a switch “from the commandto the market economy” but “from the com-mand economy to unbridled capitalism”.

Historical background

Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakiabefore the Second World War

With the exception of perhaps Bohemia,the economies of the CEECs were late totake off - desperately late - a good cen-

tury later than Western Europe. This cre-ated dramatic gaps between the CEECsand the more advanced economies intechnology, in theoretical and appliedresearch, in the “mechanical skills” of theworkers, in business management vis-à-vis taylorism, in the mentality of workersof recent rural origin disinclined to per-form careful work, in terms of the quali-tative requirements of the world marketfor manufactured goods. Average levelsof productivity far below the levels ofWestern Europe explain the low indus-trial wages and agricultural incomes in theregion and, as a result, the tightness ofthe domestic markets. Enterprises lackedcompetitiveness and were therefore weakin terms of exporting capacity. As dem-onstrated by Table 1, the conditions foreconomic take-off were not created.

Tabelle 1If per capita income in the USA is set atan index of 100, the corresponding ratioswere 20 for Poland, 21 for Hungary and33 for Czechoslovakia(1). The economiesof this region could therefore be describedas economies having reached an averagelevel of development.

Again with the exception of Bohemiawhose industrial development was moreadvanced, the economies of Central andEastern Europe were in general at theperiphery of a centre that was WesternEurope. The market shares of the periph-ery were also insignificant: in 1937, theCentral and Eastern European market onlyaccounted for 9.3% of the Western Eu-rope’s total volume of exports. In con-trast, 60% of Eastern European exportswent to Western Europe. In parallel, tradebetween the various countries of the east-ern periphery was negligible, accountingfor barely 16% of total exports(2). Eco-nomic integration, the international divi-sion of labour in terms of manufacturedproducts and the region’s industrial spe-cialisation all remained underdeveloped.

Export were similar to those of develop-ing countries with a predominance ofagricultural products and raw materialsand an under-representation of manufac-tured and capital goods. In contrast, asimports manufactured products had achoice position, as illustrated by Table 2.

Tabelle 2The economies of the CEECs generally,were peripheral with an average level of

1) It is generally considered that pre-war levels were surpassed by 1949.In 1950, the relative ranking of thecountries compared to the UnitedStates was as follows: Poland: 25,Hungary: 25, Czechoslovakia: 36(OECD, The World Economy 1920-1992, Paris, 1995, p. 20).

2) The lack of complementarity be-tween these economies largely ex-pla ins the la ter d i f f icu l t ies ofCOMECON in establishing an inte-grated area.

“Again with the exceptionof Bohemia (...) the econo-mies of Central and EasternEurope were in general atthe periphery of a centre,that centre being WesternEurope.”


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Table 2

Export (X) and import (M) baskets in 1937

Products Czechoslovakia Poland Hungary

X M X M X MFoodstuffs 8 13 32 9 57 6Raw materials andsemi-finished products 20 57 58 63 13 57Manufactured products 72 30 10 28 30 37(incl. capital goods) 6 9 1 14 9 8

Source: KOZMA, F., Economic Integration and Economic Strategy, Budapest, 1982, p.62

development in comparison to WesternEurope, in particular Germany which ac-counted for 88% of imports by CEECs ofchemical products, 69% of its steel and67% of its capital goods. Germany’s pre-dominance over its “hinterland” was sostrong that the United Nations referred toa “trade dictatorship”.

Socio-cultural development mirrored theeconomic development of these countries,as shown in Table 3.

Tabelle 3Thus from every point of view, the CEECslagged very far behind the United Statesand Western Europe.

Heritage

The reconstruction period in the aftermathof the Second World War was howevercharacterised by massive industrialisationand economic take-off. Growth rates wereparticularly high up to 1974-75, as illus-trated by Table 4.

Tabelle 4During this period the CEECs did, to acertain extent, catch up with the West.With an index of 100 for the United Statesin 1950, Czechoslovakia stood at 36, Hun-gary at 26 and Poland at 25. By 1973, thesefigures had climbed to Czechoslovakia 42,Hungary 32 and Poland 32. This periodof growth was, however, accompanied byserious distortions and dramatic shortcom-ings.

In the first place, heavy industry - ironand steel, metalworking, the primarychemical industry, coal-mining - were toodominant in the economy. The frequentlygigantic factories worked with obsoletetools, turning out products in decline atinternational level. In contrast, industriesproducing everyday consumer durables,and services such as retail distribution,maintenance and repair and financial serv-ices, were underdeveloped.

Secondly, the proportion of high-tech in-dustries using a high level of research andproductivity was one of the lowest inEurope. As a result, there was a particu-lar deficiency in information technology,office automation, robotics and produc-tion and assembly line automation.

Thirdly, the waste of manpower (with a15-20% rate of overemployment in the

manufacturing sectors), energy (in 1980Poland consumed four times as muchenergy per dollar output as Western Eu-rope), raw materials and natural resources(water, forest, air, etc. pollution) were“dantesque”.

From 1973-75 onwards, stagnation, fol-lowed by decline, deepened. The com-mand economy, the bureaucratic admin-istration of enterprises, the inability tofind substitutes for competitive products,etc. prevented the injection of technicalprogress into the production and trad-

Table 3

Socio-cultural indicators in 1937

Country Child Rate of Radios Carsmortality illiteracy per perper 1000 (%) 1000 inh. 1000 inh.

birthsUSA 54 - 205 196.0Czechoslovakia 122 3.0 72 6.3Poland 137 18.5 27 0.6Hungary 134 7.0 46 2.8

Source: EHRLICH, E., Infrastructure, in The Economic History.., op.cit. p.334 et seq.

Table 4

Average growth rates, 1951-1990 (%)

Annualgrowth Czechoslovakia Poland Hungary

1951-1960 7.5 7.6 6.01961-1970 4.5 6.0 6.01971-1975 5.7 9.7 6.31976-1980 3.7 1.2 2.8

Source: LAVIGNE M., The Economics of Transition, London, 1995, p.58.


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ing apparatus. Suffocation was close athand.

Economic development in the years 1950- 1973/75 undeniably meant that collec-tive needs were largely satisfied: the rightto work, the right to education, blankethealth-care coverage and access to cul-ture. These elements were counterbal-anced by the existence of a radically anti-democratic regime, the negation of themost fundamental human rights and thearrogance of a privileged nomenclatura.

Prerequisites for the intro-duction of capitalism

The first step towards the introduction ofcapitalism entailed the dismantling of allthe institutions, bodies and operatingmechanisms which ruled out the creationof goods, services and capital markets.This phase of dismantlement had alreadycommenced in Poland and Hungary un-der the auspices of the reform wing ofthe communist parties in power (Poszgayand Nyers in Hungary, Rakovski in Po-land), who dreamed of reconciling social-ism with the market economy.

It was necessary to dissolve the centralplanning agencies: the state commissionfor the plan, the central price commis-sion, the sectoral ministries in control ofindustry, the industrial combines, the cen-tral purchasing units which enjoyed amonopoly of foreign trade, the monolithicbanking system, etc. This was a swift proc-ess. Price liberalisation involving theelimination of subsidies on vital consumergoods and services (housing, food, com-mon transport, energy, etc.) progressedat a different pace in the various coun-tries. By 1997-98, with a few exceptions,prices had been, or were about to be fullyliberalised.

Moreover, the introduction of capitalismpresupposes the fulfilment of two funda-mental conditions:

❏ the availability of the means of pro-duction and trade; and❏ the availability of manpower.

Availability of the means of production hastwo implications. Firstly, private capital -

resident or non-resident - has to be allowedto set up new businesses. This requirementhad in fact been at least partially met priorto the transition period in Poland andHungary and was very quickly realised byall four countries after the demise of com-munism. Secondly, the state-owned enter-prises have to be privatised. Before beingbetrothed to private national or foreigncapital, however the bride had to be madeattractive by selling off her jewellery - andoften for a mere song since the state wasin most cases a seller in distress and ill-informed of the real value of its assets.The operation took some time but was nev-ertheless completed within a period of 5-6 years. Of course each country (even thefive new German Länder) has its lameducks no one wants - these are the dregsof the old system which will fade awaywith time; they will not prevent the rise ofcapitalism. By mid-1996, the private sec-tor accounted for 75% of GDP in the CzechRepublic, 70% in Slovakia and Hungary and60% in Poland.

The second precondition for the introduc-tion of capitalism concerns manpower.What is a budding capitalist’s dream? Adefenceless worker, “as free and as lightas air”, a fragmented source of labourmarket supply, unprotected by trade un-ion organisations. From the very begin-ning of the transition process, this condi-tion has been advanced as the sine quenon for the switch-over to a marketeconomy. The OECD, just as any otherinternational organisation of an economiccharacter, did not hesitate to comment inNovember 1989, just after the establish-ment of the first post-communist govern-ment in Poland, “Whatever the characterof the wage-setting system, be it central-ised or decentralised, it is indispensableto encourage flexibility and mobility...Enterprises must be free to employ thenumber of workers they need and mustnot be forced to take on a surplus ofmanpower”. Flexibility, mobility, wage-setting by the enterprises, the freedom tohire and fire... this is what manpoweravailability is all about. Under these con-ditions and in the absence of powerfulunions - which is currently the case forall Eastern European countries - real wagelevels are in decline. Wages in fact fell7.6% in the Czech Republic, 23.9% inSlovakia, 21.6% in Hungary and 24.6% inPoland in the years 1989 - 1995.

“The first step towards theintroduction of capitalismentailed the dismantling ofall the institutions, (. . .)which ruled out the crea-tion of goods, services andcapital markets. (...)It wasnecessary to dissolve thecentral planning agencies:the state commission forthe plan, the central pricecommission, the sectoralministries in control of in-dustry, the industrial com-bines, the central purchas-ing units which enjoyed amonopoly of foreign trade,the monolithic banking sys-tem (...). This was a swiftprocess.”


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Table 5

Macro-economic indicators, 1993-1996

Hungary Poland Czech SlovakiaRepublic

Growth a 1993 -0.6 3.8 -0.9 -3.71994 2.9 5.2 2.6 4.91995 1.5 7.0 4.8 6.81996 0.5 6.0 4.2 6.9

Inflation b 1993 22 35 21 231994 19 33 10 131995 28 27 9 101996 24 20 9 6

Unemploy- 1993 12 16 3.5 14ment c 1994 10 16 3.2 15

1995 10 15 2.9 131996 10 n.d. 3.5 13

Budgetary 1993 -6.8 -2.9 1.4 -7.6deficit d 1994 -8.2 -2.0 0.5 -1.3

1995 -6.5 -3.5 -0.8 0.11996 -3.5 -3.0 -1.1 -4.4

Source: EBRD, Transition Report Update, April 1997.Notes: a growth: annual GDP growth at constant price.

b inflation: annual price increase of consumer goods.c unemployment: full unemployment as a ratio of the working population.d budgetary deficit: public deficit as a percentage of the GDP.

In its initial phase of development, capi-talism’s low real wage levels are essentialas a means of generating high profits. Thiswas true of the first capitalist enterprisesin Europe in the 16th century; it was trueof the first industrial revolution in the 19thcentury; it was true of Japan in the fiftiesand sixties, it was true of the four dragonsin the seventies; it was true of the newAsian tigers in the eighties.... and it is trueof Central and Eastern Europe today.

In the four countries examined, the phaseof transition towards unbridled capitalismis now drawing to a close with the re-structuring or liquidation of enterprisesproducing capital equipment, the ongo-ing reform of the banking system, the lib-eralisation of interest rates and the devel-opment of the region’s stock exchangesstill outstanding.

Macro-economic develop-ment and the opening-upstrategy

Basic macro-economic indicators

At the very outset of the transition proc-ess, with the collapse of communism andthe disintegration of the Council for Mu-tual Economic Assistance (COMECON),Central and Eastern Europe went througha phase of “slumpflation”. Poland hit rockbottom in 1990 with an 11.6% contrac-tion of GDP; Czechoslovakia in 1991 -14.6% and Hungary in 1991 -11.9%. Fol-lowing this recession, which was accom-panied by double-digit rates of inflation,the four countries are gradually emerg-ing from the crisis as Table 5 illustrates.

Tabelle 5Poland was the first of the transitioneconomies to show renewed growth:2.2% in 1992. The reason for the time lagis probably the fact that Poland was thefirst country to install a post-communistgovernment before the fall of the BerlinWall in the late summer of 1989. Growthhas been relatively buoyant at 4 - 7% overthe last three years and forecasts for 1997expect this trend to continue. The excep-tion is Hungary, forced to introduce de-flationary austerity measures in March1995, a step inevitably reflected in itsgrowth rate: 0.5% in 1996; however animprovement is expected for 1997.

Poland and Slovakia return the highestgrowth rates: around 7% (3), promptingsome observers to talk of an “economicmiracle” and “Asian-style economicgrowth”. However the term “miracle” mustbe brought into perspective: Poland is theonly country to have reached the 1989levels of GDP, which it did in 1996; theother three countries stand at 85%-90%of their 1989 GDP. Moreover, the refer-ence year of 1989 was a year of weakgrowth following four other bad years.Average growth rates in the years 1986-1990 were 1% in Czechoslovakia and -0.5% in Hungary and Poland. Compari-sons with the Asian tigers must also bequalified: in terms of its growth rate, Po-land lags far behind China, Taiwan andMalaysia, Chile, Mexico and Argentina,and even behind Turkey.

The principal causes for the high infla-tionary tensions in the early nineties (priceliberalisation, budgetary deficits, monetaryoverhang, etc.) having now been largelyeliminated, inflation rates are now be-ing brought down to reasonable levels,

3) The figures for the 1990-92 reces-sion were overestimated and the fig-ures for 1994-97 growth underesti-mated. The present under-estimationhas two reasons: the impact of theparallel economy and the utilizationof GDP deflators which do not takeaccount of product quality improve-ment and product range extension(PlanEcon Report, 8 May 1997, p. 12).


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even if there is still some cause for con-cern in Poland and Hungary.

Unemployment has stabilised at rela-tively high rates (10-15%) in Hungary,Poland and Slovakia. Although lower inthe Czech Republic (3.5% in 1996), it isrising and was 4.1% in February 1997 with5% forecast for the end of 1997. This trendis welcomed by the economists fromPlanEcon who said that, “The Czech Re-public should let its unemployment ratego up to 6-7% as soon as possible to re-duce the upward pressure on salaries andto increase working discipline”. The situ-ation of the unemployed is often critical.In the early nineties, 80% of the unem-ployed received benefit. By 1995, this fig-ure had fallen to 47% in the Czech Re-public, 21.9% in Slovakia, 36% in Hun-gary and 58.9% in Poland. There are tworeasons for this: the number of those en-titled to unemployment benefit is fallingwhile the ranks of the long-term unem-ployed are swelling.

The countries in transition generally posthigh deficits in the take-off phase: stateexpenditure remains high due to pay-ments of public-sector salaries, subsidiesto enterprises, etc., whereas its revenuedeclines in the wake of recession. ThusPoland recorded a GDP deficit of 6.5% in1991 and 6.6% in 1992; Slovakia: 11.9%in 1992 and 7.6% in 1993; Hungary con-tinued to post worrying deficits in 1993,1994 and 1995, with its 1995 stabilisationplan reducing its deficit to 3.5% in 1996;in the Czech Republic the deficit was 3.3%in 1992; estimates for 1996 stand at 1.1%.

Two countries are going through a diffi-cult period in budgetary terms: Hungaryand Slovakia.

Forecasts for Hungary are based on a GDPdeficit of 4%, largely due to (internal andexternal) debt servicing, which hasreached 1/3 of current public expenditure.Even with a primary GDP surplus of 3.5%,Hungary’s overall deficit surpasses the EU3% convergence criterion.

Slovakia pushed up public financing ofnon-commercial services (health, educa-tion) in 1996, clearly a reflection of thetertiarisation of its economy. GDP roseby 7% in 1996. This result is due to a 2.1%contraction in sectors producing capital

equipment and a 13.5% growth in theservices sector (commercial and non-com-mercial).

Developments in the field of foreigntrade

In the wake of the de facto disintegrationof COMECON in mid-1990, following theintroduction of dollar-based settlements,the switch-over to world prices in intra-COMECON trade from the 1 January 1990and the economic difficulties of the formerSoviet Union, trade both between CEECsand with the former Soviet Union col-lapsed. This collapse of intra-COMECONtrade is one of the causes of the deeprecession which hit the CEECs at the be-ginning of the transition process.

The high level of trade in the COMECONarea and its specialisation made theCOMECON states highly interdependent,although this situation varied from coun-try to country. By 1989, trade with thewest already represented half of the totaltrade flows of Poland and Hungary, butonly 35% in the case of the then Czecho-slovakia. This situation was accompaniedby dependence on the Soviet Union, theprincipal supplier of energy and raw ma-terials and an important outlet for manu-factured products, machinery and capitalgoods. CEEC exports to the industrialisedcountries were concentrated on traditionalproducts, raw materials and energy-inten-sive products and raw materials.

The liberalisation of trade and the aban-donment of the t radi t ional int ra-COMECON trading system meant an endto preferential trading links and a re-ori-entation of trade towards the West. Inview of its geographical proximity, the Eu-ropean Union rapidly became the mainoutlet for CEEC exports and a source ofconsumer and capital goods supplies. EU-CEEC trade has expanded considerablysince 1990. The weight proportion of theEU in CEEC trade flows almost doubledbetween 1988-1992, whereas that of theformer Soviet Union fell dramatically; thisis illustrated in Table 6.

Tabelle 6The collapse of intra-COMECON trade in1991 was further accompanied by signifi-cant changes in the sectoral compositionof CEEC trade flows. The share of ma-chinery and capital goods in intra-

“The weight of the EU inCEEC trade flows almostdoubled between 1988 and1992, whereas the weight offormer USSR fell dramati-cally (...)”


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Table 6

Geographic structure of Hungarian, Polish andCzechoslovak trade in 1988 and 1992

% Exports Imports

Hungary 1988 1992 1988 1992Developed market-economy countries 39.5 71.3 43.3 69.7of which EC 22.1 49.7 25.1 42.7Eastern Europe 17.0 6.3 18.7 6.7Former Soviet Union 27.6 13.1 25.0 16.9Other countries 15.9 9.3 13.0 6.7Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Poland 1988 1992 1988 1992Developed market-economy countries 41.3 71.9 43.2 72.4of which EC 27.1 57.9 26.7 53.1Eastern Europe 17.1 5.9 18.2 4.5Former Soviet Union 26.0 9.5 24.8 12.0Other countries 15.6 12.8 13.7 11.4Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Czechoslovakia 1988 1992 1988 1992Developed market-economy countries 32.8 63.7 37.0 62.6of which EC 20.0 49.4 21.7 42.1Eastern Europe 20.8 13.7 22.1 6.7Former Soviet Union 29.8 10.9 27.5 24.6Other countries 16.6 11.7 13.4 6.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: ECE/UN (1993), Economic Bulletin for Europe, vol.45, p.120.

COMECON trade flows plummeted. Theshare of energy and raw materials in im-ports from the former Soviet Union greatlyincreased in value, reflecting the priceincrease of these products on a dollarbasis and a certain inelasticity of domes-t ic demand. Trade with other ex-COMECON countries collapsed. The struc-ture of trade with the west remained morestable in so far as the increase in tradevolumes was a general trend, extendingacross the entire product range.

As for CEEC-EU trade in terms of productbreak-down, results for the period 1988-1992 generally indicate that no majorsectoral realignment took place, with traderemaining concentrated on exports fromsectors with a high intensity of unskilledmanpower, reflecting the CEECs’ pool ofhuman resources and underlining theimpact of their wealth of natural re-sources. In the strategy adopted by CEECs,only a massive influx of foreign invest-ment accompanied by technology trans-fer would enable their economies to drawbenefit from their manpower capital as asource of comparative advantage. Thetrade figures posted by a number of CEECs(in particular Hungary) in trade with theEU from 1992-1995 indicate a certain de-gree of export diversification.

Direct foreign investment in theCEECs

From the very beginning of the transitionprocess, alongside foreign trade, directforeign investment was regarded by thereforming governments of the countriesin transition as one of the main instru-ments of integration into the globaleconomy. Direct foreign investment (DFI)was perceived as a key element of thetransition process as a potential sourceof technology and know-how transfer anda contribution to the upgrading of organi-sational, managerial and marketing skills.The participation of foreign investors inthe privatisation process was moreoverdesigned to stimulate the development ofthe private sector, facilitate industrial re-structuring and boost exporting capacity.Finally, foreign investment was also en-couraged in view of its positive impacton the balance of payments and, giventhe limited capacity of domestic savingsin the old command economies, it repre-sented an important source of funding.

All the countries in transition thereforecreated favourable conditions to attractforeign investment by the introduction ofvarious types of incentive schemes.

DFI flows into the CEECs have increasedsince 1990. However, not all the coun-tries in transition have benefited from theliberalisation of the economy to the sameextent. An analysis of each of the CEECsas a function of its capacity to stabilise itsmacro-economic and financial situationand to carry out structural reforms helpsto explain the geographic distribution ofinvestments within the region. As a re-sult of the initially higher performance oftheir production capacities and their suc-cess in carrying out the reforms neces-sary for the implementation of the priva-tisation programmes, DFI flows are con-centrated on three of the transition econo-

“Direct foreign investment(DFI) flows into the CEECshave pointed upwardssince 1990. However, not allthe countries in transitionhave benefited from the lib-eralization of the economyto the same extent.”


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Table 7

Direct foreign investment in the CEECs

Direct foreign Total DFI Ratioinvestment flows

millions millions per per DFI/$ $ cap. $ cap. $ GDP

1994 1995 1996 1989 1989 1996 1995 (rev.) (est.) -96 -96

Bulgaria 105 98 150 450 54 18 0.8%Hungary 1,146 4,453 1,900 13,266 1,288 184 10.2%Poland 542 1,134 2,300 4,957 128 60 0.9%Czech Rep. 750 2,525 1,200 6,606 642 117 5.6%

Source: EBRD in Financial Times, April 11 1997.

programme triggered a substantial in-crease in DFI in 1995 and 1996.

In a number of CEECs, the developmentof exports from sectors with a particularlyhigh intensity of unskilled labour (cloth-ing, footwear) is substantially linked tooutward processing operations, in particu-lar within the framework of subcontract-ing from EU undertakings which controlproduction without being proprietors ofthe capital. Indeed, one source of currentdiversification of exports from the coun-tries in transition depends on investmentsbased on outsourcing operations whichresult from the advantage of extremelylow labour costs and a high level of quali-f ications. However, i t is uncertainwhether this type of investment, which islow in capital contribution, will have afavourable impact in terms of technologyand know-how transfer. Another point ofconcern is the relative mobility of this typeof investment, which is highly depend-ent on trends in wage costs.

The sharp currency devaluations carriedout by the CEECs in the early stages ofthe transition process turned these coun-tries into a source of particularly cheaplabour. Monthly wage levels in the CEECsexpressed in dollars are very low com-pared to Western levels (1 : 10) and thenewly industrialised countries (1 : 3). Thiscost advantage is an export incentive.However, CEEC wage costs are not lowerthan in the newly industrialising countriesof Asia. The generally higher level of so-cial security in the CEECs is partly due totheir level of development and their dif-ferent demographic and cultural charac-teristics compared to those of the Asiancountries.

Tabelle 8

Conclusion: what typeof development are theCEECs heading for?

Opening-up and growth

In the early stages of the process of tran-sition, the impact of the sharp initial cur-rency devaluations which accompaniedthe liberalisation of trade on the competi-tiveness of domestic manufacturers firstserved to prop-up demand in order tooffset the effects of economic recession

mies: Hungary, Poland and the CzechRepublic.

Tabelle 7As Table 7 illustrates, of all of the coun-tries in transition, Hungary has succeededin attracting most DFI in the period since1989: a cumulative total of around US$13 billion by 1996. This has played animportant role in the restructuring andmodernisation of Hungarian industry. DFIhas fluctuated with the ups and downs ofthe privatisation programme. The CzechRepublic has also successfully encouragedthe entry of foreign investment: US$ 6.6billion by 1996. DFI into Poland has beenrelatively modest in comparison with theother Visegrad states. However, the re-sults of Polish economic growth, the nor-malisation of the situation of Poland vis-à-vis its creditors with reference to its debtrescheduling and its ongoing privatisation

Table 8

Development of average monthly wage in dollars(1990-1995)

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Bulgaria 185 78 127 148 95 127Hungary 295 281 345 365 395 376Poland 199 254 262 278 337 398Czech Republic 158 166 199 227 276 323

Source: PlanEcon (194) nos. 25-26-27 and nos. 35-36, (1995) nos. 11-12, (1996) nos 3-4 and 19-20.N.B.The figures reflect the average industrial monthly wage in December of the corresponding year.


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and facilitate the re-orientation of tradetowards the West following the collapseof intra-COMECON flows. Subsequently,the liberalisation of trade permitted im-ports of capital goods designed to restruc-ture the economy on the basis of com-parative advantages. With the develop-ment of exports towards the West, foreigntrade became the driving force of eco-nomic growth. The transition economiesof the CEECs opted for a strategy of freetrade vis-à-vis the EU, ultimately designedto open the door to full EU membership,following in the footsteps of the nationsof southern Europe (Spain, Portugal,Greece). In parallel, the CEECs’ policy ofopening up to foreign investment is de-signed as a means of reinforcing thispolicy of international re-integration.

However, as growth in CEEC exportsproves to be highly dependent on theeconomic climate of the West and trendsin wage costs as shown in Table 8, CEECimports are constantly rising and impact-ing negatively on their trade balances. Asfar as exports are concerned, the successof the CEECs’ opening-up strategy and thesustainability of the re-orientation of theirtrade flows principally depend on theircapacity to implement the necessary re-forms and profoundly restructure theirindustrial fabric on the basis of compara-tive advantages, enabling them to catchup with the industrialised economies inthe field of product and process innova-tion. Difficulties remain both at the levelof supply and demand.

In the short term, the CEECs can expectto expand their trade only on the basisof existing comparative advantages re-sulting from their cheap labour andwealth of natural resources and concen-trate on unsophisticated products utilis-ing technologies which are readily avail-able. These exports face stiff competi-tion, in particular from the newly indus-trialising countries and trade barriers onproducts regarded as “sensitive” (agricul-ture, steel and metals, textiles). On theother hand, the demand structure ischanging, both in terms of final demandcategories (less investment, more con-sumption), and within these categoriesthemselves. Since Eastern Europeanproducts are inferior to those from theWest in terms of product range and qual-ity, CEEC manufacturers run the risk of

being out-competed in their own domes-tic markets. Indeed, a preference forWestern products can be observed amonghouseholds for consumer goods andamong firms for capital goods. In thelonger term, the CEECs should exploittheir dynamic comparative advantages(resulting from economies of scale) anddevelop more trade flows of an intra-in-dustrial nature.

A determining factor in the success ofCEECs’ strategy based on integration intothe EU will be the type of trade thesecountries succeed in developing with theirmain trading partners. Essentially this istheir capacity to exploit their advantagesin terms of short-term comparative costs.Within the framework of inter-industrialtrade they will gain the time and the re-sources needed to restructure or createbusiness sectors on the basis of whichthey can participate in intra-industrialtrade flows characterised by more dy-namic growth.

These considerations prompt questions asto the advisability of a different strategy,consisting of giving a more important roleto industrial policy as a means of creat-ing new comparative advantages. Publicauthority intervention should encourageinfrastructural development, promote theco-ordination of R&D activities and up-grade the training of human resources.Economic growth should also be under-pinned by a growth in domestic invest-ment - which would require sufficientsaving ratios and an efficient financialintermediation system.

As far as the contribution of foreign in-vestment to the CEECs is concerned, it isstill too soon to draw definitive conclu-sions. Firms with foreign investment posthigher productivity levels than local busi-nesses and play an important role in thedevelopment of exports. However, thereis a risk that the expected fertilisation oflocal industries in terms of technologytransfer and higher performance may ul-timately remain confined to islands ofmodernity without spreading throughoutthe economy as a whole.

In Hungary, the country in transition hav-ing received most DFI, the strategyadopted by the authorities has been tosell the most highly performing national

“With the development ofexports towards the West,foreign trade became thedriving force of economicgrowth. The transitioneconomies of Central andEastern European coun-tries opted for a strategy offree trade vis-à-vis the Eu-ropean Union (...)

“As far as the contributionof foreign investment to theCEECs is concerned, it isstill too soon to draw de-finitive conclusions.”


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companies to multinationals and in sodoing integrate them into their globalnetwork. In Poland and the Czech Repub-lic, on the other hand, the authorities havetended to keep big business in nationalhands, attracting foreign investors of amore modest size. It is still difficult toassess which strategy will prove to be themore advantageous for CEEC economies.In view of the current context ofglobalisation, which implies highly keeninternational competition, it is uncertainwhether the role of multinationals in cre-ating a virtuous circle of industrial restruc-turing, analysed by UNCTAD in the caseof Asian countries, can be reproduced inthe CEECs; the industrialisation of theAsian tigers (Japan, Korea and Taiwan)took place with the advantage of a cer-tain degree of initial protection.

Social impact

Graph 1 plots the level of developmentof various countries represented by their

GDP per capita in parity of purchasingpower (PPP) against national income dis-tribution, represented by the Gini coeffi-cients. It shows a decline in per capitaincome in the four countries of CentralEurope in the period 1989 - 1992-94 (slidetowards the left). This process has nowbeen interrupted. By 1997-98, all thesecountries will have returned to the statusquo of 1989. During the same period,wage differentials rose considerably, withthe exception of Hungary where they haveremained stationary.

The question at the moment is whetherthese countries will follow route (1), i.e.the EU models, or route (2), i.e. the SouthAmerican model.

grafikNumerous indications suggest that it willbe route (2) as opposed to route (1). In-deed, the European social model, un-doubtedly best represented by Sweden,is based on a variety of foundations: pow-erful trade union organisations, tried and

“The question at the mo-ment is whether these coun-tries shall follow route (1),i.e. the EU model or route(2), i.e. the south Americanmodel.”

Graph 1

Level of development of countries represented byGDP per capita in PPA and national income distribu-tion represented by Gini coefficients

60

50

40

30

20

10

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Pol 94

GDP./inh.

Pol 89

Venezuela

ChileBrazil

France

Italy

Sweden

USA

CzR 89

CzR 92

Hun. 94 Hun. 89

(2)

Sl. 89Sl. 94

Gini

(1)

Sources:Gini: World Bank, From the planned economy to the market economy, Report 1995, Washington.GDP/per capita: UNICEF, Children at risk ..., op. cit..

Notes:Gini: The Gini coefficients range from 0-100. Equality is perfect at “0”; the higher the Gini coefficient,the greater inequality.GDP/per capita: Estimates of GDP per capita as a purchasing power parity. GDP/per capita in theUSA: 100.


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tested conciliation bodies, both at themicro-economic level of the individualfirm and at the macro-economic level ofoverall sectors of the economy, the re-gions and the nation; a level of social se-curity which has certainly been trimmeddown but remains impressive and a tra-

UNO, Economic Bulletin for Europe, vol. 34, Ge-neva, 1985, chap. 3, p.6.

UNO, Economic Survey of Europe, Geneva, 1955,p.93.

ERBD, Transition Report 1996, London, 1996, p.11.

Marx, K. Das Kapital, book 1, section 8: primitiveaccumulation, Ed. sociales, Paris, 1950, volume III,p.155.

OECD, Eléments de la problématique polonaise,Paris, 17 November 1989.

UNICEF, Children and risk in Central and EasternEurope: Perils and Promises, Florence, Italy, Feb-ruary 1997, p.6.

The Economist, 12-18 July 1997.

PlanEcon Report, Czech Economic Monitor, n° 17-18, 8 May 1997.

PlanEcon, 16 April 1997, p.11.

dition of relatively fair distribution of na-tional income. Since the collapse of com-munism in Eastern Europe, these founda-tions have been shattered and their re-construction will take some time. Moreo-ver, three or fourfold multiplication of percapita income will take 20 - 30 years.

PlanEcon, 7 May 1997, p.17.

UNICEF, Children at risk in Central and EasternEurope, Florence, 1997, p.7.

European Economy, Reports and Studies, n°6, Eu-ropean Commission, DGII, Brussels - Luxembourg.

Lemoine F. (1995), “La dynamique des exportationsdes PECO vers l’Union européenne”, EconomieInternationale. La revue du CEPU, n°62, 2nd quar-ter, pp.145-172.

OECD (1994), Intégrer les économies de marchénaissantes dans le système commercial international,CCET, Paris, p.87.

ECE/UN (1995), Economic Bulletin for Europe,vol.47, Economic Commission for Europe, UnitedNations, New York and Geneva, p.126.

UNCTAD (1995), World Investment Report 1995:Transnational Corporations and Competitiveness,December.

Bibliography


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AlenaNesporova

International LabourOrganization (ILO)

Central and EasternEuropean Team, Bu-

dapest.

The upheavals in Centraland Eastern Europeancountries after 1989-1990were followed by shrinkingeconomic demand whichled to excessive labour sup-ply and accelerating openunemployment, a situationpractically unknown underthe communist regime. La-bour market response toeconomic decline has dif-fered greatly from countryto country.The importance of educa-tion and training in deter-mining the quality andadaptability of the work-force – the key factor of fu-ture economic prosperity ofthe economics in transi-tion – should be fully ac-knowledged.

1) Many experts claim that the GDPfall was not as deep as indicated byofficial statistics since new businessactivities occurred partly in the unof-ficial economy. For example Kauf-mann’s estimates of the shares of theunofficial economy in total GDP inthe CEECs range from 6% for Slovakiathrough 11% for the Czech Republic,12% for Estonia, 13% for Poland, 20%for Romania, 22% for Lithuania and29% for Hungary, to 35% for Latviaand 36% for Bulgaria. However, in allthese countries the unofficial econ-omy also existed before 1989 and itis difficult to estimate whether and towhat extent it increased further after1989, especially as it has gained someother forms.

Introduction

At the beginning of economic transfor-mation, Central and Eastern European la-bour markets were characterized by highparticipation rates and labour shortagesco-existing with low labour productivityand extensive labour hoarding in enter-prises. In comparison with market econo-mies on a similar level of economic de-velopment, industry and agriculture hadvery large shares in total employmentwhile services, especially personal serv-ices, trade, communications and producerservices were largely underdeveloped.

This situation rapidly changed after thepolit ical upheavals in 1989-90. Thelaunching of economic reforms, alongwith macroeconomic stabilisation policiesintroduced in order to curb inflation,brought radical economic changes, whichwere further accelerated by the disinte-gration of COMECON and the USSR. Bothexternal and internal demand for goodsand services declined very rapidly, result-ing in sharp falls in GDP and industrialproduction. Shrinking economic demandwas reflected in a new situation on thelabour markets where excessive demandfor labour changed into excessive laboursupply and open unemployment, practi-cally unknown under the communist re-gime, started to accelerate.

This article attempts to analyze recent de-velopments in the labour markets of someCentral and Eastern European countries(CEECs) and to assess policy responsesto new labour market needs. Particularattention will be devoted to training ad-dressing emerging skill mismatches.

Labour marketsand trainingin Central andEastern Europe

Developmentof employment

Economic decline was characteristic forall CEECs in the first phase of their eco-nomic transformation, but its depth andlength were different for individual coun-tries depending on their starting condi-tions, the speed of reforms and other fac-tors as shown in Table 1.1 Poland, whichlaunched a radical economic reform in1990 and was able to achieve economicrecovery already in 1992, managed to re-gain its 1989 GDP level in 1996. Othercountries remained more than 10% belowtheir 1989 level in 1995, in the case ofBulgaria even 20%. The three Baltic Stateswere much worse off due to the break-up of their close economic links withother ex-Soviet countries, reflected in GDPfalls between 35-60%.

Industry was the economic sector mostadversely affected by economic transitionin many CEECs. As a rule, industrial pro-duction declined more than GDP as thenegative developments in industry (andin many countries also in agriculture)were partly compensated for by boom-ing services.

---------Table 1----------Labour market response to economic de-cline followed after a certain delay, but itsextent differed greatly by country. Somecountries like Hungary, Poland or Sloveniareduced labour hoarding so radically thatthe employment decline much exceededthat of GDP and labour productivity ac-celerated. Another group of countries, evendespite substantial falls in employment inthe case of Bulgaria, was only able to moreor less maintain the low level of labour


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productivity prevailing at the start of eco-nomic transformation. All the Baltic States,Romania and the Czech Republic reducedemployment much less in comparison withfalls in GDP, and at least this phase of theireconomic transformation was characterizedby a further decline in labour productivityand an increase in labour hoarding.

Since 1994 (and one year later in the Bal-tic States) all these countries have wit-nessed the beginning of economic recov-ery (which unfortunately has appeared tobe only short-lived in Bulgaria). However,for most countries this economic recoveryhas not yet brought any significant increasein employment and economic growth hasa labour saving character. Although newjobs are generated, they are so far lessnumerous than the jobs lost in the restruc-turing process. The best example of this isPoland which has recorded GDP growthsince 1992, but at the same time employ-ment has continued to decline. Only veryrecently the first symptoms of an employ-ment increase have occurred but job crea-tion is not sufficient in view of demo-graphic factors which have seen the entryof strong youth cohorts in the labour mar-ket. Rather paradoxically, the Czech Re-public was among the few countries whereemployment grew in 1995-6, in spite ofthe above mentioned extensive labourhoarding.

Part of the fall in employment emergedas open unemployment, recorded in mostof these countries - with the exception ofSlovenia (where it was negligible) - forthe first time in 40 years. However, an-other part of the labour force disappearedfrom the labour market altogether. This(official) increase in economic inactivity(non-participation) even exceeded theincrease in registered unemployment incountries like Bulgaria, Hungary and theCzech Republic as shown in Table 2.

---------Table 2----------It is also important to mention that, espe-cially in the four Central European coun-tries, the recorded employment falls arecombined with the growth of the work-ing-age population which further in-creases the inactive population.

Increasing economic inactivity

There are several explanations for thisincrease in economic inactivity. First, par-

ticularly at the beginning of the economictransformation, labour market tensionstended to be relieved at the expense ofworking pensioners. Under the commu-nist regime working pensioners consti-tuted up to 10% of the national labourforce (one reason, among others, beinga rather low retirement age - 60 for menand around 55 for women2). When en-terprises began to encounter problems,pensioners were the first to be laid offas the least painful solution. All theCEECs also adopted early retirementschemes and many older workers tookadvantage (or were forced to) of this pos-sibility. Similarly, a lot of disabled work-ers were forced to leave employment be-cause of the closure or downsizing ofmany sheltered workshops, or becausethey were replaced by able-bodied work-ers in ordinary jobs. Often, disabilitypensions have remained the only optionfor them as the old rehabilitation andemployment promotion schemes col-lapsed and the new quota systems donot operate well.

Long-term unemployment is increasing.When people are unable to find a job, andtheir unemployment benefits or assistanceexpire, because the supply of employmentprogrammes is poor, many of them dropout of the unemployment register or de-register voluntarily, and become inactiveor take up some casual work.

Table 1

Production and employment in Central and EasternEurope, 1989-1995(growth rates in % over the whole period, production indicators in con-stant prices)

Country GDP Industrial Employmentproduction

Bulgaria - 23.5 - 44.5 - 24.1Czech Republic - 15.6 - 29.1 - 7.2Estonia - 35.0 - 57.2 - 19.8Hungary - 14.6 - 16.8 - 27.4Latvia - 49.5 - 61.3 - 15.5Lithuania - 61.3 - 67.0 - 13.6Poland - 1.5 - 9.6 - 13.3Romania - 15.4 - 43.4 - 8.5Slovakia - 16.3 - 30.3 - 14.6Slovenia - 11.6 - 28.2 - 20.7

Source: Economic Bulletin for Europe, Volume 48 (1996). UN/ECE, Geneva 1996.

2) The retirement age for women wasfixed at 55 in some countries whilein others it depended on the numberof raised children (e.g. in the formerCzechoslovakia it was 57 for child-less women, 56 for women who hadraised 1 child, 55 for women with twochildren and 54 for women with threeand more children).

“(…) part of the labourforce disappeared from thelabour market altogether.This (official) increase ineconomic inactivity (non-participation) even ex-ceeded the increase in reg-istered unemployment incountries like Bulgaria,Hungary and the Czech Re-public (…).”


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On the positive side, the interest of youngpeople in higher education has increasedconsiderably. This is partly a consequenceof improved remuneration of jobs requir-ing higher education, and partly to avoidunemployment problems. The rates ofenrollment in secondary schools and uni-versities among the age groups of 15-19and 20-24 has increased dramatically.

Many of those who have left the officiallabour market are, however, still activein the informal economy (whilst some areengaged in both at the same time) in or-der to avoid paying high taxes. In manytransition economies with a particularlyonerous tax burden, the use of informallabour is frankly the only way in whichmany small entrepreneurs can survive. Afact reluctantly acknowledged and toler-ated by the governments concerned. Par-ticipation in the informal economy is alsohigh among retired people and labour mi-grants from other CEECs. In many cases,migrant workers push regular workers outof their jobs, which increases job and la-bour insecurity in the labour market.

