Lifelong Learning Programme

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The module focuses on the relation between the school world and the labour market, and what are the tools in both worlds that help young students to build their professional profile before entering the labour market.

World of work

Table of Content

Chapter 1: Introduction
What the market demands
Jobs occupied by highly qualified people are expected to rise by 16 million until 2020 in the EU, while those held by low-skilled workers will decline by around 12 million. Too many people do not have the competences needed to succeed in the labour market.

There are serious deficits in qualified professionals. This is because labour market moves toward specialization. It forces companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to adapt to the continuing changes to remain competitive. This requires an effective dialogue and collaboration between all sectors involved in the labour market. Nevertheless, many times all these actors face obstacles to reach to this collaboration, or simply, they do not know how to collaborate.

Nowadays, the shift towards competence and skills based approaches is already leading to a significant change in education systems, labour markets, and their interaction. This in turn has important implications for the work of employment services in the area of skills assessment, profiling processes, training delivery, cooperation with training providers, career guidance and client (including employers) counselling.

Employers are working on participating in the activities of education and training institutions, particularly in higher education and vocational education and training; these partnerships can develop and update skills profiles, multidisciplinary curricula and qualifications, and facilitate the provision of work-based learning, from apprenticeships to industrial PhDs.

Finally, all stakeholders agree on the need to break the inertia to jointly cooperate. Indeed, the Union Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport (Erasmus+) points out that there should be partnerships between the world of work and education and training institutions in the form of sector skills alliances between education and training providers and the world of work aimed at promoting employability, contributing to the creation of new sector-specific or cross-sectoral curricula, developing innovative methods of vocational teaching and training and putting the Union transparency and recognition tools into practice.
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Table of Content

Comments on this section

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Date: 2016.09.13

Posted by Jūratė Grigaitytė - Lithuania

This part is relevant because it helps and motivates professional teachers to help students discover themselves and find the right workspace. This is relevant because the lack of motivation is characterized by not only students but also teachers. It is relevant, clearly presented and structured.

Date: 2016.09.02

Posted by Christine CLOES - Belgique

I would like to highlight another important key role of the company tutor who can help the student identify his/her professional profile. Supporting the student during all the internship lifetime, the company tutor can help the student become aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses, which is one of the most difficult tasks for the student!

Date: 2016.07.07

Posted by Elizabeth David - France

The module about the world of work is quite interesting because it creates a link between the real world and the reality of the job market.

Date: 2016.07.07

Posted by I. Jacquard - France

It would have been interesting to draw a comparison between the different kinds of apprenticeship throughout Europe.

Date: 2016.07.07

Posted by Didier Cahour - France

It seems more and more important to create links between school and work.

Date: 2016.07.06

Posted by Elena Mihailovici - Romania

This module focuses on students’ transition from school to work by defining the relation between school and work in terms of what their offer and what problems that may arise. The module provides teachers and counsellors with tools and mechanisms available for young people to make a successful and smooth transition from school to work. The module also gives information about the most wanted professional profiles on the European job market as well as about the transversal skills that companies and recruiting services take into consideration when selecting human resources. Teachers and counsellors can find great examples that they can use with their students.

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.