Plannen voor beroepsopleiding in Europa (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Directoraat-generaal Onderwijs, jeugd, sport en cultuur (EAC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 7 december 2010.

The European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou i, welcomed today's adoption of the Bruges Communiqué, a package of objectives and concrete actions to increase the quality of vocational training in Europe by making it more attractive, accessible and relevant to the needs of the labour market.

Meeting in Bruges, Belgium, Ministers of Education of 33 European countries (EU-27, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey), representatives of employers and unions and the European Commission discussed and confirmed shared objectives for vocational education and training for 2011-2020. In addition, they agreed an action plan with concrete measures at national level and support at European level for the coming four years. The Bruges Communiqué is the latest revision of the Copenhagen Process for European co-operation on vocational education and training.

Commissioner Vassiliou said: "It is very important that vocational training fulfils its two central objectives: to contribute to employability and economic growth on the one hand, and to respond to larger societal challenges, in particular social cohesion, on the other. I am very happy that 33 European countries, employers and unions are backing our plans to make vocational training a more modern and attractive learning option in Europe by 2020."

Vocational education and training enables people to acquire the knowledge, skills and competences they need on the labour market, whether for a particular job or for a broader range of occupations. At present, about half of all students in the EU enrolled in upper secondary education participate in vocational programmes, There are, however, significant differences between countries with shares ranging from less than 15% in some to almost 80% in others.

Measures agreed today aim to ensure the highest quality levels for vocational training so it is recognised as a modern and attractive learning option, both by policy-makers and by the people making choices on their education and career.

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