With the opening of borders, many peo-ple have sought work abroad. While somehave done so only temporarily, othershave permanently emigrated, either foreconomic reasons or because of social

Table 2

Labour resources, employment and unemployment,1989-1994

Country Population Employ- Unemploy- Unemploy-in working ment ment ment

age registered from LFS(000’s) (000’s) (000’s) (000’s)

Bulgaria - 150 - 1,130 488 740Czech Republic + 330 - 518 166 199Estonia* - 25 - 151 13 n.a.Hungary + 113 - 1,493 520 431Latvia* - 96 - 204 84 96Lithuania* - 9 - 178 78 66Poland + 563 - 2,528 2,838 2,375Romania - 55 - 934 1,224 968**Slovakia + 162 - 407 372 356Slovenia n.a. - 191 124 84***

* 1990-1994. ** First quarter of 1995. *** May 1994.Source: Employment Observatory: Central and Eastern Europe, No.8. European Commission, DG V,Brussels 1995. Statistical Handbook 1996: States of the Former USSR. The World Bank, Washington1996. Annual Report 1995, National Employment Office of Slovenia, Ljubljana 1996.

“On the positive side, the in-terest of young people inhigher education has in-creased considerably. Thisis partly a consequence ofimproved remuneration ofjobs requiring higher edu-cation, and partly to avoidunemployment problems.The rates of enrollment insecondary schools and uni-versities among the agegroups of 15-19 and 20-24has increased dramati-cally.”

tensions, military conflict or political prob-lems. Migration statistics are still inaccu-rate and incomplete. Although the offi-cial figures pertaining to those employedabroad or daily commuting to work inneighbouring countries are not high, itseems evident that they represent only afraction of the total number of Central andEastern European workers active in West-ern market economies and in more ad-vanced transition economies.

However, part of the recorded employ-ment losses is connected with statisticaldeficiencies. Firstly, private sector employ-ment is not yet properly recorded in mostCEECs. Secondly, employment statistics ofsome countries do not differentiate be-tween the number of employed persons(with one or a main job) and the numberof jobs, with the result that any decreasein the number of second jobs is recordedas a fall in overall employment. This isthe case for instance in the Czech Repub-lic where the decline in second or multi-ple jobs totalled 200,000 between 1990and 1993. The fall in the number of per-sons employed was 4 per cent less thanthe employment figures reflecting thenumber of jobs.

Finally, with increasing income differen-tials and many opportunities to acquirewealth from, to say at least, dubious ac-tivities, or from compensation and therestitution of nationalized assets in thisphase of economic transformation, agroup of rentiers has come into being,living solely or predominantly from therental or sale of property. Although thisgroup is not yet large, at least a small partof the fall in employment can be attrib-uted to its formation.

Open and hiddenunemployment

Registered unemployment

Registered unemployment accelerated inCentral Europe, in the former Yugoslaviaand, in Bulgaria immediately after the in-troduction of economic reforms in 1990-92. They were followed, after some delay,by Romania and, more recently, the BalticStates. In most countries unemploymentreached its peak in 1993 and in Romania


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in 1994. It then decreased and has recentlystabilized with some seasonal fluctuationsas shown in Table 3. In Estonia and Latviathe unemployment trend is still upwardsand since the end of 1996, it has started toincrease again in the Czech Republic andvery rapidly in Bulgaria.

-------Table 3-------As can be seen from Table 3, CEECs maybe divided into two groups. Those withdouble-figure rates are located in Centraland South-eastern Europe, with the ex-ception of the Czech Republic and Ro-mania. These two countries and the Bal-tic States have unemployment rates be-low 7%. Interesting questions are whetherthis difference between the two groupsof countries reflects the reality and whatthe reasons are for this difference.

An answer is partly given by the LabourForce Survey as shown in Table 2. Withthe exception of Bulgaria, all countriesrecording high registered unemploymenthave lower unemployment when meas-ured by the LFS, according to the ILOdefinition. It implies that some unem-ployed persons registered with labouroffices are either economically active(mostly in a form of casual work) or areinactive - uninterested in working (at leastnot in existing jobs) and registered onlyto get access to social benefits. In con-trast, some other persons deemed inac-tive by the Labour Force Survey are pas-sive unemployed (i.e. jobless persons dis-couraged from an active job search), of-ten because they belong to a disadvan-taged group and have given up job searchsince neither jobs suitable for them norappropriate employment services areavailable. In the second group of coun-tries (including Romania where registeredunemployment has recently fallen sharp-ly) unemployment measured by the LFSis somewhat higher than registered un-employment, indicating less interestamongst job seekers in registration, ormore restrictive eligibility criteria.

However, in some countries (the BalticStates, Bulgaria, Romania and even morethe Commonwealth of Independant States(CIS)) some redundant workers in enter-prises are sent on administrative leave orforced to work shorter hours while stillformally employed. These hidden unem-ployed persons are often without any payor access to social benefits

National differences in unemploy-ment

The reasons for national differences in un-employment are multiple and include:

❏ economic growth - in spite of the la-bour-saving economic growth prevailingin the region, economic growth is and, ifstrengthened and made more sustainable,will continue to be the most importantengine for employment recovery;

❏ progress in economic reform - the Bal-tic States began their economic reformlater, which partly explains a slower fallin employment and a limited increase inopen unemployment. There are also sub-stantial differences between CEECs in theextent and method of privatization. Hun-gary has privatized mostly through directsales and new owners have drasticallyreduced labour hoarding. A similar effectwas achieved by the introduction of rathertough bankruptcy procedures. In contrast,the type of voucher privatization used inthe Czech Republic had a counterproduc-tive effect on labour hoarding as discussedbelow. In other countries like Bulgaria,Romania, and Lithuania privatization ofbig state enterprises is still underwaywhile the state does not effectively playthe role of an owner in corporate gov-ernance;

❏ economic structure - countries with ahigher proportion of agriculture in total

Table 3

Registered unemployment rates, 1991-96(end-of-period rates in % of the labour force)

1991 1993 1995 Sept. ‘96

Bulgaria 11.5 16.4 11.1 10.5Czech Republic 4.1 3.5 2.9 3.2Estonia n.a. 5.0 5.0 5.3Hungary 7.4 12.1 10.4 11.0Latvia n.a. 5.8 6.5 7.0Lithuania n.a. 3.4 7.3 6.4Poland 11.8 16.4 14.9 13.5Romania 3.1 10.4 8.9 6.3Slovakia 11.8 14.4 13.1 12.2Slovenia 10.1 15.5 14.5 13.7

Source: See Table 1.


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employment (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland)are facing higher unemployment. Further-more, some industrial sectors such asmining, metallurgy, engineering and tex-tiles were more affected by economic re-cession and those countries which hadhigher employment concentrated in thesesectors experienced larger falls in indus-trial employment. In Central Europeancountries these negative effects of therestructuring process were partly coun-terbalanced by growing services, whileother countries have yet to make progressin this direction depending much onachieved economic growth and real in-comes’ recovery;

❏ small private sector development - dif-ferent conditions prevail for small busi-nesses throughout the region. These de-pend on domestic demand and access toforeign markets, the quality of technicaland financial infrastructure and economicconditions for enterprising (interest rates,availability of credits, taxation, etc.), gov-ernment support, development of tour-ism, social attitude towards private enter-prising and the initiative to become self-employed, the extent of racketeering, etc.The better the conditions for the devel-opment of small businesses, the morepeople are involved in this type of activ-ity. Again, Central Europe is further ad-vanced in this direction;

❏ level of wages and total labour costs -although the average level of wages andlabour costs is low in the region in com-parison with Western market economies,there are substantial differences betweencountries. The highest level is in Slovenia,followed now by the Czech Republic,Poland, Hungary (until 1995 Hungary wasin second place) and Slovakia. Becausethe economies in transition compete witheach other in exports of many labour- andmaterial-intensive commodities, these dif-ferences are very important, not only fordomestic exporters, but also for Westerninvestors wishing to transfer productionto low labour cost countries.3 Larger pro-duction for domestic and foreign marketsmeans higher employment;

❏ the reasons for low unemployment inthe Czech Republic are both economicand non-economic4. Very fast “small” pri-vatization (of shops, restaurants, work-shops, etc.) combined with restitution (re-

turn of formerly nationalized property toprevious owners), promotion of smallprivate business through credit schemes,preferential taxation in crisis regions, etc.,stimulated structural changes and the re-allocation of labour to developing eco-nomic sectors, small private firms and self-employment. This process was furtherstrengthened by large-scale employmentprogrammes financing job creation in theprivate sector. Also the readiness ofCzechs to change their job or profession,to become self-employed or to commuteto rather remote places of work, amongthe highest in the region, facilitated rede-ployment of workers, avoiding or short-ening unemployment spells. On the otherhand, the voucher-type privatization ac-tually enhanced labour hoarding as it firstscattered enterprises’ shares among manyshareholders none of whom gainedenough power to influence the behaviourof managers. Labour hoarding was fur-ther facilitated by a large cut in real wagesin 1991 substantially reducing labour costsfor enterprises; the average real wagereached its 1989 level again in 1996. Onlynow, in the process of ownership restruc-turing, are real owners gradually emerg-ing to put effective pressure on enterprisemanagements to rationalize productionand labour costs. This is very importantfor necessary improvements in the com-petitiveness of enterprises, as real wagesare currently growing faster than labourproductivity and the trade balance is rap-idly worsening. Also deteriorating statefinances will call for budget restrictions,including staff reductions in budget-fi-nanced or subsidized organizations, andunemployment will inevitably grow.

Regional differences

All Central and Eastern European coun-tries have been confronted with increas-ing regional disparities in unemploymentsince 1990. In many countries, differencesbetween the regions with the highest andthe lowest unemployment rates reached20 percentage points and more in the peakyears of unemployment. In smaller mu-nicipalities the rates were even as highas 70%, (for example in Bulgaria). Unem-ployment tends to be lowest in big cities,regions with a diversified industrialeconomy, regions offering good oppor-tunities for tourism and leisure, in spasand in regions bordering on Austria and

3) As the level of unemployment inthe Czech Republic is so differentfrom the neighbouring transitioncountries, regardless of otherwisesimilar economic results, some tenta-tive explanation is also provided.

4) Low labour costs are naturally notthe only factor for decisions on di-rect foreign investment and trade con-tacts. Other important factors includethe development of infrastructure,extent of domestic demand, locationof the country, reliability and timingof deliveries of products and services,provided foreign trade services, con-cessions for foreign investors, etc.

“(…) although the averagelevel of wages and labourcosts is low in the region incomparison with Westernmarket economies, thereare substantial differencesbetween countries.”


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Germany. In contrast, those hardest hitby unemployment tend to be rural re-gions, monostructural regions where themain industry is suffering from economicrecession, and regions with little poten-tial for economic development becauseof poor infrastructure, poor human re-sources, and an underdeveloped attitudeto private enterprise.

Unemployment by social groups

The social groups suffering most fromunemployment include young people (es-pecially school leavers), old people ofpre-retirement age (though their situationis often solved by early retirement), work-ers with low or obsolete skills, disabledworkers and some ethnic minorities, es-pecially the Gypsies. Although statisticalfigures concerning the latter – theirnumber, participation rate and unemploy-ment levels – are unreliable in all coun-tries, the available evidence presents avery worrying picture. One survey on theGypsy minority in Hungary estimated therate of unemployment for the Gypsypopulation as 61.2%.

The situation of women differs from coun-try to country. On the one hand, womenare overrepresented in total unemploymentin countries like Poland, the Czech Repub-lic, Bulgaria and Romania, while in Hun-gary or Slovenia it is the other way around.This seems to be connected with the em-ployment structure of the nationaleconomy by sector – the higher share oflight and food industries and of servicesin the latter countries which predominantlyemploy women. However, prejudiceagainst women also plays an important role(according to an ILO survey, managers inHungary and Slovenia are less prejudicedthan in the other countries).

Unskilled workers and workers with ob-solete skills constitute the majority in to-tal unemployment as a consequence ofvast structural changes and altering de-mand for skills in the labour market. Thisconcerns not only workers whose jobswere abolished or substantially changedin the course of privatization, enterpriserestructuring (or closure) or introductionof a new production programme, but alsonewcomers from schools which have notadjusted appropriately to new skill de-mands of the labour market.

Labour market policyresponses

In anticipation of the emergence of openunemployment, all countries of the regionestablished new, or restructured, their la-bour market institutions and adopted newlabour legislation in 1990 or early 1991.

All countries adopted new employmentacts stipulating the right to choose one’semployment f reely , and providingjobseeking assistance in case of unem-ployment, including participation in la-bour market programmes provided free-of-charge by national institutions, andincome support.5 Furthermore, the vari-ous Labour Codes have been modified inaccordance with the demands of a demo-cratic market system. However, the na-tional labour markets are going throughmany changes in the transition periodwhich again demand appropriate adjust-ment of labour legislation.

The national employment services nowconsist of national centres and networksof regional and local labour offices hav-ing the same tasks and responsibilities assimilar institutions in Western industrial-ised countries. But, although the employ-ment services have been put in place andtheir staff trained with extensive assist-ance from Western governments and in-ternational organisations, they are still fac-ing many problems: understaffing (in re-lation to the number of job seekers) andthus a huge workload, with a limited pos-sibility to provide individualized services;frequent staff changes due to rather poorsalaries; excessive centralization of deci-sion-making, etc.

The situation, however, varies greatlybetween the Central European countries(including Slovenia) and the other econo-mies in transition. The former have pro-gressed quite well in their provision ofemployment services and programmeseven though their labour market policies,mostly modelled on the Western Europeanexperience but launched in often verydifferent conditions and by inexperiencedstaff, were not always appropriately de-signed and implemented, and thereforerather inefficient. These countries are nowconcentrating on their refinement and thetargeting at social groups in special need.

5) Bulgaria is the only country whichhas not yet adopted its EmploymentAct, making do with government de-crees.

“Unskilled workers andworkers with obsoleteskills constitute the major-ity in total unemployment(…). This concerns not onlyworkers whose jobs wereabolished or substantiallychanged (…) but also new-comers from schools whichhave not adjusted appro-priately to new skill de-mands of the labour mar-ket.”


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The latter group of countries still hasmuch to do. Their employment centresconcentrate mainly on unemploymentregistration, job placement and the pay-ment of unemployment benefits, to thedetriment of active labour market pro-grammes. Now the main problem theyface is lack of sufficient funding. Regionaland local labour offices often play ratherpassive roles in fighting against unemploy-ment in their regions. This is the mainreason why co-operation with the localauthorities, enterprises, regional employ-ers’ and workers’ organisations, educa-tional facilities and other important agentsfor promoting employment and formulat-ing adequate labour market programmesis still rather weak.

Table 4 gives some figures on the shareof benefit recipients among the registeredunemployed and on the participation ofregistered job seekers in active employ-ment programmes. Restrictions in eligibil-ity for benefits and increasing long-termunemployment resulted in declining

shares of benefit recipients among jobseekers. Some countries therefore intro-duced income-tested unemployment as-sistance for persons whose benefits ex-pired (other countries, like the CzechRepublic, Slovakia or Slovenia transferbenefit exhaustees to social welfare).

Table 4In spite of the weaknesses of such na-tional data comparisons, there are cleardifferences among countries in their useof active labour market policies. Hungary,Slovakia and Slovenia apply more activeemployment programmes while others -Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania or Romaniastill rely much more on income support,partly due to financial constraints. In thecase of the Czech Republic, unemploy-ment is so low that it does not create in-centives for a greater use of active labourmarket policy (as was the case in thefirst years of transition).

The emphasis put on individual pro-grammes within the labour market policyalso differs among countries dependingon their needs and orientation. In Bul-garia for example, due to a very high shareof long-term unemployed in total unem-ployment, over 60% of all active labourmarket policy participants took part inpublic works. Public works have recentlybecome the most frequent programme inHungary, while until 1994 labour markettraining ranked first. In Slovakia subsi-dized employment (‘socially purposefuljobs’) is still the most frequent programmeaccommodating 63% of all participants,similarly as in Poland where 45% took partin the so called intervention works. Insome countries such important pro-grammes are still missing such as publicworks in Romania.

All transition countries are fully aware ofexisting skill mismatches in the labourmarket and their detrimental effects oneconomic growth and production effi-ciency. New reforms of educational sys-tems have been introduced giving morefreedom to schools and training centresto adjust their curricula to new demandsfrom young people for education andtraining. In most countries, detailed cen-tral curricula have been replaced by na-tional core curricula as a frameworkwithin which local schools and trainingcentres develop their own programmes(with the approval of local authorities).

Table 4

Unemployed benefit recipients* and participants inactive employment programmes, 1995

Country Benefit Participants Share of ALMP of whom of whomrecipients in active participants unemployed** employed***

as % in employment in unemploy- in labour in labourregistered programmes ment in % market market

unemployment training training

Bulgaria 25.5 62,656 14.4 19,457 xCzech Republic 44.2 36,894+ 23.7+ 13,454 n.a.Hungary 73.5 252,200 49.7 26,800 n.a.Lithuania 30.9 26,936++ 12.6++ 14,253 xPoland 58.9 429,627 15.9 82,470 n.a.Romania 77.5 75,197+++ 6.8+++ 44,841 xSlovakia 21.9 190,038 54.3 19,173 1,393Slovenia 30.3 41,929 34.5 20,045 2,250

* Benefit recipients are those receiving unemployment benefits and unemployment assistance paidfrom the Employment Fund.** Registered unemployed job seekers undergoing training or re-training paid by the EmploymentFund.*** Workers threatened by unemployment whose training or re-training is paid by the EmploymentFund.+ Only new participants in ALMP.++ Bulgaria and Lithuania in their official reports on ALMP also include registered job seekers placedin jobs by the Employment Service and Job Club attendants in official figures on participation in activeemployment programmes. The figures given in the table exclude them to become comparable withother countries.+++ Without job seekers who got start-up loans (their number is not published).Sources: Reports of National Employment Services, 1995.

“(…) there are clear differ-ences among countries intheir use of active labourmarket policies.”


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In some countries, the social partners alsohave a say in the content of vocationaleducation and training. For example inHungary, the tripartite National TrainingCouncil plays a controlling role throughits authority over the distribution of theVocational Training Fund (raised by con-tributions from employers) sponsoring vo-cational training. As a consequence, thecharacteristics of students and subse-quently school leavers have undergonedramatic changes:

❏ the enrollment rate of age groups of15-19 and 20-24 in schools or training cen-tres has increased;

❏ young people prefer secondary schooleducation to vocational manual training,and more general to specialized profes-sional education;

❏ young people’s interest has furthershifted from technical to non-technicaldisciplines.

Labour market training has become wide-spread, ranking first among employmentprogrammes in Romania, Slovenia, theCzech Republic and until very recentlyalso Hungary. The size of labour markettraining financed by the national employ-ment funds, varies from 2.5% of all regis-tered job seekers in Slovakia and 3.1% inPoland, to 8.8% in the Czech Republic andas many as 16.5% in Slovenia.

There are still problems concerning edu-cation and training. On the one hand,previously too narrow and early speciali-zation has been overcome, and generallyeducated young people are more flexiblefor additional job-specific training by theiremployer and also for lifelong learning.Also shortages of specialists required bya market system (financial specialists, ac-countants, computer specialists, lawyers,human resource managers, etc.) aregradually being overcome. On the otherhand, in some countries already newshortages are emerging in technical dis-ciplines and enterprises are complainingthat schools and training centres are nottaking their needs into account, and thatthey cannot find the right specialists inthe market. This problem is obviouslymore acute in countries experiencingfaster economic growth and restructuring.For example, larger industrial enterprises

in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, fac-ing such shortages of skilled technicians,try to overcome them by providing schol-arships to students in last grades of sec-ondary vocational schools and universi-ties or sponsor apprentices. Therefore, alarge part of school leavers cannot find ajob after school and they have to be im-mediately re-trained. Also it seems thatthe proportion of school leavers withoutany occupation is too high. They receivevocational training at the cost of labourmarket institutions instead of regularschooling or training for young people,spending funds originally assigned forother groups of job seekers. As youngpeople without any work experience usu-ally have problems to get a first job, manycountries in the region temporarily subsi-dize their employment, often combinedwith preparatory or on-the-job training.Labour market training thus often substi-tutes the tasks of regular education andtraining for young people.

Training of unemployed job seekers isprovided either for a known employer andthen designed according to his require-ments (for example in Poland), or it fillsup shortages of certain professions in themarket. Training courses are mainly ori-ented to manual occupations and white-collar professions such as accounting,computer skills, foreign languages, etc.Training for business starters is also verypopular. The placement rate of re-trainedpersons differs between countries, rang-ing from 34% in Bulgaria and 40% in Po-land (1994) to over 70% for the CzechRepublic. However, the placement ratesdepend not only on the quality of train-ing and trainees but also on the availabil-ity of vacancies. In many countries, thereis even a certain suspicion against peo-ple who have been re-trained. Their train-ing is regarded as being of lower qualityin comparison with regularly trainedworkers trained in traditional ways andemployers prefer the latter unless they cancontrol the training process.

In some countries, there are possibilitiesto co-finance re-training for enterprisesundergoing restructuring experience ineconomic problems. Another effectivetype of re-training is provided to redun-dant workers before their dismissal to fa-cilitate their re-employment. The figuresare available only for Slovakia and

“There are still problemsconcerning education andtraining. On the one hand,previously too narrow andearly specialization hasbeen overcome (…). On theother hand, in some coun-tries already new short-ages are emerging in tech-nical disciplines and enter-prises are complaining thatschools and training cen-tres are not taking theirneeds into account, (…)”

“Labour market trainingthus often substitutes thetasks of regular educationand training for young peo-ple.”


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Slovenia, but the extent is rather small.Many countries cannot even finance itwhen such people are still employed, dueto obstacles in legislation.

Even though the placement rate after la-bour market training is rather high in com-parison with most other employment pro-grammes, such assessment is a bit mis-leading as it does not take into accountspecific characteristics of persons assignedto training. Typical trainees are youngpeople (often school leavers or personswithout vocational training) and peoplewith higher education who would havebetter employment chances even withoutany training. In contrast, unskilled and/or older persons, members of disadvan-taged ethnic minorities or disabled per-sons, have much lower chances to gettraining while according to research, thecost-effectiveness of their training andsubsequent re-employment is higher.

Conclusions

In view of high open unemployment andenforced inactivity of the population,CEECs should now devote more attentionto employment promotion. This could beachieved only through an economic policyactively promoting economic growth andmacro- and micro-economic restructuringaimed to enhance production efficiency.Education and training, labour marketpolicies and social policies should bedesigned to take full account of theseeconomic goals, promoting flexibility,mobility and motivation of the labourforce, and increasing and utilizing its ca-pacity. Simultaneously, they should mod-erate social tensions and the marginali-zation of more vulnerable social groups.It is essential to design, refine and imple-ment these policies in co-operation andwith a broad consensus amongst all keyactors in the labour market, both at theaggregate level and in regions - national

and regional governments, representativesof employers and workers, educational fa-cilities, relevant non-governmental organi-zations and others.

In education and training this means moredecentralization and at the same timeclose co-operation between schools andtraining centres and labour market insti-tutions, enterprises, trade unions and re-gional authorities in a number of areas.These include adapting curricula andteaching/training methods to the real con-crete present and envisaged needs of theregional labour markets and employers,and improving the capacity of teachers,equipment and access to new technolo-gies, etc. Enterprises undergoing restruc-turing and in need of larger-scale re-train-ing of their workers could be providedwith assistance in this re-training if nec-essary. Training should also be arrangedfor workers still employed but threatenedby redundancy, for business starters (tostrengthen their enterpreneurial skills andmarket knowledge), and for participantsin public works to improve their re-em-ployment chances, etc. The importanceof education and training in determiningthe quality and adaptability of the labourforce - the key factor of future economicprosperity of the countries in transition -should be fully acknowledged. Thereforecurrently observed cuts in national budg-ets for education imposed in the frame-work of general governments’ financerestrictions should be reconsidered. Suchabsolute cuts in public financing of edu-cation have recently been made, for ex-ample, in Hungary, the Czech Republicand Bulgaria, in the framework of restric-tive measures aimed to reduce the statebudget deficits. In all transition econo-mies, real expenditure on education hasbeen significantly reduced in comparisonwith the pre-transformation period. Inaddition, reforms of national educationalsystems have to improve the general effi-ciency of education and training.

Bibliography

Russian Economic Trends, February1997, Russian European Centre forEconomic Policy, Moscow, and theCentre for Economic Performance,London School of Economics, London

Kemeny, I., Havas, G., Kertesi, G.,The Education and Employment Situ-ation of the Gypsy Community: Reportof the 1993/94 Sample Survey. ILO/Japan Project on Employment Policiesfor Transition in Hungary. Budapest1994.

Paukert, L., Economic Transition andWomen’s Employment in Four CentralEuropean Countries, 1989-1994. La-bour Market Paper No. 7, ILO Geneva1995.

A. Nesporova and R. Kyloh, Eco-nomic and Social Dialogue in theOstrava-Karvina Region. ILO-CEETReport No. 5, Budapest 1994 and M.Keune and A. Nesporova, PromotingEconomic and Social Restructuring inthe Spis Region, Slovakia. ILO-CEETReport No. 16, Budapest 1996.

Godfrey, M., Lazar, G., O’Leary,Ch., Report on a Survey on Unemploy-ment and Active Labour Market Pro-grammes in Hungary, ILO/JapanProject on Employment Policies forTransition in Hungary, Budapest 1993.O’Leary, Ch., An Impact Analysis forLabour Market Programmes in Hun-gary, ILO/Japan Project, Budapest1994.


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Observations on thechallenges and priori-ties for vocationaltraining in Central andEastern Europeancountries

Since 1989, Central andEastern European countries(CEECs) have taken on thechallenge of developing amarket economy, with thecapacity to cope with com-petitive pressure. As part ofthe process of meeting thischallenge, the CEECs haveembarked upon reform oftheir vocational educationand training systems. Newinstitutional arrangementshave been introduced as thefirst step towards reform,but many new challengesremain. The new institu-tions need to prove their ef-fectiveness and much needsto be done to define new oc-cupations, develop qualifi-cations, standards and newcurricula.

Introduction

The scale of the change in Central andEastern European countries (CEECs) since1989 should not be underestimated. Themove to democracy and market econo-mies has required the establishment ofnew legal and political infrastructures,new public financing mechanisms, thereform of social security and welfare sys-tems, the liberalisation of prices and thelifting of trade barriers. Whilst grapplingwith this change, most CEECs lost theirmost important trading partner, the formerUSSR, and the lack of updated technolo-gies hampered the development of newmarkets. Consequently, production out-put dropped, recession dragged on andunemployment rose. In addition, the vo-cational education and training systemsin CEECs prior to 1989 were unable todeliver the skills needed in a fast-devel-oping labour market.

However, despite the many problems, sig-nificant modernisation programmes arewell underway in most countries. Idealis-tic, short-term strategies brought about bythe collapse of east European socialism,have been replaced by more realistic plan-ning and long-term vision.

The overall challenge now is for CEECsto design demand-led vocational educa-tion and training systems, capable of ac-commodating a continuously changing

environment and for reform to be carriedout comprehensively and systematically.

Ten CEECs (Bulgaria, the Czech Repub-lic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic andSlovenia) have signed association agree-ments with the European Union (EU), aim-ing at membership. In the recent Agenda2000, five of these countries (the CzechRepublic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland andSlovenia) have been found eligible for thestart of negotiations concerning EU mem-bership. With regard to vocational edu-cation and training, the agreements re-quire specific issues of importance, asidentified by the EU, to be addressed.These include institutional arrangements,skills needs analysis, training methods andthe development of qualification systemscomparable with those in the EU. In mostCEECs great efforts have been made ineach of these areas. However, the lack ofexperience in identifying new compe-tences and lack of professional expertisein defining new occupations, qualificationstandards and curricula have proved ma-jor obstacles.

This article examines how the major in-stitutional and policy challenges are be-ing addressed. It also looks at the needsand priorities in the field of vocationaleducation and training, and identifiessome possible areas for future support.Clearly each country has its own reformprocess which does not necessarily run

IngeWeilnböck-BuckEuropean TrainingFoundation

BerndBaumgartlEuropean TrainingFoundation

Ton FarlaEuropean TrainingFoundation


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parallel to those in other countries. Toprovide examples of how different ap-proaches are being taken in differentcountries, examples are given of devel-opments in the Czech Republic, Hungary,Poland and Slovenia, four countries thathave made considerable progress in theirvocational education and training reforms.

General trends in voca-tional training reformsince 1990

The tendency in the first phase of transi-tion was to modernise existing systems;an abrupt break with the past was not analternative for a number of reasons. Sofar efforts undertaken have largely beenoriented towards:

❏ modifying and reforming individual el-ements in the system;❏ restoration of pre-communist featuresof the system;❏ innovations through the introductionof new structural elements.

The transition process in vocational train-ing in various countries is characterisedby the breakdown of practically orientededucation and training. The previous sys-tem of vocational training for apprentices(and adults) for which enterprises wereresponsible has collapsed. Following pri-vatisation, many companies have beenobliged to radically change their priori-ties, directing resources to new tasks (suchas the renewal of infrastructures and en-vironmental obligations). In-companytraining has thus become one of the vic-tims of transition. Other notable featuresinclude:

❏ the confusing complexity deriving fromthe new range of specialisations and sub-jects;❏ the absence of mechanisms for the re-training of teaching staff;❏ the lack of experience in the defini-tion of new competencies;❏ the deficit of professional expertise inthe definition of new occupations andstandards, and the development of newcurricula.

Central governments have been weakenedby the ‘brain-drain’ to new activities in

the private sector and foreign companies.Moreover, as state responsibilities havebeen relinquished in an attempt to breakaway from the ‘planning mentality’, an ad-equate regulatory system and supportstructures, such as for research and de-velopment, have not kept pace.

Much effort has been put into the reor-ganisation of structures and proceduresin education and training, and a lot ofenergy into drafting new legislation. Inseveral countries a consensus has beenreached for gradual change, which shouldensure continuity and prevent hasty andpoorly prepared reform measures. Nev-ertheless, examples exist of rapidly con-ceived laws which have not been basedon practical experience and many havealready been subject to amendments.

The absence of co-operation between theministries concerned (particularly be-tween Labour and Education, but also Fi-nance, and Economy) has led to a lack ofco-ordination with legislation in otherareas of the social system and this hashad an effect on the education system.The continuous evolution of legislation,which is still often indefinite and incom-plete, will be one of the main features ofthe second phase of the transition proc-ess.

Furthermore, although certain elements ofthe overall system may have been modi-fied, institutional reform is further com-plicated by the fact that the actors in-volved still rely on expertise and experi-ence based on previous conditions.Moreover, traditional vocational trainingcontinues to provide students only withtechnical skills, illustrating that consider-able inertia remains a characteristic oftransition.

Institutional arrangements

Decentralisation in decision makingand implementation of policies

For government authorities “decentralisa-tion” was a slogan heard throughout theCEECs as the way to reverse central plan-ning and the command economy. Devo-lution of power to regional and local lev-els was seen as a prerequisite for encour-

“(…) “decentralisation”was a slogan heardthroughout the CEECs asthe way to reverse centralplanning and the commandeconomy.”


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aging bottom-up reform and results atlocal level. However, the crucial questionis which tasks the state should retain atthe centre, which should be devolved tomore local authorities and at what level,which should be shared, which delegatedto others and what should be the respec-tive responsibilities of the public and theprivate sectors.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a varietyof approaches to tackling this issue. Inthe Czech Republic, complete responsi-bility for vocational education and train-ing so far remains at central level. Therehas been a gradual transfer from sectorministries to the Ministry of Education,Youth and Sports and its Directorate forVocational Education and Training. TheDistrict School Offices which allocatefunds to schools report directly to theMinistry of Education. After the last elec-tions the government confirmed its inten-tion to transfer a number of functions tothe regions. A Ministry for Regional De-velopment has been proposed which willtake over certain educational responsibili-ties.

Administration, funding and curricula arealso controlled centrally in Poland. Theroles of various authorities at national andregional levels and the systematic involve-ment of the social partners have not yetbeen fully defined. The decision by na-tional educational authorities to shift moreresponsibility to regional and local au-thorities is proving difficult to implementbecause they are not equipped to carryout the tasks.

The overall responsibility for vocationaltraining in Hungary lies with the Ministryof Labour. The National Council for Vo-cational Training makes recommendationsregarding the management of vocationaltraining and submits proposals and opin-ions on related issues. However, specificresponsibilities have moved from the cen-tre to local governments which are nowin charge of the schools. Schools managetheir own funds and decide on the typesof qualification they offer.

Slovenia has taken a decisive step to de-centralise power. Some 14 administrativeregions will be set up, each with an edu-cation committee, with financial and ad-ministrative powers. School administration

bodies are to be formed as part of decen-tralisation process. However, the Minis-try of Education and Sport retains overallresponsibility for the school system, be-ing the main policy-making body withbudget responsibility and control.

Experience is that the reality of decen-tralisation has not met initial expectationslargely because of the need to developinstitutional frameworks that take advan-tage of the flexibility that decentralisationcan bring, whilst enforcing and uphold-ing common national standards. There isa view that the state should continue todeal with the overall handling of struc-tures. This would include monitoring theoutcome of pilot projects and evaluatingand disseminating examples of “goodpractice”, which have proved so impor-tant in the reform process, perhapsthrough new mechanisms for develop-mental procedures capable of steering thecontinuing revision process more effi-ciently. Tasks such as the developmentof curricula, standards, job profiles, quali-fications, accreditation, teacher training,could then be shared between the stateand the social partners. Finally, flexibilityto respond to specific needs might be bestachieved by delegating responsibility forprogrammes for individual schools, finan-cial arrangements, or co-operation withimportant local employers and employeerepresentatives, to regional authorities andsector organisations.

Since the beginning, management train-ing has been an important issue for sup-porting the transition period in the part-ner countries. Therefore, the ETF has es-tablished a Staff Development network,comprising senior policy makers from themain ministries and organisations in thefield of vocational education and trainingin all CEECs. These experts have partici-pated in the Foundation’s Staff Develop-ment Programme which trains civil serv-ants and staff from a number of non-gov-ernmental organisations in key aspects ofvocational training. It also establishes last-ing co-operation between ministries andother organisations in the partner coun-tries and the EU Member States. Nationalvocational education and training advisorygroups have been set up in a number ofcountries which are part of the network,and act as task forces for vocational edu-cation and training policy.

“Experience is that the re-ality of decentralisationhas not met initial expecta-tions largely because of theneed to develop institu-tional frameworks thattake advantage of the flex-ibility that decentralisationcan bring, whilst enforcingand upholding common na-tional standards.”


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Involving the social partners

In most CEECs, their is a growing prefer-ence for tripartite bodies at national levelto deal with vocational education andtraining issues. Their responsibilities rangefrom consultative and advisory to deci-sion-making. Social dialogue on voca-tional education and training remains verydiverse reflecting the different socio-eco-nomic, political and cultural backgroundand traditions in each country.

The social dialogue on vocational educa-tion and training in the Czech Republic,takes place at national level in the Na-tional Council for Social Dialogue as wellas at local and in some cases, sector level.The social partners also participate inpublic employment agencies dealing withtraining issues. In Hungary, the socialpartners have an advisory role in the de-velopment of vocational training policiesand in the distribution of funds for prac-tical training. They also participate in de-cision making through their representa-tion on the National Vocational TrainingCouncil. The chambers of economy, withsocial partner representatives, are respon-sible for practical training and final ex-aminations.

In Poland, social dialogue on vocationaleducation and training takes place mainlyin the Tripartite Commission and the em-ployment councils. Another importantbody at national level is the SupremeEmployment Council which advises onlabour and social policy issues. The re-gional and local employment councilstogether form a platform for social part-ner collaboration and consultation con-cerning labour market policy and fight-ing unemployment.

In Slovenia, representatives from thechambers of commerce and industry, tradeunions and the state participate on anequal basis in the Council of Experts forVocational Training. They are responsi-ble for decisions on the standards of quali-fications and the technical and practicalaspects of training programmes. Thechambers also play a role in continuingtraining and the setting up of the “nationalcertification system”. The unions appointtheir representatives on examination com-mittees for vocational schools and cham-bers.

In most CEECs the social dialogue began,and has to be consolidated, in an unfa-vourable environment (economic crisis,constant structural transformations). Fur-thermore, the various problems of reformin vocational education and training sys-tems do not create the most suitable con-text for developing procedures for socialdialogue. However, the positive contribu-tion that it can make should not be over-looked. The involvement of social part-ners can guarantee a more efficient andon-going reform process. The essentialchallenge is to define a legal and institu-tional framework to involve them.

Initiatives emerging from the social dia-logue need to be observed, analysed andreported on. Such a step would createvisibility and may help to convince thepolitical players of the importance of so-cial dialogue which, for it to succeed, re-quires the development of skills and aspecific dialogue culture in social partnerorganisations and public administrationwhich is often still lacking in the CEECs.

Improving the financing mechanismsof vocational education and training

Funding and value for money is, withouta doubt, one of the most critical issuesthroughout the CEECs. Although the ac-tual situation varies between countries,expenditure has, on the whole, not keptpace with soaring inflation. Budget cutspose serious threats not only to plans formodernisation, but also to the ability tomeet running costs.

In most CEECs, vocational education andtraining is financed by a number ofsources although the lion’s share is pro-vided for by the state budget. The costsof practical training and facilities, whichused to be met by enterprises, are nowmainly covered by the state. For the mostpart, state funds are provided by the Edu-cation and Labour Ministries. Occasion-ally a basic quota is allocated by the stateand additional funding has to be raisedfrom fees and income generated by thetraining establishments themselves. Dueto the financial constraints, the futuretrend is towards increased diversificationof funding sources. Attention is being fo-cused increasingly on the private sectorand business in the hope that they willcontribute more to the costs.

“The involvement of socialpartners can guarantee amore efficient and on-goingreform process. The essen-tial challenge is to define alegal and institutionalframework to involvethem.”

“Although the actual situa-tion varies between coun-tries, expenditure has, onthe whole, not kept pacewith soaring inflation.Budget cuts pose seriousthreats not only to plans formodernisation, but also tothe ability to meet runningcosts.”


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In the Czech Republic, state technical andvocational schools are funded principallyby the Ministry of Education, Youth andSports, with several sector ministries pro-viding funds for their specialist schools.In 1995, total expenditure on educationamounted to 5.9% of GDP. This amountsto 16.3% of the state budget, approxi-mately one quarter of which was allocatedto vocational education and training.

The main sources of financing in Hun-gary are the state budget and compulsoryemployer contributions for training (1.5%of their wage bill). Total expenditure oneducation was 7.8% of GDP in 1996. Tosupport the provision of practical train-ing, the government established the Vo-cational Training Fund in 1992, 10% tobe used at national level and 90% decen-tralised for use in particular counties.

In Poland, the state budget is the mainsource of funding for education whichaccounted for 6.2% of GDP in 1994. Vo-cational schools received 22.5% of thetotal education budget of all governmentadministration bodies, whilst 7.4% of thefunds went to general secondary schools.The funding system has been partiallydecentralised and there has been a shiftfrom direct to indirect financing throughself-governing authorities.

In Slovenia, vocational education andtraining is currently financed wholly bythe state. Expenditure on education cameto 5.85% of GDP in 1996. In 1995, 11.3%of all public expenditure for educationwent to secondary level vocational edu-cation. With the introduction of the dual-system, employers will have to make fi-nancial contributions. In the craft sector,a fund has been established to supportworkers’ training. According to the col-lective agreement, craftsmen have to pay1% of their gross wages into this fund.

Limited education resources and under-funding of vocational training in transi-tion economies, requires existing fund-ing to be used in more cost-efficient waysand there are a number of ways that thismight be done. At present, the high unitcosts of vocational training and the com-paratively low teacher/student ratiopresent potential for savings. Other sav-ings might come from reducing state sub-sidises to private schools. Decentralisa-

tion may help to bring about a more cost-effective use of resources by providinglocal authorities with greater powers forfund-raising and also for the distributionof finance powers of local authorities andto redistribute general revenues to theregions. Another option is to introducecompetition between public training pro-viders and private training organisations.However, where this has been tried sofar its success has been limited as thetraining market is, generally, poorly de-veloped in CEECs.

Although the approaches to financing willdiffer between the various countries, it isimportant that each develops a realisticpicture of financial possibilities. This willprovide a solid and informed basis forpolicy planning and help to safeguardagainst the danger of not being able tomatch ambitious strategies with budget-ary constraints. Furthermore, by develop-ing and analysing a range of options, gov-ernments may see financing mechanismsas a tool for encouraging specific devel-opments or sectors within vocational train-ing.

Monitoring links with the labour mar-ket

Co-operation between different labourresearch institutes is essential in order toincrease the general awareness of its im-portance as an instrument for planningin vocational education and training quali-fications. Although labour market researchand analysis of statistical data is frequentlycarried out in institutes connected to la-bour ministries, long-term research andforecasts are not carried out at all. Theold system of strict labour force planninghas not yet found a market oriented re-placement. Furthermore, educational re-search has been drastically reduced. In-stitutes have been closed or reorganised.Researchers have come under attack fortheir ideological involvement under theprevious regime, and there has also beena degree of enforced staff turnover. Inmany cases education research institutesare fairly closely associated with the edu-cation ministries and work directly forthem so that they focus on applied re-search.

