Page 25 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

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

(c) career guidance integrated in most subjects of the curriculum (e.g. Denmark,
Estonia and Hungary);
(d) career programmes covered through seminars and workshops (e.g. France,
Malta and Poland);
(e) optional career guidance subjects for young people (e.g. Portugal and
Slovakia).

The review carried out as part of this study of mainstream school-based
guidance provisions has confirmed that the traditional career guidance via
personal interviews is being replaced by a curriculum-based approach, a trend
highlighted already in 2004 by the OECD and Cedefop. Guidance services are
also increasingly being delivered by schools, together with external partners or by
establishing career information centres. Guidance can also be provided through a
variety of media and there is an increasing tendency to make use of the Internet
for such services. These services are discussed in greater length in Chapter 6.
Public employment services also play an important role in providing career
guidance. First, the work of PES is to help jobseekers, particularly persons from
disadvantaged groups, move towards employment. However, in recent years
there has been a trend towards a personalised approach, providing a service
tailored to the needs of the individual jobseeker. This includes an assessment of
each individual and the provision of targeted support. In particular there has been
an increase in the range of services that include career guidance elements.
Across Europe, the role of the PES in supporting young people varies greatly
(Sultana and Watts, 2005). In some countries, such as Germany, formal
arrangements exist between PES and schools. In other cases the role played by
the PES is less formal. The support and services provided includes:
(a) delivering career guidance and information in schools and educational
institutions, including presentations about the labour market, employment
opportunities and the services available to them through the PES;
(b) managing careers information offices for groups or individual young people;
(c) coordinating, often in collaboration with other partners, specific programmes
for certain groups of young people, such as early school leavers and drop-
outs;
(d) providing student work-related programmes that involve work skills
development.

There are a number of challenges for PES providing career guidance in
schools. Differences in the style of career guidance between PES and school
personnel have been recorded in several countries, with guidance in schools

19