Bid to adapt education to modern job market

Date: 30/11/1995

By Michael Mann

THE European employers' federation, UNICE, is launching a major offensive to reduce youth unemployment, claiming that schooling in most EU member states concentrates too much on 'classical' education to the detriment of vocational training.

Although falling short of setting concrete targets, next week's “¡Oye! - Operation Youth Employment” conference in Madrid will draw up a “solemn declaration” of the “moral commitment” of UNICE's member bodies to improve youth training and young peoples' access to the jobs market.

UNICE president François Perigot will point to growing evidence of a widening gap between employers' requirements and the range of qualifications being offered by those entering the job market.

Figures presented to the conference will suggest that in 1994, youth unemployment stood at almost double the levels for the working population as a whole.

Problems are particularly serious in a diverse group of countries including Spain, Ireland, Italy, Greece, France and Finland.

At the other end of the spectrum are Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands, where youth unemployment is far less severe.

Perigot wants the meeting to put an end to the view in most member states, “with the possible exception of Germany”, that failure in traditional education necessarily excludes young people from the jobs market.

The federation says that 'second chance' educational activities and targeted vocational training barely exist in the worst-affected member states.

The conference will come in the wake of a White Paper published this week prepared jointly by Research Commissioner Edith Cresson, Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn and Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann, concerned precisely with the idea of adapting education to meet modern challenges.

The White Paper, which will be submitted to next month's summit of EU leaders in Madrid, suggests increasing the role of apprenticeships, encouraging the teaching of at least three Community languages at school and offering those who 'failed' first time round a second chance at a practical education.

Among other ideas, the Commission suggests Europe-wide recognition of common standards of technical competence and the reallocation of EU financing, based on the existing Leonardo and Socrates structural aid programmes.

In the course of next year, already designated as the 'European year of life-long learning', the Commission is calling for 'jumbo' Council meetings of social affairs, education and industry ministers. This would allow the Commission to prepare proposals for action by the end of 1996.

Next week's UNICE conference will provide a forum for the exchange of best practice in member states, based on a compendium of successful experiences compiled especially for the occasion.

The federation will also take the opportunity to highlight the damage done to employment figures by non-wage labour costs and certain social payments.

The closing declaration will form part of a message being prepared for the Madrid summit.

“Business has a responsibility to ensure that people are not excluded for life. I'm not setting a specific target, but we must try to increase the employability of 'school failures', of which there are 150,000 every year in France alone,” says Perigot.

UNICE believes that the first stage must be to improve the recognition afforded to practical, vocational training.

“In time, this sort of training should lead to the same level of diploma as that offered by classical education,” argues Perigot, underlining the momentum given to the debate by business schools and the importance of 'sandwich courses' involving a period of practical training.

But the federation is under no illusions that its task will be easy, accepting that there is a natural wariness towards financing incentives which encourage companies to employ school drop-outs.

“We cannot ask businesses to swear that they'll recruit these people after training, but statistics show that about 70&percent; do, in fact, stay on,” says Perigot.

UNICE also points to Commission figures suggesting that roughly half of long-term unemployment would be avoidable if sufficient numbers of young people were given the necessary skills to take up jobs already available.

According to the data, some 3&percent; of the EU's peak unemployment of 12&percent; can be put down to cyclical factors. Of the remaining 9&percent;, half could be filled if the workforce were trained to the necessary level.