In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of La-bour has set up a network of labour of-

“Limited education re-sources and under-fundingof vocational training intransition economies, re-quires existing funding tobe used in more cost-effi-cient ways (…)”

“Although the approachesto financing will differ be-tween the various coun-tries, it is important thateach develops a realisticpicture of financial possi-bilities. This will provide asolid and informed basisfor policy planning andhelp to safeguard againstthe danger of not being ableto match ambitious strate-gies with budgetary con-straints.”


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fices with information and advice centresin every district. The main data flow oneducation is collected and processed bythe Institute for Information on Education.However, Hungary has at present no for-mal mechanism for a systematic and com-prehensive analysis of skills shortages. Atnational level, the National Labour Meth-odology Centre analyses and reports onlabour market developments. However,there is no feedback mechanism to com-municate the results of these analyses tovocational training decision-makers. InPoland, current forecasts regarding eco-nomic development do not provide suffi-cient data for specific decisions concern-ing training re-programming. Greater re-search support and assistance is requiredto accelerate progress. In Slovenia, theNational Employment Office has a majorrole in forecasting labour market trendsand in monitoring the links between thevocational education and training systemand labour market developments. The Sta-tistics Office is responsible for method-ologies and classifications in data collec-tion and presentation.

Vocational education and training relatedresearch, including evaluation of policiesand change implementation, needs to beencouraged. To improve the availabilityand quality of information on vocationaleducation and training systems, the ETFhas established National Observatories inalmost all CEECs. Their main task is togather, analyse and disseminate informa-tion on the features and developments ofthe vocational education and training sys-tems and the labour markets. A set of keyindicators provides information on thecharacteristics, problems and challengesof the systems and measures their per-formance, for example, in terms of itsability to respond to the needs of the la-bour market and their capacity to grantvocational qualifications.

Current challenges andpriorities

Adapting the structure and content ofvocational training to the market

In order to obtain the flexible workforceneeded by the emerging market econo-mies and enable individuals to meet the

new demands of the labour market, op-portunities are needed for in-companytraining and for people to switch betweendifferent training paths, including theoption to move between general and vo-cational training. A number of CEECs havebeen developing such opportunities asthey adapt and restructure the content oftheir vocational education and training.Some have emphasised the need to fa-cilitate and improve the transition fromschool to work and the need to combatunemployment by developing a continu-ing training system. Others have focusedupon trying to create an entrepreneurialsociety and on introducing post-second-ary education as a priority.

In the Czech Republic, the developmentof a service sector as well as the growingnumber of small and medium-sized en-terprises has been accompanied by anincreasing demand in training for com-mercial and legal professions, new tech-nologies and languages. In Hungary , theoverall strategy has been to broaden theskills and knowledge of young people.In response to the need to broaden theskills, opportunities will be improved bydeveloping post-secondary vocationaltraining. Slovenia has introduced a dual-system, modernised curricula of all typesand introduced non-university higher vo-cational schools and colleges. There arealso vocational courses offering qualifi-cations for graduates of general second-ary schools. Technical vocational schools,following on from secondary vocationaltraining, offer graduates access to highereducational levels. The new system alsoprovides vocational programmes for mas-ter craftsmen, foremen and managerialstaff.

In Poland, the authorities are trying toprovide much needed technical skills bystreamlining the links between second-ary, post-secondary and higher education.They want to consolidate the transitionthrough the system by harmonising ex-amination procedures, concentrating onpost-secondary education in particular.

However, even those CEECs which haveinvested much effort into the developmentof their vocational training systems stillface further challenges on a systems level.Many CEECs lack sufficient measures forchange and remain at the discussion and

“(…) even those CEECswhich have invested mucheffort into the developmentof their vocational trainingsystems still face furtherchallenges on a systemslevel. Many CEECs lack suf-ficient measures for changeand remain at the discus-sion and experimentationstage.”


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experimentation stage. Post-secondaryvocational training options, career oppor-tunities and access to continuing trainingwhich updates skills and is consistent withthe initial training system need to be de-veloped. Overall the challenges for mostCEECs to adapt the structure and contentof their vocational education and train-ing remain:

❏ to create new occupational profiles andfields;❏ to provide practice-oriented curricula;❏ to incorporate placements in public orprivate enterprise;❏ to develop new teaching strategies andtraining materials;❏ to improve teacher training;❏ to modernise and re-equip training in-stitutions;❏ to reform assessment and certificationprocedures;❏ to offer training for self-employment.

Initial vocational education and train-ing - the basis for lifelong learning

Vocational education and training in theCEECs is predominantly school-based al-though in some, for example Slovenia, on-and-off-the job, dual-system patterns arebeing revived or introduced. In mostCEECs, initial training is mainly providedin two types of schools:

❏ the secondary technical schools whichprovide qualifications for personnel atintermediate level (“technicians”) for vari-ous sectors of industry, agriculture andservices, and for non-academic staff in thehealth, social and cultural services. Thesystem includes business schools for man-agement and staff and leads to a certifi-cate of general education;

❏ t raining in secondary vocat ionalschools offers a wider choice of coursesand leads to the qualification of ‘skilledworker’ (“blue collar” workers).

In the Czech Republic, by 1995, therewas a 40% increase in the number of first-year students at secondary technicalschools. More students are choosing edu-cational paths that lead to a broader va-riety of career options. The system is di-versifying educational options to take in-dividual needs more into account. InHungary, participation in vocational edu-

cation and training at secondary level isquite high by European standards, in-volving 72.8% of all young people en-rolled at this level. The figure is also highin Slovenia where over recent years,about 70% of students enrolling in sec-ondary education entered vocationalschools. However, in Poland, about 38%of those entering secondary education goto basic vocational school and then en-ter the labour market. The option of tak-ing a three-year technical course offer-ing access to higher studies is chosen byonly 11%. Furthermore because of thedifferences between the curricula, chang-ing school is difficult and transition fromone vocational track to another at theend of secondary schooling is a prob-lem.

There is a trend in the CEECs towardsremoving the dividing line between tech-nical and vocational schools by creatinga complex organisational unit with anenhanced range of choices. This is a sig-nificant step towards the restructuring ofupper secondary education. The mainchallenge for the CEECs is, however, todevelop vocational education and train-ing as a combination of content and struc-ture innovation. Moreover, if new levelsof quality skills are to be reached, moreattention needs to be paid to the so-calledkey skills such as learning and communi-cation skills, creativity, problem-solvingand information technology.

Post-secondary vocational educationand training - new carreer paths

The CEECs are now at different stages onthe long journey towards establishing newframeworks for post-secondary vocationaleducation and training which did not re-ally exist under the previous system. Somehave already started to implement reformswith different priorities (more knowledge-based or more practice-oriented) and evenif they are far from being able to reportsuccess stories, they have laid the legalbasis, identified difficulties and problemsand gained initial experience.

In the Czech Republic, tertiary level vo-cational schools were established in 1995/96 as a new element of post-secondaryeducation for graduates from all types ofsecondary schools. In total, 164 schoolshave been set up. In Hungary, the trend

“There is a trend in theCEECs towards removingthe dividing line betweentechnical and vocationalschools by creating a com-plex organisational unitwith an enhanced range ofchoices.”

“The CEECs are now at dif-ferent stages on the longjourney towards establish-ing new frameworks forpost-secondary vocationaleducation and trainingwhich did not really existunder the previous system.”


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is towards developing specific profes-sional skills at a later stage of a youngperson’s educational career. Alternativesare also being sought to the long academicstudies which many young people do notcomplete and the legal framework for theintroduction of accredited post-secondaryvocational training has been introduced.Poland has set up post-secondary voca-tional schools with two-year courses forgraduates of secondary general schoolsto learn a trade. In Slovenia, students cannow continue their studies at two-yearpost-secondary technical colleges as a stepbetween secondary and higher education.They are markedly practical courses andare designed for factory engineers, need-ing a high level of general and profes-sional know-how and direct practical ex-perience to cope with more demandingtechnological processes.

The challenge for the CEECs is to developa post-secondary education and trainingsystem that provides a range of differentoptions that respond to individual needsand which is accessible from a variety ofdifferent routes. Entry from secondaryschools should be easy, continuation tohigher education feasible and entry in tothe labour market flexible. Moreover, therole of post-secondary education andtraining should be to train young peopleto become ‘senior technicians and man-agers’, providing them with the essentialskills required by small and medium- sizedenterprises and for middle managementpositions.

Continuing vocational education andtraining

Where training within the new privatesector has emerged, it is mainly focusedon re-training and adapting the adultworkforce to the new requirements ofmodernised production and new forms ofbusiness management.

In the Czech Republic, the private mar-ket for continuing education is relativelywell developed, with several hundredcompanies offering a range of profes-sional short-term courses and seminarsat various study levels, leading to recog-nised qualifications. However, a grow-ing number of institutions are offeringcourses without general concepts or asolid base for quality control and accredi-

tation. Hungary seeks to ensure a flex-ib le supply of cont inuing t ra iningthrough regional training centres. So far,government steps for re-training the la-bour force have focused on developingsuitable infrastructures and making fund-ing available for training courses. Giventhe continuing skill mismatches in the la-bour market, however, further efforts arerequired to support both the supply anddemand for training. In Poland, continu-ing training is the first segment of edu-cation to have applied market economyprinciples. Because of the scarcity of con-tinuing training sites, the national au-thorities have identified distance learn-ing as a priority for the future. In par-ticular, in the rural areas, distance learn-ing is seen as a means to increasing ac-cess to continuing training and there are20 distance education centres in opera-tion. In Slovenia, continuing training isregulated by the Adult Education Act(1996) which provides a system of certi-fication to meet labour market require-ments and encompasses the option foradult students to obtain formal qualifi-cations offered by schools and other edu-cational institutions.

Again, there is a distinct need for theCEECs to define and structure a systemfor continuing vocational education andtraining. The learning process must beseen as on-going and not come to an endafter a period of initial training, or beviewed as purely the responsibility of theindividual beyond the initial stage. Linksbetween initial and continuing training arecrucial to enable the system to providecareer prospects for students. Moreover,these links require not only a structurefor learning opportunities, but also a na-tion-wide recognised certification systemto guarantee mobility, flexibility and em-ployment for the workforce.

The following priorities for continuingtraining can be identified in all CEECs:

❏ ensuring provision of training includ-ing its funding;❏ supporting the provision of continuingtraining;❏ training the trainers and keeping themupdated; and❏ developing appropriate innovativeteaching and learning methodologies andtechniques.


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Guaranteeing quality in vocationaltraining

The reforms have led to a comprehen-sive basis for restructuring and organis-ing vocational education and training,which meets not only market challengesbut also the desires of people for theirpersonal and professional life. The qual-ity of the system is defined by the degreeto which it can meet these objectives.Furthermore, quality in vocational train-ing is not only measured by the qualityof the provision but also by the system’sability to direct those who need training,in particular young people, to appropri-ate training programmes.

All CEECs require further investment inequipment, especially new technology,and textbooks matching new curricula.Training teachers and school directors isessential to prepare them for a didacticapproach to independent and creativelearning. Within this general framework,developments in the CEECs differ accord-ing to the awareness of the various as-pects of vocational education and train-ing and their evolutionary stages.

In the Czech Republic, the training systemhas reacted quite spontaneously to labourmarket developments. The creation of acomprehensive output and process con-trol system for quality vocational trainingand re-training remains a challenge for thefuture. In Hungary, the objective of estab-lishing structures and procedures to en-sure the quality of nationwide educationand training provision has been partiallymet through the National Qualification Listand the introduction of a unified exami-nation system for output control. However,an accreditation system setting professionalstandards for operating educational insti-tutions still needs to be established. InPoland, professional bodies responsible forthe development of qualification standardswill be established in 1998, and nationaland regional assessment and examinationinstitutions in 2000. Standardised second-ary school final examination will also beintroduced. The main challenge is to cre-ate a consistent national policy and man-agement framework to co-ordinate andguide the various initiatives. In Slovenia,quality is guaranteed by the Standard Clas-sification of Occupations. Vocational pro-grammes are established nation-wide af-

ter the approval of the Ministry of Educa-tion and Sport. International comparabil-ity is guaranteed by adapting standardsfrom EU Member States.

Developing occupational profiles andcurricula

Changes in the employment system in theCEECs have resulted in substantial changesto job profiles requiring new qualificationsgeared to the market economy which arethe starting point for restructuring voca-tional training curricula. In all CEECs, twomain developments can be observed.Firstly, new occupations have emerged innew areas of economic activity, for exam-ple, business, commerce and banking. Sec-ondly, there is a move away from special-ised occupational profiles to a broadeningof skills requirements. This corresponds toa clear trend towards strengthening gen-eral education content and changing thebalance in the curricula between generaleducation subjects, instruction on the theo-retical foundations of specific occupationsand practical skills training.

In the Czech Republic, the Research In-stitute on Vocational Education and Train-ing has compared the qualifications of theunemployed with those required for theavailable jobs. This is a first step on theroad to regular analysis of qualificationrequirements at enterprise level. In Hun-gary, economy-driven definitions of train-ing profiles are compiled in the NationalQualification List - a classified list of oc-cupations which includes the most impor-tant characteristics of individual qualifi-cations. Although the Ministry of Labourhas the overall responsibility for definingand updating the register, other ministriesare responsible for the definition of quali-fications and their characteristics in theirarea of competence. The maintenance andflexible upgrading of this list has to beimproved so that the development of oc-cupational standards can go ahead basedon occupation analyses which can thenbe translated into training curricula. Po-land has produced documentation foroccupations of strategic economic impor-tance such as technicians and specialistsin economics, trade, computer science,telecommunications, environmental pro-tection, administration etc. In 1993 theMinistry of National Education issued anew classification of 138 occupations for

“All CEECs require furtherinvestment in equipment,especially new technology,and textbooks matchingnew curricula. Trainingteachers and school direc-tors is essential to preparethem for a didactic ap-proach to independent andcreative learning.”


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the secondary school system. However,employers have not yet been fully con-sulted and the classification for some oc-cupations (for example in the service sec-tor) is incomplete. In the meantime, theMinistry of Labour and Social Policy hasdeveloped its own classification system,specifying partial qualifications rather thanoccupations. In Slovenia, the national clas-sification of occupations is at the finalstages of preparation and conforms withthe international ISCO-88 standard clas-sification of occupations. The Centre forVocational Education is drawing up aframe of reference to link vocational edu-cation and training with the economy inthe social partnership system. It will pro-pose occupation profiles and cataloguesof required knowledge. The Centre thenwill develop the curricula and, followingthe proposal of the Chambers of Com-merce and Crafts, also professional pro-files.

Developing standards

Three traditional and legitimate concernscause tension in most of the CEECs,namely, national curricula, standards andexaminations. In many cases the acuteneed for training or re-training has re-sulted in a wide variety of training provi-sion and central and local training pro-grammes. This has required attention tobe given to standards to guarantee thetransferability of qualifications.

The Czech Republic developed new pro-fessional standards for 148 fields of train-ing by the end of 1995. These standardsare comparable, but not necessarily iden-tical, to the job descriptions of the 209occupations in an EU directive for evalu-ating the mutual recognition of profes-sional certificates. In Hungary, the up-dating and development of standards isan on-going process. After recognising aqualification in the National QualificationList, ministries in co-operation with theNational Institute for Vocational Educa-tion, have to establish professional andexamination requirements, the core cur-ricula, a framework for principal require-ments and the needs for interim tests. Itwould make sense to set training stand-ards for specific occupations on the basisof those already used in the EU MemberStates. In Poland, definition of standardswill present a challenge in the near fu-

ture. The Matura exam is being revisedto become both a secondary school leav-ing exam and the entry exam for highereducation. This examination will also beused throughout the different general andspecialised school systems to ensure amore general recognition of educationalstandards and more flexibility in the sys-tem. In Slovenia, much effort is being putinto the development and implementationof the new “system of educational pro-files”, specifying trainable occupations,typical tasks within each occupation, jobcomplexity level, required skills andknowledge, level of education and train-ing specifications (duration, form) andincluding elements of general education.

Whilst the involvement of enterprises andsocial partners in the development of cur-ricula is welcome, their contributions mustensure that the curricula and qualificationsreflect nationwide demands, as there is atendency for enterprises to include onlytheir current skills needs, raising the riskof a new type of over-specialisation. Al-though a more specialised approach maybe appropriate for re-training, it is notsufficient for mainstream vocational edu-cation and training to young people whoneed a broad skills base. In addition, en-terprises that are restructuring or estab-lishing themselves, may not always beable to express their skills needs inenough detail, particularly new small andmedium-sized enterprises.

Establishing assessment and certifica-tion systems - certificates with a cur-rency

The EU’s assessment and certification prac-tices are important points of reference forthe CEECs, but not all have been success-ful in creating a national body responsiblefor certification. At present, comparabilityof national standards in vocational educa-tion and training and international recog-nition of qualifications and certificates areexplicit aims of policy-making. The em-phasis to date has been on “input” to thetraining process as laid down in detail inthe training curricula and programmes.Attempts are now being made to switchthe focus to the outcome of the trainingprocess and to adopt a competence-basedmodel as the basis for determining qualifi-cation standards. Having moved towardsdecentralisation and school autonomy, a

“Three traditional and le-gitimate concerns causetension in most of theCEECs, namely, nationalcurricula, standards andexaminations.”

“Whilst the involvement ofenterprises and social part-ners in the development ofcurricula is welcome, theircontributions must ensurethat the curricula andqualifications reflect na-tionwide demands (…)”

“(…) comparability of na-tional standards in voca-tional education and train-ing and international recog-nition of qualifications andcertificates are explicitaims of policy-making.”


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number of CEECs are now debating howto redefine national and regional respon-sibilities in education, especially with re-gard to national curricula, standards, as-sessment and certification.

The Czech Republic will focus on defin-ing assessment and certification and/orlicensing procedures for qualifications andon identifying education and training pri-orities as a result of the definitions. Hun-gary is setting up a coherent frameworkfor assessment and certification which arecompulsory for both public and privateschools, and has already concluded anumber of bilateral agreements on mu-tual recognition. In Poland, there is nocoherent national framework for assess-ment and certification. More practicalvocational education and training researchis needed, in particular in establishing andmaintaining a national framework ofstandards and qualifications on the basisof a labour market and training needsanalysis. In addition, the results of pilotor experimental projects have to be evalu-ated on a national level and disseminated.In Slovenia, assessment and certificationis strongly linked to the need to raise thequality of education and to reduce thehigh drop-out rate in secondary educa-tion. There is a marked trend towards in-troducing external examinations at theend of primary and secondary education.

Developing teaching strategies

The transformation of systems has giventhe teachers an unprecedented opportu-nity to innovate. However, teachers havelacked incentives and have seen theirsocial and occupational status threatenedby the continuing decline in their salariesand the inadequate funding of the edu-cation sector. Teacher training is gener-ally the task of special institutes, some ofwhich were reorganised in the early 1990s.However, many countries have reporteda “brain-drain” from teaching and train-ing into other jobs while others have hadproblems in recruiting new teachers forvocational schools.

Furthermore, whereas initial teacher train-ing affects the reform process in the longrun, in-service training has an immediateimpact, but its availability and organisa-tion differs greatly from country to coun-try. In view of the acknowledged multi-

ple effect of initial and in-service teachertraining, expansion in this field needs tobe encouraged and supported by inter-national co-operation. Substantial re-sources must be invested in order to up-grade teaching qualifications.

Czech policy focuses on providing teach-ers with practical skills in teaching meth-odologies and in the techniques necessaryto assess student progress. At present bothpre-service and in-service teacher trainingappear theoretical, with emphasis on con-tent rather than pedagogy. In Hungary, anational priority is to give teachers furthertraining for their changing role as well asthe chance to gather experience in otherschools or training locations, both at homeand abroad. Slovenia has a tradition of in-service teacher training in all types ofschools. Each year teachers are obliged tofollow specific practice-oriented trainingmainly in pedagogy and learning method-ology. The training courses need to beupdated and revised. As far as vocationalschools are concerned, experts from re-lated sectors will follow these specific train-ing courses. However, in Poland, greaterattention should be paid to the prepara-tion of teachers. The quality and perform-ance of the teachers has to be monitoredand these must be motivated to enhancetheir pedagogic abilities and to adopt newtraining programmes.

In virtually every CEEC the scope and con-tent of teacher training must be changed.Teachers require training and re-trainingto apply new methods of instruction andto change from passive, teacher-directed,to more active, participatory learning styles.These new types of training should con-tribute to the qualifications of an adapt-able and multi-skilled workforce, withpractical problem-solving capabilities, ini-tiative and potential for re-training. Spe-cial attention should be paid to dissemi-nating knowledge of teaching methods,methods of curriculum development andthe contents of general subjects.

Improving vocational orientation andcareer guidance - providing new ho-rizons

In most of the CEECs observed, no prior-ity has been given to institutions whichoffer counselling for educational and vo-cational decisions. However, the need has


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been acknowledged in policy strategiesor pilot activities. High unemploymentunderlines the need for early and timelyguidance. A systematic approach to vo-cational counselling remains to be devel-oped in most countries. Public debate onthe state of the art in vocational trainingis one of the prerequisites for increasingawareness of the importance of careerplanning and the options it offers.

In the Czech Republic, there are two mainstreams of guidance and counselling.Advisory services are offered at 2,500 pri-mary schools, providing pupils with in-formation on secondary schools andcourses available. In addition, the Minis-try of Labour has set up a network of la-bour offices with information and advi-sory services both to those looking forjobs and people in search of appropriateeducational possibilities free of charge. In1997, the Ministry of Education and theMinistry of Labour signed an agreementon the transfer of data on employmentopportunities and unemployment accord-ing to occupational fields.

Hungary has dealt with the problem ofdrop-outs through special schooling andactive labour programmes, but needs tofurther improve its system of vocationalguidance. Overall, a systematic approachto vocational counselling has not yet beendeveloped, and a comprehensive systemof vocational guidance has yet to be de-fined. The Polish programme for the pro-motion of youth employment foresees anefficient system for vocational guidanceand counselling through the Mobile Cen-tre of Vocational Information.

Slovenia is paying more and more atten-tion to the quality of information on newmeasures in career guidance, such as in-formation on training opportunities andvocational guidance for the unemployed,the quality of training programmes and theprovision of common educational stand-ards in all areas, including underdevelopedregions. Public information is becomingincreasingly important for the NationalEmployment Office and other institutions.

International support

For all CEECs, international support hasbeen extremely important for starting the

reform process. A large number of projectshave been initiated with the assistance ofthe EU PHARE programme and bilateralassistance from most EU Member States,other countries and institutions.

However, until now, the flow of foreignassistance into the countries has beenlargely uncoordinated. Not only do do-nor activities which mainly reflect the do-nor’s home conditions and priorities en-danger the national character of educa-tion and training systems, but they alsofrequently clash with immediate nationalpriorities as well as with each other. Bet-ter co-operation between donors couldsubstantially increase the long-term im-pact of foreign assistance, and nationalauthorities need to be more tied into do-nor co-ordination exercises. The approachof many donors has been to support thereform of vocational training through pi-lot schools. Experience shows that most,if not all, CEECs have great difficulty inintegrating the results and findings of suchpilot school programmes within widereducation and training reform strategies.This has resulted in an on-going discrep-ancy between funded initiatives and theoverall systematic reform in vocationaltraining in nearly all the countries. In fu-ture, this discrepancy must be addressedthrough international support.

The PHARE programme is currently themain channel of financial support fromthe EU, and covers vocational educationand training in different policy areas aswell as specific vocational training pro-grammes. Its importance is reflected inthe budget. Between 1990 and 1993, 431million ECUs were spent on education,training and research. Between 1994 and1996 this rose to 443.4 million ECUs. Akey success is that the PHARE programmehas helped to address the most urgentneeds of the systems since the collapseof centrally-planned economies and hasinitiated substantial reforms. These in-cluded the development of curricula fornew sectors, the revision of curricula fora range of broad-based occupations, theneed for large scale staff development andthe upgrading of school equipment, aswell as feasibility studies and policy de-velopment. By requiring key players toco-operate, the PHARE programme hasaimed to change strategy and has helpedto build coherent national training poli-

“A systematic approach tovocational counselling re-mains to be developed inmost countries.”

“For all CEECs, interna-tional support has been ex-tremely important for start-ing the reform process. (…)However, until now, theflow of foreign assistanceinto the countries has beenlargely uncoordinated.”


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cies. In addition, several partnerships withtraining institutions in EU Member Stateshave been launched.

In the context of pre-accession strategy,the PHARE guidelines will be adapted tothe new enlargement priorities. Within anew “accession partnership”, program-ming procedures will be simplified, andbigger projects will be encouraged. Thiswill replace the existing demand-drivenapproach with one that focuses more onthe needs of CEECs for successful acces-sion to the EU. The new PHARE policypromotes a more integrated approachconcentrating on a limited number of pri-ority objectives in order to increase effi-ciency amongst which education andtraining are prominently included.

In the coming years, international sup-port from donors will be vital in order toconsolidate the reform activities within acoherent vocational education and train-ing policy.

Overall assessment

Apart from the accession aspect, there isa growing awareness of a demand for acomprehensive reform of vocational edu-cation and training in all CEECs. Mostexperts give preference to a step-by-steptransformation policy. This may be seenas realistic, as economic and labour mar-ket developments which will shape thefuture of vocational education and train-ing cannot be predicted with sufficientcertainty. However, gradualism runs therisk of losing sight of the reform goalsand of losing time and energy on second-ary issues. Clearly, no single solution canbe applied to the complex problems ofvocational education and training in eachCEEC. However, there will be some fun-damental requirements of the accessionprocess that will directly affect vocationaleducation and training.

The training sector should continue to beregarded as vital not only to consolidateeconomic progress, but also for individualpersonal development and to strengthendemocracy. A number of National Ob-servatory reports emphasise the signifi-cance of up-to-date information and feed-back as a basis for policy-making and ef-

ficient international co-operation. Evi-dently there are large information gapsneeding urgently to be addressed ifsynergy is to be achieved through co-op-eration.

There is an on-going need for the CEECsto adjust their legislative framework to EUdirectives on the mutual recognition ofregulated professions. In addition, thereis a need for transparency of qualifica-tions to facilitate freedom of movementfor people. The CEECs should be encour-aged and supported in the pre-accessionperiod to be involved in the different ini-tiatives developed at Community level andto address the issue of transparency ofqualifications.

Improving the effectiveness of the insti-tutions and the people in them is crucial.Both in terms of the conception and im-plementation of reform, institutions cur-rently responsible for vocational educa-tion training find it difficult to live up tothe challenges of establishing a consist-ent system. International support in thisarea must address this weakness, in par-ticular, in governmental structures andregulatory bodies.

A major challenge for the future is to linkinternational bilateral and multi-lateralsupport to national strategies for voca-tional education and training. Govern-ments need to demonstrate how impor-tant education and training is in theirpolicy-making, taking also into accountlegislation and quality control. This im-plies not only significant involvement ofthe respective ministries in the pilotschemes, but also close co-operation be-tween them. Potential donors very oftenexpress their need to know what the gov-ernment wants. Policy guidelines andneeds analysis are key factors for donorsif they are to become active in support-ing coherent national training policies.

Another challenge is to foster co-opera-tion in vocational training between EUMember States and associated countriesand between the CEECs themselves. Thisis considered to be an important elementfor the promotion of mutual understand-ing and the rapprochement of diverseeducational traditions and systems. It alsoincludes the provision of the relevantmedia (electronic and print), which can

“By requiring key playersto co-operate, the PHAREprogramme has aimed tochange strategy and hashelped to build coherent na-tional training policies. Inaddition, several partner-ships with training institu-tions in EU Member Stateshave been launched.”

“Most experts give prefer-ence to a step-by-step trans-formation policy.(…) How-ever, gradualism runs therisk of losing sight of thereform goals and of losingtime and energy on second-ary issues. Clearly, no sin-gle solution can be applied(…)”


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achieve a multiple effect at relatively lowcost - this could be a test bed for differ-ent forms of co-operation among thecountries. Moreover, questions of staffdevelopment and in-service training re-quire greater attention. Here, the interna-tional exchange of teaching staff, special-ists and researchers is crucial.

The EU Leonardo Programme will alsoplay an important role in injecting inno-vative European-wide approaches to vo-cational training reform in the associatedcountries. Leonardo is not like PHARE,but rather promotes vocational training,

co-operation and innovation at Europeanlevel. It is important that PHARE andLeonardo complement each other so thatthe partner countries obtain maximumbenefit from both programmes.

On the condition that reform - and re-form assistance - continue, the currentsystematic divergence between WesternEurope and many CEECs will be less evi-dent by the year 2000. Compared to othersectors, vocational training reform will notpose problems for the successful rap-prochement of CEECs towards member-ship of the EU.

“Compared to other sec-tors, vocational training re-form will not pose problemsfor the successful rap-prochement of CEECs to-wards membership of theEU.”

The National Observatories established in thepartner countries with the support of the EuropeanTraining Foundation have provided much of thedetailed information for the basis of this analysis.

ETF PHARE country reports (1997). Vocational Edu-cation and Training Reform. (September 1997).European Training Foundation, Turin.

Benedek, Andras and Luttringer, Jean-Marie(1996). The Role of Social Partners in the Develop-ment of Training in Market Economy. Advisory Fo-rum of the European Training Foundation (Internaldocument), Turin.

Brock, Kay (1996). Review of PHARE Training Ac-tivities. European Training Foundation, Turin.

European Commission (1995). Survey of Co-op-eration in Education and Training between the Eu-ropean Union and the countries of Central and East-ern Europe. DG XXII, Brussels.

Gaskov, Vladimir (1996). Financing VocationalEducation and Training. Advisory Forum of the

European Training Foundation (Internal document),Turin.

Jones, Anne (1996). The Roles and Responsibilitiesof Key Players within Continuing Training (includ-ing Management Training). Advisory Forum of theEuropean Training Foundation (Internal document),Turin.

Kuebart, Friedrich et. al. (1996). Vocational edu-cation and training systems in Central and EasternEurope - A cross-country analysis. European Train-ing Foundation, Turin, 1996.

OECD (1996). Secondary Education Systems inPHARE Countries: Surveys and Project Proposals.Centre for Co-operation with the Economies in Tran-sition, Paris.

Schmidt, Hermann (1996). Standards in Voca-tional Training. Advisory Forum of the EuropeanTraining Foundation (Internal document), Turin.

Sources


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Peter KissMinister of LabourEducation, Hungary

Political questionsMinisters from Hungary,Latvia, Slovenia and Romaniarespond to questions on theprocess of vocational educa-tion and training reform intheir countriesThe transformation to a democraticsystem and market economy has re-quired the vocational education andtraining system to be adapted to meetnew circumstances and respond tonew needs. What are the main chal-lenges faced and the main problemsencountered? What has been the phi-losophy behind the changes that havebeen introduced?

Peter Kiss, Hungary. In Hungary, sig-nificant changes have taken place in theownership, sector, geographic and organi-sational structure of the economy. Themain challenges are therefore to ensurethat vocational education and training pro-vides people with the skills to find em-ployment and to progress in life, and toprovide the economy with a suitablyskilled and qualified work force. Therenewal of vocational training is of a stra-tegic importance from the point of viewof work culture and quality of employ-ment.

Five principles have been the basis forthe development of vocational educationand training in Hungary. The first is toprovide a basic education of a high stand-ard, which is the first step to ensuring ahigh standard of vocational education andtraining. Secondly, to provide appropri-ate training for all and ensure that peo-ple can continue to upgrade their skillsto adjust to changes in the labour mar-ket. Thirdly, skills, competitiveness areessential and efficiency is determined byhuman resources. Fourthly, changes madeto vocational training must always corre-

spond to, and keep pace with, the chang-ing demands in the market. Finally, pri-ority must be given to economic needswhen structuring, organising and planningthe content of training programmes andaccount taken of the interests of the eco-nomic and social partners.

Juris Celmin, Latvia. Preparing individu-als to meet the challenges posed by lifeand work has new meaning. Our societywill be affected by the “information soci-ety”, the globalisation the economy, sci-entific and technical progress. The ques-tion is - will we be ready to face thesechanges? A well educated and highlyqualified labour force, capable of adapt-ing to variable labour market conditionsis the key to economic growth. This is asimple statement, but, it is very difficultto achieve. It is not enough to providepeople with a general education, as thisdoes not include social competences andpractical skills to prepare them for work.Unemployment in Latvia is five timeshigher amongst those not having a voca-tional or higher education. Criminal ac-tivity is ten times higher. Vocational edu-cation is becoming increasingly important,as it implies general knowledge as wellas social competences and technical skills.We must come to terms with the idea thatsecondary vocational education is equiva-lent to secondary academic education andserves as an intermediate step betweenbasic and higher education.

Much more attention needs to be paid toa broad based basic education, enablingthe individual to choose their own career

Juris CelminMinister of Educationand Science, the Re-public of Latvia

Slavko GaberMinister of Educationand Sport, the Repub-lic of Slovenia

Virgil PetrescuMinister of Education,Romania

Ministers from a selectionof Central and Eastern Eu-ropean countries, have re-plied to a number of ques-tions seeking to identify theideas behind the reformsthey have introduced totheir vocational educationand training systems, andthe problems encounteredfrom the perspective of thecentral authorities. The re-sponses from the Ministersgive some insight into theirpriorities for change, thereforms they have intro-duced and the role of assist-ance from the West in thecontext of European co-op-eration programmes andbilateral contacts. They alsoreveal different approachesto common problems anddifferent stages of develop-ment.


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and to cope with changing conditions inthe labour market. A system of continu-ing vocational education must be devel-oped alongside the initial vocational train-ing system to enable people to improvetheir qualifications at least once every fiveyears. Lifelong learning must be a reality.Continuing vocational training andre-training for unemployed people shouldbe part of an integrated vocational edu-cation and training system.

Slavko Gaber, Slovenia. Our system be-fore the changes was very school-centred,with the responsibility for the entire edu-cational cycle falling to the Ministry ofEducation. We needed more open systemof vocational education and trainingwhich responded to the demands of themarket, and which actively involved thoseoutside the educational sphere. The ma-jor task was changing attitudes, especiallythose of the school authorities, the socialpartners and the general public.

The philosophy is to direct vocationaleducation and training towards marketeconomics. The basic goal is to make thework environment also an educationalenvironment and to involve directly theworld of work in the development, deliv-ery and evaluation of training. This is es-sential for the development of lifelonglearning. Our wish is to make the stand-ards in our system comparable with thoseof modern vocational education and train-ing systems.

Virgil Petrescu, Romania. The mainproblem was a vocational education andtraining system geared up to the needs ofan inefficient, centralised economy. Thewhole system needed to be restructuredand modernised. The development of aninfrastructure to optimise supply and de-mand for vocational training, at national,regional and local level, are key objec-tives for the Romanian system. Thischange is, however, a difficult process,with high social costs, at least in the short-term. Vocational education and trainingneeds to be recognised as an importantmechanism for future development, withimplications for change and policies inother areas. With this in mind we are seek-ing to set up a system that does not serveonly economic needs, but one that is partof a process of social learning.

What have been the key changes thatyou have made to your vocational andeducational training systems? Aretheir any significant elements formthe former system that you havesought to preserve?

Peter Kiss, Hungary. The VocationalTraining Act of 1993, amended in 1995determines the legal framework of thechanges and the main elements of thedevelopment programme. The state pro-vides the first stage vocational training freeof charge, and the social partners have arole in funding and running educationalinstitutions. The National QualificationsRegister (OKJ) contains all the varioustypes of schools and vocational trainingoffered, it states the requirements for bothbasic and more specialised training toensure that training meets economic andlabour market needs.

The administration of vocational traininghas also changed significantly. More au-thority now lies in the hands of local bod-ies, and direct central control is beingreplaced more by frameworks for othersto operate within. Businesses are also tak-ing a more prominent role in training pro-grammes (working closely in work expe-rience training, student contracts, andparticipating in examinations). New bod-ies have been established to represent theinterests of those concerned in trainingschemes, such as the tripartite NationalVocational Training Council.

The financing of vocational training hasalso undergone profound change. In ad-dition to state funds, the “Vocational Train-ing Fund” helps institutions and busi-nesses, to work together and helps to fi-nance work-experience training. The in-stitutional framework has also started tochange, with the integration of varioustypes of schools and the establishment ofseveral types of adult training centres andprivately owned education companies andcentres.

Juris Celmin, Latvia. We have aimed tomodernise the education process andimprove quality. Vocational qualificationprofiles are being developed in accord-ance with CEDEFOP standards to assuretheir transparency and to facilitate com-

“We needed more open sys-tem of vocational educationand training which re-sponded to the demands ofthe market, and which ac-tively involved those out-side the educationalsphere. The major task waschanging attitudes, espe-cially those of the schoolauthorities, the social part-ners and the general pub-lic.”


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parison with achievement levels of othercountries. Education and training pro-grammes are being developed with me-dium and long-term labour market de-mand in mind and with a view to ena-bling students to cope with changing la-bour market conditions.

A move has been made from highly spe-cial ised training programmes, to abroad-based basic vocational education,which includes general skills with a highmarket value - foreign languages, com-puting skills, interpersonal communica-tions, basic business skills, an understand-ing of ecology and the environment, com-bined with a stable, skilled professionalqualification. An intermediate level quali-fication has been introduced to providestudents who do not wish, or are not able,to complete the traditional four-year pro-gramme to leave school with a recognisedqualification.

The division of the curriculum into theory,project work and practical training hasbeen put in line with those in other Euro-pean training systems. The amount of timedevoted to practical training in the cur-riculum has increased markedly to theequivalent to an academic year. The struc-ture of practical training is proscribed ingeneral terms to allow levels to be set asrequired by each programme. Further-more, teachers are being trained to de-velop new curricula, and to implementnew training and assessment methods.

Slavko Gaber, Slovenia. We have intro-duced a decision-making process whichincludes the social partners and decen-tralised the system. Those from the worldof work are now involved in providingthe practical parts of training. We havealso introduced post-secondary vocationaleducation, vocational training courses,including a “dual-system” at intermediatelevel for certain occupations and mastercraftsman and foreman examinations.Change has been evolutionary. Above allwe have sought to preserve our relativelyhigh level of general and vocational edu-cation and our high degree of upwardmobility.

Virgil Petrescu, Romania. We havesought to develop a vocational education

and training system based on vocationalstandards developed by government,employers and trade unions. The voca-tional training system and the training itprovides must be valued in the Romaniandomestic market.

One of the most important changes we aremaking is to broaden the curriculum.Young people can choose between voca-tional education and training or generaleducation at 14 years of age. In the pastvocational education and training was veryjob specific. We are now aiming to pro-vide a more broadly based vocational edu-cation and training, delaying the choice ofthe specific occupation until the final yearof study and thereby bringing the deci-sion closer to the point of job search. Thecurriculum seeks to develop key skills andattitudes, such as judgement, autonomy,communication skill , teamwork andproblem-solving. For the first time foreignlanguages and information technology arenow being taught in vocational school. Wehave based our reforms in vocational edu-cation and training on the traditions andprinciples of the Romanian School.

What role do you foresee for the so-cial partners and the private sectorin your vocational education andtraining system? What major obsta-cles need to be overcome for them tofulfil these roles?

Peter Kiss, Hungary. The 1993 Voca-tional Training Act, amended in 1995, in-volves the social partners and the privatesector in various ways. These includeparticipation in the National VocationalTraining Council, the chambers of Com-merce and parliamentary committeeswhich decide on vocational education andtraining questions and propose new train-ing programmes. The National Chamberof Commerce can issue training and ex-amination requirements. Regional cham-bers of commerce have also acquired aleading role in setting, discussing andmarking practical examinations.

Although the role of economic chambersand professional organisations has in-creased, more time is needed for the othervarious interest groups to participate andcontribute fully to the process. The main

“A move has been madefrom highly specialisedtraining programmes, to abroad-based basic voca-tional education, which in-cludes general skills with ahigh market value - foreignlanguages, computingskills, interpersonal com-munications, basic busi-ness skills, an understand-ing of ecology and the envi-ronment, combined with astable, skilled professionalqualification.”


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problems are caused by current economicdifficulties and regulations, a surplus workforce, and the tax system - which at timesresults in a clash of interests. Lack of per-sonnel and materials in vocational train-ing are also constraints.

However, despite the difficulties men-tioned above, the private sector is show-ing an increasing interest in the trainingprogrammes. Since the mid 1990’s, thenumber of participants on work-experi-ence programmes at private businesseshas increased fourfold and this trend lookslikely to continue.

