What role for non-formal adult education?
The above summary of the issue
contents prompts two big questions.
Firstly, is adult education,
especially in the form of non-formal, liberal adult education, a largely
untapped resource in treating youth unemployment?
Pia Cort writes how folk high schools are used
successfully in reintegrating marginalized youth back into education and work.
Haris Doukas tells us that Greece, through the Hellenic
Qualifications Framework, is validating non-formal learning as part of
work-life skills. Still it seems there could be many more instances where adult
education centres, study circles, folk high schools and such could play a
bigger role in alleviating unemployment.
The other question is also related
to non-formal learning. If, as we read, Europe is facing a major realignment of
higher education along the lines of labour market needs, will the university’s
status as the quintessential seat of learning erode? Will the Humboldtian
ideals of free learning and bildung, even slow learning, fade out?
If so, non-formal adult education,
where the student learns for learning’s sake, could be the heir apparent of the
university. In this scenario, an adult education centre could play a far
greater role in the bildung of an individual than any formal seat of higher
learning.
The voice of adult educators should be more audible in the public debate of curbing youth unemployment. That is background for the first issue of the web-magazine LLinE produced in cooperation with InfoNet. The main article of the magazine is a unique overview of youth unemployment in 18 European countries.
The voice of adult educators should be more audible in the public debate of curbing youth unemployment. That is background for the first issue of the web-magazine LLinE produced in cooperation with InfoNet. The main article of the magazine is a unique overview of youth unemployment in 18 European countries.
LLinE, issue 1/2013, is a combined product of LLinE and InfoNet. It
examines what has to change in education and policy to turn the tide of youth
unemployment. (LLinE, issue 1/2013, Youth unemployment
).
Parallel
to participating in the production of this issue of LLinE, InfoNet
correspondents has uploaded about 20 new articles on the InfoNet website since Newsletter 1/2013.
· the educational system does not meet the needs of the
labour market
· no benefit in employing persons who are only just
entering the labour market.
· gender is another factor
NÓRDICOS
· early measures within the field of education and early
labour market interventions,
-
· an education system adapted to individual needs,
· an effective monitoring of students,
· integrated measures and activities,
· investments in education during recessions and
cooperation between actors, which work with young people.
· we do not have much compiled and systematic
information about what types of initiative are most effective in relation to
work and inclusion
Europa
Employment rates for young people
fell by 5 % over the last four years, which means three times as much as for
adults. According to the European Commission, some 5.5 million young people on
the labour market cannot find a job; 7.5 million aged 15-24 are not in
employment, education or training. Since 2008 the number of unemployed young
people under 25 that have been unemployed for more than 12 months has increased
from 0.9 million to 1.6 million in 2011
· low qualified young people are still facing a higher
risk of being unemployed than high qualified young people.
· better match of skills and jobs.
The new EU strategy “Rethinking
Education: Inventing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes”
Youth Guarantee schemes in the
Member States is at the heart of the package. The Commission wants to ensure
that all young people up to age 25 receive a quality offer of a job, continued
education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving
formal education or becoming unemployed.
Países
europeus
|
Chipre
15-74, which amounted to 14.6 % in
December 2012. Based on Eurostat figures the harmonized unemployment rate for the age group 15-24, in December 2012
amounted to 28.4 %
France
figures for the last quarter of
2012 for French youth unemployment are 25.7 %. That is 730 000 young people
aged 15-24, willing to work and without a job
Le Contrat des generations, the Contract of Generations
NEETs (Not in Employment,
Education or Training), called locally Ni-ni,
Alemanha
In Germany, the youth unemployment
ratio is as low as 6.4 % (February 2013)
But there is still a divide
between East-Germany (10.3 %) and West-Germany (5.2 %).
the demographic change (with
Germany having one of the lowest birth rates in the world).
Grécia
According to the latest
statistical data, the youth unemployment rate was 56,6 % in October 2012
(National Statistical Authority-EL.STAT.). Greece remained the country with the
second highest youth unemployment rate in 2011, at 44.4 %, after Spain, at 46.4
% (OECD)
there is a wide range of
vocational training and non-formal education programs that enhance the
unemployed citizens’ capabilities and contributes to their integration in the
labor market.
Holanda
Youth unemployment figures
currently stand at approximately 8.2 %. "Youth" is defined
as
youngsters of 15-24 years, without work (or work with less than 12 hours a
week), who are looking for a paid job for 12 hours or more a week.
Due to the fact that youth
unemployment is increasing, the 4 biggest Dutch cities and an umbrella
organisation for youngsters will develop several initiatives to decrease the
rate of youth unemployment
Therefore a part of the budget is
reserved for helping vulnerable adults to find a proper job on the labour
market. Secondly the Budget of Participation ensures learning for immigrants.
Hungria
At present the rate of
unemployment in the 15 –-24 age group in Hungary is 28.4 %; it has increased by
1.3 % from the previous year. 18.5 % of the pool of unemployed people on the
labour market come from those between the ages of 15-24.
In Hungary one of the most serious
consequences of the high unemployment rate of the young people is that
specifically the most active and most mobile age group is leaving the country,
mostly for Austria, Germany and Great Britain. 35 % of the Hungarians migrating
abroad are highly educated. According to the latest survey conducted by
TÁRKI Társadalomkutatási Intézet [Social Research Institute], 56 % of students
over the age of 18 feel that their (immediate)-future will not be in Hungary.
