Page 27 - Information-on-the-Lifelong-Guidance-System-in-the-Czech-Republic

7�3 Apprenticeships informal)� The new system enables the recogni-
tion of knowledge and skills obtained outside
the school system for adult applicants, allowing
Within the Czech education system, apprentice- them to supplement partial or complete quali-
ship falls under the secondary school system fications easily and quickly and facilitating their
and is described in paragraph 7� 2� subsequent participation and success in the
labour market in their chosen field�
7�4 Adult learning / Psychological counselling for the adult popu-

continuous training lation is provided by state or private health care
facilities and private counselling agencies or con-
sultants� Guidance and counselling in the health
Educational guidance and counselling for sector is funded from health insurance funds�
adults is primarily carried out by education
institutions, which provide all the information Career guidance for adults is provided by
related to the courses they offer, and possibly different institutions such as the Labour Office
also to further education courses offered in of the Czech Republic, employment agencies,
a given region� Adults can, if they are interest- educational institutions, professional and interest
ed in applying for higher education, use the associations or organisations for disabled and
educational guidance and counselling services socially disadvantaged persons� 57
provided by higher education institutions, or
they can address the pedagogical and psycho- After the country’s accession to the EU, the
logical counselling centre established by the scope of guidance and counselling services has
region� Higher education institutions offer adults significantly extended thanks to national pro-
different courses within the lifelong learning jects co-financed by the European Social Fund�
programme (in accordance with the Higher These projects are often run by NGO and are
Education Act), while upper secondary schools almost exclusively targeted at disadvantaged
and tertiary professional schools do so in the groups of persons and their actual needs�
form of further education� Upper secondary These organisations primarily operate services
schools and tertiary professional schools also not provided by bodies dependant on the min-
organise accredited retraining courses according istries or regional authorities� These activities are
to the National Framework of Qualifications and not monitored and therefore awareness about
other educational programmes (e�g� ICT courses, them is fragmentary� The Czech National Career
communication, languages, labour law)� Guidance Awards Competition organised by the
Czech Euroguidance Centre is a solitary attempt
Since 2006, a system of schools has been created to raise awareness of the variety and quality of
under the Act on Verification and Recogni- the guidance and counselling services provided
56
tion of Further Education Outcomes � These not only by state-funded organisations but also
schools are entitled to assess the professional by organisations operating outside or inde-
skills that the applicant has acquired outside the pendently of the state administration�
formal education system and to issue a certifi-
cate recognising this qualification on the basis of Good examples of such projects might be
an appropriate examination� In accordance with "Delta and Bravo programmes" (www.smrov.cz/
i
the implementation of the lifelong-learning con- projekty-esf/bravo) and "Career choice without
cept, these schools are also required to create an prejudies" (www.genderstudies.cz/publikace/pub-
information system listing the further education likace.shtml) or "Take and give" (www.empl-cons.
ii
programmes they offer (formal, non-formal and cz/projekt6.html) iii

57 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eury-
56 www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/dalsi-vzdelavani/zakon- dice/index.php/Czech-Republic:Guidance_and_
c-179-2006-sb Counselling_in_a_Lifelong_Learning_Approach

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