Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Communication from the Commission "Promoting Apprenticeship Training in Europe"` (98/C 95/12)

On 23 June 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned communication.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 15 January 1998. The rapporteur was Mr Dantin and the co-rapporteur Mr Rodríguez García Caro.

At its 351st plenary session (meeting of 28 January 1998) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 105 votes to two with five abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Florence European Council of 21 and 22 June 1996 called on the Commission to undertake a study on the role of apprenticeship in enhancing job creation.

1.2. This request highlighted the commitment of the heads of state and government to fight, through education and training, youth unemployment, notably young people under the age of 25, which is currently close to 20 %.

1.3. The study shows that greater promotion of apprenticeship responds to their concern. Indeed, the study shows that apprenticeship training enhances job prospects to the extent that unemployment among young people who have successfully finished apprenticeship training is below average.

1.4. The Commission communication submitted for the ESC's opinion takes account of this study and makes proposals for action set out in five keys.

1.4.1. The communication draws on the report, which is based on various sources of data and information, and looks at conditions and significant trends in the various Member States, highlighting the characteristics and objectives of apprenticeship training:

- narrow the gap between schools and the workplace;

- get closer to market needs;

- promote job flexibility and mobility;

- fight social exclusion;

- raise the educational level of apprentice diplomas;

- give apprentices access to higher education.

1.4.2. As regards the areas for action, the Commission proposes the following five keys:

- expand and develop new forms of apprenticeship training;

- raise the quality of training;

- encourage the mobility of apprentices;

- involve the social partners;

- towards real strategies for apprenticeship training.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee welcomes the initiative taken by the Florence European Council which has resulted in the Commission communication.

2.1.1. The Committee notes with interest the innovative nature of the communication which rightly highlights this concept and which follows the line already traced by the Commission in its White Paper on education and training: Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society, which the Committee supported ().

2.2. The Committee feels that apprenticeship training is a way of acquiring qualifications which, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, can contribute effectively to integration into employment. This means all models of vocational training where enterprises take an active part in the education. It is a contribution to the vocational training of young people and the fact that it raises skill levels is an argument for promoting its development. It should be pointed out however that vocational educational and training policy cannot replace an active employment and labour market policy, although it can support it, particularly in the framework of an active apprenticeship training policy and particularly where this responds to young people's aptitudes and aspirations.

2.3. Apprenticeship training brings together a firm and an educational establishment in a process of alternate training. The originality of apprenticeship training, in contrast to other forms of sandwich course, lies in the primary role assigned to the firm. In this way, it can, particularly in craft industries, foster an entrepreneurial spirit.

2.4. The Committee endorses the content of the communication subject to the comments made above and the comments and suggestions which follow.

3. Specific comments

3.1. In the communication, particularly in chapter 2, the Commission quotes and spells out a number of reforms currently being carried out by the Member States to make apprenticeship training more effective.

The Committee has the following comments on this chapter:

3.1.1. Narrowing the gap between schools and the workplace

This is necessary to reduce the gap which may exist between theoretical education and practical application, between training and available jobs, between supply and demand.

Narrowing the gap between schools and the workplace is a step towards getting closer to market needs, and is a condition for achieving this.

However, one particular feature is that the training pathway, which brings together a firm and/or sector and an educational institution, must be drawn up in such a way that conditions for future progress are taken into account in good time and that apprenticeship training constitutes the basis of an apprentice's qualifications throughout his working life.

3.1.2. Promoting job flexibility and mobility

Choosing broadly based training, avoiding narrow specialization, will enable individuals to develop and adapt.

Backing, e.g. financial and legal, is needed for European mobility.

3.1.3. Fighting social exclusion

As the communication shows apprenticeship training can help the fight against social exclusion by encouraging social integration, via the specific training offered.

But another aspect of apprenticeship training is also worth mentioning. This form of training can reduce the school drop-out rate at various levels. Training which judiciously combines the practical and the theoretical, i.e. associates theoretical explanation with practical application, will also appeal to young people who are not attracted by mainly theoretical education. By illustrating theory through practice, apprenticeship training makes it possible to keep in education young people for whom the dispensing of general, theoretical knowledge would not have guaranteed success. In order to bolster the chances of success of this approach, it must be backed up by an effective system for observing and guiding young people.