Juris Celmin, Latvia. The current voca-tional education system was developedin a planned economy context and stillin many ways reflects these origins. How-ever, in free market conditions with theexistence of private property vocationaleducation cannot survive without the con-tributions of the holders of capital. A sig-nificant role for employers, professionalorganisations and trade unions is foreseen.However, the involvement of the privatesector requires vocational education andtraining to be regulated and the role ofall interested parties defined. The proc-ess itself should be as independent ofgovernment as possible. We are seekingto establish a new model for the interac-tion of the government and social part-ners. This requires appropriate institu-tional development. There is a definiteneed for new funding mechanisms. Ingeneral the system should be self-regu-lating and capable of self-development.

Slavko Gaber, Slovenia. The social part-ners have a key role. Reform dependsupon them and they have equal repre-sentation in the Council for VocationalEducation. The private sector is an initia-tor of change through its involvement withthe Chambers of Commerce which pro-pose changes to training programmes. Theprivate sector also has part of the respon-sibility for the delivery and validation ofvocational education and training.

The major problem is the weak economy,which limits the economic or personnelresources of companies to carry out thenew tasks. Furthermore, the trade unions,who traditionally never had a role in edu-

cation, need to be made more aware oftheir role in promoting education and inimproving conditions for the vocationaleducation of young people, adults andemployees. Another obstacle is the tradi-tion of the educational sphere and theexpectation that the initiatives for voca-tional education and training reform willcontinue to originate from them.

Virgil Petrescu, Romania. We verymuch wish to encourage co-operationbetween the public and private sector invocational training and to establish a de-centralised system based on responsibil-ity and competence of those involved.This means an important role for socialpartnership at national, regional and lo-cal level. We have also set as a medium-term objective the development of a fi-nancing system for vocational educationand training that will include financialresources from the state budget, localbudgets of the public authorities, and fromthe private sector. We are still at the be-ginning of this process are looking to findthe most suitable institutional structures.

The West has launched a number ofassistance programmes for Centraland Eastern Europe, both on a bilat-eral basis and at European level, suchas the PHARE programme, andthrough the European Training Foun-dation, to support the reform of vo-cational education and training sys-tems. How would you assess the im-pact of this assistance on the reformprocess?

Peter Kiss, Hungary. Adjusting to a mar-ket economy has required a complete re-structuring of training schemes and insti-tutions. Support from the PHARE pro-gramme has been in four main areas.Firstly, in the setting up of a vocationaltraining information service (the Voca-tional Training Information Centre). Sec-ondly, in supporting teacher developmentby enabling several hundred teachers toparticipate in 2-3 study trips to WesternEurope. Thirdly, in helping to improvelanguage teaching facilities. And, finally,through the employment and social de-velopment (ESD) programme. One of theinitiatives under the ESD has sought to

“Although the role of eco-nomic chambers and pro-fessional organisations hasincreased, more time isneeded for the other vari-ous interest groups to par-ticipate and contribute fullyto the process. The mainproblems are caused bycurrent economic difficul-ties and regulations, a sur-plus work force, and thetax system - which at timesresults in a clash of inter-ests. Lack of personnel andmaterials in vocationaltraining are also con-straints.”


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develop new curricula for secondary vo-cational education.

The programmes have proved successfulbecause those involved have gained first-hand experience of vocational trainingprogrammes operat ing in a marketeconomy which serve as models for train-ing in Hungary. The support of the Euro-pean Training Foundation, through vari-ous projects (Observatory, Staff Develop-ment Programme) has also proved valu-able during this transition period.

There have also been a significant numberof bilateral contacts. Relations with Ger-man, Austrian, Belgian, British and Swissgroups are particularly good. These havepromoted co-operation in various areas,including, curriculum development, teach-ing aids and teacher training. This has ledto a number of practical results in the ar-eas of environmental awareness, trainingprogrammes based on competences, thepassing on of modern teaching equipmentand information systems, and improvingexams.

To summarise, apart from the financialsupport, the opportunity to work togetherwith Western partners has proved to beof tremendous value.

Juris Celmin, Latvia. Assistance in thereform of vocational education and train-ing has been invaluable. Funds from theWest have played a major role in assur-ing progressive change. The intellectualinvestment provided by western trainersand consultants has given impetus topolicy reform, new curriculum develop-ment and the modernisation of teachingmethods and technologies.

However, the majority of reforms to datehave focused on initial vocational train-ing. Continuing training, methods, contentand materials need to be developed foradults. There is also a need to standardisetraining programmes, heightened by theinvolvement of other countries in the proc-ess of reform. Programmes providedthrough bilateral projects naturally reflectthe partners training culture. For pro-grammes to be successfully adapted toLatvian conditions, work needs to be de-voted to defining the demands of the lo-cal labour market and society at large. Fi-

nally, the success of vocational educationreforms also needs an appropriate equip-ment base to provide for the practical ap-plication of acquired knowledge and skills.Further intellectual investment in the plan-ning of infrastructure development as wellas material investment is needed.

Slavko Gaber, Slovenia. In Slovenia thelargest project, supported by the PHAREprogramme, enabled us to introduce neweducation and training programmes. Thetechnical assistance and contacts with in-stitutions running similar programmeswere extremely important. Exchanges ofexperts were also valuable, especially indeveloping comparable standards. Theyhelped remove the feeling of isolation andprovided opportunity to discuss problemsstudy solutions developed elsewhere. Bi-lateral projects were useful for exchangesof teachers and trainers, students andtrainees. Furthermore, the stimulation andmotivational affects of the support wereceived should not be overlooked.

Our experience has been very good andin Slovenia the results are already visible.In the future it will be useful to developstronger contacts between individual in-stitutions, especially schools and educa-tion centres. Special attention should bepaid to supporting the social partners inways that focus upon their very specificroles and tasks. More exchanges of edu-cational resources are also needed. Con-sideration should also be given to devel-oping longer-term bilateral projects tosupport existing exchanges. Evaluationprojects would be especially welcome.The flow of information between indi-vidual countries also needs to be im-proved to make it more systematic be-tween individual counties and projects.

Virgil Petrescu, Romania. The supportof the PHARE programme has helped usto introduce reforms more quickly thanwould otherwise have been the case. Thefinancial support from the programme hasbeen essential given our own limited re-sources. However, the support of the pro-gramme has gone beyond simply finan-cial help. We have received considerablehelp and support through the advice wehave been given in the introduction ofour reforms.

“(…) financial support (…)has been essential givenour own limited resources.However, the support ofthe programme has gonebeyond simply financialhelp. We have received con-siderable help and supportthrough the advice we havebeen given in the introduc-tion of our reforms.”


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The role of the socialpartners in the devel-opment of vocationaltraining in countriesin transition 1)

Introduction

Economic and social development in Eu-ropean countries is largely determined bythe occupational qualification levels of themen and women now referred to as hu-man resources. The quality of initial andcontinuing training systems determine thequalifications workers are able to obtain,whether in the member countries of theEuropean Union (EU) or in those coun-tries in the throes of transition from a com-mand to a market economy.

What, then, makes for effective vocationaltraining systems able to react flexibly todemand for training and qualificationsboth from individuals and from firms? Ob-viously there are several contributing fac-tors. We shall deal with only one in thisshort article, namely the involvement ofthe various parties concerned in the regu-lation of vocational training systems. Thesocial partners, by which is understoodunion representatives and employers’ or-ganisations, are two principal parties.

How do the social partners at EuropeanUnion level view their role and what isthe situation in the countries in transition?These are the two questions to which thisarticle will attempt a reply. This article isbased upon work in which the author hastaken part in an expert capacity, for thebodies providing support for the SocialDialogue on vocational training namely,the European Trade Union Confederation(ETUC), the European Centre for PublicEnterprises (CEEP), the Union of Indus-trial Employees Confederation (UNICE),

and Directorate General XXII of the Eu-ropean Commission and that of the advi-sory forum of the European TrainingFoundation in Turin.

A framework for the SocialDialogue on trainingwithin the EuropeanUnion

The Social Dialogue in the field of train-ing has become reality in the countries ofthe European Union, albeit in a wide va-riety of forms. The chief questions are wellknown - how to organise lifetime accessto training for all, how to fund it and howto give recognition to knowledge andskills acquired. These questions raise alarge number of legal, financial and or-ganisational problems for which the indi-vidual Member States of the EuropeanUnion devise their own solutions in ac-cordance with their own particular cul-tures. The resulting diversity is a productof differing degrees of government cen-tralisation, the power of the trade unions,the degree of autonomy enjoyed by thesocial partners vis-à-vis the state, the de-marcation and the links between initialand continuing vocational training, andso on. However, in the great majority ofcountries the active involvement of thesocial partners in regulating this area isconsidered necessary, whether at enter-prise, industrial sector or national multi-industry level.

The Social Dialogue on training has alsobecome established at EU level. Between

Jean-MarieLuttringer

Director of CIRCE,Training law and

policyAssociate Professor at

the University ofParis X - Nanterre

The Social Dialogue ontraining has become realityin the countries of the Eu-ropean Union. Throughtheir joint opinions the Eu-ropean social partners haveevolved a common doctrineas regards vocational train-ing. The social partners inthe countries in transitionare seeking to establishtheir identity and legiti-macy as representatives.Whatever the difficulties,vocational training is un-doubtedly an excellent fieldin which to exercise theskills of social dialogue.

1) This text, which expresses the opin-ions of the author alone, is based onwork carried our in connection withthe European Social Dialogue, and inparticular the compendium “Voca-tional training innovation and diver-sity in dialogue practices betweensocial partners” It also draws on thereflections of a working group set upby the European Training Foundationin Turin.


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the Treaty of Rome and that of Maastrichtthe European social partners have pro-gressed from simple recognition of theirrole to its institutionalisation.

In the meantime the European social part-ners have gained the right to sit on anumber of advisory bodies, and have par-ticipated in creating the basis for consul-tation and negotiation at Community level.The result has been a number of jointopinions drawn up within the frameworkof the Social Dialogue and the Agreementof 31 October 1991 on the future of Com-munity Social Policy, subsequently in-cluded in the Protocol on Social Policyannexed to the Treaty on European Un-ion. Those taking part in the dialogue andrecognised by the European Commissionare the UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC.

Eight joint opinions concerned witheducation and training have been issuedby the social partners. The Social Dialogueon training has also addressed the sub-ject, with specific reference to the retailtrade and industrial cleaning.

The joint opinions on education and train-ing deal with the following:

❏ Training and motivation, informationand consultation (1987);

❏ Basic education, initial training and vo-cational training of adults (1990);

❏ The transition from school to adult andworking life (1990);

❏ Means of ensuring the greatest possi-ble effective access to training (1991);

❏ Occupational qualifications and theirvalidation (1992);

❏ Women and training (1993);

❏ Future action by the European Unionin the field of vocational training and thefunction of the social partners in this field(1994);

❏ The contribution of vocational train-ing in combating unemployment (1995).

In these joint opinions the social partnersstress that investment in education andtraining is a prerequisite for competitive-

ness. The effort involved calls for com-mitment on the part of all parties con-cerned - government, firms and individu-als.

However, the commitment of the variousparties presupposes a clear allocation ofresponsibilities. Thus basic education andinitial vocational training are the respon-sibility of the public authorities who must,however, involve the social partners morethan is the case at present so as to ensurethat training better meets the needs of theeconomy, firms and the workers them-selves.

An important role must be accorded toapprenticeship and on-and-off-the-jobtraining, the vocational integration ofyoung people, and the transition fromschool to working life - all fields in whichemployers and the trade unions or otherworkers’ representatives should play adecisive role. It goes without saying thatapprenticeship, on-and-off-the-job train-ing and the vocational integration ofyoung people presuppose the mobilisa-tion of substantial resources by firms tofinance trainee posts, teaching facilitiesand the like. Where financial provisionfor material requirements is not made bygovernment regulation, it should be suit-ably organised by the social partners. Thesectoral level is considered the appropri-ate one for directing apprenticeship andtraining policy.

According to the European social partners,continuing training is an area for whichemployers and employees should bejointly responsible.

Firms take responsibility for the re-train-ing of workers they themselves employ.The public authorities or the new em-ployer take responsibility for re-trainingworkers who leave one firm for another.The cost of continuing training under-taken by a firm to meet its requirementshas to be borne by the employer, butshould be partially tax deductible. Thenumber of hours an employee spends ontraining should be the subject of an agree-ment between the employer and the em-ployee and/or their representative. Anemployee should be helped to pursue thetraining he chooses in the interests ofpersonal development and his own ca-reer planning through courses financed

“(...) the European socialpartners have progressedfrom simple recognition oftheir role to its institution-alisation. (They) havegained the right to sit on anumber of advisory bodiesand have participated increating the basis for con-sultation and negotiation atCommunity level.”


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out of public funds or by making the costtax deductible. Absences from work fortraining purposes should be legally pro-vided for to benefit employees.

The European social partners also stressthe important role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the future ofEurope. Encouragement should thereforebe given to every suitable measure so asto assist such firms, whose resources arelimited, and to enable them as far as pos-sible to provide the training necessary fortheir own development, so that they arenot constrained to slow down their train-ing activity when funds are tight. Thiscould be done, for example, by develop-ing training opportunities for SMEs bymeans of new forms of co-operation atregional and sectoral level, the provisionof shared training facilities and the crea-tion of new partnerships with major en-terprises and the public authorities.

Through their joint opinions the socialpartners have evolved a common doctrineas regards vocational training.

Problems and issues in thesocial dialogue on trainingin the countries in transi-tion.

So far as the countries in transition areconcerned, the starting position fromwhich they aim to reach the same objec-tive of involving the social partners in thedevelopment of vocational training is radi-cally different.

In the first place, the very existence of arepresentative status for the social part-ners poses problems at the present stageof transition towards a market economy.Where they exist, their autonomy vis-à-vis the state is not always assured. Abilityto deal with matters concerning vocationaltraining calls for a specific technical cul-ture whereas other matters considered ashaving priority - jobs, purchasing power,social security, etc. - are regularly on theagenda. Technical co-operation pro-grammes in the training field have notalways accorded the Social Dialogue theplace its strategic importance would jus-tify.

A social partnership is being born againstthe unpropitious background of economiccrisis and structural change. The emer-gence of social differences entails thedevelopment of a more diverse socialstructure and with it a multitude of dif-ferent interests. The impact this has isconsiderable and lies at the root of therelative lack of consolidation in the so-cial partners’ organisational structures.

Against this background the move from acommand to a market economy cannotbe achieved overnight. It involves a tran-sition process whose length and difficultyvary according to each country’s particu-lar situation. During the transition phaseonly one thing is certain and stable,namely the fact that change is under wayand the rapidity with which it is takingplace. This is an inevitable reality whichit will be possible to get under better con-trol once the solutions adopted are an-chored in a set of shared values and prin-ciples. These principles are known as faras the role of the social partners and thesocial dialogue in a market economy areconcerned: pluralism is a guarantee ofeffectiveness and democracy; the autono-mous agents in civil society must be ableto counterbalance the weight of the state.These same principles apply to the roleof the social partners in the matter of vo-cational training.

However, a statement of principles doesnot remove the difficulties confrontingemployers’ organisations and the tradeunions in their endeavours to establishthemselves as autonomous, representativeforces endowed with clear competencesand the ability to assume them, particu-larly in the field of vocational educationand training. Moreover, the process ofconstituting an employers’ and employ-ees’ organisation is different, as are theobstacles encountered.

Employer groupings did not by definitionexist under the old social order - whichmeans that in the new context of a mar-ket economy they have to be “invented”.This is not an easy task. The problems tobe solved are of an economic and organi-sational order. The number of private sec-tor employers depends on how far theprocess of privatisation of state enterpriseshas advanced and how many new privatesector firms have been created. However,

“So far as the countries intransition are concerned...the very existence of a rep-resentative status for thesocial partners poses prob-lems at the present stage oftransition towards a mar-ket economy. Where theyexist, their autonomy vis-à-vis the state is not alwaysassured.”

“Technical co-operationprogrammes in the trainingfield have not always ac-corded Social Dialogue theplace its strategic impor-tance would justify.”


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even in countries where the private sec-tor is expanding, employers’ organisationsare not yet as representative as would bedesirable. Small employers in the privatesector devote their energy to managingtheir firms and competing in the market-place and have little time for tasks con-cerned with the general regulation of thelabour market and of training within anemployers’ organisation. As for the man-agers of the many state enterprises thatstill exist, their independence vis-à-vis thestate and the trade unions within the firmis too weak for them to be able to play adecisive role in autonomous employers’organisations. Given this lack of autono-mous, representative employers’ organi-sations, some countries have chosen tomake it obligatory for employers to be-come members of the chambers of com-merce and to grant them certain preroga-tives in the matter of vocational training.Their choice, dictated by the imperativesof the transition phase, does not, how-ever, conform with the guidelines of theInternational Labour Organisation (ILO),which insists that the social partners beautonomous.

The trade unions representing employeesdo not have to be invented. However, theydo need to be re-oriented and directedtowards economic and social action andtheir legitimacy as representatives en-sured. In fact, there has been a markedincrease in the number of trade unions atvarious levels due to the creation of newones or the splitting up of existing ones.The rate of unionisation is tending to fall,though it is still high in the state sector.In the private sector, and especially insmaller firms, union influence is veryweak. The same is true in the large pri-vate firms funded with foreign capital.Only the existence of private sector em-ployers’ organisations will give sense tothe economic and social activity of em-ployees’ trade unions, provoke a regroup-ing on their part and ensure that they arerepresentative of their particular occupa-tional sector.

All this raises the question of whether,given the urgency of the reforms to becarried out in the education and trainingfield, it is necessary to wait until the so-cial partner organisations come into be-ing and are able to solve the problemsthat confront them, or whether one should

start making the reforms without them.This is a serious question, the answer towhich is that vocational training is anexcellent field for the social partners, as-suming their legal competence is recog-nised and their technical competencemaintained, to combine an apprenticeshipin social dialogue with promoting reformsin the sphere of training, particularlywithin tripartite bodies.

Tripartism is in fact the form of socialregulation that is emerging at this stageof transition in the countries concerned.Because the social partners are insuffi-ciently autonomous, the Social Dialogueis a three-way process under the aegis ofthe state. This provides a favourable en-vironment for the reform of occupationaleducation and training since the state isand will remain a major player in this fieldwhich in no country is entirely privatised.Most of the countries in transition - Po-land, Hungary and the Czech Republic forexample - have created tripartite bodiesfor a social dialogue on training. Thisleaves the question, already mentioned,of the social partners’ legitimacy as rep-resentatives, however diminished. Moreo-ver, there is always the risk of nationali-sation and the fact that tripartite bodiestend to be more sensitive to political thanto economic and social considerations.

If tripartism is relevant at state level, it isnot so at the level of enterprises, whichare the principal location as far as bothcontinuing training and initial training -especially in the form of on-and-off-the-job training - are concerned. While infirms the final decision inevitably restswith the owner or manager, Social Dia-logue in the matter of training, whetherin the form of information, consultationor collective negotiation, is an ideal ac-companiment to the process of transitionthat firms are undergoing since it can actas a factor of motivation and employeeinvolvement.

It would, however, be wrong to under-estimate the obstacles - the weakness ofemployee representation in small firms,the lack of a social dialogue culture andof practical experience in the context oftransition, particularly at enterprise level,management’s minimal involvement intraining, if it exists at all, the difficultiesencountered by employees when asking

“Employer groupings didnot by definition exist un-der the old social order -which means that in thenew context of a marketeconomy they have to be“invented”(. . . ) The tradeunions do not have to be in-vented. However, they doneed to be reoriented anddirected towards economicand social action and theirlegitimacy as representa-tives ensured.”

“(…) vocational training isan excellent field in which,assuming their legal com-petence is recognised andtheir technical competencemaintained, the social part-ners can combine an ap-prenticeship in the sphereof training with promotingreforms in the sphere oftraining, particularlywithin tripartite bodies.”


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for training, the absence of a legal frame-work to facilitate the role of employees’representatives and the lack of funds.

Conclusion:Social Dialogue andacquis communautaires

The social partners in the countries intransition are seeking to establish theiridentity and their legitimacy as representa-tives. They are learning the ways of col-lective negotiation and social dialogue ina pluralistic, democratic society which areacquis communautaires for countrieswishing to join the European Union. Vo-cational training is only one area for theiraction and does not always receive prior-ity. Moreover, other agents can legiti-mately intervene in this field - the state,training providers, firm managements andfamilies.

Recognition, even formal recognition, ofthe social partners’ generic right to beinvolved in social dialogue in the field oftraining is not sufficient. This right mustbe enshrined in the legal system - labour

“It would, however, bewrong to underestimate theobstacles - the weakness ofemployee representation...,the lack of a social dialogueculture and of practicalexperience... management’sminimal involvement intraining, if it exists at all,the difficulties encounteredby employees when askingfor training, the absence ofa legal framework to facili-tate the role of employees’representatives and thelack of funds.”

law, the law on vocational training andthe law governing financing systems - inthe countries in transition. The definitionof a legal framework for the activities ofthe social partners will help to renderthem possible and effective.

Not all the countries in transition currentlyoffer equally fertile ground for voluntaryaction to develop a Social Dialogue in thefield of training. Their history, size, andeconomic and social fabric must all betaken into account. The PHARE countries,which are aiming for membership of theEuropean Union in the near future, shouldundoubtedly give this objective priority.Whatever the difficulties, vocational train-ing certainly offers an excellent field inwhich to exercise the skills of Social Dia-logue. There is no lack of subject-matter,such as employees’ access to training, theallocation of resources, vocational guid-ance, recognition and validation of quali-fications, the means and methods of train-ing, etc. A fruitful co-operation couldundoubtedly develop between the socialpartners of the European Union and thoseof the countries in transition in order toencourage the creation of effective train-ing systems enshrined in the principlesof economic and social democracy.


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TadeuszKozekTechnical University ofWarszaw, Poland

International co-operation in curricu-lum development forvocational educationand training - Polishexperience

Introduction

The events of the late 1980s and early1990s commenced the process of transi-tion in all spheres of social and economiclife in Poland and other Central and East-ern European countries (CEECs). Thebankruptcy of the old regime, first eco-nomic and then political, was soon re-flected in the area of education. Substan-tial parts of the old system of education,when confronted with progressive intro-duction of market economy, proved oflittle, or no relevance. Vocational train-ing at the secondary level turned out tobe the weakest element of that system.This part of the system of education wasnotably developed in line with the logicof the centrally directed economy. Theroles which had been assigned to institu-tions and organisations in that system,such as ministries, vocational schools,local educational authorities, trade unionsor companies, were wholly adverse to theroles these institutions perform in themarket economy. Vocational training wasorganised around sectors and branches ofeconomy, which resulted in limited op-portunities for re-qualifying. Most impor-tantly, training aimed at producing aclearly defined number of graduates tofill in concrete work placements. Therapid transfer to the open labour marketwhich no longer guaranteed employment,clearly demonstrated the maladjustmentof the system of vocational education tothe conditions of the market economy.However, transformation of the fossilisedstructure turned out to be a complex and

slow process; so far, what has taken place,is a certain modernisation of the Polishsystem of vocational education, forced outby changes in the economic environment,rather than an in-depth reform.

The Polish system of vocational edu-cation at the secondary level.

The law of 7 September 1991 on the sys-tem of education brought many radicalchanges to the functioning of Polish edu-cation, leading to, for example, the pres-ence of a quickly-growing non-publicsector. The structure of vocational edu-cation has not been, however, subjectedto substantial changes, and remained, ingreat part, within the framework datingback to 1961.

The school system of vocational trainingconsists of the following types of schools:

❏ three-year vocational basic schools,leading to a skilled worker qualification,or an equivalent;

❏ secondary vocational schools: four-year vocational secondary schools,, tech-nical schools and equivalents, post-sec-ondary schools and post-matriculationschools.

The four-year vocational secondaryschools offer secondary general educa-tion, with an option for obtaining a ma-triculation diploma, as well as vocationalbasic training at the level of a skilledworker, or an equivalent level.

“Substantial parts of the oldsystem of education, whenconfronted with progres-sive introduction of marketeconomy, proved of little,or no relevance. Vocationaltraining at the secondarylevel turned out to be theweakest element of that sys-tem. (…) Transformation ofthe fossilised structureturned out to be a complexand slow process (…).”


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The four-year or five-year technicalschools or their equivalents offer generaleducation, as well as vocational training,and graduates are granted a technician’squalification in a given profession or spe-cialisation.

Post-secondary and post-matriculationschools welcome, first of all, graduatesof secondary general schools, and pre-pare them to undertake employment, of-fering, upon completion of a one-yeartraining, a vocational training qualifica-tion, and a skilled worker’s diploma, andupon completion of a two-year or two-and-a-half year training, a technician’sdiploma, or an equivalent. Graduates ofgeneral secondary schools can also gaina technician’s diploma upon completionof a one-year, or a two-year training inpost-secondary schools especially de-signed for this purpose.

Basic vocational school, as opposed tovocational secondary school, does not endwith a matriculation diploma which opensaccess to tertiary education. In the schoolyear 1989/90, 71% of primary schoolleavers entered vocational schools; 46%went to vocational basic schools - theweakest part of vocational training sys-tem, generally perceived as its “blind al-ley”. Therefore, changing the structure ofvocational education has been one of thepriorities of educational policy between1989 and 1997. The decrease in the pro-portion of primary school leavers under-taking basic vocational training to 27.8%in 1995/96 was a positive outcome of thispolicy, yet still not a fully satisfying one.

Traditionally, practical training took placein school workshops or companies. Thelate 1980s saw a large-scale withdrawal ofcompanies from participation in practicaltraining, and their opting out from enter-ing contracts with schools as regards prac-tical training. Therefore, practical traininghad to be taken over by school workshops,furnished with inadequate and obsoleteequipment. Additionally, school work-shops used to operate as commercial es-tablishments and were bound to be self-financing. The new economic reality sawa dramatic drop in the demand for theirproduce, which worsened the situationeven more. So far, the problem of practi-cal training in the Polish vocational edu-cation system has not been solved. The

establishment by the Ministry of NationalEducation of the so-called centres for prac-tical training which operate in the venuesof selected, big school workshops, whichare well endowed with modern equipmentand accessible to students of local schools,is a partial solution to the problem. How-ever, the disrupted link with the economyhas not been restored as yet. There is alsoa clear lack of a target vision of the rolethe economy is to play in vocational train-ing.

A principal structural reform of vocationaleducation system at the secondary leveldoes not seem feasible before the year2000. The technical lycee project, imple-mented, on a trial basis, since 1994, canbe viewed as a lead-in to the reform. Theidea is that the technical lycee will offer,on the one hand, a high level of generalknowledge, and, on the other hand, asound general vocational training whichwill enable the graduate to undertake aspecialist vocational training, either atshort post-secondary courses, or outsideschool, or at the tertiary level; such train-ing will also facilitate frequent re-qualifi-cation of the prospective employee.

Educational reformsin Poland in 1990s -general conditions.

Educational reform, just like political, eco-nomic and social life in Poland since 1989,has been a result of frequently opposingtendencies, whereby revolutionary ideaswould mix with evolutionary ones, theinertia of existing structures together withgroup and political interests would hinderintroduction of changes, the initial enthu-siasm when confronted with the scale ofproblems would melt and turn into frus-tration and the questioning of the senseof reform in general; especially when en-deavours to introduce the educationalreform were accompanied by dramaticrecession of 1989-1992 and lack of politi-cal stability.

In 1967, Coombs wrote about reasons foreducational crisis, pointing to three prin-cipal ones, namely:

❏ paucity of educational resources re-sulting in the system’s inability to ad-

“Educational reform, justlike political, economic andsocial life in Poland since1989, has been a result offrequently opposing ten-dencies, whereby revolu-tionary ideas would mixwith evolutionary ones, theinertia of existing struc-tures together with groupand political interestswould hinder introductionof changes, the initial en-thusiasm when confrontedwith the scale of problemswould melt and turn intofrustration and the ques-tioning of the sense of re-form in general (…)”


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equately react to the burning needs andexpectations of the environment;

❏ inertia of the educational system, ac-counting for failure in adjusting to theneeds, even if sufficient resources are inplace;

❏ inability, on the part of the society, toadjust to education, demonstrated by in-adequate utilisation of qualified personnel.

The first two became especially manifestin the situation of system transformation,feeding on various negative phenomenaoccurring in all dimensions of social life.

Political dimension

The period between 1989 and 1996 inPoland was the time of continuing evolu-tion of the political situation, with fre-quent changes of government and highturnover of personnel in the public ad-ministration sector. Suffice to say, theminister for education was changed seventimes at that time. The situation was byno means conducive to implementationof a consistent developmental policy.Problems inherent in the process ofchange were often underestimated, andmany people would succumb to illusionthat changes could happen without in-creasing costs, or that decreeing thosechanges would automatically imply theirimplementation.

Lack of consistency in decentralisationpolicy was yet another key reason forduration in the development of the pub-lic sector of education. What added to theimpediment of the process was the leftistgroups’ coming to power in the secondphase of transformation. One can, how-ever, look for more deeply rooted rea-sons for that state, namely, an apparentabsence of sufficiently influential socialforce at the grass-root level interested indecentralisation. Economic elites should,primarily, constitute such force. With theinitiative remaining, basically, in the handsof political elites and of an administra-tion lobby, one cannot expect significantsteps towards decentralisation of educa-tion.

Accepting new legislation which is a ma-jor factor in institutional change, has beena major success for the political elites in

the transformation process so far. Thisinvolves liberalisation of commercial ac-tivity in the area of education and train-ing, which has led to the establishmentof private and other non-state providersat all levels of education. However, thevocational education and training sector,especially at the secondary level, hastaken only the most minute advantage ofthe new provisions. This has been partlydue to the incompleteness of the legalframework for this particular area on theone hand, and, on the other, to the lackof institutional and economic basis thatwould create adequate conditions for re-form delivery.

Economic dimension

The early stage of Polish transformation,similarly to other states undergoing re-forms, brought about a significant dropin the GDP1. Recession and the necessityto counteract budget deficit and inflation,have led to budget cuts which most se-verely affected science, technology andeducation. The system of education at alllevels was most notably hit by budgetcuts. In 1990 and 1991, outlays on educa-tion decreased from 6.6% to 5.4% of GDPand stayed at that level until 1993. It wasonly in 1994 that the outlays on educa-tion rose to the level of 6.2% of GDP. Inthe case of vocational schools, the with-drawal of the crisis-hit companies fromsupporting practical training played a sig-nificant role in the worsening of schools’economic status.

The opening of more attractive, especiallyin financial terms, employment opportu-nities, has led to a brain drain in thesphere of education. And on the otherhand, lack of financial resources ham-pered introduction of deeper reforms inthe education system, with such reformsgenerally requiring an increase, ratherthan a decrease, of expenditure.

Cultural dimension

System transformation does not only im-ply change of economic institutions; itimplies changes in the ways of thinkingformed by the previous system, changesof attitudes and models of behaviour,changes in individuals’ aspirations andvalue systems. Changes in all thesespheres require time and take place at

1) In 1990, GDP dropped by 11.6%,and by 7% in 1991.

“Accepting new legislationwhich is a major factor ininstitutional change, hasbeen a major success forthe political elites in thetransformation process sofar. This involves liberalisa-tion of commercial activityin the area of educationand training, which has ledto the establishment of pri-vate and other non-stateproviders at all levels ofeducation. However, the vo-cational education andtraining sector, especiallyat the secondary level, hastaken only the most minuteadvantage of the new pro-visions.”


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work and at school, in the environment,and as a result of acquiring new socialexperience by people. When introducingeducational reform, especially in an un-favourable economic climate, regardingthe time factor, when dealing with thesespheres, is of key importance. On theother hand, active participation in reforms,both at the design and the implementa-tion stage, of those whom the reform di-rectly concerns, is crucial. When decisionsare made “over the heads” of interestedparties, and no opportunity is providedfor them to take part in decision-makingor at least to voice their opinion, no ac-tive or dedicated involvement on their partin reform delivery can be expected. Un-fortunately, in practice decision-makershave often lost sight of those rather obvi-ous truths, which would lead to growingfrustration of educational circles and theirdisapproval of changes recommended bythe administration.

Impediments in cultural exchange andcontacts with Western countries that ac-cumulated over decades, undoubtedlyadded to the occurrence of another syn-drome that significantly influenced theprogress of Polish educational reform. Asthe then Vice-minister for Education, AnnaRadziwill (1994) emphasises: “the year1989 was the year of the ‘opening’, ofcommencement of something that wasnot, perhaps, a delivery of a clear andprecise vision, but an illusion of omnipo-tence, and, at the same time, of the needto create, transform and change in direc-tions not fully defined (...)”. At the sametime, however, “There was no awarenessof the fact that the problem of imperfec-tion of education systems is common toalmost all states, typical of the civilisa-tion of the late 20th century, and has tobe addressed without euphoria and frus-tration. (...)”

Curriculum reformin the Polish vocationaleducation system

The Polish vocational school of the late1980s offered a multiplicity of narrow-profile training courses. Two classifica-tions of professions and specialisationsoffered in the school system were used:one from 1982, embracing 527 profes-

sions, and one from 1986, which cut downthe number of professions to 241. In com-pliance with the structure of contempo-rary economy, the majority of courseswould lead to industrial professions, witha considerable share of mining industries,and a small proportion of the service sec-tor. Technological and structural deficien-cies of vocational education and trainingbecame the main factor contributing tothe lack of relevance of qualifications of-fered to vocational school students, andof the structure of those qualifications, tothe changing - as a result of market re-forms - needs of the labour market. As aconsequence, graduates of those schoolsbecame a number-one group in the armyof the unemployed, quickly growing inthe first half of the present decade2. There-fore, restructuring training curricula be-came one of the priorities of educationalreform in Poland, initiated in the early1990s. The starting point to vocationalcurriculum reform was the introductionby the Ministry of National Education, in1993, of the new classification of voca-tional school professions. The new clas-sification cut down the number of pro-fessions to 138, and introduced broad-profile professions offering enhancedemployability of graduates. The imple-mentation of curriculum reform, and ad-justment of the curricula to the new clas-sification, proved to be a prolonged proc-ess. In 1997, most schools still offer train-ing based on traditional classifications andcurricula. The slow progress of curricu-lum reform is basically due to the lack ofa consistent policy in the institutionalsphere. The Institute for Vocational Edu-cation, dissolved in 1990, was not quicklyenough replaced with new structures andones able to take over those of its func-tions that are relevant to the implementa-tion of curriculum reforms. Only since1993, new structures have been set up,starting with the establishment of the Unitfor Vocational Training Curricula in theInstitute for Educational Research3, andof the new curriculum commissions basedon a model similar to the French one.These bodies, however, are still not suffi-ciently well-established to effectively per-form their roles.

On the other hand the final legal frame-work for the curriculum reform was setup only in 1995 by the amended bill oneducation. The final version of Polish

2) At the end of 1994, graduates ofbasic vocational schools constituted39.4% of the unemployed in Poland;graduates of other vocational schools(including at post-secondary level)contributed a further 20% . One cancompare the statistic with 32.6% of theunemployed with primary and lessereducation, 6.8% of general secondaryschool leavers and 1.7% of higherschool graduates.

3) In June 1997 the Ministry of Na-tional Education decided to dissolvethe Unit with the end of 1997.

“(…) restructuring trainingcurricula became one of thepriorities of educationalreform in Poland, initiatedin the early 1990s. Thestarting point to vocationalcurriculum reform was theintroduction (…) in 1993, ofthe new classification of vo-cational school profes-sions. (…) The implementa-tion of curriculum reform,and adjustment of the cur-ricula to the new classifica-tion, proved to be a pro-longed process.”


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curriculum reform envisages two princi-pal systemic regulators:

❏ base curriculum, an obligatory, at agiven level of training, set of training con-tent and skills, that should be included ina curriculum, and that provides for thedetermination of evaluation criteria andexamination requirements;

❏ national standards, or examinationrequirements determined by the state ad-ministration.

Curricula are to be developed on the ba-sis of the aforementioned regulators. Cur-ricula to be implemented in school haveto be centrally approved and listed in aspecial inventory. Certain modificationsmay be introduced by teachers, this be-ing conditional on obtaining the localeducational authorities’ endorsement.Lack of a methodology for developingqualification standards which should re-place the so-called job specifications usedso far, and an insufficient level of free-dom for teachers to develop training cur-ricula, are apparent shortcomings of thecurrent system of curriculum developmentin Poland.

International assistanceprogrammes in the area ofcurriculum developmentdelivered in Poland from1990 to 1996.

International assistance programmes in thearea of curriculum development, deliveredin Poland from 1990 to 1996, which arethe subject of this article, their progres-sion, conditions and results, constitute acertain “case”, a study into which undoubt-edly reflects the nature of Polish educa-tional reforms. The programmes in ques-tion were in fact part of the foreign assist-ance initiative for Poland, started in 1989at the G-7 states’ summit in Paris, at whichit was decided that the European Commis-sion would be given charge over co-ordi-nation of aid for the Central Europeancountries undergoing the process of re-form. The initiative was joined, in a vary-ing degree, by all G-24 states which of-fered bilateral assistance programmes.However, the multilateral PHARE pro-gramme became the main source of aid as

regards vocational education and training.Since 1991, PHARE has financed four pro-grammes in this field.

The programme of assistance to Po-land in the field of vocational educa-tion and training

VET 90 was the first aid programme forPoland in the area of education financedby the European Union under the PHAREprogramme, and, at the same time, thefirst such programme implemented inCentral and Eastern Europe. The pro-gramme was endowed with ECU 2.8 mil-lion. By definition, the programme wasof intersectoral character, therefore theneeds of two ministries of key importanceto vocational education and training, ofthe Ministry of National Education and theMinistry of Labour and Social Policy, weretaken into consideration when designingthe programme. This valid idea bore anoutcome which perhaps had not beenenvisaged by the sponsors. The pro-gramme was built on priorities identifiedby the recipients which turned out to berather loosely linked, or not linked at all,to problems of restructuring the systemof vocational education and training. Asa result, only some 800,000 ECU was spenton the delivery of objectives relating tovocational training reform.

The programme did not extensively dealwith curriculum development; it merelyinitiated co-operation with Western insti-tutions in the area of curriculum moderni-sation for metal and economic trades. Co-operation with the Federal Institute forVocational Education in Berlin, initiatedunder the programme, was later extendedand continued within a bigger project fi-nanced by the German government,which bore fruit in the development anda trial implementation of new curriculafor economic and trade professions. Anexpert paper was also produced with aview to assisting the Polish Ministry ofEducation in designing a strategy for cur-riculum modernisation and staff develop-ment (Parkes 1992)

A report “Training in transition”, producedby an international expert group and pub-lished by CEDEFOP (Grootings 1993), wasone of the key initiatives undertaken un-der the programme with a view to pro-viding direct support to the training sys-

“Curricula to be imple-mented in school have to becentrally approved andlisted in a special inventory.Certain modifications maybe introduced by teachers,this being conditional onobtaining the local educa-tional authorities’ endorse-ment. Lack of a methodol-ogy for developing qualifi-cation standards (…) andan insufficient level of free-dom for teachers to developtraining curricula, are ap-parent shortcomings of thecurrent system of curricu-lum development in Po-land.”


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tem reform. The report was to becomean important instrument for formulatingthe vocational education and training sys-tem reform by the Polish government. Itsfinal version, published in 1992/1993, re-ceived a positive feedback both from thethen decision-makers, and other interestedparties. Unfortunately, in practice thedocument was of little influence on thedevelopment of Polish educational re-forms. This particularly refers to the mainrecommendations of the report whichconcerned:

❏ the establishment, by the government,of a “national task force for modernisa-tion of the Polish system of vocationaltraining”, a body which would associatemembers representatives of various gov-ernment agencies and social partners. Itsmain tasks would include:• providing for a national debate on thecurrent state and the future of vocationaleducation and training in Poland;• the development of a strategy for steer-ing the processes of educational systemmodernisation with the use of local ex-pertise, and• the development of a modern conceptof vocational education and training sys-tem, with particular emphasis on its struc-ture, management, resource provision andfinancing, as well as training content andmethods of monitoring the quality of train-ing. The development of a national sys-tem of vocational qualifications was tosupport the delivery of the latter;

❏ the development of regional networksfor vocational education and training thatwould support:• the creation of mechanisms for effec-tive communication between local milieusand institutions interested in vocationaleducation and training, and• the development of a flexible infra-structure that would help satisfy educa-tional needs, effectively utilising local re-sources and good-quality didactic infra-structure.

It was suggested that the process of vo-cational training modernisation start witha series of decentralised trials carried outat local, sectoral or regional levels whichwould deliver all the aims referred toabove. The approach recommended wasto become an alternative to the traditionalPolish “top down” approach to educa-

tional reform, and a fusion of local ex-pertise and centrally delivered control anddissemination. Problems facing Polish VETreforms and, in particular, vocational edu-cation and training assistance programmeswhich followed, were, basically, a conse-quence of there not having been such aneffective mechanism in place, and partlythe lack of a vision of the nature and theaim of the reform itself.

