Schools

Policy

Policy

learning and training contexts, at all levels, in all dis-ciplines, and covers formal, informal and non-formal learning.

The main recommendations to the member-states are focused on information and guidance about opportunities for learning mobility, motiva-tion, preparation with regard to foreign-language and intercultural skills, and administrative issues.

Member-states are also asked to ensure the qual-ity of learning mobilqual-ity, including the provision of guidance to mobile learners, as well as recogni-tion between member-states of learning outcomes acquired through mobility experiences. Particular attention should be paid to disadvantaged learners, by providing targeted information and support tai-lored to their specific needs.

Early childhood education

The Council conclusions on Early Childhood Educa-tion and Care: Providing All Our Children with the Best Start for the World of Tomorrow (2011/C 175/03) invites member-states to enhance the quality of early childhood education and care, which is essential for language acquisition, successful further lifelong learning, social integration, personal development and employability. It provides an opportunity for the early detection of learning difficulties and early intervention, and can help to identify young chil-dren with special educational needs and, wherever possible, facilitate their integration into mainstream schools.

The thematic study on Teaching Reading in Europe:

Contexts, Policies and Practices produced by the Edu-cation, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in July 2011 offers a comprehensive pic-ture of reading literacy and identifies the key factors impacting on the acquisition of reading skills for 3–15-year-olds. It shows that although in 2009 one out of five 15-year-olds in EU had reading difficulties, there was often a lack of focus on the groups most at risk of such difficulties.

3.2.2 Involvement of ELGPN

Early school-leaving

ELGPN was alerted to the draft Recommendation on reducing early school-leaving. In the adopted Recom-mendation, the role of guidance is underlined as a key element of comprehensive strategies comprising a mix of policies, covering social policy and sup-port services, employment, youth and integration policies. The three pillars of the framework (preven-tion, interven(preven-tion, compensation) include provision for guidance and counselling ‘to support students’

career choices, transitions within education or from education to employment. It reduces poor decision-making based on false expectations or insufficient information. It helps young people to make choices which meet their ambitions, personal interests and talents’ (intervention). ELGPN suggested that the third pillar, compensation, might include ‘transition classes with a strong emphasis on guidance’.

Learning mobility

Although ELGPN has not been directly involved, the Council Recommendation on learning mobility of young people highlights guidance as the cornerstone to the success of learning mobility.

3.2.3 Next steps

Early school-leaving

Given its consequences in terms of youth unemploy-ment, the issue of early school-leaving (ESL) is a par-ticularly strong focus at European level. Accordingly, the future work of ELGPN should include:

• The role of career management skills (CMS) in preventing ESL: the identification of areas in CMS programmes that are more appropriate for students who are considered to be ‘at risk’

Policy

of early school-leaving, particularly in terms of motivation.

• Designing CMS curricula and relevant assess-ment processes in order to avoid a ‘deficit per-spective’ for students at risk. Are portfolios relevant to this issue? How should they be con-structed to be valuable for vulnerable groups of students? What steps can be taken to ensure the right to privacy and to avoid penalising use of the portfolio for vulnerable students?

• The role of Public Employment Services (PES) in preventing ESL for students at risk: how to organise partnerships between teachers and guidance practitioners within PES to present information about labour market opportuni-ties and the structure of qualifications needed;

the role of PES in relation to drop-outs (‘com-pensation’).

• Clarifying which institution should be respon-sible for school drop-outs who ‘fall out of the system’.

• Access to on-line services for students at risk of ESL. What kind of support is needed, especially for young people who do not have the skills or tools to access web-based services? What steps can be taken to involve parents and provide them with the basic skills to access internet services so that they can help their children?

• The co-ordination of various guidance services and co-operation between all stakeholders including PES, social partners and social work-ers as a crucial factor for prevention, interven-tion and compensainterven-tion of early school-leaving.

• Measuring the quality of guidance provision for students at risk of early school-leaving. This should be a priority, given the social conse-quences at stake, and the Europe 2020 target objective. The Recommendation asks for ‘the development of evidence-based and cost-effec-tive policies’. The evaluation of the effeccost-effec-tive- effective-ness and efficiency of existing policy measures

aimed at reducing early school-leaving is an important basis for improving strategies.

Learning mobility

ELGPN work should include this topic in order to provide member countries with support for the implementation of the Council Recommendation Youth on the Move – Promoting the Learning Mobility of Young People (28 June 2011). This includes:

• ‘Encourage the provision of guidance to mobile learners after their return on how to make use of the competences acquired during their stay abroad’ (Council Recommendation, §6(g)).

• ‘Make information easily accessible to all young people regarding learning mobility, for exam-ple through centralised web portals and other web services, support centres, information and counselling services. The use of internet-based services can also be helpful’ (Council Recom-mendation, §1(b)).

• ‘Support and enhance the visibility of contact points where individuals can obtain infor-mation on how their qualifications can be recognised and certified after their return from abroad’ (Council Recommendation, §7(d)).

• ‘Provide disadvantaged learners, who may be deprived of opportunities for learning mobility, with targeted information on available pro-grammes and support tailored to their specific needs’ (Council Recommendation, §8).

• ‘Encourage networking between the relevant organisations, stakeholders and other actors, in order to ensure a co-ordinated approach to motivating young people’ (Council Recom-mendation, §2(b)).

• ‘Improve the quality of information and guid-ance on national, regional, and local mobility opportunities and grant availability’ (Council Recommendation, §1(a)).

Policy

3.3 Vocational education and training