3.1.4. Raising the educational level of apprentice diplomas

The Committee agrees that apprenticeship training should be integrated more into the general training system and extended to training up to higher educational level, for example engineering degrees, whilst taking account of the vocational training system of the various Member States.

There are several reasons for this:

- restricting apprenticeship training to lower-level skills is damaging to its image. This makes it more difficult to expand this method of skills acquisition, reducing its impact on social integration and thus employment;

- constantly accelerating changes in production and services require an ever more skilled workforce. Apprenticeship training must respond to these needs, making these skills available to the largest possible number through methods of learning which transcend traditional teaching and permit lifelong learning.

3.2. Five keys to more effective apprenticeship training

3.2.1. Expanding and developing new forms of apprenticeship training

3.2.1.1. The communication under discussion indicates that apprenticeship training is generally over-represented in sectors with relatively poor growth prospects.

It seems inappropriate to talk of over-representation. It would be more accurate to speak of an imbalance in apprenticeship training's penetration of the various sectors of the economy.

Having said that, this imbalance is detrimental to the image of apprenticeship training.

Extension of apprenticeship training to vocations which traditionally rely less on this form of training would correct this imbalance and offer development opportunities geared to market demand.

There may be a number of reasons for the relatively poor image of apprenticeship training in some Member States. Economic, social and sectoral trends make it necessary to seek new forms and methods of apprenticeship training.

It is necessary to:

- improve its existing forms, for example by disseminating good practice;

- develop new forms, taking account of national and sectoral specificities in seeking to make it attractive;

- extend it to other economic sectors and skill levels.

The costs of apprenticeship training could in some cases be reduced by redesigning the curriculum and reducing the duration of training. Having said that, the Commission particularly stresses that this must not prejudice the objective of offering the broadest possible and high-quality basic training.

Costs can be kept down by ensuring that apprentices are not obliged to repeat training already received. This will necessitate information on knowledge already acquired by the apprentice, when training begins.

The opportunities for social advancement offered by apprenticeship training are part of its attraction, and this is inextricably linked with the image of vocational training in general. In order to ensure that apprenticeships enjoy equal status with other forms of training, it is necessary to improve the image of vocational training across the board.

The Committee thinks that the development of apprenticeship training and its extension to other vocations can be fully achieved only if this is not an end in itself. Apprenticeship training, once completed, should open the way, via systems of access, to further studies, e.g. university education. It is therefore necessary to define and then establish on-going relations between apprenticeship training and other forms of training. This is essential to improve the image of apprenticeship training and to make it an attractive form of training.

3.2.1.2.

- Continuing, or increasing, financial incentives to firms, particularly the financing of training costs and with particular emphasis on SMEs in the high technology and developing sectors and/or sectors where supply of apprenticeship training exceeds demand, can have a snowball effect. However, procedures for evaluating the results obtained would aid the process.

- There is a need for greater flexibility, in the sense of on-going adaptation, in the structure of training; this must apply, however, to the quality of training and must not call into question the arrangements for the protection of apprentices. The Member States should therefore promote measures to make training less onerous by giving credit for knowledge acquired.

- Apprenticeship training should be extended to all economic sectors, to those where it has not traditionally been used and to emerging sectors.

- The growing importance of the use of multimedia tools and new teaching methods merits greater teaching input, particularly as regards the necessary relationship between teaching staff and apprentices. This should not however prejudice the principle of alternation between classroom and workplace.

- The Committee welcomes the Commission's decision to undertake a study of the quality of apprenticeship training. However, apart from the qualitative aspects (identifying good practice, innovations, factors contributing to an increase in the number of training posts etc.), it would also be worthwhile measuring the impact of apprenticeship training on social integration and employment.

3.2.2. Raising the quality of training

3.2.2.1. Sandwich courses, such as apprenticeship training, derive their strength from regular exchanges between the training institution, the firm and the apprentice, as well as from their content.

The preparation of the participants, the planning of encounters and regular evaluation of the progress of training all contribute to the quality of training.

The communication should specifically stress the essential links between:

- the apprentice and his family on the one hand, and the apprentice's workplace supervisor and teacher on the other, with a view, inter alia, to allowing the apprentice to influence the organization of his own training;

- the workplace supervisor and the teacher so that they can assess the apprentice's progress and any difficulties encountered, continuing, modifying and coordinating the practical and theoretical teaching in order to achieve the best possible result. This is necessary in order to achieve permanent synergies and cooperation agreements in order to help create a climate of confidence and quality.

