Page 18 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

1. Introduction

A recent skills needs analysis published by Cedefop concluded that nine out of
ten new job openings in Europe during 2006-10 would require medium or high
level qualifications (Cedefop, 2008a). A new labour market forecast is being
carried out by the European Commission to take into consideration the effects of
the financial crisis, which is further reinforcing the need for high level skills and
qualifications in order to remain competitive in the slack labour market. At the
same time, one in seven young people in Europe leave the formal education
system without the necessary competences and qualifications for successful
labour market entry. They leave without completing upper secondary education,
the level considered the minimum required for active participation in the
knowledge-based economy.
Alongside this mismatch in educated workforce supply and demand,
fundamental changes are taking place in Europe in terms of economic activity,
job and career patterns and education systems. Economic activity is now strongly
reliant on services and information, where previously manufacturing and
distribution were the key industries and sources of employment. Education
systems are becoming increasingly complex, as the number of study pathways
has increased, more tailor-made solutions have been made available and
second-chance opportunities have been created. People increasingly mix
working life with periods of learning. The student population is becoming more
diverse and education and training systems are having to adjust to the
requirements of globalisation and internationalisation, increased migration, and
rapidly changing occupational profiles resulting from technological and economic
developments. The result of these changes for young people is a shift ‘from
certainty to contingency and from predictability to impermanence and fluidity’
(Stokes, 2000).
The complexity of these changes highlights the importance of providing high
quality information and guidance services to young people. This is particularly
important for at-risk groups who require assistance in navigating their way from
learning to employment. However, even where strong guidance services exist,
young people can experience difficulties in accessing them. As a result, those
who could most benefit from mainstream guidance services are often the least
likely to use them.
For the last two decades the Member States of the European Union have
piloted innovative ways of assisting vulnerable young people to face this

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