Upgrading Polish Vocational Educa-tion and Training (UPET). Implemen-tation of modernised Programmes forVocational Education (IMPROVE)

The 1 million ECU UPET programme con-sisted of three projects: modernisation ofvocational training curricula, support forlanguage teacher training colleges, and es-tablishment, within the Ministry of Na-tional Education, of a Policy and Evalua-tion Unit. The programme was imple-mented from 1992 to 1995. Only the firstcomponent of 400,000 ECU directly con-cerned vocational education system. Itsaim was to develop training curricula for29 out of 137 professions listed in the newclassification of professions, prepared bythe Ministry of National Education in 1993to cover professions in which training isoffered within the school system. Thecurriculum development exercise, carriedout under the UPET programme, washighly valued by the European Commis-sion4. As a consequence, 4 million ECUwas granted to further develop the cur-ricula and deliver them, on a trial basis,in 35 schools within the IMPROVE pro-gramme, which commenced mid-1995, inco-operation with the newly establishedEuropean Training Foundation in Turin.

Modernisation of Vocational Educa-tion (MOVE)

The concept of the programme was de-veloped in 1992, as a parallel exercise tothe work on a project of support to thePolish vocational education and trainingsystem to be financed from the World Bankloan. MOVE was designed as a trial forthe much larger World Bank project. Itcovered an integrated set of undertakingsaiming at the development and implemen-tation in 60 schools in 10 voivodships ofnew curricula for the following subjects:physics, environmental protection, compu-ter science, the English language and a new

4) FAS from Ireland partnered Polishexperts in the exercise.

“Problems facing PolishVET reforms and, in par-ticular, vocational educa-tion and training assist-ance programmes whichfollowed, were, basically, aconsequence of there nothaving been such an effec-tive mechanism in place,and partly the lack of a vi-sion of the nature and theaim of the reform itself.”


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subject called “introduction to the worldof work”. Apart from the curriculum de-velopment component, MOVE includedteacher development element, schoolheads’ and local educational authority staffdevelopment programme, equipment pro-vision and the establishment of teachers’associations for the subjects covered bythe programme. The curricula were devel-oped by a team consisting of Polish andinternational experts (from Germany, Lux-embourg and France). The new curriculawere verified by the international Stand-ard and Evaluation Committee establishedfor the task, which checked the compli-ance of the produce with criteria set ear-lier. The new curricula have been imple-mented in schools since the beginning ofthe school year 1995/96.

Plans for the World Bank project concern-ing the reform of the Polish vocationaleducation and training system have, even-tually, fallen through, thus preventing theMOVE programme from continuingtherein.

The experience of imple-mentation of curriculumdevelopment programmes

The enthusiasm typical of the early stageof transformation was accompanied by thelack, on the part of the then decision-makers and pro-reform elites, of aware-ness of the complicated nature of proc-esses relating to reforms. Foreign assist-ance was at that stage considered, fromthe present perspective naively, as themotive, both intellectual and financial, foreducational reforms. Foreign assistanceprogrammes indeed began major innova-tive activities in Polish vocational educa-tion, yet they were unable to meet suchhigh expectations, because of, as it is fre-quently believed, the paucity of their re-sources against the needs. This was not,however, the only reason; others have tobe traced through an analysis of the proc-ess of implementation of these pro-grammes and of the introduction of re-sults into the Polish vocational educationand training system.

Leaders of change

The innovative activities carried out un-der the aforementioned foreign assistance

programmes were, at the initial stage, typi-cally of a “top-down” nature, initiated bycentral educational authorities. The con-tents of those activities, was, however,primarily designed by foreign partners, byEuropean Union experts in the first place,because of the lack of an intellectual homefront and of undue trust in a possibilityof a direct transfer of Western systemicsolutions and know-how. With time, andwith successive changes of the govern-ment, the initial reformatory enthusiasmfaded out, forced out by more immediateproblems flowing from the worseningeconomic status of education. As a con-sequence, assistance programmes initiatedearlier started being crowded out, enjoy-ing less and less interest on the part ofthe authorities, and gaining less and lesssupport from them. On the other hand,however, the leading role in changing vo-cational education was increasingly takenover by circles directly involved in theimplementation of international pro-grammes, be it schools participating in thetrials, aware of benefits derived from theparticipation in those programmes, orPolish experts developing their own ex-pertise in such activities and taking overmore and more responsibility from West-ern colleagues. Therefore, educational in-novations originated outside, have be-come, in course of time, the property oftheir immediate participants, who, in turn,became leaders of further changes.

Social partners would join those reforma-tory actions in a very insufficient way.Membership of programme steering com-mittees together with representatives ofgovernment bodies of relevance to voca-tional education and training, was to bea key instrument for their participation.The committee membership was, how-ever, a mere formality, and, in fact, thosecircles did not have any significant im-pact on the implementation of the pro-grammes or promotion of their outcomes.Both employers’ organisations and tradeunions are engaged, above all, in tack-ling current problems of economic trans-formation.

Legal and institutional framework.

The new legal framework has, undoubt-edly, paved way for reform activities.Many a time, however, consistent policyin this respect has been missing, both in

“Foreign assistance was atthat stage considered, fromthe present perspective na-ively, as the motive, bothintellectual and financial,for educational reforms.Foreign assistance pro-grammes indeed began ma-jor innovative activities inPolish vocational educa-tion, yet they were unable tomeet such high expecta-tions (…)”


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the design and delivery of those actions.The curriculum reforms have encounterednotable difficulties, with the legal frame-work subjected to changes. Work on thecurricula under the programmes referredto above was carried out at the time ofthere not being a definitive vision of sys-temic instruments in place that wouldregulate the introduction of curricula toschools. As a result, the work was welladvanced, or indeed completed, upon thenew curricula under international assist-ance programmes, at the time when newregulations were introduced in 1995. Atthe moment it is still unclear to what ex-tent they will have to be amended in or-der to meet the requirements of the cur-riculum reform, notably because basecurricula, the key instrument for the re-form, have not, as yet, been endorsed. Insuch circumstances, trial implementationof the results of international projects wasonly possible on a limited scale, thanksto the legal provision of the Minister ofEducation’s ordinance of 1993 pertainingto schools’ innovative and experimentalactivity.

On the other hand, work under the pro-grammes in question had commencedbefore the new institutional framework forcurriculum development activity was es-tablished in 1993. Therefore, work ontraining curricula within the programmesin question had to be carried out, for afairly long time, only by teams set up byprogramme providers. When the afore-mentioned national bodies were calledinto being, contacts were established withthem, not at all free from controversiesover the different approaches to the sub-ject of their work, and ones concerning,for example, the applicability of modularcurricula developed under intentionalprogrammes to the school system.

The scope of changes

New approaches to curriculum develop-ment, introduced into the Polish voca-tional training system under internationalprogrammes, are, for the time being, in-novations on a limited scale, both as re-gards their contents, as they only coverpart of the training curricula offered byPolish vocational schools, and their scope,as only a limited number of pilot schoolsare involved in implementation. There-fore, one cannot consider outcomes of the

programmes in question as a complete re-form, even with reference to some lim-ited segment of educational activity. Atthis stage, they can hardly be consideredpart of a wider plan for a national reformof vocational education system, with thelack of a strategy for such general reformand of resources necessary for its deliv-ery. On the other hand, however, at thepilot school level, actions undertakenunder those programmes are of quite acomplex nature. With the experience ofUPET, the subsequent projects (IMPROVEand MOVE), were designed in such a waysuch that implementation of new curriculawas accompanied by all relevant support-ing actions, including provision of equip-ment necessary for successful delivery ofthose curricula.

How, then, to evaluate the scope ofchange brought about by the programmesin question, and what are perspectives fortheir wider implementation? At the mo-ment, we undoubtedly have scarce “is-lands of excellence”. The question iswhether a situation analogous to the onedescribed by Schumacher (1974) is immi-nent:

“One can successfully carry out a projecthere or there. It is always possible to cre-ate small ultra-modern islands in a pre-industrial society. But such islands willthen have to be defended, like fortresses,and provisioned, as it were, by helicopterfrom far away, or they will be flooded bythe surrounding sea.”

One can hardly provide a clear answer tothis query. An optimistic view holds it thatthose “island schools” will radiate andstimulate change elsewhere. So far, pro-gramme managers have registered many asign supporting the view - trial schools arewell known in their towns and regions,enjoy a growing popularity with studentsand parents; other schools demonstrateinterest in introducing similar changes intotheir curricula. On the other hand, how-ever, formal obstacles hindering promo-tion of results of the programmes in ques-tion have not been removed yet, and,moreover, there is still a deficit of materialresources for performing - on a wider scale- such a complex and cost-intensive exer-cise. National economy, now a factor ofmeagre presence, will, in the future, havea decisive impact on the reform of voca-

“(…) formal obstacles hin-dering promotion of resultsof the programmes in ques-tion have not been removedyet, and, moreover, there isstill a deficit of material re-sources for performing - ona wider scale - such a com-plex and cost-intensive ex-ercise.”


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tional education in general, and on theoutcomes of the programmes in questionin particular. In fact, only through continu-ing economic growth and the taking overof at least part of the responsibility for vo-cational training by economic actors, con-ditions conducive for such reform can becreated.

Strategies for programme design andimplementation

Finally, some practical aspects relating tothe design and implementation of the pro-grammes in question will be discussed.All those undertakings had to apply pro-cedures, binding for PHARE projects,which regulate their design, approval andimplementation. The centralised nature ofPHARE, especially at the early stage, anddirect transfer of European Union tenderregulations, hindered effective delivery ofprogrammes. The obstacles included:

❏ too big a time gap between the con-cept and the delivery of the programme.The eighteen-month waiting period as wassometimes the case, vis-à-vis rapid eco-nomic and political changes, would ne-cessitate modification of the programmeat the very outset, which, in turn, delayedits implementation because of the proce-dures that had to be applied again;

❏ time-intensity of tender procedures,and the frequent need to employ typicallycommercial institutions. Institutions par-ticipating in tenders would demonstrate,in most cases, a clearly commercial ap-proach whereas recipients were interestedin co-operating with institutions with suf-ficient know-how to perform a givenproject, but also with experience of in-troducing educational change and onesinterested in longer-term contacts. Unfor-tunately, VET institutions supporting stateeducational systems, were rare partici-pants of tenders, probably due to lack ofinterest, or to inertia hindering a speedyreaction to the invitation to tender, thelatter not having been the case with com-mercial companies;

❏ problems with remunerating local ex-perts and other local staff. It happenedthat well-paid Western experts wouldpartner underpaid, or indeed unpaid, lo-cal staff, as there was no way of payingfor services provided by the latter.

The aforement ioned ci rcumstanceswould require much effort on the partof Polish institutions in charge of pro-gramme implementation in order to avoida situation of programme results beingmerely an imported commodity, unfit forthe local conditions. Basically, local ex-perts with experience of recipients’ needswould be invited to provide their input,and, with the initial formal problemsovercome, their work would be ad-equately paid for, as was the rule inIMROVE or MOVE. In those programmes,foreign experts played an advisory rolerather than the role of immediate serv-ice providers.

There is another problem typical of cur-riculum development programmes, aninherent contradiction, described byKomorowska (1995) as follows:

“The dilemma is about

❏ the necessity for a thorough, long-termwork on the design and implementation,

❏ the necessity to quickly react to cur-riculum needs of the education.

The practice usually demands speedy com-pletion of work on the curriculum, imme-diate publication of documents andprompt implementation, since such are theeducation’s needs and such timetables aredictated by budgets of these projects.”

In the case of international assistanceprogrammes, where the speed of disburs-ing money is frequently the key indica-tor of success for donors, and local au-thorities expect prompt results, the con-tradiction is even more manifest. Gener-ally, with the programmes in question,application of a long-term perspectiveindispensable in order to avoid the afore-mentioned dilemma, was not possible.Continuation of actions originated underone programme in another programme,as was the case with UPET and IMPROVE,offered a partial solution to the problem.However, such a possibility did not ap-pear in the case of MOVE, which did nothave a follow-up; there is no guaranteethat the next stage of evaluation of trialimplementation and introducing correc-tive actions, indispensable from themethodological point of view, will at allbe delivered.


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Conclusion

A final evaluation of the legacy of theprogrammes in question which were de-livered in Poland, thanks to foreign aid,from 1990 to 1996, will, to a great ex-tend, depend on how the results will beutilised. However, even now, the follow-ing lessons can be drawn from their im-plementation:

❏ the initial stage of system transforma-tion in Poland has shown that economygoes first. The issue of the educationalsystem reform, and vocational educationand training reform in particular, did notin that period become a priority in thestate’s policy. Therefore, foreign assist-ance programmes can be consideredmerely as limited actions aiming at pre-paring such a reform;

❏ the curriculum development pro-grammes in question faced another ma-jor difficulty, namely, actions towards theestablishment of a state system of co-ordinating vocational curriculum develop-ment activities lagged behind curriculumdevelopment activities carried out underthose programmes. The issue had notbeen recognised at the programme de-sign stage, and, as a consequence, becamethe main risk factor threatening their suc-cess;

❏ the programmes in question, althoughinitiated centrally, were, in fact, decen-tralised trials in a group of pilot schools.Completion of a full cycle of design andimplementation, and creation of a mecha-

nism for dissemination is a prerequisitefor the success of such undertaking. Al-though wide dissemination can be car-ried out only centrally, it is essential thatthe decentralised project of this type becomplete methodologically.

The work of teams, with foreign expertsas advisors rather than immediate actors,turned out to be highly effective, both asregards the quality of the product, andadjustment of the product to the Polishcircumstances and to the speed of work.In addition, the establishment of a pro-reform lobby among participants of theprogrammes and their recipients was animportant side-effect.

The involvement of Polish institutions,and, particularly, of Polish experts, in thenetwork of international co-operation,was yet another side-effect of the pro-grammes, this constituting a good pointof entry to further co-operation underEuropean Union education programmessuch as Leonardo Da Vinci.

The European Commission’s co-ordina-tion and management of the PHARE-funded programmes had almost entirelya bureaucratic character. Therefore, theestablishment and the operation of theEuropean Training Foundation offers anopportunity for the strengthening of themerits of the activity. The direction thisinstitution will take in its further devel-opment - will it become an extension ofthe Brussels bureaucracy, or will it becapable of exercising genuine expert role- will determine whether this will be thecase.

Coombs P.H., The World Educational Crisis. A Sys-tem Analysis, IIEP, Williamsburg 1967.

Grootings P. et al.: Training in transition: Com-parative analysis and proposals for the moderniza-tion of vocational education and training in Poland,CEDEFOP and BKKK, Berlin 1993.

Komorowska H., Konstrukcja, realizacja i ewaluac-ja programu nauczania (in Polish) , Instytut BadañEdukacyjnych, Warsaw 1995.

Parkes D., Curriculum content and delivery in vo-cational education and training: How can Polandbest benefit from the experience of other Europeancountries?, Task Force for Training and Human Re-sources (BKKK), Warsaw 1992.

Radziwill A., The Open Society, No. 12/94

Schumacher E.F., Small is Beautiful - A Study ofEconomics as if People Mattered, ABACUS, London1974.

References

“The work of teams, withforeign experts as advisorsrather than immediate ac-tors, turned out to be highlyeffective, both as regardsthe quality of the product,and adjustment of the prod-uct to the Polish circum-stances and to the speed ofwork.”


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Laszlo AlexFederal Institute forVocational Training(BIBB)

German-Hungarian co-operation to supportHungarian reforms invocational training

Many social areas in Hungary have de-veloped an impressive dynamic forcesince 1990. This also applies to vocationaltraining. Several reforms have alreadybeen implemented or are well on the way,some would merely appear to be. Be-fore outlining the main developments invocational training in Hungary, a descrip-tion will be given of German-Hungarianco-operation.

Vocational traininginstitutions

Besides grammar schools, the Hungarianeducation system has three importantvocational training institutions in the fieldof secondary education, level ll. Theyhave remained for the most part un-changed for decades. They are skilledworker schools, intermediate technicalschools and vocational schools, includ-ing specialised vocational schools.

In this group the most important are theskilled worker schools which also havethe longest tradition. Up to 1949 theywere responsible for the vocational schoolelement of “dual-system” training. As inthe former German Democratic Republic(GDR), “dual-system” training was initiallycentred in Hungary on small and medium-sized enterprises but gradually shiftedtowards large socialist conglomerates.This led to changes in the role of theschool. Registration in school replacedthe apprenticeship contract with a com-pany. Vocational schools were respon-sible for organising training and enteredinto agreements or arrangements withcompanies for practical training. Since

1997 there has been a uniform trainingduration of three years. Training coversmore than two hundred skilled workeroccupations.

The intermediate technical schools havea very varied history. They developedfrom the earlier technical schools. Theywere introduced as an experiment in thesixties and since the mid-seventies theyhave been introduced generally. Inter-mediate technical schools offer vocationaltraining lasting four years, which followson from primary school (until recentlyschooling lasted eight years), leading tothe univers i ty entrance cer t i f icate .Whereas in the case of commercial andservice training this form was maintainedup to the beginning of the nineties, theeighties saw a new direction in technical-commercial training. The two first schoolyears were used to teach occupation-re-lated basic training. After that there werethree possibilities: acquisition of theskilled worker leaving certificate after oneyear, the university entrance certificateand the skilled worker certificate after afurther year and a technician’s diplomaafter three years, or a total of thirteenyears at school.

Below the level of the intermediate tech-nical school, there were the three-yearschools in the health sector and the two-year schools for typing and shorthand.Both types of schools have lost a consid-erable amount of ground due to compe-tition from the intermediate technicalschools. The specialised vocationalschools introduced in the mid-eighties fordisadvantaged young people (but laterwere opened to everyone) were of onlyminor importance up to 1989.

“Besides grammar schools,the Hungarian educationsystem has three importantvocational training institu-tions in the field of second-ary education, level ll. (…)They are skilled workerschools, intermediate tech-nical schools and voca-tional schools, includingspecialised vocationalschools.”

Many social areas in Hun-gary have developed an im-pressive dynamic forcesince 1990. This also ap-plies to vocational training.Several reforms have al-ready been implemented orare well on the way, somewould merely appear to be.Before outlining the maindevelopments in vocationaltraining in Hungary, a de-scription will be given ofGerman-Hungarian co-op-eration.


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Problems at the time ofthe peaceful revolution

The main problems at the time of thepeaceful revolution were that Hungarianvocational training was highly specialisedand that it encompassed approximately sixhundred certificates. The educational andtraining curricula were mostly antiquated.There was a shortage of trainers both inschools and in companies who were ableto teach modern technologies coupled withnew methodological approaches. Voca-tional training was very much centred onschools; practical training was badly ne-glected. There was no vocational trainingwhich catered for the needs of small andmedium-sized enterprises. There was alsovery little occupational guidance and ca-reers advice for the general schools. Norwas there any socio-pedagogical care atall for young people with learning diffi-culties. All these shortcomings led to highdrop-out rates: at the end of the eighties13%-14% of grammar school pupils, 17%-18% of pupils at intermediate technicalschools and approximately 24% of pupilsin skilled worker schools dropped out oftheir training

The economic and social conditions afterthe peaceful revolution were not condu-cive to a new start in vocational training.The economic situation had worsenedconsiderably by the beginning of the nine-ties and even today there is no sign ofextensive economic recovery. The dis-mantling of the large state combines andunprofitable companies as well as pro-duction co-operatives led to a major dropin the number of in-company trainingworkshop places.

Furthermore, the major social precondi-tions for a new beginning in vocationaltraining had not been met. Neither em-ployers nor trade unions viewed voca-tional training as their business, nor wasthere a parliamentary basis for vocationaltraining.

Goals of modernisation

This situation, as well as the overall ar-chitecture of political transition in Hun-gary, was directed after 1989 to the adap-tation, upgrading and modernisation of

the institutional infrastructure but not toradical change. This also applies to vo-cational training. The political directionwas determined not by a move away fromthe previous institutions but rather by theirsystematic change and extension. As aresult the following goals were set:

❏ to return “dual-system” training to theforms it took prior to the Second WorldWar;

❏ to introduces a new type of interme-diate technical school in which there wasto be a consolidation of general educa-tion in the first two years, occupation-specific basic training in the third andfourth years and occupational specialisa-tion in the fifth year (with the technician’sdiploma as the final certificate);

❏ to set up a regional network of initialand continuing training centres to offerservices in the field of occupational guid-ance (in a similar manner to the careersguidance centres of the German FederalLabour Office) and to focus on the re-training of the unemployed and qualifi-cations for the unskilled;

❏ to extend nationwide institutions inthe field of training for people at a disad-vantage in which more in-depth generaltraining was to be linked to vocationalpreparation;

❏ finally, to set up courses for grammarschool leavers who did not want or couldnot gain access to universities (this usedto be more than half of school-leavers).

Work on achieving these goals began inthe following years and, in some cases,has been successfully completed. Onemilestone was the Vocational Training Actadopted in 1993, which assigns responsi-bility for practical training to industry. Anextensive programme to review trainingcurricula for skilled worker training wasalso successfully launched.

Furthermore, curricula and teaching aidsfor courses for the disadvantaged weredeveloped and disseminated. In 1992there were already more than three hun-dred institutes involved in training for thedisadvantaged. The number of traineesrose from just under 1,000 in 1989 to14,000 in 1993.

“The economic and socialconditions after the peace-ful revolution were not con-ducive to a new start in vo-cational training. The eco-nomic situation had wors-ened considerably by thebeginning of the ninetiesand even today there is nosign of extensive economicrecovery.”


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With the help of a loan from the WorldBank (later also with assistance from thePHARE programme of the European Un-ion), the first steps were taken to mod-ernise the intermediate technical schools,particularly by dismantling their over-specialisation in 1990/91. Most traineestoday obtain a technician’s diploma aftertaking their secondary school leaving cer-tificate.

One central point in the reforms: theplanned shift in practical training withinthe “dual-system” could not be undertakenon the desired scale. Institutions of im-portance for vocational training such asemployee-employer associations andchambers are themselves still at the de-velopment stage. They do not yet havethe corresponding infrastructure or thenecessary experts. What is missing onthe state side, too, is a clear commitmentto the “philosophy of consensus-building”and to the involvement of both sides ofindustry.

The following graph on the entry of pu-pils into secondary education, level ll,gives an overview of the latest develop-ments in education (cf. Fig. 1: Pupils infirst year in secondary education, level ll).

German-Hungarianco-operation

The German-Hungarian programmefor the initial and continuing training ofskilled workers is accompanying the Hun-garian reform process. Co-operation be-tween the two countries began in thespring of 1990. In March 1990 the thenministers of foreign affairs signed a gov-ernment agreement for five years (whichhas since been extended) on closer co-operation in the initial and continuingtraining of skilled workers and middlemanagement in industry, and in vocationaltraining research. Together with thisagreement, a first annual programme wasapproved.

In order to prepare the annual pro-gramme, including its later evaluation andfurther development, the joint German-Hungarian Economic Commission set upin June 1990 an expert group for the ini-tial and continuing training of skilledworkers and middle management (led bythe German Ministry for Foreign Affairsand the Hungarian Ministry of CulturalAffairs). The expert group met for thefirst time in Bonn at the end of Novem-

Specialised vocational school

Vocational school(health, typing, shorthand)

Skilled worker school

Intermediate school

Grammar school

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

22.0

24.0

29.0

31.0

45.0

37.0

3.0

2.0

0.5

6.0

1989/90 1995/96

“(...) the planned shift inpractical training withinthe “dual-system” could notbe undertaken on the de-sired scale. Institutions ofimportance for vocationaltraining such as employee-employer associations andchambers are themselvesstill at the developmentstage.”

“The German-Hungarianprogramme for the initialand continuing training ofskilled workers is accom-panying the Hungarian re-form process.”

Fig. 1: Pupils in first year of secondary education, level II


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ber 1990. Since then it has met at leastonce a year in one of the two countries.

At its first meeting two sub-groups of theexpert group were set up because of thedifferent contents and partnership struc-tures: one for the initial and continuingtraining of middle management (led bythe German Ministry for Foreign Affairsand the Hungarian Ministry of CulturalAffairs) and one for the initial and con-tinuing training of skilled workers (led bythe German Ministry for Education, Sci-ence, Research and Technology, and theHungarian Ministry of Labour).

This article focuses on the programme ofthe Federal Ministry for Education, Sci-ence, Research and Technology (set upin 1995) and the programme of the Hun-garian Ministry of Labour responsible forvocational training. Furthermore, institu-tional support for Hungarian vocationaltraining (professional associations andcommunes) has been granted by the Fed-eral Ministry for Economic Co-operationsince 1990.

The main contents of the first programmewhich began in 1991 include the follow-ing, listed according to the numbers whoattended or by the level of funding:

❏ information events particularly in thefield of craft trade training;

❏ continuing training for technical teach-ers and trainers;

❏ language courses and seminars;

❏ curriculum and teaching-aid develop-ment, teaching resources.

Co-operation in vocational training re-search is restricted mainly to the mutualexchange of information between theFederal Institute for Vocational Trainingand the National Institute for VocationalTraining (NSZI), set up in October 1990,and to the staging of the first German-Hungarian seminar on updating commer-cial training in Hungary.

One major achievement in 1991 was thecementing of partnership contacts be-tween the CDG (Carl Duisberg Society),BIBB (Federal Institute for VocationalTraining), ZDH (Central Association of

German Craft Trades) from Germany, andthe Hungarian National Institute for Vo-cational Training, and IPOSZ (HungarianCraft Trade Association) on the otherhand, which created a sound basis for co-operation which has been maintained upto now. Institutional co-operation wasmade considerably easier by the reformof the Hungarian Government in 1990.This delegated responsibility for voca-tional training, which had been frag-mented until then, to the Ministry of La-bour.

In 1991 there was the opening of the firstvocational training institute for the met-alworking, electrical engineering andwood-processing industries using Germanfunds. This is the commercial technicaltraining institute of Budapest (GTV).Another important step in German-Hun-garian co-operation in 1991 was theHungarodidact (October 1991). This isthe first Hungarian trade fair for teachingand learning resources opened by theGerman Federal Minister of Education,Ortleb. This was a joint German-Hun-garian venture (and has continued as suchin the following years).

Areas of co-operation

From 1992 onwards the programme ofGerman-Hungarian co-operation in voca-tional training was consolidated throughthe systematic tackling of selected areas.These areas were closely related to thereform measures in the run up to the par-liamentary consideration of the Hungar-ian Vocational Training Act adopted in thesummer of 1993 and also in its implemen-tation. The areas of co-operation are con-sidered below:

Curriculum and teaching aids devel-opment in selected occupational areas

In the first phase work focused princi-pally on updating craft trade training.From 1993 onwards this work - on theGerman side by the Federal Institute forVocational Training and on the Hungar-ian side by the National Institute for Vo-cational Training - has involved system-atically reviewing the inventory of state-recognised t ra ining programmes

“One major achievement in1991 was the cementing ofpartnership contacts be-tween the CDG (CarlDuisberg Society), BIBB(Federal Institute for Voca-tional Training), ZDH (Cen-tral Association of GermanCraft Trades) from Ger-many, and the HungarianNational Institute for Voca-tional Training, and IPOSZ(Hungarian Craft TradeAssociation) on the otherhand, which created asound basis for co-opera-tion which has been main-tained up to now.”

“From 1992 onwards theprogramme of German-Hungarian co-operation invocational training wasconsolidated through thesystematic tackling of se-lected areas.”


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(Orszagos Képzése), which was first pub-lished in December 1993 and has sincebeen revised several times.

In the beginning important areas of co-operation were electrical, metal-workingand building occupations. Later they werejoined by occupations in banking, insur-ance, commerce and industrial administra-tion. In 1994 this work was extended totraining in the field of environmental pro-tection. The work is done by bi-nationalworking groups under the aegis of the re-sponsible expert from the programme de-velopment department of the National In-stitute for Vocational Training. In the work-ing groups the Hungarian draft occupa-tional and test requirements are comparedand adapted to the corresponding Germantraining ordinances and the correspond-ing occupational recommendations of theEU (CEDEFOP Correspondence List).

Support for innovative training insti-tutions

The measures covered or cover three ar-eas. The first is a support for inter-com-pany training. This measure is designedmainly to help craft trade training in Hun-gary which, like eastern Germany, facesmajor challenges given the different eco-nomic situation and the ensuing changesin training, for instance, the disappear-ance of large company training sites. Inrecent years inter-company training cen-tres for craft trades have been set up withGerman support at several sites in Hun-gary. These training centres offer sup-plementary training to school instructionand practical in-company training. Thesetraining centres are also used for the train-ing of multipliers such as teachers andtrainers. One particularly successful ex-ample is training for the building indus-try with the support of the inter-companytraining centre of the Hans Seidel Foun-dation in Pécs. In 1996 the first bricklay-ers and carpenters successfully completedtheir training there.

In June 1996 a joint seminar of the Hun-garian Vocational Training Institute, theFederal Institute for Vocational Trainingand the Hans Seidel Foundation was heldin Pécs to discuss the experience andproblems of these centres. After the semi-nar the four craft trade training centreswere evaluated and the results were pre-

sented for discussion at a further seminarin Budapest at the end of March 1997.

The second area for support for innova-tive training institutions had to do withtraining for the disadvantaged, an areawhich had been considerably neglectedin Hungary before the peaceful revolu-tion. With German help several trainingcentres for disadvantaged young peoplehave been set up in the last few years.The goal is to provide at least broad ba-sic training in one of the metalworking,wood processing, textile or domestic sci-ence occupations.

The Augsburg and Hungarian Kolpingassociations deserve special mention. Co-operation extends to curriculum develop-ment, particularly in the field of the vo-cational preparation year modelled on theGerman system.

The third area of measures had or has todo with support for commercial trainingin industrial enterprises, which was con-siderably neglected under socialism, anda shortage of commercial staff could befelt everywhere especially after the eco-nomic turnaround. At the suggestion andwith the major support of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Com-merce, dual training for industrial clerkswas launched in 1994 in German! Thefirst trainees completed the course in June1996. (Since 1995 this training has beenextended from industrial clerks to whole-sale, retail and banking clerks). Germanfunds were used not only to support theorganisational side, including curriculumdevelopment modelled on the GermanTraining Ordinance for industrial clerks,but also for in-school training as a whole,including the secondment of a Germancommercial teacher. The in-companytraining was mainly done by German com-panies in Budapest. It is very much tobe hoped that this pilot project will beenthusiastically imitated.

Further training for specialised teach-ers and trainers

Since the beginning of the German-Hun-garian programme this measure has beenof particular importance.

Whereas at the beginning general infor-mation seminars and trips were predomi-


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nant, there has since been a shift to-wards specialised further training. Amajor share of this has to do with spe-cialised further training for teaching staffin craft trade training and preparation forthe master examination which is to bere-introduced in Hungary. Another fo-cus of work was the qualification of edu-cational staff and trainers in institutionsfor the disadvantaged and handicappedyoung people (the latter under the sup-port programme of the Federal Ministryfor Labour).

Qualification aids for trainees andyoung skilled workers

From the very beginning this schemecould not reach the scale desired by theHungarians. They wanted to send asmany apprentice classes as possible toGermany for practical training lasting sev-eral weeks. This was to carry on thetradition of the bilateral agreement withmany GDR vocational schools prior to thepeaceful revolution. However, an ex-change of several hundred apprentices peryear could not be undertaken either forfinancial or organisational reasons (prob-lems of looking after them, etc). A sig-nificant exchange of apprentices couldonly be undertaken in the field of cater-ing. Furthermore, under the aegis of theCarl Duisberg Society, a grant programmehas been launched for further trainingspanning several months in Germany foryoung Hungarian skilled workers directlyon completion of their training.

Support for co-operation in vocationaltraining based on social partnership

The economic changes, the emergence ofnew social associations both on the em-ployer and employee side and the reformsintroduced in vocational training whichled to the Vocational Training Act in 1993and the Chamber Act of 1994, creatednew links for co-operation in vocationaltraining based on social partnership. Theyalso revealed a major need on the Hun-garian side for corresponding experienceand regulations from Germany. Seminarsand study trips for the tri-partite Hungar-ian Vocational Training Council (OrszágosSzakképzési Tanács) marked the begin-ning. The training of chamber staff andthe staff of professional associations is thecontinuation of this today.

Co-operation in vocational trainingresearch

Thanks to the foundation of the Hungar-ian National Institute for Vocational Train-ing in 1990, there is a tried and testedpartner for co-operation and research,something which is painfully missing insome Eastern and Central European coun-tries. Co-operation between it and theFederal Institute for Vocational Trainingis varied and was anchored by a co-op-eration treaty in 1993. This extends tothe staging of numerous joint seminars,particularly within the framework of theupdating of Hungarian curricula, thepreparation of a technical German-Hun-garian glossary and the development of astatistical data and information system.BIBB members of staff are also involvedas consultants in the setting up of theHungarian Vocational Training Institute.

Summary and prospects

The programmes enjoying German finan-cial support came to a close in 1997. Sev-eral hundred Hungarian experts had anopportunity to collect experience aboutthe German vocational training systemand to examine its transferability to theHungarian situation. This led to manypersonal contacts which can be tappedin the next, by no means less difficult,phase of consolidating Hungarian voca-tional training.

The reforms have still to be really put tothe test. The shift of responsibility forpractical training to industry could onlybe partially implemented because of thegeneral economic problems and the lam-entable lack of interest of companies intraining. This triggered some develop-ments which ran counter to the originalreforms. One being the emergence of ablack market for training places. Thecompanies do not pay a training allow-ance for the duration of training, as pro-vided for in the Vocational Training Act,but rather they sell the training places tothe parents who offer the most money.This is possible because the chambersresponsible for monitoring in-companytraining cannot (yet) fulfil this obligationowing to a lack of funds and staff. Thelegislator has introduced compulsory

“The reforms have still to bereally put to the test. Theshift of responsibility forpractical training to indus-try could only be partiallyimplemented because of thegeneral economic problemsand the lamentable lack ofinterest of companies intraining.”


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membership for companies in chambersand the financing of these chambers bymembership contributions. However,public support for the chambers duringthe initial phase was insufficient.

The low level of training activity in theprivate sector triggered a campaign toextend the number of places in schoolsrequired for practical training. In somecases this involved support from the com-munes or from the centrally administeredVocational Training Fund (1% - 1.5% ofthe payroll must be paid by companiesinto a central vocational training fund).The share of practical training places invocational schools rose from 14% in 1991to 34% in 1996.

This development brings with it two dis-advantages: firstly, training courses are onoffer for which there is no or insufficientdemand in industry and, secondly, manyin-school learning workshops are mutat-ing into small production plants. This alsohas to do with the fact that they, them-selves, have to bear the running costs ofthe training places. This means that thetraining is often overshadowed by pro-duction. This does, however, bring withit the recognised advantage of learningin a real life situation in the form of use-ful work. On the other hand, growingcompetition between schools is the posi-tive side of this development. The schoolsknow that in the long term they will onlyattract enough trainees if they can offerattractive trainee programmes which aretailored to the regional labour market.

There are two other factors which are stum-bling blocks to the implementation of re-forms in vocational training. The raisingof compulsory schooling from eight to tenyears, linked with the introduction of uni-form national basic curriculum modelledon the English system (Nemzeti alaptan-

terv, NAT), was delayed by two years un-til 1996. In the national basic curriculumthere is only provision for instruction ingeneral subjects for the ninth and tenthyears in the general schools.

The consequences of the implementationof the national basic curriculum and theapplying of the general school obligationto vocational training are only being takenaccount of in a hesitant manner even to-day. Many vocational schools (skilledworker schools) are trying to take overthe ninth and tenth years of generalschools in order to maintain their attend-ance levels and thus, by extension, savetheir schools. It is likely that the exten-sion of compulsory schooling, the changesdescribed above in the curriculum and theupdating of intermediate technical edu-cation with the support of the World Bankand the PHARE programme, will furtherincrease the trend towards higher levelschools and the final school leaving cer-tificate. Whereas in 1992 approximately35% of school leavers had passed the fi-nal school leaving examination and 43%had a skilled worker certificate (the re-mainder had a lower school certificate orno school certificate at all ), by the year2000 it is expected that 68% of pupils willattend grammar schools and intermedi-ate technical schools (specialised gram-mar schools), 25% skilled worker schoolsand 7% will leave school without any for-mal qualification. The answer to the ques-tion as to whether this structure will dojustice to future demand for labour is atthe very least open to question.

A further problem for vocational trainingis the high level of unemploymentamongst young people which not onlyundermines the advantages of vocationaltraining but has so far also prevented theextension of systematic continuing train-ing which builds on prior initial training.


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Modernisation and re-form of vocational edu-cation and training inEstonia - A case study

Martin DoddLong-term technical

advisor to the EUPHARE Vocational

Educational andTraining Reform,

Programme Manage-ment Unit (PMU) in

Estonia

Following the collapse ofthe former economic andpolitical system, Estonia setabout the task of rebuildingthe state, democratic insti-tutions and restoring a nor-mal and productive freemarket economy. Alongwith these national priori-ties, the government recog-nised the need to modern-ise and reform its educationprovision in response to thenew economic realities ofthe market economy. Thistask had to be undertakenduring a period of severestructural crises within theeconomy. Consequently thefinancing of the educationalreform process had to beresourced mainly throughbilateral and internationalassistance programmes in-cluding the EU PHARE pro-gramme.

Economic transition

Estonia’s economic transition to a marketeconomy has been both rapid and suc-cessful to date. After free elections in 1992,the new government implemented boldeconomic reforms including rapid liber-alisation of prices, tariff-free, open tradepolicies, privatisation and the introduc-tion of a stable and fully convertible na-tional currency.

Estonian foreign policy is based onreintegration as quickly as possible intoEuropean structures. A free trade treatywith the European Union was signed in1994 and an Association Agreement a yearlater. Estonia appears likely to be amongthe next wave of new EU members. Witha steady growth rate of 4 to 6 per cent peryear, Estonia has the fastest growingeconomy in northern Europe. The coun-try has a diverse range of industries in-cluding wood products, food stuffs, elec-tronic goods, textiles and chemicals. Halfof the GDP is produced by the servicessector, especially tourism. 65% of GDP nowcomes from the private sector - one of thehighest levels in Central and Eastern Eu-rope. Inflation continues to fall from 452%in the first half of 1992, to a projected 15%in 1997. During this period, trade with theWest has grown by over 500%. There areover 8,700 fully or partly foreign-ownedcompanies, and the total value of foreigndirect investments into Estonia is over US$700 million.

A sector in the economy faced with ma-jor challenges is agriculture. Output is de-clining due to the abolition of all quotas,tariffs and other barriers to agriculturalimports. Land reform has been slow andmajor issues on land ownership remainto be overcome. This has adversely af-fected investment in the farm sector.

Education and trainingin Estonia

Up to the re-independence of Estonia, theeducation system was a part of the sys-tem of the USSR, characterised by strongcentralisation, and a pyramidal manage-ment hierarchy. As a rule, decrees wereissued from Moscow, usually the all-un-ion Ministry of Culture and Education andthe all-union Academy of Pedagogy. Evenas part of the Soviet Union, Estonian edu-cation has always had a face of its own.Estonians were able to maintain somedegree of independence in educationalmatters. The best illustration is the exist-ence of many original Estonian textbooks.Schools used original study aids compiledby Estonian authors, and large-scale dif-ferentiation of education (specialisedclasses, experimental classes, art and lan-guage biased schools) took place in So-viet times. Furthermore, Estonia suc-ceeded in establishing an indigenous na-tional school as ‘a school experiment’ inthe educational system of the Soviet Un-ion.

The current system of education providespre-school education in kindergartens,general education in primary and basicschools and gymnasia (upper secondarygeneral schools), vocational educationand higher education at universities andinstitutions of applied higher education(non-university). The instructional lan-guage is either Estonian or Russian in alltypes of schools (some 30% of the popu-lation is ethnic Russian).

Estonia has been very active in the re-form of its education and training system.Since 1992 there have been no fewer thaneight new laws on education and train-ing covering such issues as private


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“Although the overallnumber of students in post-compulsory upper-second-ary education is increasing,the number opting for voca-tional education and train-ing is falling. Some 63% ofyoung people stay on ingeneral education, com-pared to 36.1% in voca-tional education and train-ing. This trend reflects therelatively low prestige ofvocational education in so-ciety.”

“The EU vocational educa-tion and reform project be-gan in September 1995 andends in December 1997. Itsoverall objective is to ‘sup-port the development,preparation and restruc-turing of human capital inand for enterprises andpublic entities as requiredby the economic and socialreform programme’.”

schools, primary and secondary educa-tion, adult education, science manage-ment, universities and hobby schools, aswell as the law on vocational educationalinstitutions, passed in 1996, but still inthe process of implementation.

The overall objective of the reform proc-ess in vocational education and trainingis to design and implement a comprehen-sive system, covering both initial and con-tinuing training, which responds to thechanging demands of the labour marketand with a view to EU accession. Initialvocational education and training is theresponsibility of the Minstry of Educationwhich governs the system’s developmentand planning, develops the national cur-ricula, approves and supervises certifica-tion. The law on vocational institutionsregulates their activities, the ways andterms of acquiring vocational education,the school management principles, the fi-nancing and use of the school property,the rights and obligations of the schoolcommunity. There are currently 91 edu-cational institutions providing vocationaleducation in Estonia, of which 10 are pri-vate.

