Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Communication from the Commission "Promoting Apprenticeship Training in Europe"'
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: apprenticeship, job creation, vocational education, vocational training, young worker

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of a SLIM initiative project in order to determine whether
the benefits are commensurate with the additional

costs being imposed on enterprises and governmental
administrations.

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

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 Rodrı´guez Garcı´a 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.

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.
proposes the following five keys:

As regards the areas for action, the Commission

— 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.

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

2. General comments

The communication draws on the report, which
1.4.1.
is based on various sources of data and information,

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

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2.1.1.
The Committee notes with interest the innova-
tive nature of the communication which rightly high-
lights 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 (1).

2.2.
The Committee feels that apprenticeship training
is a way of acquiring qualifications which, in both
quantitative and qualitative terms, can contribute effec-
tively 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 particu-
larly where this responds to young people’s aptitudes
and aspirations.

Apprenticeship training brings together a firm
2.3.
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. N a r r o w i n g

t h e

g a p

b e t w e e n

s c h o o l s a n d t h e w o r k p l a c e

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 qualifi-
cations throughout his working life.

3.1.2. P r o m o t i n g

j o b

f l e x i b i l i t y

a n d

m o b i l i t y

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. F i g h t i n g s o c i a l e x c l u s i o n

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. R a i s i n g t h e e d u c a t i o n a l
a p p r e n t i c e d i p l o m a s

l e v e l o f

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:

(1) 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).

— restricting apprenticeship training to lower-level
skills is damaging to its image. This makes it more

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difficult to expand this method of skills acquisition,
reducing its impact on social integration and thus
employment;

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.

— 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 tran-
scend traditional
lifelong
learning.

teaching and permit

3.2. Five keys to more effective apprenticeship training

3.2.1. E x p a n d i n g

n e w
f o r m s o f a p p r e n t i c e s h i p t r a i n i n g

d e v e l o p i n g

a n d

The communication under discussion indi-
3.2.1.1.
cates 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 oppor-
tunities 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 apprentice-
ship training.

It is necessary to:

— improve its existing forms, for example by dissemin-

ating 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 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 apprentice-
ships 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 appren-
ticeship 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 appren-
ticeship 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 tradition-
ally been used and to emerging sectors.

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 Com-
mission particularly stresses that this must not prejudice
the objective of offering the broadest possible and
high-quality basic training.

— 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.

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— 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, inno-
vations, 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.

3.2.2.3.
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.

3.2.2. R a i s i n g t h e q u a l i t y o f

t r a i n i n g

Sandwich courses, such as apprenticeship
3.2.2.1.
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 essen-
tial 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.

Apprenticeship training must combine gen-
3.2.2.2.
eral 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.

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. E n c o u r a g i n g

t h e

m o b i l i t y

o f

a p p r e n t i c e s

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 instru-
ment 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 (1).

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

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

— Holding a ‘trade fair’ for firms offering apprentice-
ships 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

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

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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.

I n v o l v i n g t h e s o c i a l p a r t n e r s

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.

Pilot project networks can prepare the way
3.2.4.2.
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 encour-
age 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 develop-
ment 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 differ-
ent 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. T o w a r d s

r e a l

s t r a t e g i e s

f o r

a p p r e n t i c e s h i p t r a i n i n g

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 obli-
gations of training staff and apprentice, the general
provisions of the apprenticeship training contract, its
application and operation, the degree of intervention by

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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 Com-
The Committee suggests that
mission 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 part-
ners, 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 com-
pletion 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 communi-
cation makes no reference to CEDEFOP. The Committee
would like emphasis placed on CEDEFOP’s role in
training in general and apprenticeship training in particu-
lar, 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

The Committee welcomes the Florence European

4.1.
Council’s initiative.

4.2.
The Committee endorses the Commission com-
munication, 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 fol-
lowing main comments and suggestions:

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

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 con-
tinuous. 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.
links between:

Emphasis should be placed on the essential

— 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 train-
ing, 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.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS