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Supporting lifelong learning through the development of guidance services, Statements and Comments
From the article:
Within knowledge-based society, concepts like lifelong learning and lifelong guidance constitute the key mechanisms for achieving public policy goals (i.e., economic and employment growth, social cohesion). However, it is important how these concepts are put into practice and how different policy domains – employment, education, training and social protection - are linked together with the goal to create integrative system of lifelong learning and guidance.
In this respect, there are some important issues, such as: a strategic leadership, cooperation of different providers, overlapping of guidance functions, definition, assessment and control over the quality standards.
All these issues are also addressed in Slovenia – whereas, the key priority is, at the moment, to define (on the base of the existing practice) a model for further development of lifelong guidance services. Within the activation context – there is one additional issue, which needs to be raised and debated. That is the question of the right balance between the individual needs of the clients and those of the system (i.e., employment, educational programme or labour market). It is important that guidance services remain to be primary seen as a “tool to facilitating successful development of individuals” rather than a “tool for increasing employment and reducing unemployment” and that the long-term goals (i.e., assuring employability over lifetime) prevail over the short-term ones (i.e., immediate employment and removal from the benefit system).
CONTENT:
- A brief assessment of policy context, economic circumstances and institutional/legal background;
- Key weaknesses of the Slovenian guidance policy;
- Transferability of the Latvian policy of supporting lifelong learning through the development of lifelong guidance services;
- Important issues to be raised and debated.
Last cached: 2008-04-06 06:12 PM