In 1995/96 there were 30,000 students atnational vocational educational institu-tions. Although the overall number of stu-dents in post-compulsory upper-second-ary education is increasing, the numberopting for vocational education and train-ing is falling. Some 63% of young peoplestay on in general education, comparedto 36.1% in vocational education and train-ing. This trend reflects the relatively lowprestige of vocational education in soci-ety. However, there have been significantdevelopments affecting vocational educa-tion and training in the tertiary sector.Since 1991, 20 new state and privateschools for tertiary (applied higher) edu-cation have been opened Most of thesenew institutions provide programmesleading to an advanced professional quali-fication, and provide an alternative to theacademic stream of universities.

Costs for education and training are fullymet at the state level. Although the lawprovides that schools receive private fund-ing both from companies and individu-als, this is presently at a low level. A spe-cial fund has been proposed, financedthrough a levy of a 3% tax on employers.

Two-thirds would be used for training byemployers and one-third for distributionby the capital committee. However, thereis also a developing private sector. Pri-vate educational institutions serve as analternative to the existing state schoolsand there are many fee-based courses inEstonia.

Although the law provides for vocationalschools to offer flexible short-term up-grading and re-training for adults, a co-herent national training policy, compris-ing both initial and continuing training,does not yet exist. Neither is there a train-ing system for the unemployed or redun-dant workers. However, the network ofeducational institutions for adults in Es-tonia has increased rapidly. Over 40 state-supported adult education institutionshave been established in the last fewyears. Many of these are based on pri-vate initiatives and focus mainly on man-agement and foreign language training.The state budget of 1996 includes a smallsum for funding planned adult education

The EU vocational educa-tion and reform project inEstonia

The work of pilot projects and the dis-semination of their results plays an im-portant role in the reform process in Es-tonia. Many of the pilot projects are setup in the context of European and bilat-eral contacts, providing technical assist-ance and financial support.

The EU vocational education and reformproject began in September 1995 and endsin December 1997. Its overall objective isto “support the development, preparationand restructuring of human capital in andfor enterprises and public entities as re-quired by the economic and social reformprogramme”. It is overseen by a steeringcommittee, which brings together a rangeof different interests and comprises repre-sentatives from the Education, Social Af-fairs, Economic Planning, and Agricultureministries, as well as school directors, andrepresentatives from employers and tradeunions. The European Training Founda-tion is responsible for the overall manage-ment and co-ordination of the project. Itworks closely with the independent Pro-


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“Partnerships with voca-tional institutions in the Eu-ropean Union have been es-tablished to ensure an ex-change of experience andknow-how in the design andimplementation of new cur-ricula.”

gramme Management Unit ( PMU ), estab-lished by the Ministry of Education. ThePMU is composed of local staff and tech-nical support is provided by FAS (the Train-ing and Employment Authority), from theRepublic of Ireland, with its partner Hel-sinki University Knowledge Services.

The project has five inter-dependent com-ponents:

❏ curriculum development;❏ partnerships with EU vocational insti-tutions;❏ teacher training;❏ the up-grading of teaching equipment;and❏ the development of education policyand the dissemination of results.

Each component is examined in turn be-low.

A new national standards-based curricu-lum is being developed as part of a modu-lar system. The standards reflect the rangeof competences required in a particularoccupation. The new curriculum has beendeveloped by pilot school course design-ers for 13 occupational groupings, includ-ing, construction, agriculture, mechanics,tourism, telecommunications, retail/serv-ices, computer graphics, and chemicalprocessing.

Each new training programme is basedon an analysis for the job profile. Eachanalysis reflects the results of a nationalsurvey carried out in co-operation withemployer organisations, to establish theskills, knowledge and attitudes currentlypractised and required by skilled work-ers within that occupation. The occupa-tional analysis is the foundation uponwhich the practical, knowledge and per-sonal skills for each occupation is based.In addition, it provides the basis for de-termining the standards upon which as-sessment, certification, validation andqualification of skilled workers can bemade.

The skills in each occupational analysisare categorised as either core skills, spe-cialist skills, common skills or personalskills. This approach facilitates the devel-opment of training modules for each oc-cupation and the identification of com-mon modules of training and development

applicable to a number of occupations.Modular descriptors are also being devel-oped to facilitate the accreditation andcertification of each module at nationallevel.

Partnerships with vocational institutionsin the European Union have been estab-lished to ensure an exchange of experi-ence and know-how in the design andimplementation of new curricula. Some13 institutions in Finland, Denmark andIreland have been identified and Esto-nian pilot school groups, comprisingteachers, management and course design-ers, have, so far, paid two visits to theircounterpart institutions. Formal co-opera-tion agreements have been, or are beingestablished between the partner schools.The general areas of co-operation beingdiscussed include exchanges of studentsand staff, joint research activities (for ex-ample in the context of the EU’s Leonardoda Vinci programme), participation inseminars and academic meetings, ex-changes of curriculum material and relatedinformation, and special short term pro-grammes.

For curriculum and other reforms to beeffective at the school level, the activeand continuing support of the schoolmanagement, teachers and course design-ers is essential. In service staff develop-ment programmes have been designed,based on a needs analysis conducted witheach target group. Some 25 school man-agement, 52 teachers and 13 course de-signers from the pilot schools have beenattending their respective modular pro-grammes to support the implementationof the project.

The upgrading of teaching equipment isalso essential for the successful implemen-tation of new curricula. New teachingequipment accounts for over 37% of theproject budget. All the pilot schools havereceived new “state-of-the-art” equipmentspecific to the curriculum requirementsof their new courses. For most schoolsthis represents the first major capital in-vestment in school equipment for manyyears. The equipment is being used byfull time students and by adults on con-tinuing education and training courses.

Education policy will be developedthrough the dissemination of the project


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“Education policy will be de-veloped through the dis-semination of the projectresults and by promotingdiscussion in the variousministries. A national voca-tional education and train-ing policy discussion docu-ment has been prepared bythe Ministry of Educationwith the assistance of apolicy advisory group (…)directly involved in the Re-form project.”

“In general terms, throughthis project the key actorshave been provided with aunique opportunity ofworking collectively toshape the future directionof the vocational educationand training in Estonia.”

results and by promoting discussion in thevarious ministries. A national vocationaleducation and training policy discussiondocument has been prepared by the Min-istry of Education with the assistance of apolicy advisory group which includedrepresentatives of industry, the pilotschools, the PMU and the Ministry of Edu-cation directly involved in the Reformproject. This has ensured that the outputsfrom the pilot schools have been reflectedin the national policy development proc-ess. A national policy paper on vocationaleducation and training will be drawn upand will include recommendations regard-ing the future organisation of the system.

Other dissemination activities include aquarterly newsletter published in Esto-nian, Russian and English. Some 3,000copies are distributed to schools, minis-tries, employer and trade union organisa-tions, municipal governments, parent, stu-dent, media and other interest groups.Regional seminars have been held in 8locations to disseminate the results of theproject. A video on the project, will bescreened on Estonian National TV laterthis year. The project has attracted ongo-ing interest from the media (radio, TV andnewspapers) and many articles have beenfeatured on different aspects of theproject.

Project implementationstrategy

In an effort to ensure the maximum im-pact of the project, the following princi-ples were established to underpin its im-plementation:

❏ the project drew upon the positive re-sults from completed bilateral and otherinternationally assisted projects concern-ing vocational education and training, aswell as from existing national and inter-national research material. Working rela-tionships were also formed with projectsand initiatives to avoid duplication of ef-fort and resources;

❏ a clear understanding of the projectwas promoted through the establishmentof effective networks and contacts wereestablished with the key actors and thoseexercising influence in vocational educa-

tion and training matters. An importantpart of this was to raise national aware-ness within Estonian society, on the im-portance of, and need for, reform of thevocational education and training system;

❏ Estonian models based on the bestEuropean and Estonian practices and tra-ditions were developed to ensure that theexpertise from other countries was suc-cessfully used. It was, therefore, funda-mental to seek the active support and in-volvement of all key actors. This was donethrough regular meetings, participation inthe national and regional disseminationworkshops, on specific technical andpolicy aspects of the project;

❏ effective dissemination structures andlinks into the national policy making proc-ess were also set up in order to derivefull benefit from the pilot school “bottomup” approach in the critical area of cur-riculum reform. However, it was alsoimportant to view the project at all timesas a national not school based project;

❏ a recognition that Estonia is in a tran-sitional stage and that, consequently, aflexible and responsive international tech-nical support was necessary.

Conclusion

The results achieved to date suggest thatthe strategy adopted has been successfulin acting as a catalyst for building themotivation, momentum and acceptancefor positive change to the Estonian voca-tional education and training system. Thishas been due to the competence, com-mitment, clear vision, enthusiasm of allthose involved, at all levels and in allstages of the project.

In general terms, through this project thekey actors have been provided with aunique opportunity of working collec-tively to shape the future direction of thevocational education and training in Es-tonia. An additional benefit has been thecreation of extensive institutional contactswith EU Member State organisations, anessential requirement in Estonia’s pre-accession phase.

In concrete terms substantial progress hasbeen made in determining policy priori-


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ties. The government’s Green Paper, thedevelopment of the vocational educationand training policy, has been based onan extensive consultative process withemployers and other key actors in theeducation system. Employers have also ac-knowledged their role and contributedpositively. Employers have also developeda deeper understanding of the issues,challenges and costs of effective and re-sponsive vocational educational provi-sion. They now have a clearer perspec-tive of their role in identifying more pre-cisely their skills requirements, and on theaccreditation and endorsement of nationalcertificates

Progress has also been made in identify-ing the occupational competences re-

quired and converting them into nationalcurricular profiles and programmes, ca-pable of delivery at institutional level.Furthermore, progress has also been madein developing a national, regional andlocal infrastructure for education and en-terprise links and in establishing the cor-rect balance between general and voca-tional provision

The project has, therefore, assisted inhighlighting the policy and institutionalissues to be addressed in meeting theoverall aim of nurturing the developmentof social and economic welfare of soci-ety, providing core competencies for lifelong learning, and renewal of skills to pro-mote economic development and com-petitiveness.


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Tim MawsonPrincipal Administra-tor, DG XXII, Euro-pean Commission

The opening up ofthe Leonardo da Vinciprogramme to thecountries of Centraland Eastern Europe

Few challenges can be moredaunting than trying tobring the two parts of Eu-rope together in an historicmove to make Europe wholeagain. The obstacles to thisenlargement are immense;we witnessed the difficultiesof the Amsterdam EuropeanCouncil in June 1997 to out-line a realistic scenario forenlargement, despite therhetoric of previous sum-mits which had given causefor great optimism in Cen-tral and Eastern Europe.The timetable and condi-tions for enlargement aretherefore still far fromclear, but it is important tonote that the countries con-cerned are keen to developco-operation with the Euro-pean Union as part of theirpre-accession strategy.

The contextfor co-operation

It was at the European Council’s Copen-hagen Summit in 1993 that the first clearintentions of the European Union (EU)were mapped out regarding the associ-ated countries of Central and Eastern Eu-rope (CEECs). It was agreed that CEECthat so desired would become membersof the European Union as soon as theywere able to assume the obligations ofmembership. This positive message wasreinforced at the European Council’smeeting in Essen at the end of 1994 whereit outlined a pre-accession strategy to pre-pare the CEECs for membership. Thisstrategy has three main elements:

❏ the Europe Agreements which governthe formal legal relations between theUnion and each of the CEECs, and coverpolitical dialogue, economic integration,as well as cultural and financial co-op-eration. Implementation of the Agree-ments are overseen by Association Coun-cils involving the Member States and thecountry concerned,

❏ the PHARE Programme which is nowone of the cornerstones of the pre-acces-sion strategy, particularly for the provi-sion of economic assistance. The Euro-pean Council agreed at its June 1995 sum-mit meeting in Cannes to allocate toPHARE some ECU 6.7 billion for the pe-riod 1995 to 1999,

❏ the structured dialogue which consti-tutes an innovation in the European Un-ion’s political relations with regard to pro-spective members, enabling them to be-

come more involved in the EU’s activitiesprior to the commencement of accessionnegotiations. It enables EU ministers fromthe various policy areas to meet with theirCEEC counterparts to familiarise them-selves with the different policy areas, (in-cluding the Common Foreign and Secu-rity Policy, justice and home affairs).

In the field of human resource develop-ment (essentially education and trainingmatters), Article 1 of the Europe Agree-ments provides the long-term frameworkfor developing co-operation between theEU and the CEECs. The PHARE pro-gramme has already provided an invalu-able framework for providing a widerange of assistance to the region, includ-ing, of course, for education and trainingco-operation (over 400 million ECU havebeen devoted since 1990 to education,health, training and research in the sixCEECs under the PHARE programme). Theassistance provided under PHARE, wherethe CEECs themselves had the key respon-sibility for identifying areas where assist-ance was needed, has helped to reformthe educational and training infrastruc-tures and the systems themselves.

The next step in furthering this work isto enable the countries involved to focusmore on preparing for their full partici-pation in the EU itself, including the in-creasingly important area of educationand training policies. It is for this reasonthat the pre-accession strategies being putinto place by each country include thehuman resource dimension, with a par-ticular emphasis on taking part in the EUprogrammes which are developing andtaking forward these policies - Leonardoda Vinci (vocational training), Socrates


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(education) and Youth for Europe (youthpolicy).

The main challenges fac-ing the CEECs in the fieldof human resource devel-opment

Undertaking such a vast enterprise asenlarging the Union to Central and East-ern Europe, and even the relatively mod-est one of developing East-West partner-ships to help modernise the CEECs edu-cation and training systems, needs to beseen against the background of the chal-lenges facing these countries.

In order to identify the best ways of pre-paring themselves to participate in thevocational training policies of the EU, andin particular the Leonardo da Vinci pro-gramme, the Commission had a studycompleted in June 1996 (carried out bythe UK’s National Council for VocationalQualifications) on the opening of the pro-gramme to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic andRomania. The results of the study pin-pointed some of the key issues.

As far as education and training are con-cerned, the end of the 1980’s marked thesea changes in the political and economicsystems which all the CEECs have under-gone (mainly involving the elimination ofcentralised planned economies and settingin place the conditions necessary for amarket economy), and the need for eachcountry to introduce new laws and reformprogrammes in education and training. Themain purpose of these has been to:

❏ de-couple education and training frompolitical influence;

❏ break down the State monopoly ineducation by allowing private and de-nominational schools and private train-ing providers to be established;

❏ decentralise the management of theeducation system as part of the generalprocess of liberalization;

❏ introduce various forms of funding forthe vocational training system;

❏ and finally to recognise the democraticright of school pupils and adults to choosetheir own education and training path.

This process of de-coupling education andtraining from political influence has ingeneral progressed well. However, otheraspects of the reform of education andtraining will take longer, and are likely totake until the year 2000 and beyond.While there are widespread variationsbetween the countries in the type of re-forms underway, there are a number ofkey features which are relevant to thewhole process in all the countries, suchas:

❏ the extension of basic education(which includes lower secondary) fromthe 8th to the 9th grade, which is an is-sue in all CEECs;

❏ the broadening of the curricula forinitial vocational training and the pilottesting of different approaches to deliv-ery, such as the various modular systemswhich have been introduced or are in theprocess of being so;

❏ the reform of upper secondary edu-cation, which has seen a dramatic reduc-tion in the numbers enrolling in basic vo-cational schools compared to the situa-tion before the political upheavals fromabout 50% of annual intake to below 40%in most of the CEECs;

❏ the introduction of post-secondaryeducation and training in the form of“semi-higher” education offering post-sec-ondary certificate and diploma coursesand post-secondary vocational trainingmainly aimed at students leaving the sec-ondary education system without qualifi-cations;

❏ the reform of higher education withthe introduction of the bachelor degreeprogramme;

❏ the establishment of a re-training orrequalification system funded by an em-ployment fund and co-ordinated in oneform or another by the Ministry of Labourin all of the CEECs;

❏ experimentation by some of the CEECsin trying out new methods for fundingvocational education and training. These

“As far as education andtraining are concerned, theend of the 1980’s markedthe sea changes in the po-litical and economic sys-tems which all the CEECshave undergone (mainly in-volving the elimination ofcentralised planned econo-mies and setting in placethe conditions necessaryfor a market economy), andthe need for each countryto introduce new laws andreform programmes in edu-cation and training.”


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range from the use of employment funds,training funds and loans, to co-fundingby employers and the individual.

It is clear that the majority of CEECs viewco-operation with the EU in the field ofhuman resource development as one ofthe means of identifying how to take thereform processes through. The basic aimis to prepare themselves not only for fully-fledged participation in the EU once ac-cession becomes a reality, but also to getthe benefits of such co-operation as ameans of providing the skills and re-sources needed to modernise their econo-mies (especially industrial reconversion)and render them competitive to preparethem for future participation in the inter-nal market.

Access to the EU’s flagship programmesin the field of education, training andyouth is therefore an integral part of theoverall accesion strategy for the counrtiesof Central and Eastern Europe.

Opening up EuropeanCommunity programmesto the CEECs

Under provisions in the Europe Agree-ments, programmes which had previouslybeen open only to the Member States andthe European Economic Area (EEA) - Eu-ropean Free Trade Association (EFTA)countries, are to be available to the asso-ciated partner countries. Preparatory ac-tions to pave the way for these countries’future participation in Community pro-grammes in the field of human resources(Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, Youth forEurope III) and audio-visual policies (ME-DIA II) were already launched in 1996with Community financial support.

As described above, the Europe Agree-ments constitute the legal framework forthe CEECs’ integration into the EU andare in force for Bulgaria, the Czech Re-public, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Re-public and Romania. They are comple-mented by Additional Protocols whichstipulate which EU programmes and ini-tiatives are opened to the CEECs’ partici-pation (mainly in the fields of education,training, science and environment) and aseries of Association Council decisions

will lay down the specific conditions un-der which each CEEC will be able to par-ticipate in each programme.

To put flesh on the Europe Agreements,the European Commission (DG XXII) laidthe groundwork for CEEC participation inSocrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth forEurope through a series of informationdays for CEEC representatives in June1995. The six governments subsequentlydeclared in the joint meeting of Educa-tion Ministers in Luxembourg in October1995 (in the framework of the StructuredDialogue) their willingness to take partin the Leonardo da Vinci (and other rel-evant) programmes.

In the early part of 1996 the Commissiondiscussed and negotiated with each of thesix governments the terms and conditionswhich would govern their participationin the Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates andthe Youth for Europe III programmes (aswell as the MEDIA II programme). Com-munity funds under the programmesthemselves are not available to enableparticipation of CEECs in European pro-grammes and initiatives; the costs haveto be met fully by the governments them-selves, or by the participating organiza-tions, if possible. However, part of thePHARE budget could also be used to as-sist their participation.

Alongside these negotiations for formalinvolvement in the programmes (the out-come of which is described further in thisarticle), a series of preparatory measureswere undertaken with each country, andfunded by the European Commission, tocreate the necessary infrastructure andprovide technical assistance.

Participation in theLeonardo da Vinci pro-gramme - preparatorymeasures

Preparing the CEECs for their participa-tion in Leonardo da Vinci on a technicallevel was an essential pre-requisite tomaximising their potential within the pro-gramme once they participated fully. Im-plementing such measures took place atdifferent rates in each country, and the

“It is clear that the major-ity of CEECs view co-opera-tion with the EU in the fieldof human resource develop-ment as one of the means ofidentifying how to take thereform processes through.The basic aim is to preparethemselves not only forfully-fledged participationin the EU once accessionbecomes a reality, but alsoto get the benefits of suchco-operation as a means ofproviding the skills and re-sources needed to modern-ise their economies (…)”


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European Training Foundation (ETF) hada substantial contribution to supportingthis process. These preparatory measuresconsisted largely of the following:

❏ assistance for the establishment of na-tional structures (in the form of NationalCoordination Units [NCUs] which are re-sponsible for the management of decen-tralised actions under the programme, andfor much of the co-operation required bythe Commission with the countries in-volved);

❏ training of the national structures’ staff(with the close involvement of Commis-sion staff, Western NCUs and the ETF)coupled with training and awareness vis-its of staff to the NCUs of EU MemberStates/EEA - EFTA countries;

❏ assistance to establish compatibledatabase systems to ensure the efficienttransfer of data between the countries andthe Commission;

❏ translation and publication of docu-mentation (particularly key decision andinformation documents);

❏ thematic conferences and seminars toinform potential promoters and to pre-pare for participation in the programme,by building on existing partnerships andprojects funded, for example, under thePHARE programme. The assistance of theETF, which drew up country and thematicdossiers and helped establish partner-ships, was essential to this process;

❏ training seminars for national expertson the evaluation and assessment of pro-posals, to ensure that proposals submit-ted by the CEEC could be assessed on anequal basis with the proposals from West-ern Europe;

❏ CEDEFOP study visits, to enable policymakers and training experts to undertakeshort intensive stays in countries of theEU to familiarise themselves with differ-ent training systems.

While awaiting the outcome of formalnegotiat ions on the opening up ofLeonardo da Vinci to the CEECs, the Com-mission made provision for East-Westpartnerships to be established by enablingorganizations from the CEECs to join ex-

isting projects from the programme (aslong as there was no legal or financialimplication for the programme itself). Thisprocess of associated partnership wasdesigned to familiarise vocational train-ing actors from the CEEC with the pro-gramme and with the concept of Euro-pean transnational partnerships in thetraining field as well as to start buildingup a network of national organizations inthe CEEC interested in participating in itsdifferent actions.

Since no funding for CEEC associatedpartners is available under the Leonardoda Vinci programme itself, the budget ofthe partner(s) from CEECs has to befunded by public or private incomes, andin some countries national public fundshave been made available to subsidizeassociated partners.

In the first two years of the programme1995-96 CEEC associated partners haveparticipated in over 120 of the 1500 or soprojects selected by the Commission, andmore are expected to join.

Formal participation inLeonardo da Vinci

In addition to the associated partners ex-pected to be a part of the projects se-lected in 1997, it is also hoped that or-ganizations in a certain number of theCEECs (most likely the Czech Republic,Hungary and Romania) will actually beable to take a leading role in the pro-gramme as promoters. This will consid-erably raise the profile of Leonardo daVinci in the CEECs and mark a turningpoint in the level of co-operation betweenthe EU and the CEECs in the training field.It will also give CEEC organizations valu-able practical experience in taking re-sponsibility for transnational actions in thetraining field as a test bed for more wide-spread co-operation in years to come. Ofthe remaining CEECs, it is expected thatthe decisions relating to the participationof Poland and Slovakia will be taken in1997, while the decision of Bulgaria is un-likely to be taken before 1998.

Whether or not CEECs can participate insuch a high profile fashion (and, in ef-fect, be treated on equal terms with Mem-

“(…) in 1997, it is alsohoped that organizationsin a certain number of theCEECs (most likely theCzech Republic, Hungaryand Romania) will actuallybe able to take a leadingrole in the programme aspromoters. This will consid-erably raise the profile ofLeonardo da Vinci in theCEECs and mark a turningpoint in the level of co-op-eration between the EU andthe CEEC in the trainingfield.”


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ber States) depends on the rapidity withwhich the Association Council decisionson participation are agreed. If they comeinto force before the end of the Leonardoda Vinci selection phase, such participa-tion may be achieved in 1997, otherwisefull participation will only be possible in1998.

Full participation in the programmemeans, however, more than taking re-sponsibility for transnational actions andreaping the benefits of this for promot-ers. It also involves a strengthening of theinstitutional relations on vocational train-ing between the EU and the CEECs, andmaking provision for the results of thisco-operation to have a real and lastingimpact on the vocational training systems.In order to keep the CEECs fully informedabout the development of Leonardo daVinci and involve them in the wider de-bate about training strategy, CEEC repre-sentatives will be regularly briefed in theframework of coordination committeesbefore and after meetings of the Leonardoda Vinci committee itself.

There are still many questions to be tack-led and solutions to be found before the

CEEC can take part fully in Leonardo daVinci on an equivalent basis to the EUMember States and the EFTA countries ofthe EEA - Iceland, Norway and Liechten-stein. While the Association Agreementswill lay down the main conditions of par-ticipation, including the financial condi-tions (whereby each CEEC will pay an“entry ticket” to cover the estimated costsof participation, part of which can be cov-ered by its PHARE allocation), the detailedimplementation of the agreements willrequire a transitional period to ensure thatreal participation is fully operational andeffective.

CEEC participation in the Leonardo daVinci programme, which has a life spanuntil the end of 1999, can only really beconsidered as a precursor to whatever willfollow on from Leonardo da Vinci in theyear 2000. To that extent these next twoor three years will constitute a valuablelearning process for both the CEECs andthe EU, in which one can hope for a clearidentification of the areas where co-op-eration is likely to be most propitious, andwhere the bringing together of the differ-ent training systems can be of mutualbenefit for all concerned.

“Full participation in theprogramme (…) involves astrengthening of the institu-tional relations on voca-tional training between theEU and the CEECs (…)”


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Overview

Vocational education and training, char-acterised by a high degree of centralisa-tion, is still at the initial stage of reform.Severe economic constraints may impedethe reform plans. The current legal frame-work does not take account of the condi-tions of a social market economy, but con-centrates only on the reform of vocationalschools. Main challenges include the de-velopment of a coherent legal frameworkand the enhancement of institutional ca-pacities.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry for Education and Sci-ence has the overall responsibility for theentire school system and is the mainpolicy-making body with budgetary re-sponsibility and control for initial train-ing.

The Ministry of Labour and SocialPolicy and the Ministry for Education andScience are both responsible for adulteducation.

An accreditation agency for vocationaleducation and training is at present un-der discussion.

Financing of vocational training

Vocational education and training is cur-rently financed out of the state budget(4.27% of GDP in 1995). The Ministry forEducation and Science allocates themoney to schools, which have little au-tonomy. In 1995 of all the public fundsfor education, 33.53% were spent on thevocational and professional education ofyoung people. Donors finance the upgrad-ing of the system and pilot schoolsthrough bilateral and other internationalagreements.

Vocational education and trainingin Bulgaria - Fact sheet

Continuing training

The division of policy responsibilities oncontinuing training between the Ministriesof Education and Labour is unclear. Amajor problem for continuing training isits separation from current reforms of ini-tial school-based vocational education andtraining. The main current challenge incontinuing training is to address the im-minent redundancies of teachers throughre-training in order to avoid unemploy-ment.

International support activities

Through bilateral and multilateral inter-national agreements, donors make verysignificant contributions to the vocationaleducation and training system. A PHAREpilot project launched in 1993 targetedpost-secondary vocational education andtraining and reviewed and developedprinciples for the reform of the whole vo-cational education and training system (forexample curriculum development for 5occupational profiles and a review ofpost-secondary system). This laid thefoundations for expansion into muchlarger PHARE programmes in 1995 and1996 on education and training, which in-clude the development of standards andassessment procedures, teacher training,and preparatory work for the develop-ment of the legal framework. Significantbilateral vocational education and train-ing projects are being carried out in part-nership with Germany (establishment of3 training centres, economics training in5 vocational schools), Austria (trainingfirms), and Denmark (economics curriculain post secondary schools) and others areunder development with amongst othersFrance and the UK.


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National priorities

In the absence of a coherent policy docu-ment at government level, the Board ofthe Ministry for Education and Sciencehas adopted the following guidelines forthe development of the vocational edu-cation and training sector (Concept forthe Development of Secondary Educa-tion, 1996):

❏ to develop a system for teacher train-ing;❏ to establish an independent agency forvocational qualifications;❏ to prepare a new list of occupations inthe secondary and post-secondary voca-tional education and training;❏ to develop new curricula;

❏ to develop a modular approach in vo-cational training.

Establishment of a National Observa-tory

The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Bulgaria (hosted in thePMU-Education, ul. Graf Ignatiev 15, So-fia). The National Observatory gathers andanalyses information on developments ofthe vocational training system and thelabour market. On the basis of this infor-mation the National Observatory and theFoundation periodically produce countryreports on vocational training develop-ments in Bulgaria.


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The Ministry of Labour is in charge ofdeveloping and implementing the govern-ment’s labour market policy, includingactive employment policy, through thelabour offices.

Financing vocational training

State technical and vocational schools arefunded out of the governmental budget,the principal share coming from the Min-istry of Education, Youth and Sports. Thegovernment also provides financial con-tributions to private vocational schools.These amount to 60-80 % of the contri-butions provided to state vocationalschools. Total expenditure on educationamounted to 5.9% of GDP in 1995, ex-penditure on vocational education andtraining amounts to an estimated 1.3% ofGDP.

With regard to continuing vocational edu-cation and training, there is a broad rangeof funding models, from governmentalfunding to individual investment. Com-panies are estimated to invest about 1%of the gross payroll cost in training andeducation of their personnel.

Continuing training

Although the market for continuing vo-cational education and training is well de-veloped, activities in this area lack a co-ordinated and systematic approach. Thesupply side has reacted mainly to thedemand of individuals who need to up-date their knowledge and skills to newlyevolving labour market requirements. Atpresent, there are approximately 1,500institutions providing continuing training.They offer a wide range of short-termprofessional courses and seminars. Thesefocus, in particular, on management, mar-keting, computer literacy, economics andlanguages.

Overview

A long-term coherent policy to adapt thevocational education and training systemto evolving labour market needs has notyet been developed. The approach reformhas been mostly bottom-up, relying onthe initiative of schools which have beengranted a high degree of autonomy. Im-provements, innovations and adjustmentsof the system have been introduced step-by-step with a view to creating a flexible,adaptable system with a wide range ofoptions attractive for students, offeringthem favourable prospects in the labourmarket.

The former system of vocational educa-tion and training, characterised by a rigiddivision between secondary technical andsecondary vocational schools, has beenbroadened by the following new ele-ments:

❏ integrated secondary schools (combin-ing secondary technical and vocationalschool education);❏ higher professional schools (enablingsecondary school graduates to acquirepost-secondary technical qualificationswith a practical orientation).

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education, Youth andSports has the overall responsibility forthe education system, including vocationaleducation and training. It is responsiblefor the development and implementationof the government’s education policy, in-cluding budget administration and con-trol. A minor part of vocational educa-tion and training is financed and super-vised by sectoral ministries (agriculture,interior, defence). School administrationat district level is carried out by the Dis-trict School Offices which are directly re-sponsible to the Ministry of Education.

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National priorities

The main priorities of the government are:

❏ to create a flexible, adaptable voca-tional training system that responds to thechanging requirements of the labour mar-ket at national and regional level;❏ to establish links between initial andcontinuing vocational education and train-ing;❏ to develop further post-secondary non-university vocational training (higher pro-fessional schools);❏ to improve the quality of vocationaleducation and training by setting upmechanisms for quality assurance andevaluation;❏ to develop further and implement edu-cational and professional standards com-parable to those in the EU and to linkthem to the needs of the labour market;❏ to foster systematic social partner in-volvement in vocational training at na-tional, regional and local level;❏ to encourage the decentralisation of vo-cational training by creating a regionallevel of educational administration;❏ to revise the financing system of voca-tional training with a view to stimulatingparticipation by enterprises.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in the Czech Republic(hosted by the National Training Fund,Václavské námesti 43, 110 00 Prague 1).The National Observatory gathers andanalyses information on developments ofthe vocational training system and thelabour market. On the basis of this infor-mation the National Observatory and theFoundation periodically produce countryreports on vocational training develop-ments in the Czech Republic.

Some sectors are addressed in a morestructured way. Re-training programmesfor the unemployed are organised throughlabour offices and usually financed by theMinistry of Labour and Social Affairs. Largecompanies usually offer on-the-job train-ing and in some cases apply a systematicapproach towards staff development.


About 16.5 million ECUs of foreign as-sistance provided to the Czech Republicin 1993 and 1994 were granted for sup-porting vocational education and training.

Many PHARE programmes were focuseddirectly on vocational education and train-ing or contained major vocational educa-tion and training components. The 1991Labour Market Restructuring Programmeprovided a Strategic Study for Reform ofVocational Education and Training. Ap-proximately 50 million ECUs were allo-cated for Human Resource Developmentunder different PHARE and Tempus pro-grammes, including the upgrading of 19pilot vocational education and trainingschools, as well as the National TrainingFund and PALMIF (Pro-active Labour Mar-ket Intervention Fund), which was a la-bour market action aimed at providinggrant support to employment projects witha continuing vocational education andtraining component. The 1992 Renewalof Education System Programme sup-ported also the development of higherprofessional schools.

The vocational education and trainingcomponent of bilateral assistance is usu-ally targeted at specific projects such ascurriculum development, student ex-change programmes, etc. based on directlinks with partner institutions.


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act independently in matters of schoolmanagement, the Ministry of Educationlays down the policy and the rules.

Following a period of frequent re-organi-sation of research and pedagogical cen-tres in 1993 the Estonian Teacher Train-ing Centre was established. This hashosted the National Centre for Exami-nation and Qualifications since Janu-ary 1997, which co-ordinates trainingcourses and training providers.


Costs for education and training are fullymet at the state level. The law providesthat schools receive private funding bothfrom companies and individuals, but thisis presently at a low level. There are notuition fees in state schools or state insti-tutions of higher education. Students inhigher education are supported by stateloans (since 1992). To improve financingin vocational training, a special fund hasbeen suggested financed by a 3% tax onemployers. Two-thirds would be used fortraining by employers and one-third fordistribution by the capital committee.

Continuing training

Although the law provides for vocationalschools to offer flexible short-term up-grading and re-training for adults, a co-herent national training policy, compris-ing both initial and continuing training,does not yet exist. Neither is there a train-ing system for the unemployed or redun-dant workers. During recent years, over40 state-supported adult education insti-tutions have been established. Many ofthese are based on private initiatives andfocus mainly on management and foreign-language training. The state budget for1996 includes a small budget for fundingfor planned adult education.

Overview

Since independence in 1991, successivegovernments have kept the country onthe road towards a market-based system.The economy has been restructured andsubstantial progress has been made in theliberalisation of prices, removing tradetariffs and restrictions, and in attractingforeign investment.

Although a coherent policy for adaptingthe vocational training system to the needsof the labour market is not yet in place,the Ministry of Education is working on apolicy document. The overall objectivesremain :

❏ alignment to present-day labour mar-ket needs in a changing economy withfull involvement of social partners;❏ the establishment of trade councils; and❏ reform by the extension of pilot pro-grammes.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education is responsi-ble for all aspects of education includinginitial vocational training administration,approval of admissions, system develop-ment and planning, national curricula de-velopment, approval of school coursesand study programmes, inspection ofschools, supervision of final certificateissue and organisation of research work.It was restructured in 1996, when theVocational Education Department wasre-established. The Department has threeunits - the Educational Management Serv-ice, Curriculum Service and the Adult Edu-cational Service.

Some vocational training institutions areunder the responsibility of sectoral min-istries (for example the Ministry of Ag-riculture, the Ministry of Transportand Communications), local authoritiesor private organisations. Although schools

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The PHARE 1994-97 Vocational TrainingReform Programme worth 3 million ECUhas supported curriculum development,teacher training, learning material upgrad-ing, partnerships with EU schools andpolicy development.

PHARE also provides assistance throughsectoral programmes which often includetraining, for example, the Cross-borderCo-operation programme for the BalticSea region and the Information systemsprogramme.

PHARE and bilateral assistance to the Min-istry of Social Affairs have focused on im-proving the employment service and theinformation system. The Ministry, with theexecutive National Labour Market Board(NLMB), aims at refining an active labourmarket policy to help people to find em-ployment and support job creation.

During 1997 a series of preparatory meas-ures for the EU’s Leonardo da Vinci pro-gramme have been carried out includingthe definition of the national financial con-tribution and several media events.

Bilateral activity mainly with Baltic part-ners includes demonstration centres fortraining in commerce metallurgy and elec-tronics. The Nordic Council has launcheda large teacher training programme.

National priorities

These include the following:

❏ to design and implement a coherentvocational education and training policywith a view to EU accession;

❏ vocational training school auditing andcurricula development, national occupa-

tional competence guidelines and train-ing standards, also for continuing voca-tional training;

❏ to establish a continuing education andtraining system integrated with initialtraining providing management trainingand support to SME development;

❏ developing a national labour market/manpower planning information system;

❏ upgrading equipment across the entirevocational training system;

❏ to improve teachers’ and trainers’ edu-cation;

❏ strengthening the involvement of so-cial partners in training;

❏ developing a career guidance andcounseling system;

❏ action to help disadvantaged and spe-cial groups and areas;

❏ the dissemination of the results of the1994-97 PHARE Programme.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Estonia (hosted in theFoundation for Vocational Education andTraining Reform, Pärnu mnt.57, EE0001,Tallinn). The National Observatory gath-ers and analyses information on devel-opments of the vocational training sys-tem and the labour market. On the basisof this information the National Observa-tory and the Foundation periodically pro-duce country reports on vocational train-ing developments in Estonia.


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Overview

Alongside the progress that has beenmade in laying the foundations for a mar-ket economy, Hungary has defined strat-egies to align the vocational education andtraining system with the new needs of theeconomy. It has also made considerableprogress in setting up the legislative andinstitutional framework to support thesestrategies.

Hungary has opted for an output controlapproach to training and set up instru-ments for quality standards. The latterconcern the establishment of a NationalVocational Qualifications Register, theidentification of professional and exami-nation requirements for each qualificationincluded in the Register and developmentof central curricula (which will be adaptedto the local needs by schools). It has alsoopted for a decentralised approach to themanagement of the training system andintends to involve all stakeholders in thedecision-making process for training.

Remaining major challenges include:

❏ further strengthening the interactionbetween the economy and the trainingsystem;

❏ continuing modernisation of trainingstandards and provision;

❏ supporting the participation of all par-ties to improve the quality of initial andcontinuing vocational training.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Labour has the overallresponsibility for vocational education andtraining.

The Ministry of Education has respon-sibility for the definition of curricula andsupervision of general subjects.

Sectoral Ministries are responsible forthe identification of the qualifications andprofessional requirements for occupationsin their economic sector.

The local governments (school ownersand maintainers) have increased respon-sibilities in the management of vocationaleducation and training.

The National Vocational TrainingCouncil is an advisory body to the Min-istry of Labour in which all vocationaltraining stakeholders (including socialpartners) participate.


In 1996, the education budget accountedfor 7.8% of GDP. The two main sourcesof funding for vocational training are thestate budget and a training levy on em-ployers of 1.5% of their payroll cost. Thestate, through the local governments, pro-vides a per capita subsidy which schoolsare free to spend as they consider appro-priate. In 1995, 43% of the employers’training levy was spent on training theirown employees, 37% on financial assist-ance to vocational education and train-ing schools and 20% remitted to the Vo-cational Training Fund.

Continuing training

Efforts for the promotion of continuingvocational training have mainly focusedon the re-training of the unemployed orpeople in risk of unemployment due toindustrial change. Regional Labour Devel-opment and Training Centres have beenset up so as to ensure a flexible supply ofvocational training responding to regionalskill needs. Training and re-training of theunemployed can also be supplied byschools or private training providers. Cur-rent policy considerations also concern

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the support of training activities for theemployed.


Several PHARE programmes have beenwholly or partly concerned with voca-tional education and training reform. Im-portant measures supported include thedevelopment of an information centre,study visits abroad for vocational teach-ers, setting up language training centres,restructuring apprenticeships, promotingactive employment measures, improvingadult training standards, reforming cur-ricula in secondary vocational schools, aswell as providing training in specificgrowth sectors and for middle and seniormanagers.

A ‘Human Resource’ World Bank devel-opment loan provided substantial sup-port to the development of a new modelfor the secondary vocational school andthe establishment of 9 regional trainingcentres for youth and adult training. Alarge number of bilateral activities in-clude management training, languagetraining and development of a standard-ised examination system for secondaryeducation (with the Netherlands), openlearning resources (with the UK), per-sonalisation of training, transferability ofskills and mobility of workers (withFrance), training for disadvantagedyouth, development of new curricula(with Germany) and mutual recognitionof different skill qualifications (with Aus-tria).

National priorities

The present priorities are :❏ increasing the percentage of those witha vocational qualification;❏ continuing modernisation of vocationaleducation and training programmes tak-ing into account training standards simi-lar to those in EU countries;❏ developing an accreditation system andappropriate training programmes for post-secondary vocational training;❏ consolidating social partners’ involve-ment in vocational education and training;❏ further involving the business sector intraining;❏ implementing a system for continuingvocational training for both the employedand the unemployed;❏ developing a system for the identifica-tion of skills required by of the labourmarket.

Establishment of the National Ob-servatory

The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Hungary (hosted in Na-tional Institute of Vocational Education(NIVE), Berzsenyi D. u. 6, 1087 Budapest).The National Observatory gathers andanalyses information on developments ofthe vocational training system and the la-bour market. On the basis of this infor-mation the National Observatory and theFoundation periodically produce countryreports on vocational training develop-ments in Hungary.


