Page 19 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

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

increasingly complex set of challenges as they move towards the world of work.
A range of programmes and support schemes has been put in place to assist
them to stay in school or to make the transition to post-compulsory education or
training or employment. Other initiatives provide a continuum of support along
which a young person progresses towards employment. Opportunities for return
to education and training (for example second chance schools), aided by
guidance, have been created at a rapid pace, particularly in the current decade.
Measures have also been introduced to provide alternative training opportunities
for those young people who prefer a more practical approach to learning, and
opportunities are being created for young people to acquire skills that allow them
to manage their careers.
This Cedefop report presents the findings of a study carried out in 2009 on
guidance policies that support young people at risk. Specifically, the report
examines guidance measures that aim to support school completion, those which
facilitate the reintegration of disengaged young people, and measures to ease
the transition of the young from school to work.
The study was undertaken in the context of the European policy priorities on
lifelong guidance and early school leaving. It builds on the earlier work of
Cedefop and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on guidance provisions for young people (Cedefop, Sultana, 2004;
OECD, 2004a; OECD, 2004b). The study also adds to the policy reviews carried
out as part of other European level projects on early school leaving (GHK, 2005;
Stokes, 2000; Walther and Pohl, 2005) and career management (European
Lifelong Guidance Policy Network ELGPN, Sultana, 2009a; Watts, 2009).
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the study objectives and
describes the methodology used.

1.1. Study aim and objectives

The purpose of the study was to identify and examine established and
experimental guidance measures that support young people at risk. The research
mapped out areas for further development potential for guidance policies and
services available to at-risk groups; it provides policy-makers and guidance
practitioners with recommendations and key messages for future action.
The study covers the European Union (EU) countries, plus Iceland and
Norway. Examples have also been included from Croatia, the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and Turkey; these case studies were prepared and
provided by the European Training Foundation (ETF).

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