As the role of the workplace supervisor is central to this method of skills acquisition, his status needs to be defined, as do his role, the knowledge required for the job and ways of preparing for it, his rights and his obligations.

3.2.2.2. Apprenticeship training must combine general and vocational education designed for sandwich course-type teaching, i.e. teaching closely geared to the workplace (preventive action, health and safety). In this way training is neither excessively specialized nor rigid. It encourages involvement in society, teamwork, self-reliance and curiosity.

3.2.2.3. Practical workplace training needs to be continuous as well as of high academic quality. In particular it must be ensured that apprentices are not assigned to menial tasks unrelated to the training which they are supposed to be receiving. Particular attention needs to be paid to the permanent training of training staff, not only from a technical but also from a pedagogical point of view.

Moreover, the quality guarantee applied to this system of education would make it possible to carry out an ongoing assessment with a view to making the necessary improvements.

3.2.3. Encouraging the mobility of apprentices

3.2.3.1. Giving apprentices the opportunity to train in another EU Member State will both enhance the training itself and help reinforce the idea of European citizenship.

Mobility is at present restricted by the lack of a Community framework.

- The Committee awaits with interest the draft instrument intended to lead to the drawing up of a common legal framework with a view to promoting apprenticeship training in Europe. A common legal framework of this kind should lay down guarantees with regard to working and training time, material conditions (lodging, meals, tuition, quality criteria) and social and legal cover. More generally, the legal framework should mitigate or even eliminate altogether the various difficulties in relation to intra-Community training pinpointed by the ESC in its Opinion on the Commission Green Paper on education, training and research - the obstacles to transnational mobility ().

Particular attention should also be paid to the recognition of intra-Community diplomas awarded in connection with apprenticeship training, particularly in relation to new sectors, as the Committee indicated in its above mentioned opinion.

- The programme to increase the mobility of apprentices reflects a concern and will contribute to the progress of apprenticeship training and to its qualitative enrichment.

- Holding a 'trade fair` for firms offering apprenticeships would make the development of apprentice mobility more credible. It would make it easier to organize exchanges. Moreover, the implementation of this mobility would become more visible and effective if initially pilot projects were set up bringing together two or more Member States and/or vocations.

In addition to geographical mobility, thought needs to be given to:

- professional mobility;

- the mobility of both public-sector and company training staff;

- some projects within the Leonardo programme are already set up in order to promote apprentice mobility. These programmes need to be studied in order to draw experience from them and for them to serve as good examples.

3.2.4. Involving the social partners

3.2.4.1. The participation of firms in apprenticeship training justifies the involvement of all the social partners (employers and workers) in shaping and managing the system. Via their respective representative bodies they have the opportunity to influence apprenticeship training positively, and to help identify needs and provide support to young people in the workplace.

3.2.4.2. Pilot project networks can prepare the way for moving into new vocations and the development of a balanced sense of commitment from the social partners, as is already being done - with success - in some Member States.

The Commission and the Member States should encourage the social partners (employers and workers) to share responsibility for apprenticeship training, e.g.: on training bodies. Indeed, the social partners, given their knowledge of the business environment and the world of work have a vital role to play in the organization, curriculum and qualitative and quantitative development of apprenticeship training, whether at firm or sectoral level.

However, a specific action should be carried out for firms on the quantitative development of apprenticeship training to make it attractive to firms.

This depends ultimately on the will and/or capacity of firms to increase the number of apprenticeship training places. Overall, it is often SMEs and craft enterprises which are responsible for the continuation and growth in volume terms of apprenticeship training, in contrast to larger companies and sectors which have little tradition of apprenticeship training.

To achieve this, initiatives and incentives need to be put in place removing the obstacles which may be at the root of the lack of interest in creating apprenticeship training places, in particular those linked with costs and legal conditions.

In France and Denmark a flat-rate contribution system has been established, which is of interest to all firms. Identical arrangements are being discussed, with different views at present being expressed, in Germany and Austria. These provisions can be embodied in a collective agreement between the social partners; tax implications, which will vary from one Member State to another, cannot be neglected.

3.2.5. Towards real strategies for apprenticeship training

3.2.5.1. The objective of involving all parties to apprenticeship training in producing and disseminating information prepares the ground for a common culture.

