Page 24 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

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

experienced by various groups of the society. This is also discussed in Section
3.2. Four areas for reform have been identified:
(a) encouraging the acquisition of career management skills;
(b) facilitating access to guidance services for all sections of the population;
(c) developing the quality assurance of guidance provision;
(d) encouraging coordination and cooperation between all the stakeholders at
national, regional and local levels.

The Resolution also provided a political mandate for the work of the
European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN) and Cedefop.
In addition to political commitment, the Commission has also provided a
range of funding opportunities to enhance and upgrade guidance policies,
systems and practices. Resources have been made available through the
European Social Fund, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Phare, enabling
exchanges of good practice within Europe, and the further training of guidance
professionals (Cedefop, Sultana, 2004). It has also supported several initiatives:
formulating the European CV; developing Ploteus as the EU’s Internet portal of
learning opportunities (Ploteus, 2009); creating the EURES website to link all
public employment services in Member States; and mobilising the Euroguidance
network as a source of information, responding to the needs of guidance workers
to be familiar with other countries’ education, training, guidance and labour
market systems and programmes (Cedefop, Sultana, 2004).

2.2. Mainstream guidance for young people

Schools are one of the main settings for formal career guidance services.
Historically, school-based career guidance services have concentrated on
schools at lower secondary level and have targeted young people making
choices about their educational pathway (Cedefop, Sultana, 2004). Five models
of curriculum-based guidance delivery are apparent in the study countries
(Cedefop, Sultana, 2004; EACEA et al., 2008):
(a) guidance as a separate subject in the curriculum, including space in the
weekly or semestrial timetable (e.g. Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Finland, Greece, Norway, Romania and Spain);
(b) career guidance embedded in other broader, specialist subjects concerning
personal wellbeing and social education (e.g. Hungary, Iceland, Latvia,
Malta and Poland);

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