Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

Cedefop is organising a workshop under the topic “The role of VET in reducing early leaving from education and training” on 3-4 June in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Significant efforts have been made to assess, understand and address the phenomenon of early leaving from education and training at EU level in the past years. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the specific role of Vocational education and training (VET) in this context across the EU. That is why Cedefop launched in 2014 a three-year research project to analyse the “Role of VET in reducing early leaving from education and training”, and organises the present expert workshop to discuss the preliminary findings of the first year of work.

The main objectives of the workshop are:

• - Assessing the size of early leaving from VET– what is it know about the phenomenon and what is still unknown;
• - Identifying specific factors associated with early leaving from VET;
• - Examining how data can be used to support decisions on preventive and remedial policies and practices to address early leaving in VET, and what data is needed to make such decisions;
• - Discussing VET focused measures to prevent and/or address early leaving.
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The event is addressed to:

• - National policy makers in charge of specific measures focusing on  early leaving from VET;
• - Experts in charge of national statistics or datasets on early leaving from education and training;
• - Practitioners working with learners at risk of dropping out from education and training;
• - International experts working in this field.

 

Thematic focus

The seminar will be divided into three main sessions:

Session 1		The size of  the phenomenon of early leaving from VET
		This session will focus on the size of early leaving from VET. The existing EU data on early leaving does not enable to unpick the different realities of the phenomenon. Some people are considered early leavers because they did not start any upper-secondary programme. Others because they dropped out early from upper secondary programmes or completed programmes which do not lead to an upper-secondary school leaving examination. To be able to design targeted interventions, it is important to understand where early leavers come from. This session will present the results of Cedefop statistical analysis of early leaving from VET based on the Adult Education Survey and PIAAC data, and confront these results with national data in selected countries.
Session 2		The factors associated with early leaving from VET and policy responses
		Some reasons for early leaving are well researched and analysed. Numerous studies have proved the relationship between academic failure, class repetition, complicated transitions as well as negative school and/or work climate or in-class relationships with likelihood of dropping out. However, there are some factors that are likely to be specific to VET and which are less well researched. This session will focus on the specific features of VET and the labour market to examine why young people drop out from VET and what VET policies are in place to retain your people in education and training, lead them towards a completion of a qualification or to bring them back into the education and training system.
Session 3		The use of data to inform policies and practice
		The last session of the workshop will discuss the use of data to inform measures to prevent and address early leaving from VET. Several countries (e.g. Denmark, France, French speaking Community of Belgium) are putting in place monitoring systems that enable the identification of young people who dropped out in order to reach out them through remedial measures. The use of these systems in VET will be discussed. VET providers are also receiving data on the rates of early leaving in their institution with the objective to develop preventive measures. The experiences of using these systems will be discussed and strengths and weaknesses will be identified. Good practice examples will be presented.

Expected outcomes

The event will be a combination of presentations and interactive sessions giving the opportunity to all participants for peer learning and experience exchange. The workshop conclusions will feed into Cedefop’s research in this field and the preparations of a joint Cedefop-Eurydice report to be published in November 2014. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss knowledge gaps in this area and help Cedefop formulate the next stages of this research work.

 

Related Cedefop Publications

Keeping young people in (vocational) education: what works? http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications/22244.aspx

Labour market prospects deteriorate for early leavers from education and training http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/articles/20740.aspx

Young people from a migrant background at greater risk of leaving education and training early http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/articles/20045.aspx   

Trends in VET policy in Europe 2010-12. Progress towards the Bruges Communiqué http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/publications/20814.aspx   

EU Related Publications

Reducing early school leaving: key messages and policy support http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/esl-group-report_en.pdf

Report of the conference of the European Network of Education Councils, Vilnius, 18-20 November 2013 with the support of DGEAC http://www.eunec.eu/sites/www.eunec.eu/files/event/attachments/report_vilnius.pdf

Preventing early school leaving – Lessons learned from second chance education http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/study/2013/second-chance_en.pdf

Reducing early School Leaving in Europe (RESL.eu) Project Papers https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/projects/resl-eu/research-content/project-papers/. 

Related European Policy Context

Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011 on policies to reduce early school leaving http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:191:0001:0006:EN:PDF

Council Conclusions on the role of education and training in the implementation of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:070:0001:0003:EN:PDF    

The Bruges Communiqué on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training for the period 2011-2020 http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/vocational/bruges_en.pdf   

Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/eu2020/em0028_en.htm

The Education and Training Monitor 2013: an annual report that illustrates the evolution of education and training systems across Europe taking into account a variety of benchmarks and indicators, as well as recent studies and policy developments http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/publications/monitor13_en.pdf

The European Commission issues yearly reports on the delivery of the Europe 2020 strategy. They include policy recommendations or warnings, policy proposals to attain the objectives of the strategy and specific assessment of progress achieved http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/making-it-happen/country-specific-recommendations/index_en.htm