If there is to be a coherent strategy it is essential that the data be uniform. It is perhaps not so much differences in programmes and terminology as the diversity of social policies for young people which is the source of problems. The weight of apprenticeship training and its image in a country also depend on other measures relating to access to training and employment.

- Regular stocktaking, country by country, could form a basis for a common strategy for the development of apprenticeship training.

- The system of standardization needs to be fleshed out. What exactly is being standardized and to what end?

3.2.5.2. The Committee feels that the Commission should be in a position to provide detailed information on the launching, operation and content of the qualitative survey, to which the Committee could contribute its analysis of the questions raised.

The survey may be expected to lead to the establishment of 'reference values` or minimum criteria serving as a framework for the adaptation and improvement of apprenticeship training systems, with due regard to national and sectoral situations. The purpose of this survey should be to identify the main features of a European apprenticeship training model and to sketch the outline of this in order to encourage the development of apprenticeship training in Europe, whilst enabling full account to be taken of the specific features of the education and training systems of each of the Member States.

Among the minimum criteria which could be discussed are: the legal, regulatory or contractual basis of the apprenticeship training framework, the rights and obligations of training staff and apprentice, the general provisions of the apprenticeship training contract, its application and operation, the degree of intervention by the social partners, the form and extent of integration and cooperation between school and workplace, training programmes, examination arrangements, recognition of qualifications etc.

3.2.5.3. The Committee suggests that the Commission and the Member States initiate information and awareness campaigns for young people and parents in order to improve the image of apprenticeship training. The campaigns should also be aimed at teachers, supervisors, careers advice centres and the social partners, who are the prime movers in the development of apprenticeship training, both in qualitative and quantitative terms.

In the framework of campaigns of this kind, and bearing in mind that apprenticeship training is mainly offered in male dominated sectors, the information should also stress the fact that apprenticeship training can also be developed by facilitating access for girls to all the vocational sectors, including access following the completion of training. Careers guidance in schools should stress the fact that apprenticeship training can give young women access to the career of their choice.

3.2.5.4. The Committee also notes that the communication makes no reference to CEDEFOP. The Committee would like emphasis placed on CEDEFOP's role in training in general and apprenticeship training in particular, and on the contribution it could increasingly make in the future to the dissemination of information and the comparison and exploitation of practices developed in the various Member States.

4. Conclusions

4.1. The Committee welcomes the Florence European Council's initiative.

4.2. The Committee endorses the Commission communication, subject to a number of comments and suggestions. The Committee notes with interest the innovative aspect of the communication which rightly highlights the positive role which apprenticeship training can play in contributing to young people's integration into employment.

4.3. However, the Committee puts forward the following main comments and suggestions:

4.3.1. However, a specific action should be carried out for firms on the quantitative development of apprenticeship training. This depends ultimately on the will and/or capacity of firms to increase the number of apprenticeship training places.

4.3.2. The Commission and the Member States should initiate information and awareness campaigns for young people, parents, teachers, careers advice centres and the social partners in order to improve the image of apprenticeship training. To this end the role of CEDEFOP should be reinforced.

4.3.3. Practical workplace training needs to be continuous. In particular it must be ensured that apprentices are not assigned to menial tasks unrelated to the training which they are supposed to be receiving.

4.3.4. The development of apprenticeship training and its extension to other vocations can be fully achieved only if this is not an end in itself. Apprenticeship training should open the way to further studies, in particular offering ways of transferring to higher or university education, whilst taking account of the vocational training systems of the various Member States.

4.3.5. Emphasis should be placed on the essential links between:

- the apprentice and his family on the one hand, and the apprentice's supervisor and teacher on the other, with a view, inter alia, to allowing the apprentice to influence the organization of his own training;

- the workplace supervisor (whose status should be spelt out, and role defined, knowledge required for the job and ways of preparing for it, and rights and his obligations) and the teacher.

4.3.6. The European Union should encourage the shared responsibility of the social partners (employers and workers) for the operation of apprenticeship training, e.g. on training bodies.

4.3.7. The Committee would like to see a quality survey launched. This should set out reference values or minimum criteria with a view to identifying the essential features of a European apprenticeship training model. It would also be useful to measure the impact of apprenticeship training on labour market integration and employment.

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() See White Paper on education and training: Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society, particularly point IIA (COM(95) 590 final) (OJ C 295, 7.10.1996).

() CES 239/97 of 27 February 1977 - OJ C 133, 28.4.1997.