Cedefop has been invited to provide practical support to a new European initiative intended the help young people integrate more easily into the labour market. The initiative, which focuses on apprenticeship-type, work-based learning, was launched on 11 December 2012 in Berlin. Germany and six other Member States have signed Memoranda defining the scope and objectives of future collaboration.

Germany has been at the forefront of dual training, i.e. vocational training that includes both a theoretical, school-based component, and a period of practical work within a company. In light of the Education and Training 2020 Strategy, which focuses on job-related training, several countries had expressed a keen interest in developing dual forms of training in close cooperation with Germany.

On the invitation of German Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, in association with the European Commission, signed a memorandum of cooperation on vocational education and training in Europe on 11 December 2012. At the conclusion of the meeting, Xavier Prats Monné, Deputy General Director for Education and Training at the European Commission, said that this is the beginning of a European initiative which other Member States will soon join.

Speaking at the Berlin meeting, Cedefop Director Christian Lettmayr said that despite their many differences, all dual models help young people understand what the world of work is really like, and cultivate necessary soft skills alongside purely technical ones. But he also said that, to be effective, such models must be well integrated in each country's existing educational system and labour market, particularly its qualifications structure.

The signatories to the memorandum - Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain - agreed to focus their efforts on improving the image and quality of vocational education and training. Their joint cooperation is meant to provide lasting support to bilateral and multilateral initiatives in vocational training. The goal is to have 80 % of all young people in Europe employed by 2020. It was emphasised that this new European alliance has been started to best help the 7.5 million young Europeans who are in search of employment.

More information:

International Vocational Training Cooperation, German Ministry of Education and Research

###

Contact

Press Officer Ioánna Nezi, tel.+30 2310 490186

E-Mail: [email protected]

Head of Area Communication, Information and Dissemination Gerd Oskar Bausewein

tel. +30 2310 490288, E-Mail: [email protected]

About Cedefop

The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), an agency of the European Union based in Thessaloniki, Greece, supports European policy-making in the field of vocational education and training. www.cedefop.europa.eu