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Overview

Latvia faces the challenge of developinga coherent national strategy in initial andcontinuing vocational education and train-ing. Reforms are in their starting phase,with a focus on initial training. Reformsrely heavily on PHARE programme sup-port. The main activities have been themodernisation of curricula for 10 occu-pational profiles and 5 general subjects,the up-grading of school equipment andthe training for teachers and school man-agers in 18 schools. A new law for voca-tional training is being prepared to alignLatvia with European standards.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education and Scienceissues regulations, by-laws and guidelinesfor initial and continuing training. It co-ordinates the development of curricula,determines the proportion of general edu-cation subjects and their level and is re-sponsible for the legislation affecting allprofessional training institutions. The Min-istry’s vocational training department ac-credits the qualifications and the new vo-cational training programmes for state andprivate institutions and assesses the ex-isting ones.

Sector ministries (Agriculture, Welfareand Culture) determine curriculum stand-ards for professional subjects in theschools under their authority, administerfunds and create legal documents whichregulate issues specific to these schools.

The Ministry of Welfare is responsiblefor training and retraining of the unem-ployed.


The vocational institutions of Latvia aremainly financed out of the state budget,

with the relevant ministries allocatingmoney to the schools. There is a cleardistinction between basic financing anddevelopment expenses. Basic financingaccounts for 97% of the budget and cov-ers expenses for maintaining an educa-tional institution, fees for the employeesof the educational branch, transportationexpenses, energy and other resources.Development expenses are for major im-plementations and changes in educationalactivities and for strategic investments.

For continuing training the breakdown offinancing is as follows: state budget forre-training unemployed people 47.5%,tuition fees paid by the students 38%,firms, organisations 10%, municipalbudget 2.2%, other sources 2.2%.

Continuing training

The Department of Continuing Educationof the Ministry of Education and Sciencehas established 25 regional Adult Educa-tion Centres across the country in con-junction with the Latvian Adult EducationAssociation. The Ministry of Welfare’s StateEmployment Service has the responsibil-ity for unemployment registration, guid-ance, training and re-qualification. Ac-cording to the figures of the State Em-ployment Service, 7.6% of all unemployedpeople attended retraining courses in1995. The private sector offers differentkinds of courses providing a non-diplomaeducation. In-company training in thenewly established companies is underdevelopment without official quality con-trol.


Donor contributions made up 14% of thevocational training budget for 1996. Themain international support is related toPHARE programmes (5.5 million ECUs

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between 1994 -1996) and its impact oninitial training is already visible. The aimof these projects is to support moderni-sation and reforms of the initial vocationaleducation and training system in curriculadevelopment, teacher training, upgradingof teaching equipment, partnership withEU schools, development of educationpolicy and dissemination of results. Oneof the programmes concerns post second-ary in-company and continuing training.

For the period 1997-2000, the Ministry ofEducation and Science will seek supportfrom PHARE for the ‘VET 2000’ reformprogramme, to develop and implement asecondary and higher education and train-ing system. PHARE is also promoting so-cial dialogue and training of policy mak-ers through its Staff Development andvocational training programmes and sup-porting the labour market survey preparedby the national statistics office.

Major bilateral co-operation projects ex-ist with Germany, Denmark, Canada andthe Nordic Council to assist in or developprojects for staff training, the developmentof a business training network, the crea-tion of a training centre for metal tech-nology, training for the unemployed andup-grading for adults, a teacher trainingsystem and the improvement of businesseducation.

National priorities

The main national priorities are to:

❏ establish a concept for vocational train-ing;

❏ prepare a vocational training law;

❏ disseminate the pilot phase of PHAREprogrammes;

❏ develop a national occupational andeducational standards system;

❏ develop the post secondary and terti-ary vocational training;

❏ develop training of teachers and schoolmanagers.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Latvia (hosted in the Aca-demic Information Centre; Valnu iela 2;1098 Riga). The National Observatorygathers and analyses information on de-velopments of the vocational training sys-tem and the labour market. On the basisof this information the National Observa-tory and the Foundation periodically pro-duce country reports on vocational train-ing developments in Latvia.


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Overview

The 1994 “General Concept of Education”government paper presented the globalobjectives of: strengthening vocationaltraining institutions, decentralising voca-tional training policy formulation, identi-fying alternative private funding, improv-ing standards and skill mis-matches andaddressing the needs of disadvantagedpeople and areas. So far reform has con-centrated on curricula modernisation and,beyond the draft law, no significantprogress has been made in the legalframework. Future policy will propose thefuture structure of the vocational trainingsystem including: the licensing of voca-tional training institutions; counselling,initial and continuing training, financing.This framework will be based upon co-operation with the social partners.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education and Sciencehas overall responsibility for initial voca-tional education and training. Responsi-bility for post-secondary vocational col-leges and vocational training schools liespredominantly with this Ministry, althoughsome professions have specialist schoolswhere other ministries have responsibil-ity, for example the Ministry of Agricul-ture.

The Ministry of Social Security andLabour is responsible for continuingtraining.

The Lithuanian Vocational TrainingCouncil (composed of ministries, voca-tional training institutions and social part-ners) provides advice on strategic voca-tional training issues.

The Lithuanian Labour Market Train-ing Authority (AVTCC) organises labourmarket re-training via regional centres andservices.

The Lithuanian Chambers of Com-merce, Industry and Crafts are seekingto establish a network of chamber train-ing centres.


Vocational training is mainly financedfrom the state budget, with a limitedamount from the labour exchanges, em-ployers and charitable sources. In 1996,71 million Litas (US$ 17.75 million) wereallocated to 65 vocational schools and 62million Litas (US$ 15.5 million) to 37 in-stitutions of further education (an increaseof 35% on 1995 levels). 56.5 million Litas(US$ 14.125 million) were allocated forlabour market policy training in 1995.

Continuing education and training is fi-nanced both through the state budget ofthe Ministry of Social Security and Labour,and the Employment Fund, an inter-min-isterial fund of state budget subsidies andwage fund contributions managed by theLithuanian Vocational Training Council. In1996, the estimated allocation for continu-ing training was 370,000 Litas (US$ 92,500)from the Ministry, and 52 million Litas(US$13 million) from the EmploymentFund.

Education represented 22% of the nationalbudget, 5.7% of GDP. The budget alloca-tion to vocational training in 1995 was0.67% of GDP. It is estimated that non-state sources represent about 5% of thebudget.

Continuing training

Under the responsibility of the Ministryof Social Security and Labour, the LabourMarket Training Authority is responsiblefor continuing training, including the re-training of the unemployed. It has 6 re-gional labour market training services and14 training centres which operate flexible(modular) curricula. Presently adult re-

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training is only supported if a job is guar-anteed afterwards. 95,000 adults partici-pated in schemes in 1995 (4.5% ofworkforce). Paid leave for continuingtraining is foreseen within vocationaltraining legislation. Currently 95 privateinstitutions provide continuing trainingand a substantial amount is deliveredwithin companies.


The EU PHARE Programme has been thelargest donor since 1991, supporting in1993-94 a programme for the developmentof the labour market and unemployedtraining systems, in 1995 a 2-year pro-gramme on vocational education andtraining, and a multi-lateral programmefor distance education.

Since 1992, the Tempus programme hassupported the restructuring of universityeducation in Lithuania. It is a full partici-pant in the Leonardo da Vinci programmeand a national coordination unit has beenset up.

A Nordic-Baltic Co-ordination Group onvocational training teacher training hasbeen set up. Single country projects in-clude training of teacher trainers, ‘learn-ing-company’ concept development, theestablishment of an institute of vocationaleducation, vocational training for disabledpeople, and a ‘dual-system’ for trainingin metal trades, employment services sup-port and curriculum development in spe-cific occupations. A World Bank loan hasbeen agreed for the computerisation ofthe Lithuanian education system.

National priorities

The main priorities for Lithuania are:

❏ the establishment of the legal frame-work for vocational training;❏ labour market studies on demand forspecialists and the development of therelationship between schools, enterprisesand the labour market;❏ encouragement of the involvement ofthe social partners in vocational training.❏ improving financial and managementprocedures, and information and telecom-munication technologies, especially inrural areas;❏ modernisation of equipment and ma-terials;❏ new methods of curriculum develop-ment;❏ improvement of teacher training andteacher qualifications.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Lithuania (hosted in theMethodical Centre for Vocational Educa-tion and Training, Gelezinio Vilko g.12,LT-2600, Vilnius). The National Observa-tory gathers and analyses information ondevelopments of the vocational trainingsystem and the labour market. On thebasis of this information the NationalObservatory and the Foundation periodi-cally produce country reports on voca-tional training developments in Lithua-nia.


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Overview

Reform efforts have mainly been initiatedon the regional, local and school levels.Vocational education comprises: basicvocational schools (3 years), secondarytechnical schools (4 to 5 years), second-ary schools of vocational education (4years “lycea”), technical “lycea” (4 years)and post-secondary vocational schools (2years).

The directions of educational changeswere defined in the “Strategy for Poland”.It characterised investment in human capi-tal, including education and science, ascentral to economic transformation andaccession to the EU. Measures concern-ing vocational training include the in-volvement of social partners in curricu-lum development and accreditationschemes at national and local level.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of National Education,Department for Vocational Educationand Continuing Education, co-ordinatesand implements the overall policy. At therequest of sector ministries, it also deter-mines the classification of professions.The ministries co-operate in: frameworkteaching plans; curricula for training in agiven profession or a vocational profile;terms and conditions of endorsing cur-ricula; textbooks and inventories of suchcurricula; and recommending teachingaids and textbooks.

The Office for Educational Strategyoperates within the Ministry of NationalEducation structure. Its tasks include de-sign and co-ordination of long-term op-erations aimed at the restructuring and de-velopment of national education.

The Ministry of Labour and SocialPolicy manages the training and re-train-

ing of the unemployed as well as voca-tional guidance.

The following other ministries are re-sponsible for delivering training: Ministryof Labour and Social Policy; Ministry ofAgriculture and Food Industry; Ministryof Transportation and Maritime Economy;Ministry of Protection of Environment,Natural Resources and Forestry; Ministryof Culture and Art; Ministry of Health andSocial Security.


The state budget is the main source offunding. Vocational schools receive 22.5%of the total education budget, whilst 7.4%of the funds go to general secondaryschools. Additional funds come from lo-cal administration budgets, donations andspecial funds. The law on education al-lows schools to establish their own spe-cial budgets. The size of such budgetsdepends on the school management’sentrepreneurial talents and the school’sassets, such as premises that can be letout or facilities and staff to run trainingcourses for the public.

Regional labour offices are in charge ofadministering training schemes for the un-employed financed out of the LabourFund and based on the Law on Employ-ment and Counteracting Unemployment(1996).

Continuing training

Continuing training is the first segmentof vocational training to have appliedmarket principles. In 1996, there were4,936 establishments for continuing train-ing run by over 2,000 providers that of-fered training to over 1.65 million peo-ple. In 1996, 44,000 unemployed peopleparticipated in re-training courses, of

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whom 60% subsequently found jobs. Thescarcity of continuing training places inrelation to the demand has led the na-tional authorities to identify distancelearning as a priority for the future, par-ticularly in rural areas, as a means to in-crease access to continuing training.


Support, largely from the G24 countriesand organisations, includes the “Employ-ment promotion and services” project; aUS$ 8 million World Bank loan grantedto the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy,including US$ 9 million for an Adult Train-ing Component. Substantial bilateral sup-port has also come from the USA, Ger-many, France and the UK.

The EU through PHARE is by far the larg-est foreign contributor to education andtraining reforms with about 33 millionECUs for education and training pro-grammes.

National priorities

The government has set the following stra-tegic targets:

❏ developing a national framework ofqualification and curriculum standards, aswell as quality assurance and evaluationsystems;

❏ reducing training in basic vocationalschools and increasing training in full sec-ondary education, especially in rural andhighly industrialised areas;

❏ increasing the percentage of studentsamong the 20-24 age group to 33-35 %;

❏ diversifying and expanding post-sec-ondary training opportunities through theintroduction of professional post-second-ary institutions offering bachelor degrees;

❏ developing lifelong learning to provideopportunities for training and re-trainingfor all age groups;

❏ developing a vocational counsellingand guidance system both inside schoolsand in specialised institutions.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Poland (hosted in the TaskForce for Training and Human Resources(BKKK), 79 Koszykowa, 02 008 Warszawa).The National Observatory gathers andanalyses information on developments ofthe vocational training system and the la-bour market. On the basis of this informa-tion the National Observatory and theFoundation periodically produce countryreports on vocational training develop-ments in Poland.


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Overview

Romania has made steps towards themodernisation of its system. Neverthe-less, there is not yet a systematic, com-prehensive and coherent approach to thereform process. To date, the vocationaleducation and training system is charac-terised by a high degree of centralisa-tion, a weak school infrastructure (dueto under-investment for a long period),a lack of well trained administrative staffin the bodies responsible for vocationaleducation and training, a lack of welltrained teachers/trainers and an outdatedand narrow curricula in the majority ofschools. Limited financial resources areone of the major constraints for the con-tinuation of reforms.

Major challenges include developing a le-gal framework for vocational educationand training, institution building, and in-vesting in equipment and human resources

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education has the over-all responsibility for vocational educationand training within the formal educationsystem. It develops strategies and poli-cies, prepares legislation and managespublic education. It also approves cur-ricula, national assessment standards andthe school network.

The regional representatives of the Min-istry, the County School Inspectoratesensure the implementation of and com-pliance with the policies and decisionsof the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Pro-tection and its regional branches, theCounty Labour and Social ProtectionDirectorates, are responsible for the re-training and further training of the labourforce.


The education budget is 4% of GDP. In1995, the budget for vocational educationand training (provided within the frameof the formal education system) was 0.52%of GDP. The main source of financing isthe central budget. Local public adminis-trations also contribute to building, repair-ing and maintaining schools.

Continuing training of the unemployed isfinanced by the Ministry of Labour andSocial Protection out of the EmploymentFund, made up largely of employers’ con-tributions (5% of their overall gross pay-roll costs) and employees (1% of theirgross salaries). About 20% of the fund isused for continuing training of the unem-ployed. Budget subsidies also contributeto cover funding gaps.

Continuing training

Training activities are planned on the ba-sis of an annual national framework pro-gramme which brings together individualprogrammes developed by each county.Continuing training courses are organisedwithin County Training, Re-training andFurther Training Centres, schools or othertraining units. The new government hasplanned a rapid restructuring of theeconomy which is expected to increaseunemployment. Therefore, it also plan-ning to support training for the workerswho will become redundant and promotethe training of the employed in order toadapt their skills to the new requirementsof the economy.


PHARE has supported developments invocational education and training par-ticularly with a 25 million ECUs pro-gramme on vocational education and

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training reform (1994-1997). The pro-gramme focuses on the national level andthe policy framework of curriculum de-velopment, assessment and standards,teachers for vocational education andtraining strategy reviews, etc. At schoollevel it supports implementation of newcurricula and teaching methods, devel-opment of new teaching and learningmaterials, specification of appropriateschool equipment for the new curricula,etc. A number of other programmes hadvocational training components, such asthe programme for Active EmploymentMeasures, the Repede programme onmanagement development, the LabourMarket in Romania programme, and thesmall and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) and Regional Development pro-gramme.

Within its programme on education re-form, the World Bank Project (includinga loan of US$ 50 million) has helped toestablish the Council for OccupationalStandards and Assessment. The WorldBank has also started a programme onEmployment and Social Protection (1996-2000) components of which concern thedevelopment of continuing training (witha loan of US$ 14.6 million, matched by aRomanian contribution of US$ 6.5 million)and career counselling for young peopleand adults (a loan of US$ 6 million)

A number of bilateral programmes havesupported the setting up of training cen-tres for the unemployed (Germany) andfor management and business develop-ment (the USA, the UN and the UK).

National priorities

The main priorities for the governmentare to :

❏ build a comprehensive legal and insti-tutional framework for vocational educa-tion and training;❏ decentralise the management of thesystem;❏ increase financial resources through aparticipatory financing system, which willpool funds from the central budget,budget of local authorities and other stateand private agents and set up a vocationaltraining fund;❏ develop an information system andmechanisms for optimising the demandand supply for vocational training at na-tional, regional and local level;❏ base the training system on vocationalstandards as benchmarks for quality.

Establishment of the National Ob-servatory

The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Romania (hosted in theInstitute for Educational Sciences (37,Stirbea Voda str., sector 1 Bucharest). TheNational Observatory gathers and analy-ses information on developments of thevocational training system and the labourmarket. On the basis of this informationthe National Observatory and the Foun-dation periodically produce country re-ports on vocational training developmentsin Romania.


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Vocational Education and Trainingin Slovenia - Fact sheet

Overview

Reforms combining EU practice andSlovenian traditions, are being introducedby legislation (Law on Vocational and Pro-fessional Education and Law on AdultEducation, 1996). The main reformsshould be fully implemented by the year2000. The principal aim is to enable eve-ryone, even those with weaker learningabilities, to acquire at least basic voca-tional education. Reforms also improvethe links between the school system andthe employment system and aim to facili-tate the transition from education to work.

Responsible bodies

The Ministry of Education and Sporthas responsibility for the school systemand is the main policy-making body withbudgetary responsibility and control.Some 14 school boards (administrative re-gions) are to be established as part of thisMinistry.

The Ministry of Labour, Family andSocial Affairs has the responsibility ofpreparing a list of occupations/occupa-tional groups, the level of their require-ments and the main tasks performedwithin each of them. The list will be basedon proposals and suggestions from theemployers.


Vocational education and training is cur-rently financed out of the state budget.The Ministry of Education and Sport re-ceives the funds and allocates the moneyto schools. From all public funds for edu-cation in 1995 (5.85% of GDP), 11.3 %went to secondary level vocational andprofessional education for young people.With the reform of the vocational train-ing system and the introduction of thedual-system, the employers will contrib-

ute to its financing. The state budgetfunds for continuing training are mainlyallocated by the Ministry of Labour, Fam-ily and Social Affairs (some programmesfor adults are co-financed by the Minis-try of Education and Sport). In the craftsector a fund has been established tosupport workers training. According tothe collective agreement the craftsmenare obliged to pay 1% of gross wagesinto this fund.

Continuing training

The Employment Law (1990) guaranteesemployees the right to continuing train-ing and education. Innovative trainingactions are being targeted at disadvan-taged persons and regions. For the former,“job club” initiatives are training long-termunemployed in job application skills. Apilot Training Development Fund is be-ing developed in Slovenia’s region ofhighest unemployment (Maribor). Thiswill give incentives to training providersin the region to develop new flexibletraining programmes for skills in demand.

The certification system will be a majorinnovation in continuing training. It willbe flexible and based on nationallyadopted standards of knowledge andcompetence. The certificates will be na-tionally recognised.


At present there are around 25 bilateralagreements between Slovenia and othercountries and international organisationsfor co-operation in the spheres of educa-tion, culture and science.

PHARE programmes are making a majorcontribution (3 million ECUs on vocationaltraining reform from 1995 to 1997, 14.79million ECUs from Tempus from 1992 to


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1996) to the vocational training reformson all of the key issues: higher educa-tion; apprenticeship system; curriculamodernisation; certification; non-univer-sity higher vocational training; dissemi-nation; social partner involvement; voca-tional counselling and guidance; etc. TheMinistry of Education is using the PHAREvocational training programme to stimu-late the reform from basic vocational edu-cation at secondary level to the highernon-university professional level. To thisend it implements projects for curriculumdevelopment, teacher training, policy de-velopment and establishment of newstructures. In 1997, adult training reformis also being promoted through this pro-gramme.

National priorities

The main priorities for the Governmentare:

❏ further development of post-secondarycolleges;

❏ the introduction of the dual-system;

❏ encouraging (and strengthening) socialpartnership with chambers and trade un-ions and transferring part of the respon-sibilities (and financing) for the vocationaltraining system, especially to employers;

❏ curricula modernisation for all typesand levels of training;

❏ development of master craftsmancourses;

❏ development of a certificate system forcontinuing training based on standards(the regulation for this certificate systemis under preparation as well as the list ofoccupations concerned, including quali-fication requirements for each occupa-tion);

❏ encouraging decentralisation of voca-tional training policy and strengtheningregional economic development in linewith overall policy priorities.


The European Training Foundation hassupported the establishment of a NationalObservatory in Slovenia (hosted in theCentre for Vocational Education, Kavci-ceva 66, Ljubljana). The National Observa-tory gathers and analyses information ondevelopments of the vocational trainingsystem and the labour market. On thebasis of this information the National Ob-servatory and the Foundation periodicallyproduce country reports on vocationaltraining developments in Slovenia.


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Bulgaria

110,993 km2

8.34 million75.1 per km2

67.8

-5.0

9.9

4209

-10.9% (1996)

123 (1996)

13.7% (1996)

37.7

under 24: 22.7(march 1997)

57.2

4.0

4.9

1.7

higher education:5.1secondary levelcertificate: 8.7primary, or lowersecondary leveleducation: 12.8

1993

yes

the CzechRepublic

78,864 km2

10.3 million131 per km2

74.7

-0.1

94.0

9,410

+4.0 (1996)

8.8 (1996)

3.4 (1996)

6.1 (1996)

13.0 (1996)

84.3 (1995 - agegroup 14-19)

8.7

5.9

1.3

university gradu-ates: 0.7 (1996)full secondaryeducation gradu-ates: 1.3 (1996)primary and lowersecondary educa-tion: 9.4 (1996)

1993

yes

Estonia

45,227 km2

1,462,130 (1997)32.3 per km2

69.8

-1.0

5.9

3,920

+4.0 (1996)

23.0 (1996)

10.2 (fourth quar-ter 1997)

11.8 (1994)

23.6

25.9

14.0

5.3

1.2

higher education:13.2secondary levelcertificate: 18.4primary, or lower,level education:10.6

1995

yes

Hungary

93,033 km2

10.2 million110 per km2

62.6

-0.03

33.4

3,343

+1.0 (1996)

23.6 (1996)

9.2 (1996)

15.7

27.7 (1996)

73.0

N/A

7.8 (1996)

N/A

university degreeholders: 3.2acquired second-ary level certifi-cate: 11primary, or lower,level education:7.5

1994

yes

Lithuania

65,200 km2

3.7 million56.9 per km2

65.0

-1.1

14.0

4,100

+3.6 (1996)

24.6 (1996)

7.3 (1996)

5.1 (1996)

42.0(16-29 year olds)

36.7

8.4 (1995/96)

5.7

0.7


1995

yes

Area

Population/Population density

% urban population

% population growth

GDP in billions of ECU

GDP per capita in purchasingpower parity (ECU)

% GDP increase/decrease

% annual inflation

% unemployment(ILO methodology)

Young unemployed %(age group under 25)

% young unemployedof all unemployed(age group under 25)

Participants of initial vocationaleducation and training as % of allstudents of secondary education

Drop-out rate as % of initial voca-tional education and training stu-dents

Education budget as % of GDP

Vocational education and trainingbudget as % of GDP

Unemployment rate %by educational attainment

Signed the Europe Agreementwith the European Union in

Candidate for EU membership.

Notes: Data refers to 1995 if not indicated. Data on Slovakia is not available.

Key indicators on Central and EasternEuropean countries


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Romania

237,500 km2

22.6 million (1996)123 per km2

54.4 (1992)

0.2

93.0

4,100

+4.1 (1996)

38.8 (1996)

8.0

20.6

N/A

68.5

N/A

4.0

0.5

university degreeholders 2.7secondary levelcertificate 8.5primary, or lower,level education 5

1993

yes

Area

Population/Population density

% urban population

% population growth

GDP in billions of ECU

GDP per capita in purchasingpower parity (ECU)

% GDP increase/decrease

% annual inflation

% unemployment(ILO methodology)

Young unemployed %(age group under 25)

% young unemployedof all unemployed(age group under 25)

Participants of initial vocationaleducation and training as % of allstudents of secondary education

Drop-out rate as % of initial voca-tional education and training stu-dents

Education budget as % of GDP

Vocational education and trainingbudget as % of GDP

Unemployment rate %by educational attainment

Signed the Europe Agreementwith the European Union in

Candidate for EU membership.

Latvia

64,589 km2

2,479,900 Million38.4 per km2

68.9 (1996)

-1.1 (1996)

3.4

3,159

2.5 (1996)

17.6 (1996)

18.3 (1996)

age 15-19: 14.2;age 20-24: 21.8;

25.6

50.9

13.0

5.2

0.6

highereducation: 2.46secondaryeducation: 7.04primaryeducation: 10.92

1995

yes

Poland

312,690 km2

38,609,000119 per km2

61.8

1.97 (1994)

90.2

2,359

+6.0 (1996)

19.9 (1996)

12.4 (1996)

28.7 (1996)

N/A

78.0

13.0

6.2 (1994)

0.7

N/A

1991

yes

Slovenia

20,250 km2

2 million (1996)98 per km2

50.1

between 0 and 1

14.2

7,236

+4.0 (forecast for1997)

9.7 (1996)

7.3 (1996)

18.8 (1996)

7.3

77.6

20.0

5.85

0.6


1996

yes


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Sources: European Commission, UN, World Bank, OECD

GDP per capita as % of EU average

Latvia

Estonia

Lithuania

Poland

HungarySlovakia

Romania

Bulgaria

8%

5%

14%

20%

14%

19%

7%

7%

42%

11%

Czech. Rep.

Slovenia


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CE

DE

FOP

CE

DE

FOP panorama

Competencies in two sectors in which information technology (IT) exerts a strong influence: Telecommunications and Administration/offices

Case studies in Italy, France and Spain

Final report

CE

DE

FOP

CE

DE

FOP panorama

CEDEFOP and the social partners

Information anddiscussion document

Information, comparativestudies

CEDEFOP and the social partnersTHEUNISSEN A-F.European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training, CEDEFOPThessaloniki, 1997, 38 p.(Panorama 5065)CEDEFOP, POB 27 - Finikas,GR-55102 [email protected] FR

The purpose of this information and dis-cussion document is to get a better in-sight into the demands and the expecta-tions of the social partners vis-à-visCEDEFOP. The author analyses the roleof the Centre, the priorities of the socialpartners in the field of vocational train-ing, their demands in terms of the sectorsand modes of intervention of CEDEFOP,and the relations between the Manage-ment Board and their organizations.The resulting lines of action are a sourceof inspiration for the discussion on thetasks and objectives of the coming years.

Competencies in two sectors in whichinformation technology (IT) exerts astrong influence: telecommunicationsand administration/offices, Case stud-ies in Italy, France and Spain.GONZALEZ, L.; GATTI M.;TAGLIAFERRO C.European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training, CEDEFOPThessaloniki, 1997, 52 p.(Panorama 5064)CEDEFOP, POB 27- Finikas,GR-55102 Thessaloniki,[email protected] ES

The study, which was conducted in threecountries (Spain, France and Italy) aimsto identify new professional competenciesin which information technologies have aparticularly strong impact: telecommuni-cations, a sector which plays a vital rolein the evolution of IT, and administration

and office work which make general useof IT and which, while not a productivesector, is a transversal and intersectoralarea processing data and information. Thestudy envisages the description of certainfunctional activities and definition of therequired competencies in order to providea reference framework for training cur-ricula.

Education, training and work re-search, findings and conclusions.European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training, CEDEFOPThessaloniki, 1997, 53 p.(Panorama 5066)CEDEFOP, POB 27 - Finikas,GR-55102 [email protected]

The links between education and trainingon the one hand, and work, economicgrowth and new technologies on the otherwere subject of a seminar organized byCEDEFOP in November 1996. Althoughthe contribution of education and train-ing to economic growth and productivityis widely confirmed by research results,numerous questions remain open. Theyconcern the nature of skills needed, prob-lems of unemployment and of the transi-tion of young people into working life,and the role of education and trainingpolicies. The papers presented at the semi-nar discussed some recent research workcarried out in these fields and give anoverview of on-going activities. The con-clusions drawn indicate that no singlepolicy is expected to substantially increaseeconomic growth and employment, andto decrease unemployment. What is more,a policy-mix and a package of strategiesis necessary to achieve these goals.

Continuing vocational training surveyin enterprises 1994 (CVTS), methodsand definitions.Statistical Office of the European Commu-nities, EurostatLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1996, 61 p.(Population and social conditions methods)

Reading

Rea

din

g se

lect

ion

This section lists the most im-portant and recent publica-tions on developments in train-ing and qualifications at aninternational and Europeanlevel. Giving preference to com-parative works, it also lists na-tional studies carried out aspart of international and Eu-ropean programmes, analysesof the impact of Communityaction on the Member Statesand national studies seen froman external perspective.

This section has beenprepared by

MartinaNí Cheallaigh,and the DocumentationService with the help ofmembers of the nationaldocumentation network

Europe - International


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ISBN 92-827-8740-0, en.EN FR DE

This publication describes the conceptualbackground to CVTS, the first survey car-ried out by Eurostat in 1993 on continu-ing vocational training, and how the re-quirements worked out at community levelwere implemented in the 12 MemberStates of 1994. It also gives a quantitativeoverview of the findings of the survey insummary form for the then 12 MemberStates.

Education across the European Unionstatistics and indicators 1996.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 349 p.(Theme 3 series A)ISBN 92-827-9631-0EN FR DE

This publication provides comparable datafor the 15 Member States of the EuropeanUnion on pupils, students and teachingstaff, as well as educational attainmentlevels of the population. It focuses largelyon the academic year 1993/94, supple-mented by a time series for certain vari-ables 1975/76- 1993/94. Indicators rangefrom the proportion of the population ineducation to the most popular modernforeign languages taught at school, andfrom the age structure of new entrants tohigher education to the proportion of stu-dents attending university abroad. Anumber of these indicators are providedfor the regions of the EU. Finally, draw-ing on data from the Community labourforce survey, the publication contains aspecial section on the levels of educationalattainment of the population.

Study group on education and train-ing - Report, Accomplishing Europethrough education and trainingEuropean Commission - DG XXIILuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1996, 99 p.ISBN 92-827-9493-8, en.

92-827-9494-6, frhttp://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg22/re-flex/en/homeen.htm.ISBN 92-827-9493-8, enEN FR DE

This document prepared by the StudyGroup on education and training ad-

dresses the idea that the education sys-tem has a role to play in the promotion ofan active European citizenship. Thus, forthe purposes of developing a programmeof citizenship education, Europe and theMember States should take action in thethree following domains: 1) to affirm andtransmit the common values on which itscivilization is founded; 2) to assist in de-vising and disseminating ways of enablingyoung people to play a fuller part as Eu-ropean citizens, with a particular focus onteaching and learning; and 3) to identifyand disseminate the best practice in edu-cation and training of citizenship in orderto filter out the best means of acquiringthe elements of European citizenship

Continuous vocational training in theroad freight and passenger transportsectors.European Commission - DG XXIILuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 240 p.ISBN 92-827-9026-6, en.EN FR

This survey on continuing vocational train-ing in the European road transport sectorwas carried out within the framework ofthe EC FORCE Programme. The main pur-pose is to identify exemplary and signifi-cant practices across the twelve memberstates in the field and discuss the trans-ferability of such exemplary training fromone country to a range of others or to thewhole European Union. This synthesisreport represents a summary of all of thefindings in the national reports which dis-cusses the road freight transport sector inthe relevant country and present interest-ing case studies of road transport compa-nies.

A decade of reforms at compulsoryeducation level in the European Union(1984-94).European Unit of EURYDICE,Brussels, 1997, 313 p.ISBN 2-87116-255-7, en.EN FR

The EURYDICE network was asked by theEuropean Commission to provide detailedinformation on the education reforms in-troduced throughout the European Unionand together with a group of academicexperts this report was produced. The first


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part presents a comparative, historicalanalysis of the reforms introduced by theMember States of the European Union andthe EFTA/EEA countries in compulsoryeducation and identifies the main trends.The second part comprises individual de-scriptions of the national situations, coun-try by country.

L’insertion des jeunes et les politiquesd’emploi-formation.GAUDE J.International Labour Office, ILO. Train-ing and Employment DepartmentBureau International du Travail, BIT.Département de l’emploi et de la forma-tion, 1997(Cahiers de l’emploi et de la formation, 1)ISBN 92-2-210491-9ISSN 1020-5330FR

This study looks into the issues of train-ing and employment for young peoplebetween 15 and 24 years old and the ob-stacles they face in their effort to eitherenter the employment market or to stayon in jobs after finishing their initial train-ing.

Employment policies and program-mes in Central and Eastern Europe.GODFREY M.; RICHARDS P.Geneva, International Labour Office, ILO,1997, 220 p.ISBN 92-2-109515-0, enEN

This volume consists of papers presentedto an international conference on employ-ment policies and programmes in Centraland Eastern Europe held in Budapest inJune 1994. It contains comparative coun-try studies on Bulgaria, the Czech Repub-lic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia,Slovenia and Ukraine. It looks at govern-ment responsibilities in relation to employ-ment, ways of improving the operation ofthe labour market (through laws, regula-tions, assistance with job search, and soon), the range and content of programmesand the financing of employment servicesand unemployment benefits.

Five years later: reforming technicaland vocational education and trainingin Central Asia and Mongolia.PROKHOROFF G.; TIMMERMANN D.International Institute for Educational Plan-ning, IIEP, Deutsche Gesellschaft fürTechnische Zusammenarbeit, GTZParis, IIEP, 1997, 122 p.(IIEP research and studies programme)IIEP, 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix,75116 ParisEN FR

This report takes a synoptic, analytical andcomparative look at the salient featuresof VET in five republics of Central Asia(Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbe-kistan, and Turkmenistan and Mongoliawhich formerly did not belong to theUSSR) since they became independent in1991. The rapid transformation of theeconomy and the labour market inevita-bly resulted in a state of crisis for the train-ing system. In this context, this book re-views the state of technical and vocationaleducation five years after independence.It also includes a comparative analysis ofthe technical and vocational educationsystems in these countries and how theyare being adapted to their new environ-ment following the break-up of the USSR.

La mise en place de formations initia-les en alternance: enjeux, problèmeset solutionsGREFFE XInternational Institute for Educational Plan-ning, IIEP, Deutsche Gesellschaft fürTechnische Zusammenarbeit, GTZParis, IIEP, 1997, 85 p.(IIEP research and studies programme)IIEP, 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix,75116 ParisEN FR

Alternance training today contains manyalternatives for the entry of youth in theworking world, because it seems to be thebest means of giving young people betterqualifications, of helping them to retainthe professional skills they have acquiredand helping them to get accustomed tolife in the enterprise. This document de-fines the possible objectives of alternancetraining, taking account of the many dif-ferent actors involved.It shows how a number of developedcountries are managing their alternance


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training system and presents the main re-sults of this training in terms of directingthe flows towards technical and profes-sional occupations, their internal effi-ciency, and also their external efficiency,especially in terms of the opportunitiesoffered to youth of getting stable employ-ment and retaining it.

Reviews of national policies for edu-cation - Greece.Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development, OECD, 1996Paris, 1996, 212 p.ISBN 92-64-15365-9, en.EN FR

Education in Greece faces many urgentand serious problems. The causes andmagnitude of these problems are analysed,and specific proposals for measures toovercome them put forward. The empha-sis should be on meeting the demand foreducation, improving the educational in-frastructure, and raising the quality andrelevance of education throughout thesystem. The authors conclude that for thisto be done, the planning and managementof education must be radically changed,decision-making less centralised, and ob-jective systems of evaluation and account-ability established.

Reviews of national policies for edu-cation - Poland.Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development, OECD,Paris, 1996, 153 p.ISBN 92-64-14897-3, en.EN

This review focuses on all areas of thePolish system of education and training,including the quality and effectiveness ofeducation, the teaching profession andteacher education, higher education andthe financing of education. It concludeswith specific proposals to develop a hu-man resource development policy in Po-land.

L’éducation, un trésor est cachédedans, rapport à l’UNESCO de la Com-mission internationale sur l’éducationpour le vingt et unième siècle.DELORS J., et al

Paris, O. Jacob, 1996, 312 p.ISBN 2-7381-0381-2FR

At the request of the Director-General ofUNESCO, Federico Mayor, an internationalcommission chaired by Jacques Delorsreflected on education and learning forthe 21st century. This report presents thesereflections and makes some proposals forthe reform of education. The first partexamines the place of education in theeconomic and social development of so-ciety. The second part defines the fourpillars of education which will be the pil-lars of knowledge for each individualthroughout his life (learning to know,learning to do, learning to live togetherand learning to be). Finally, the last partanalyses the tasks of the education sys-tem - from primary education to the uni-versity -, the role of teachers, educationalpolicies and international cooperation.

The challenge of the future, futuretrends in adult and continuing tech-nical and vocational education.UNESCO. International Project on Tech-nical and Vocational Education, UNEVOC,1996Berlin , 1996, 108 p.UNEVOC Implementation Unit in Berlin,Fehrbelliner Platz 3,D-10707 Berlin,[email protected]

This is a report on an International Sym-posium that was organised and conductedby the UNEVOC Implementation Unit inBerlin of the UNESCO International Projecton Technical and Vocational Education.The report sees the need for learningthroughout life as the key to the 21st cen-tury and the need for a much closer inte-gration between education and training forthe world of work. In short, ‘learningthroughout life must take advantage of allthe opportunities provided by society’.

Youth transitions in Europe: theoriesand evidence/Insertion des jeunes enEurope: théories et résultatsWERQUIN P, BREEN R, PLANAS GCentre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur lesQualifications, CEREQMarseille, 1997,


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(Documents no 120, Seminaires series)Céreq, 10 place de la Joliette,F-13474 Marseille cedex 02EN/FR

Over the past few years, an annual work-shop has brought together researchersfrom all over Europe to address the issueof youth transition. The goal of the meet-ing held in La Ciotat in 1996 was to bringout the links between empirical and/orstatistical results and the theories that al-low these to be understood. Among thetwenty-odd presentations, most authorsfocused on the transition from initial train-ing to the various itineraries of youngpeople on the labour market. The arti-cles deal with the question of the school-to-work transition in technical and theo-retical terms. Some contributions deal ex-plicitly with the international comparisonwhile others involve only one country.Most of them have direct implications interms of political economy or, morebroadly, the functioning of the labourmarket encountered by young people.

Getting in, climbing up and breakingthrough: women returners and voca-tional guidance and counselling.CHISHOLM L.Bristol, The Policy Press, 1997, 80 p.ISBN 1-86134-032-XEN

This is the first comparative study to offerspecific information on the situation ofwomen returners vis-à-vis education, train-ing and employment in five Europeancountries - Great Britain, France, Ireland,Germany and Spain. It provides examplesof current guidance and counselling pro-vision for women returners’ needs anddemands. It highlights the transnationalissues and problems raised for recognis-ing and meeting women returners’ needsand demands, and looks at the wayswomen returners can be defined in con-ceptual, numerical and policy terms. Therecommendations provide practical stepsto improve their rights and opportunities.

La gestion des compétences, perspec-tives internationales.COLARDYN D.Paris. PUF. 1996. p. 228, bibl.2-13-047552-3.FR

After having stressed the notion of quali-fications for many years, the educationsystems of the industrialized countries arenow turning their attention to the notionof competences. Is this a passing fashion?Is it the sign of a profound change in oureducational structures? This work attemptsto explore this question in six of the G7countries - France, Germany, Canada, theUnited Kingdom, the United States - andAustralia. How are qualifications andcompetences handled in these countries?How do the educational systems react tothe needs of the economy and a workingpopulation which is becoming more effi-cient and capable of anticipating the de-velopment of its skills? What methods areused to evaluate the required competencesand to recognize and validate qualifica-tions and acquired skills? Who are thepartners in this process? The author un-derlines the progress achieved in the trans-ferability of competences and the improve-ment of their visibility for the social part-ners. She also shows the efforts whichhave to be made to ensure he transfer ofcompetences on the labour market. Fi-nally, it seems that the management ofcompetences attempted in the surveyedcountries contains a great diversity of in-terpretations.

Qualifications intermédiaires et rap-port de formation dans cinq pays del’OCDE.CAROLI E.Institut de recherche et d’études sociales,IRESin: Revue de l’IRES (Noisy-le-Grand)n° 21, 1996, pp. 5-36ISSN 1145-1378FR

The author defines the benefit gainedfrom training as the ratio between thetraining system and the salary level. Sheshows that the efficiency of training isessentially defined by the average levelof intermediate qualifications - or ratherthe average level of the training of work-ers, foremen and technicians. The keyrole played by this level of training ofthese groups calls for an approach toeducational phenomena which is notpurely commercial. The countries stud-ied were: Japan, the Federal Republic ofGermany, the United States, the UnitedKingdom and France.


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La formation dans les pays de l’Unioneuropéenne, Hormis la France, in-cluant l’Islande et la Norvège en rai-son de leur appartenance à l’EspaceEconomique Européen.MERLLIE C. ; LAIRRE V. ; GAUTIER-MOULIN P, et autres.Centre INFFOParis, 1997, 76 p.ISBN 2-911577-16-7FR

This document presents an updated andfuller version of the contents of Chapter26 of the Practical Continuing TrainingSheets issued by the Centre INFFO. Foreach country, the summarized presenta-tion of the initial and continuing trainingsystem is completed by useful addressesand bibliographical references. Biblio-graphical cross references are given at theend of the volume.

