Page 61 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

Increasing the value of age: guidance in employers’ age management strategies

and the Third Age Employment Network, in the policy debate surrounding older
workers. Trade unions, through the Union Learning Fund, are also helping to
promote training more generally. The fund supports union-led projects to
transform the lives of their members through lifelong learning opportunities.
The issue of guidance has become a growing political concern over recent
years in France. The Law of November 2009 about lifelong guidance and
vocational training (Loi No 2009-1437) created a new integrated service to ease
access to career counselling; it offers simplified access to information and
resources via a single phone number, a single e-mail address and the possibility
to receive information and advice online from career advisors. The inter-
ministerial delegation created is responsible for coordinating guidance policies at
national, regional and local levels.
In conclusion, there is a diversity of actors across countries, sectors,
administrations and institutions in provision of guidance (Cedefop, 2011b). The
current service provision is often fragmented and uneven in terms of accessibility
and the main (national) focus seems to be on the unemployed and young people.
Effective policies for lifelong guidance need to involve a number of different
authorities and stakeholders. A national lifelong guidance forum is a mechanism
to bring these together, to produce more effective policy development and more
harmonised service provision. This can be complemented by regional and/or
local forums (Maltby, 2011).

4.3.3. The growth of validation: valuing the experience of workers
The need to validate the relevant learning experiences of workers has been a
growing policy priority across Europe. Accreditation of prior learning systems
(Stephen, 2006) are found in a number of countries throughout Europe and the
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subject is well documented through the European inventory ( ) initiated in 2004
and is regularly updated (Brown et al., 2010).
Recognition of prior learning (RPL) in Europe was first pioneered at national
level by France with the Law on Bilan de compétence in 1985 and the Law on the
validation of skills acquired by work experience in 1992. In the last two decades,
many Member States have started to establish institutions, procedures, and
instruments to aid identification, assessment and recognition of adult learning
taking place outside of formal education and training institutions in non-formal
and informal adult learning environments.

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( ) European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/about-cedefop/projects/validation-of-non-formal-
and-informal-learning/european-inventory.aspx [accessed 27.3.2014].

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