Die Hochschulpolitik in Österreichund Ungarn 1945-1995, Modernisie-rungsmuster im Vergleich.BESSENYEI I.; MELCHOIR J.Frankfurt/M., Berl in, Wien, WienerOsteuropastudien, 1996, 314pISBN 3-631-49882-9DE

The comparative study of the developmentof universities in Austria and Hungary isthe central point of the book. It offers in-teresting and surprising views into thedynamics of developments of universitysystems in east and west and analyses theirprinciples of management, authoritativeconditions and rationalization trends.

De aantrekkelijkheid van beroepson-derwijs: algemeen onderwijs en be-roepsonderwijs in Nederland, Frank-rijk en Noorwegen.ONSTENK J.; MOERKAMP T.Amsterdam, SCO Kohnstamm Instituut,1997, 130 p.ISBN 90-6813-509-0NL

This analysis focuses on the relationshipbetween general education and vocationaltraining in The Netherlands in compari-son with other countries where there is asimilar mix of general and vocational edu-cation, but where the balance, history and

institutional practice are different, in par-ticular, France and Norway.

Ausbildungsinadäquate Beschäftigungin Deutschland und den USA: Ein Ver-gleich von Struktur und Einkommens-effekten auf der Basis von PaneldatenBüchel, F. ; Weißhuhn G.Bonn : Bundesministerium für Bildung,Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie(BMBF), 1997. - 46 S.ISBN 3-88135-313-5

This BMBF study is one of several surveyseries based on panel data, which havethe aim of getting more information onthe match between training and type ofemployment in an international compari-son. It identifies imbalances in the rela-t ionship between quali f icat ion andworkplace requirements in Germany andthe USA with the aim of finding explana-tions for the causes and effects of thisdevelopment. The empirical comparisonof both countries will lead to a better as-sessment of the dimension of employmentmatching training in Germany.

The authors take two panel studies as thebasis for their comparison: the “PanelStudy of Income Dynamics” (PSID) fromthe years 1976 and 1985 in the USA andthe Socio-economic Panel (Socio-ökono-mische Panel - SOEP) from the year 1984in Germany. They differentiate accordingto matching, over-qualified or under-quali-fied jobs, gender-specific differences andprofessional experience in both over-qualified and under-qualified jobs. Thequalification level and the workplace char-acteristics of both populations was exam-ined. The study is not restricted to simplefrequency alone, but also works withmultiple correlations and significance tests.

The first part gives a detailed descriptionof the survey method. The second partinterprets the findings and draws conclu-sions. It is seen that there are striking dif-ferences in the volume and structure ofunder-qualified jobs in both countries.Career opportunities and risks are - inde-pendent of the level of education - con-siderably richer in variation in the USAthan in Germany. The higher risks in theUSA are offset by greater opportunities.In addition to the degree of flexibility ofthe labour market, the differing assessment


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of formal vocational qualifications playsa major role in career opportunities.The purpose of the study is to contributeto an improvement of the efficiency ofthe education system and its performance.The Annex to the volume contains an ex-tensive documentation of the empiricalfindings.

European Union: policies,programmes, participants

Leonardo da Vinci 1995 call for pro-posals, analyses and results.European Commission - DG XXIILuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 48 p.ISBN 92-826-8774-0, en.EN DE

This report presents the results of the firstLeonardo da Vinci call for proposals cov-ering three types of action to: 1) set uptransnational pilot projects and multiplier-effect projects to enable those responsi-ble for vocational training in the coun-tries participating in the programme toexperiment as well as to exchange anddisseminate knowledge and experience;2) carry out transnational placement andexchange programmes; 3) undertaketransnational surveys and analyses.

Socrates: the Community action pro-gramme in the field of education, Re-port on the results achieved in 1995and 1996.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 81 p.(COM (97) 99 final)ISBN 92-78-16682-0, en.ISSN 0254-1475, en.DA FR DE EN ES FI EL IT NL PT SV

This report has the aim of analysing themain aspects of the implementation anddevelopment of Socrates in its first twoyears: 1995 and 1996. It consists of a sum-mary which stresses the positive recep-tion received by the programme thus ena-bling it to bring about a significant im-provement in the volume and strategicapproach of European cooperation. PartA compiles the results of the programmeas a whole with the measures adopted forits implementation, the applications forassistance and the assistance granted in

1995 and 1996. It also describes the ob-stacles encountered and the challengesarising in the years to come. Part B liststhe results obtained in each part of theprogramme: Erasmus, Comenius, Lingua,open and distance learning, adult educa-tion, exchange of information and expe-rience on the educational systems andpolicy and complementary measures.

Tableau de bord 1996, follow-up to theconclusions of the Essen EuropeanCouncil on employment policies.European Commission - DG VLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 178 p.(Employment Observatory)ISBN 92-827-9023-1, en.EN FR DE

The aim of the Synoptic Table is to presentan overview of the principal labour mar-ket measures taken by each Member State.It is an instrument to assess progress to-wards structural reform of the labour mar-kets, in the framework of the follow-upto the Essen Council decision of Decem-ber 1994. This is the second edition, up-dated by the Member States in 1996. Thethematic organisation is as follows: 1)vocational training: improving educationand training systems, promotion of life-long learning, adapting to change, andrecent measures; 2) increasing the employ-ment-intensiveness of growth: more flex-ible organisation of work, income poli-cies, promotion of initiatives, recent meas-ures; 3) reduction of non-wage labourcosts; 4) improving the effectiveness ofthe labour market policy and 5) improv-ing measures to help groups which areparticularly hard hit by unemployment.

Reporting System on Access, Qualityand Volume of Continuing VocationalTraining in Europe.ANT M.; KINTZELE J. ; HAECHT V.;WALTHER R.Formation Continue en Europe, FORCE.Institut National pour le Developpementde la Formation Professionnelle Continue,INFPCNeuwied, Kriftel; Luchterhand, Berlin,1996, 344 p.ISBN 3-472-02699-5, en.

3-472-02700-2, fr.3-472-02698-7, de

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The reporting system is an up-to-dateanalysis of the current situation in con-tinuing vocational training of the 12 (pre-1996) Member States of the EuropeanUnion. It features a comparative descrip-tion of the vocational training systems ofthe different countries, presented in termsof a user-friendly and clearly designedlayout. The structured and systematic ap-proach provides a comprehensive intro-duction to the theme followed by an over-view of the legal framework, the content,typical best practice and key-developmentperspectives in continuing vocationaltraining in the different countries covered.

Comett II, the final evaluation report.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 120 p.ISBN 92-826-9411-9, en.EN FR DE

This report concerns the second phase ofthe COMETT Programme, COMETT II(1990-1994), which is the successor pro-gramme to COMETT I (1986-1989), theCommunity Action Programme for Educa-tion and Training for Technology. It ismainly based on the synthesis of a largenumber of evaluation and monitoring docu-ments produced over the programme’s life-time, in particular the last two years. Giventhe range of activities developed under theCOMETT programme, this report providesonly a concise overview of what has been,in fact, a very rich and varied Communityinitiative - of which the main elements havebeen safeguarded under the newLEONARDO DA VINCI programme.

Review of Phare training activities.BROCK R.European Training Foundation, ETFTurin, 1996, 67 p.ETF, Villa Gualino,Viale Settimio Severo 65,I-10133 TorinoEN

This review covers training activities un-der the Phare programmes which are di-rectly concerned with vocational educa-tion and training systems. It also exam-ines all major Phare sectoral programmes,and for each of these areas summarisesthe main type of training activity carriedout, gives details of sample programmes,

and identifies those where there is a sig-nificant VET component. For the purposeof this study “vocational education andtraining” means post-compulsory educa-tion geared to specific trades, initial train-ing for those starting work, continuing/adult training and management training.TEMPUS and other “partnership” pro-grammes are excluded from the study.

EU research and technological devel-opment activities, 5-year assessmentof the European Community RTDframework programmes: Report of theindependent expert panel.- Commis-sion’s comments.DAVIGNON E, et al.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 58 p.(COM (97) 151 final)ISBN 92-78-18099-8, enISSN 0254-1475, en.DA FR DE EN ES FI EL IT NL PT SV

The decisions on the framework pro-grammes stipulate that the Commissionshould get independent experts to evalu-ate the management and the implementa-tion of Community schemes. This reportis a follow-up to the final evaluation ofthe 3rd framework programme. For the5th framework programme, it recommendsa strategic approach which will lead to aqualitative leap based on scientific excel-lence and economic and social validitycoupled with European added value whichshould be the essential criterion for theselection of programmes and projects. Therecommendations on the legal frameworkand improved implementation are thefoundations of the strategy (Part A), andPart B presents the observations of theCommission.

Review of reactions to the White Pa-per “Teaching and learning: towardsthe learning society” Communicationfrom the Commission.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 14 p.(COM (97) 256 final)ISBN 92-78-20802-7, en.ISSN 0254-1475, enDA FR DE EN ES FI EL IT NL PT SV

This communication summarizes the mainpolitical messages derived from the de-


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bates following the appearance of theWhite Paper. The knowledge-based Un-ion is built up on economic and socialbases, on ethical values, around the con-cept of lifelong education and trainingand the importance of the new technolo-gies. The Member States of the EuropeanUnion should mobilize their politicalmeans, adopt new patterns of behaviourand find the necessary resources. Thesecond part of this stocktaking lists on-going experiments within the context ofthe White Paper’s objectives, presentingfor each one its implementation and thepreliminary conclusions. In conclusionthe following is announced: a preciseevaluation later of the experimentalphase, preparatory work to set up thelegal instruments for achievement of theWhite Paper’s objectives, the choice po-sition which the Commission will accordto non-material investments in the reformof the structural funds and finally, guide-lines which will inspire the developmentof action programmes in the fields of edu-cation, training and youth. The annex isdevoted to the debates on the White Pa-per and the learning society.

Promoting Apprenticeship Training inEurope, communication from theCommission.European CommissionLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1997, 9 p.(COM (97) 300 final)ISBN 92-79-21806-5, en.ISSN 0254-1475, en.DA FR DE EN ES FI EL IT NL PT SV

The objective of this communication is topromote discussion of various aspects ofapprenticeship training, which is seen asan efficient way of tackling the waste ofresources caused by unemployment, andof equipping young people with the rel-evant skills for a job. It is also regardedas an adequate means for achieving theoverall aim of closing the gap betweenthe world of work and the world of edu-cation.

Training and Continuous Learning,Contributions on the organisational,social and technological dimensionsof learning.TOMASSINI M.; HORGAN J.; D’ALOJA P.;and others.

Milan, Angeli, 1996, (it), 247 p; 1997, (en),238 p(Isfol Strumenti e Ricerche, n° 62 it; 66en)ISBN 88-204-8766-7 (en)IT EN

From a pedagogical ideal to a requirementfor growth: this may be the key for inter-preting the widespread interest in continu-ing learning and the decision of the Euro-pean Union to proclaim 1996 the Year ofLifelong Learning. Current evolution ofwork systems and ways of life makes itnecessary to constantly update the formalknowledge which each individual pos-sesses and to optimise experience-basedknowledge which manifests itself in theskills needed to manage the space of dailyactivity, solve problems, and interact withothers operating in the same contexts. Theindividual valence of learning thereforecontinually intersects with organisationaland economic valence. This book, whichcontains a collection of contributions madewithin the framework of two specific ini-tiatives of the Eurotecnet Community Pro-gramme in Italy, illustrates the basic roleof training in these dynamics as part ofan evolution away from traditional mod-els, to facilitate lifelong learning processesin all their complexity. An English lan-guage version of the book has been pub-lished in 1997.

Multimedia for Education and Train-ing, European publishers and prod-ucts 1997BASE - The database on multimedia or-ganisations and products for educa-tion and trainingBASE consortiumParis, 1997, 391 p. + CD-RomISBN 2-904-790-30-06CENTRE INFFO,Tour Europe Cedex 07,F-92049 Paris la Défense,Tel: 01 41 252222, Fax 01 47 737420DE/EN/ES/FR/IT/PT (mixed)

This CD-ROM and European Directory oftraining multimedia is a database of edu-cational software which was supported bythe European Commission through theSocrates programme - the section on openand distance learning. It is a tool for pub-lishers which will enable them to find theright place for their offers, to search for


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products or to prepare their action at in-ternational level. Teachers and trainers canuse it to select high-quality pedagogicalproducts. BASE compiles data on 350multimedia publishers from ten countries,it offers an analysis of the European train-ing multimedia market, and lists an offerof 900 products accompanied by a detaileddescription.

Mobility in the EU - implications forthe European Social FundDepartment of Enterprise and Employ-ment, European Social Fund. ProgrammeEvaluation UnitDublin, ESF Programme Evaluation Unit,159 p.ISBN 1-900256-29-0EN

The opening addresses of this conferenceby the Irish Minister for Enterprise andEmployment and the European Commis-sioner for Employment, Industrial Affairsand Social Affairs identified common ar-eas where they saw scope for more ac-tion by the ESF. These were: the develop-ment of language capacity; creating greaterawareness of different cultures and tradi-tions and; mutual recognition of qualifi-cations, while reflecting the fact that cer-tification systems are a reflection of thediversity of our education and trainingsystems. The conference then heard aneconomic perspective on the issue ofmobility within the EU, followed by a sum-mary version of the Discussion Paper pre-pared for the conference by the Irish ESFEvaluation Unit. Workshops then dis-cussed the topic of European citizenshipand the concept of mobility; harmonisa-tion or transparency of qualifications andthe implications for the ESF; mobility inthe context of broad labour trends e.g. inemployment, unemployment and ageingof the European labour force. In his con-cluding address the Director of the ESFreferred to the mid term reviews underwayin all Member States, and the possibilityof re-focusing ESF supported programmes.He suggested that (1) the transnationalelements of mainstream programmescould be enhanced (2) European addedvalue should be regarded not just as aneconomic consideration, but because ofthe broader idea of European citizenshipand the political, cultural and social as-pects and (3) the area of mutual recogni-

tion of qualifications could be enhancedwith support from the ESF. This could in-clude the interlinking of certification sys-tems between Member States, developinginformation systems, developing andpiloting the accreditation of prior and in-formal learning and developing new quali-fications for new areas of work.

Analysis of member state actions infavour of the Youthstart target group,European summary.SVENDSEN S.Danmarks Erhvervspaedagogiske Laerer-uddannelse, DEL, 1996Copenhagen, 1996, 20 p.DEL, Rigensgade 13,DK-1316 Copenhagen KEN

This synthesis report is based on 17 na-tional reports on actions and measures infavour of the Youthstart target group.These reports were prepared in 1996 byinvited national experts. This summarygives 1) a comprehensive overview ofMember States’ actions and measures, 2)describes the characteristics of the groupsof young people identified by MemberStates as being most at risk of not achiev-ing the integration into the labour market(the Youthstart target groups), and 3) pro-vides an initial analysis of the types ofstrategies being undertaken to provide forthese groups. An annex is included whichlists measures in the individual countriesand provides cross references to the pagesin the national reports where the indi-vidual measures are described and ana-lysed.

Book of good practice, “Trainingyoung people on social competencies- some ideas -”VOCHTEN A.Flemish office for placement and voca-tional training, VDABBrussels, 1997, 28 p.VDAB, CPOS, Keizerslaan 11,B-1000 BrusselsEN

This document is the result of thetransnational Nuori project of the FlemishOffice for Placement and Vocational Train-ing and the Flemish Institute for Self-em-ployed Businesses, submitted under the


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EMPLOYMENT-YOUTHSTART pro-gramme. It contains valuable ‘good prac-tice’ information for the training of youngpeople in social skills. The document alsofocuses on such aspects as cultural differ-

ences, the handling of conflicts, attitudeforming and communication skills. Read-ers will also find useful references, includ-ing the addresses of current web sites onsocial skills.

From the Member States

The developmentof education

1994-96 Norway - National report.Royal Ministry of Education, Research andChurch Affairs, 1996Oslo, 1996, 30 p.Akersgt. 42, PO Box 9119 Dep. N-0032OsloEN

Extensive educational reforms are beingcarried out in Norway, involving a reviewof all levels of education. Reforms inhigher and upper secondary education arebeing followed up by a comprehensivereform of compulsory education. The cur-rent reforms take into account that edu-cation will increasingly have to be con-sidered in a lifelong perspective, and thatsystems of continued education and train-ing and lifelong learning must be devel-oped.

Onderwijsontwikkelingenin Vlaanderen 1994-1996

Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenshap -Department OnderwijsBrussels, 1996, 117 p.Availability: Ministerie van de VlaamseGemeenshap - Department Onderwijs,Afdeling Informatie en Documentatie,Koningsstraat 71, B-1000 BrusselNL

This report gives an overview of devel-opments in education in Flanders for theperiod 1994-1996. It gives a continuousand phase-wise description of the organi-zational and legal structure of the differ-ent levels of education and study disci-plines; it also addresses ways and meansof achieving all pedagogical objectives forthe next century. This report is intendedfor UNESCO and is a follow-up to the In-

ternational Conference on Educationwhich was held in Geneva in September-October 1996; it contains a statistical analy-sis of the system and a textual descriptionof recent trends.

Human resourcedevelopment:

White Paper on human resourcedevelopment.Department of Enterprise and Employ-mentDublin, 1997, 158 p.ISBN 0-7076-3849-6EN

The White Paper contains 9 broad objec-tives which are (1) promoting an increasein the level, relevance and the quality oftraining undertaken by enterprises toachieve best international practice (2) as-sisting small enterprises to overcome theskill barriers to development (3) improv-ing the level of management training anddevelopment (4) helping young people tobecome more employable through thedevelopment of their skills (5) re-integrat-ing the unemployed (6) promoting equalopportunities (7) strengthening the com-mitment to lifelong learning (8) develop-ing quality assurance (9) ensuring the ef-ficiency, effectiveness and net economicbenefit of State expenditure on HumanResources Development. Measures toachieve these objectives include the es-tablishment of an awareness programmeon the skills and training needs of Irishbusiness led by the social partners, a newemployer-led Training Networks Pro-gramme to raise standards in firms to “bestpractice” and the establishment of a newagency, the National Employment Service,to play a major role in assisting the long-term unemployed back to work.

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Formación y empleo en España,análisis y evaluación de la

política de formación ocupacional.PEREZ SANCHEZ M.Granada, Universidad de Granada, 1997,234 p.(Biblioteca de Ciencias Políticas y Socio-logía - Estudios, 13)ISBN 84-338-2280-2, esES

The Plan Nacional de Formación y Inser-ción Profesional (Plan FIP - VocationalTraining and Insertion Plan) put into ef-fect in 1985 by the Minister of Employ-ment is the result of an attempt to reformthe vocational training system in Spain.This study analyses the first five years ofits existance. It is divided into 5 chapters:1) relation between employment policy,labour market and vocational trainingpolicy; 2) the impact of new technologies;3) training systems in some EU countries;4) vocational training policy in Spain (PlanF.I.P.) and 5) the results of the study.

Education and vocationaltraining: an overview of

the Austrian systemBundesministerium für Unterricht undkulturelle Angelegenheiten. Bundesmini-sterium für Arbeit und SozialesVienna, 1996, 47 pAvailability: Bundesministerium für Unter-richt und kulturelle Angelegenheiten,Freyung 1, A-1010 ViennaDE EN

This brochure presents the present edu-cational system in a short and clear wayto show the reader that Austria is preparedfor the future, and for the task of “life-long learning”. It includes an overview ofthe general education system at primaryand secondary level; the vocational edu-cation and training provided at second-ary level through the vocational schoolsand the apprenticeship system; post-sec-ondary supply through the colleges anduniversities, etc.; career and non-career-related courses for adults; and types oflabour market-oriented training for thoseseeking employment.

Aus- und Weiterbildungzur unternehmerischen

Selbständigkeit für Absolventen desberuflichen BildungswesensBund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungs-planung und ForschungsförderungBonn, 1997. - II, 18, 190 S.(Materialien zur Bildungsplanung und zurForschungsförderung, 55)DE

The documents in this volume (the basicdocuments for the discussions of the Edu-cational Planning Committee and the Re-port of the Commission of the Federal andState Governments (Bund-Länder-Kom-mission) “Initial and continuing trainingfor independent entrepreneurship of per-sons completing vocational education andtraining”) originate from a commissionedstudy on the subject “Initial and continu-ing training for independent entrepreneur-ship”, conducted by the “Institut derdeutschen Wirtschaft” in Cologne. In theresearch report which was the outcomeof the study, this field of action is exam-ined and expert opinions round off theresearch findings. The detailed researchreport outlines the design of the study,describes independent entrepreneurshipas the new goal of vocational qualifica-tion, presents the labour market improve-ment and economic promotion pro-grammes of the Federal and State govern-ments, offers direct continuing trainingcourses for independent entrepreneurshipand examines the possibilities of upgrad-ing continuing training (e.g. examinationas Meister in crafts and industry, techni-cal, industrial and commercial continuingtraining, training courses in business ad-ministration leading to State-recognizeddiplomas). The report contains extensiveempirical data. In the Annex there is de-tailed information on the surveys con-ducted by the State Ministries of Econom-ics, Labour and Education, the surveys ofthe continuing training institutions, and thequestionnaire sent to enterprises in indus-try, commerce and crafts, and to the of-fices of tax consultants.The commissioned research undertaken bythe “Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft” isthe basis of the decision adopted by the“Bund-Länder-Kommission”. The decisionrefers to selected items which can preparepersons for independent entrepreneurshipwithin the context of initial and continu-ing vocational training, it makes cross-

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sectoral and specific recommendationswhich relate to subjects such as promo-tion of independent entrepreneurshipthrough in-company training, through vo-cational schools, through continuing vo-cational training and through continuingtraining for promotion purposes.

White PaperExcellence in Schools

Department for Education and Employ-mentLondon, HMSO 1997, 84 p.ISBN 010-136-8127EN

Excellence in Schools is the first WhitePaper published by the New Labour gov-ernment. It sets out a five-year programmeto improve literacy and numeracy from theday children start school. The White Pa-per advocates the raising of educationstandards and emphasises new targets foreducational achievements by 2002. Bythen there will be: More nursery and early-years education including high-qualityeducation for four-year-olds whose par-ents want it. Every primary school willcarry out a baseline assessment of pupilswhen they enter school and there will bea year on year target for improvement. Agreat improvement in achievements inmaths and English. There will be new testsat nine and targets for 11-year-olds inmaths and English. There will be one hourper day of literacy and numeracy teach-ing in primary schools. Schools will iden-tify pupils by subject ability and provideaccelerated learning or one-to-one sup-port teaching as necessary. Furthermore,there will be improved college trainingcourses for those who want to becometeachers, with more emphasis on Englishand maths for primary teachers and newstandards which all trainees must meetbefore qualifying to teach. New supportarrangements for all newly qualified

teachers in their first job. National train-ing arrangements for existing head teach-ers. A requirement for all heads when ap-pointed for the first time to hold a pro-fessional headship qualification.

Educação e Formaçãoao Longo da Vida

CAMPOS, B., dir.In: Inovação; Instituto de InovaçãoEducacional (Lisboa), 9 (3),1996, pp. 205-366ISSN 0871-2212PT

This publication deals with the subjectof Education and Lifelong Learning andpresents some reflections on a few con-cepts. The possibility of acquiring edu-cation and training even after the con-ventional school-going age (childhoodand adolescence) should be available andwill follow a different logic. It is obvi-ous today that a second chance or newelementary education opportunities haveto be offered to those who did not havethis chance at the age of compulsoryschooling. Elementary education is aconcept undergoing change. This workpresents a survey undertaken in two lo-calities in the district of Setúbal whichexamines the adequacy of the instruc-tion given at present in the second pathof education and makes some sugges-tions. Vocational training for qualifica-tion, re-training and up-dating trainingare vital elements in economic and so-cial development. One of the articlespresents some modes of alternance be-tween the training context and the work-ing context against the background ofnational experience of the Apprentice-ship System and the Vocational Schools.It is seen that education and lifelonglearning are not acquired exclusively inor during the time spent in schools andtraining centres.

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EuropeanTraining

Foundation(ETF)

Villa GualinoViale Settimio Severo 65

I-10133 Turin

Tel.: 39-11+630 22 22Fax.: 39-11+630 22 00

E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.etf.it

The European Training Foundation has recently published a series of reports on thevarious systems of vocational education and training in the countries of Central andEastern Europe which are eligible for the Phare Programme. Each report has a similarstructure based on five main sections which include basic data on the country andthe structure of vocational training, recent developments in the vocational trainingsystem, current international assistance in the field, further needs for vocational trainingdevelopments and possible priorities for assistance in the future. The annexes includekey indicators, a diagram of the vocational training system, the legislative frameworkand a list of the different bodies involved.

All these documents can be downloaded from the Foundation’s homepage (http://www.etf.it) in English, French and German or obtained in hard-copy from the EuropeanTraining Foundation (Information and Publications Department, Villa Gualino, VialeSettimio Severo 65, I - 10133 Torino, fax: +39 11 630 22 00 or e-mail: [email protected])

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Albania.FEYEN C J.; MEIJER K.; PARKES D.1996, 55 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Bulgaria.SINCLAIR C.1996, 37 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in the CzechRepublic.APPEL A.1996, 47 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Estonia.NIELSEN S P.1996, 46 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Hungary.PAUWELS T.; WESTERHUIS A.1996, 57 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Latvia.GORDON J.; PARKES D.1996, 48 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Lithuania.FEYEN C J.1996, 38 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Poland.GROOTINGS P.1996, 49 p.

The European Training Foun-dation is one of the agencies of theEuropean Union. It is located inTurin, Italy and started its activ-ities in January 1995.

The Foundation was establishedby Council Regulation No. 1360/90of 7 May 1990 and Council Regu-lation No. 2063/94 (which amendsthe original) with the purpose ofpromoting cooperation and co-or-dination of assistance in the fieldof vocational training reform inCentral and Eastern Europe, theNew Independent States and Mon-golia (called the partner coun-tries).

In addition, the Foundation pro-vides technical assistance for theimplementation of the TempusProgramme for cooperation be-tween the European Union andthese countries in the field ofhigher education.


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Report on the vocational educationand training system in Romania.SINCLAIR C.1996, 48 p.

Report on the vocational education andtraining system in the Slovak Republic.MATHEU X.; HOLMS O.1996, 48 p.

Report on the vocational educationand training system in Slovenia.ROMPKES L.1996, 53 p.

Report on vocational education andtraining,A comparative analysis of the PHAREcountries.KUEBART F.; HIMMEL B.; LAEV I et al.European Training Foundation, ETFTurin, 1996, 22 p.

This report is a cross-country analysis ofvocational education and training systemsbased on eleven case-studies from thePHARE countries. It highlights some of themost salient reform characteristics andproblems. It points out some of the

development trends and potentials whichappear significant for international co-operation and to identify problems in needof further in-depth research.

Vocational education and training inKyrgyzstan, managing educationalreforms in an economy in transition.European Training Foundation, ETFLuxembourg, EUR-OP, 1996, 83 p.ISBN 92-9157-066-4EN

This paper is the result of a request formthe European Commission DG XXII for anin-depth study into the vocat ionaleducation and training system in one ofthe New Independent States and Mongolia.The paper focuses on those parts of theKyrgyz education system which have di-rect links to vocational education andtraining and hence to developments andchanges in the labour market. Firstly, thesystem of initial vocational training (PTUsystem) is presented, secondly, the systemof special secondary institutions, thirdly,the retraining of the unemployed, andfinally, a discussion of the main problemsand possible ways to address them.

As an agency of the European Un-ion the Foundation is governed bya Board comprising representa-tives appointed by each of the EUMember States, and from the Eu-ropean Commission which alsochairs the meetings.

The main objectives of the Foun-dation are:

❏ to contribute to the reform ofthe vocational training systems ofthe partner countries, mainly inthe framework of the EU’s Phareand Tacis Programmes of assist-ance and partnership;❏ to promote effective coopera-tion in this field between the EUand the partner countries;❏ to contribute to the coordina-tion of international donor assist-ance; and❏ to give technical assistance tothe European Commission for theimplementation of the TempusProgramme.

The fundamental aim of the Foun-dation is to act as a centre of ex-pertise and an information clear-ing-house. Networks like the Na-tional Observatories and theFoundation’s Advisory Forum areimportant tools to support theFoundation in this function. TheFoundation also works in closecooperation with CEDEFOP.


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Members of CEDEFOP’s documentary network

BFOREM (Office communautaire et régionalde la formation professionnelle et de l’em-ploi)CIDOC (Centre intercommunautaire de do-cumentation pour la formation profession-nelle)Bd. Tirou 104B-6000 CharleroiTel.: +32.71.20 61 74 (Secretary)

+32.71.20 61 68+32.71.20 61 73

Fax.: +32.71.20 61 98Sigrid Dieue-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.forem.be

VDAB (Vlaamse Dienst voorArbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding)ICODOC (Intercommunautair documentatie-centrum voor beroepsopleiding)Keizerlaan 11B-1000 BrusselsTel.: +32.2.506 04 58-459Fax.: +32.2.506 04 28Philip de Smet e-mail: [email protected] van Weyd e-mail:[email protected] Site: http://www.vdab.be

DKDEL - Danmarks ErhvervspaedagogiskeLaereruddannelse (The National Institute forEducational Training of Vocational Teachers)Rigensgade 13DK-1316 København KSøren Nielsen (Project manager)Merete Heins (Librarian)e-mail: [email protected].: +45.33.14 41 14 ext. 317/301Fax.: +45.33.14 19 15/14 42 14

DBIBB (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung)Referat K4Fehrbelliner Platz 3D - 10702 BerlinTel.: +49.30.8643-2230 (BC)

+49.30.8643-2445 (SB)Fax.: +49.30.8643-2607Bernd Christophere-mail: [email protected] Bliedunge-mail:[email protected] Site: http://www.bibb.de

GROEEK (Organization for Vocational Educa-tion and Training)1, Ilioupoleos Street17236 YmittosGR-AthensTel.: +30.1.976 05 93Fax.: +30.1.976 44 84Alexandra Sideri (Librarian)

EINEM (Instituto Nacional de Empleo)Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad SocialCondesa de Venadito, 9E-28027 MadridTel.: +34.1.585 95 82/585 95 80Fax.: +34.1.377 58 81/377 58 87Juan Cano Capdevila(Deputy Director)Maria Luz de las Cuevas (Info/Doc)Web Site: http://www.inem.es

FINNBE (National Board of Education)Utbildningsstyrelsen/OpetushallitusHakaniemenkatu 2Ms.FI-00530 HelsinkiTel.: +358.9.77 47 78 19 (L. Walls)

+358.9.77 47 72 43 (A. Mannila)Fax.: +358.9.77 47 78 65Leena Walls e-mail: [email protected] Mannila e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.oph.fi

FCentre INFFO (Centre pour le développe-ment de l’information sur la formation per-manente)Tour Europe Cedex 07F-92049 Paris la DéfenseTel.: +33.1.41 25 22 22Fax.: +33.1.47 73 74 20Patrick Kessel (Director)E-mail: [email protected] Merllié (Documentation department)Daniele Joulieu (Head of Documentation)e-mail: [email protected] site: http://www.centre-inffo.fr/

IRLFAS (The Training and EmploymentAuthority)P.O. Box 45627-33, Upper Baggot StreetIRL-Dublin 4Tel.: +353.1.668 57 77Fax.: +353.1.668 26 91/ 668 21 29Margaret Carey (Head of Service)e-mail: [email protected] Wrigley (Library)e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.fasdn.com

IISFOL (Istituto per lo sviluppo dellaformazione professionale dei lavoratori)Via Morgagni 33I-00161 RomaTel.: +39.6.44 59 01Fax.: +39.6.44 25 16 09Alfredo Tamborlini (General director)Colombo Conti (Head of Documentation)Luciano Libertinie-mail: [email protected] (Library)e-mail: [email protected] (Press Office)Web Site: http://www.isfol.it/

LChambre des métiers du Grand-Duché deLuxembourg2, Circuit de la Foire internationaleB.P. 1604 (Kirchberg)L-1016 LuxembourgTel.: +352.42 67 671Fax.: +352.42 67 87Ted Mathgene-mail: [email protected]

NLCINOP (Centrum voor Innovatie vanOpleidingen) (Centre for Innovation of Edu-cation and Training)Pettelaarpark 1Postbus 1585NL-5200 BP’s-HertogenboschTel.: +31.73.680 08 00Tel.: +31.73.680 08 65Fax.: +3173 612 34 25Marjon Nooter e-mail: [email protected] van Hooft e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.cinop.nl


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Associated organizations

ICentre international de formation del’OIT125, Corso Unità d’ItaliaI - 10127 TorinoTel.: +39.11.693 65 10Fax.: +39.11.693 63 51Krouch (Documentation)e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.ilo.org

UKDepartment for Education andEmploymentRoom E3MoorfootUK - Sheffield S1 4PQTel.: +44.114.259 33 39Fax.: +44.114.259 35 64Julia Reid (Librarian)e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.open.gov.uk/index/../dfee/dfeehome.htm

ICERLO (Research Liaison Office)University of IcelandTechnology CourtDunhaga 5ISL-107 ReykjavikTel : +354.525 49 00Fax : +354.525 49 05Gudmundur Árnasone-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.rthj.hi.is/rthj/english.htm

NNCU Leonardo NorgeP.O. Box 2608 St. HanshaugenN-0131 OsloTel.: +472.2.86 50 00Fax.: +472.2.20 18 01Halfdan Farstad (Director)e-mail: [email protected] Kloster-Holste-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.teknologisk.no/leonardo/index.eng

EUEuropean CommissionDirectorate-General XXII/B/3(Education, Training, Youth)B 7, 04/67Rue de la Loi, 200B-1049 BrusselsTel.: +32.2.296 24 21/299 59 81Fax.: +32.2.295 57 23Eleni SpachisDominique Marchalant (library)Web Site: http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg22/dg22.html

BEURYDICE (The Education Informationnetwork in Europe)15, rue d’ArlonB - 1050 BrusselsTel.: +32.2.238 30 11Fax.: +32.2.230 65 62Luce Pepin (Director)e-mail: [email protected] Site: www.eurydice.org

CHILO (International Labour Office)BIT (Bureau International du Travail)4, route des MorillonsCH - 1211 Genève 22Tel.: +41.22.799 69 55Fax.: +41.22.799 76 50Jaleh Berset (Training Policy Branch)Web Site: http://www.ilo.org

IETF (European Training Foundation)Villa GualinoViale Settimio Severo 65I - 10133 TorinoTel.: +39.11.630 22 22Fax.: +39.11.630 22 00Catherine Cieczko(Information Officer)e-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.etf.it

Aabf-Austria (ArbeitsgemeinschaftBerufsbildungsforschung)Rainergasse 38AT-1050 WienTel.: +43.1.545 16 71-26Fax.: +43.1.545 16 71-22Monika ElsikE-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www2.telecom.at/ibw/

PCICT (Centro de Informação Científica eTécnica)Praça de Londres, 2 - 1° AndarP-1091 Lisboa CodexTel.: +351.1.849 66 28Fax.: +351.1.840 61 71Odete Lopes dos Santos (Director)Fátima Hora (Documentation Department)E-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.min-qemp.pt/cict/cict.html

SSEP (Svenska EU ProgramkontoretUtbildning och kompetensutveckling)(The Swedish EU Programme Office forEducation, Training and CompetenceDevelopment)Box 7785, S - 10396 StockholmTel.: +46.8.453 72 00Fax.: +46.8.453 72 01Torsten Thunberge-mail: [email protected] Site: http://www.eupro.se

UKIPD (Institute of Personnel andDevelopment)IPD House35 Camp RoadUK-London SW19 4UXTel.: +44.181.971 90 00Fax : +44.181.263 33 33Doug Gummerye-mail: [email protected] Salmon (Librarian)Web Site: http://www.ipd.co.uk


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Issues recently

published in

English

No. 7/96 Pedagogic innovation

Trends in the function of training• Continuing Vocational Training in the Countries of the European Union - Diversity of

Functions and Special Problems (Joachim Münch)

Open education• Good and bad use of open and flexible learning: findings of recent UK case studies

(Danny Beeton, Allan Duguid)• Does More Technology Mean More Choice for the Learner? Experiences from the

TeleScopia Project (Betty Collis)

Modularisation, aspects of the debate in Germany and the United Kingdom• Some remarks on modular training in the Federal Republic of Germany (R. Zedler)• Modular Initial and Continuing Education and Training A Comparative Survey of the Edu-

cation System in the United Kingdom and Germany (Dieter Hammer)• Modules in vocational training (Ulrich Wiegand)• Modularisation and Qualification Reform in UK: some realities (Sue Otter)

Skill development and work organization• “Organization Design and On-the-job Learning: their Relationship in the Software

Industry” (Dick Barton)• A model to evaluate the competences in activity. Programmed Exercises - A Measure of

“Competence to Perform Occupational Activities” (F. Blum, A. Hensgen, C. Kloft, U. Maichle)

Training of trainers: the development of cooperation in pedagogic teams• Pedagogical skilling and promoting cooperation - a continuation training model for voca-

tional training personnel (Dietrich Harke, Regina Nanninga)

Certain recent developments: Denmark, Portugal• Pedagogical innovation in Danish vocational education and training (Søren Nielsen)• New trends in vocational training.

Two examples of innovation from Portugal (M. T. Ambrósio)

No. 8-9/96 Lifelong learning: retrospective and perspectives (double issue)

The advance of an idea• Towards a policy of lifelong learning (Edith Cresson)• Initial and continuing training in Portugal: Present situation and future outlook. Interview

with Eduardo Marçal Grilo, Minister of Education• Lifelong-learning in retrospect (Denis Kallen)• A discussion of the paradigms of the White Paper on education and training:

a contribution to the debate (Alain d’Iribarne)

The idea and the facts• Who participates in education and training? – an overview at European level (N. Davis)• In-company continuing training - a contribution to lifelong learning? (Uwe Grünewald)• Employers’ Approaches to Work-Based Training in Britain (Jim Hillage)• Own-initiative continuing training in France: decline or renewal? (J.-F. Germe; F. Pottier)• The relationship between further training and career progression - the German model, its

strengths and risks in the context of lifelong learning (Ingrid Drexel)• Lifelong learning - a theme of social dialogue and collective agreements (W. Heidemann)

Training paths• Continuing training for young adults - follow-on or second chance? (Jordi Planas)• The cognitive constraints of lifelong learning (José Morais; Régine Kolinsky)• Learning as a lifelong process? Psychological and pedagogical comments on the ‘learning

society’ (Klaus Künzel)

Training opportunities: the example of two companies• Training while in employment of unskilled and semi-skilled workers: The “Training drive

’95” launched by the Ford factory in Cologne (Erich Behrendt; Peter Hakenberg)• The “Equal Opportunities Programme” of the

Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in Ireland (Winfried Heidemann, Freida Murray)


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No. 10/97 Higher education

A growing need?• Employment opportunities for university graduates in Europe (Juliane List)• Have higher education qualifications fallen into line again in France? (Eric Verdier)• International management education and leadership competence: a European Perspective

(Gunnar Eliasson)

Finance in the future• Who should pay for tertiary education? (Gareth L. Williams)

A European dimension• EU cooperation in higher education and training: new challenges and recent progress

(Irving V. Mitchell)• The European Union and Dutch higher education: law and policy (Roel van de Ven)• Student mobility within the European Union (Heleen André de la Porte)

No. 12/97 Signalling competences: information needs for job mobility

No. 13/98 Financing vocational education and training

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CEDEFOP

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Invitation to contribute anarticle to the European Journalfor Vocational TrainingThe Editorial Committee of the European Journal wishes to encourage articles fromauthors looking to stimulate critical debate about vocational education and trainingamongst and between policy-makers, researchers and practitioners in Europe.

The Journal is published by CEDEFOP (the European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training) three times a year in English, French, German and Spanish, andenjoys a wide circulation throughout Europe, both within the Member States of theEuropean Union and beyond. The Journal plays an important role in the dissemina-tion of information about and the exchange of experience of developments in voca-tional education and training policy and practice, and brings a European perspectiveto the debate.

In its forthcoming issues the Journal will examine the following subjects:

❏ Ensuring quality in vocational education and trainingNo. 14/98 (May - Sept 1998)

❏ Job security and changing work organisation - new training needsNo. 15/98 (Oct - Dec 1998)

❏ Innovation in vocational education and trainingNo. 16/99 (Jan - April 1999)

Should you wish to write an article on any aspect of the above subjects, either in apersonal capacity, or as the representative of an organisation, please contact:

Steve Bainbridge,Editor, European Journal for Vocational Training,CEDEFOP,PO Box 27, Finikas,GR -55 102, Thessaloniki (Thermi), Greece.Telephone + 30 31 490 111,Fax + 30 31 490 174,E-mail: [email protected]

Articles should be sent in hard copy and on a diskette formatted for Word orWordPerfect, or as a Word or WordPerfect attachment by e-mail, along with briefbiographical details of the author, outlining the current position held and with whichorganisation. Articles should be 5 to 10 pages in length, 30 lines per page, 60 charac-ters per line. They can be written in Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French,Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Finnish or Swedish.

All articles submitted will be examined by the Editorial Committee which reservesthe right to decide on publication. Authors will be informed of its decision.

The articles published in the Journal do not have to necessarily reflect the position ofCEDEFOP. Rather, the Journal provides the opportunity to present different analysesand various, and even, contradictory points of view.