Letónia
The percentage of unemployed young
stood at 10,2 % in February 2013. This means 11.001 young persons in age group
15-24. In comparison with year 2012, youth unemployment has decreased by
1,6 percentage points – 4614 young persons less. In 2012 14.980 young
unemployed secured regular work.
Lituânia
the unemployment rate grew by 22
percentage points - from 15 % to 37 %.
The inability of young people to
find a place in the Lithuanian labour market has led to largescale youth
emigration to other countries. In 2009, 22 000 Lithuanian nationals, of
which the age group 15-19 accounted for 37 %, declared that they were
emigrating; during the first quarter of 2010, emigration rates exceeded those
of 2009 by nearly 40 % in Lithuania.
Malta
The Youth (15-24 years)
unemployment rate is 14.7 %
two main islands: Malta, the
biggest and Gozo, much smaller.
For Gozitans who would wish to work in Malta,
transport is an additional burden since this takes a long time of travelling.
Transport is available only by boat. Gozitans have less opportunities to work
close to home, since Gozo is very restricted.
Polónia
At the end of 2012 this group made
up 28.3 % of the total unemployed, while those with high school and post-high
school education were 27.3 %.
PAÍSES NORDICOS
The highest unemployment rates in
the Nordic region are in Sweden and Finland, where around 20 % of the work
force in the 15-24 age group are active seekers of employment without work.
This is about average for the EU. The corresponding figure for Denmark and
Iceland is 15 % and for Norway around 8 %.
Iceland has introduced a new form
of education for young people 16 – 24 years of age without a gymnasium level
education. In the borderland between the labor market and education a
production school has been established in Iceland, combining education and
practical work experience.
Eslováquia
The youth unemployment rate is at
35.90 %, compared to 32.90 % last year.
Youth unemployment in Slovakia is
primarily due to a skills mismatch in the labour market. Schools and
universities produce large numbers of graduates with skills that are little in
demand
Eslovénia
he structure of unemployed is
worrying as well: almost a half of them (45,6 %) are long-term unemployed
(registered as unemployed for over one year), over a third (34,4 %) are low
qualified (elementary school or below), 15 % are first job seekers, a third (34
%) are over 50 years old and 11,7 % are younger than 25.
Turquia
Youth unemployment rate is 18.8 %
with a 1.8 % increase. The youth unemployment rate of Turkey is nearly twice
the level of the total unemployment rate and considering the economic growth
rates in recent years, there is not a healthy and sustainable reduction in
youth unemployment rates. The problem is worse for women than men
The contributions in this issue
abound in unemployment rates, percentage points and explanations as to why
youth unemployment is rife- or under control. Many texts make explicit policy
and practical recommendations, often pertaining to education.
Let's browse through the articles
once more to see how youth unemployment is explained and what remedies are
proposed. Does a big picture emerge?
Apontamentos Markus Plamen – Director LLine
Causes and remedies
The following root causes of youth
unemployment are brought up by the authors of this issue:
Supply-side
•
a
skills mismatch: employers do not demand the skills the youth have gained in
education
•
skills
deficits, obsolescence, quality problems in education
•
massification
and ensuing “inflation” of higher education: in some countries the higher
educated are in higher risk of unemployment (Turkey)
•
cultural
factors, e.g. social system relying on family and discouraging networking and
active citizenship (Greece)
Demand-side
•
recession
•
inflexible
job market with “closed” jobs
•
flexibility
of capitalist economies leading to short-term employment
•
the economic
crisis aggravating already existing structural problems in education and labour
market
Remedies
Rethinking education:
•
dual systems
(e.g. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Hungary etc.) combining vocational
education and apprenticeships
•
stronger
links between higher education and working life through e.g. work placements
and tailored upskilling courses
•
apprenticeships
•
individualized
education, e.g. skills testing for targeted upskilling (Denmark), more guidance
Active labour market and social policies:
•
subsidizing
youth-hiring firms
•
supporting
entrepreneurs
•
training
schemes
•
centrally
planned manpower supply, cooperation between educational institutions,
ministries and labour market (Singapore)
•
early
detection of exclusion, guidance, reintegration through e.g. folk high schools
Back to top
Education redesign, active policy
A need to re-evaluate European
education systems emerges clearly from the texts. Education apparently needs to
be realigned better to fit the needs of the labour market. Bridges between
education and work have to be built in the form of apprenticeships and work
placements.
However, as Lorenz Lassnigg writes that in the Austrian case, apprenticeships
are not a panache for low unemployment figures: active labour market policies
are as important.
Back to top
Youth guarantees on the rise
One practice that is mentioned in
passing in the issue might be spreading in Europe in the future. This is the
“youth guarantee”. Already in use in, for instance, Finland and Sweden, the
guarantee is a commitment from the state to provide employment, training or
other support for unemployed youth within a set deadline.
For example in the Finnish case,
the state pledges to provide a job, training placement, study opportunity or
other support within 3 months to all unemployed youth. The guarantee applies to
under 25-year-olds and to all recently graduated under 30-year olds.
In February the European
Commission recommended the youth guarantee for all member
states.The Commission is earmarking 6 billion Euro to this end, expecting the
member states to co-finance the guarantee.
Committing to a youth guarantee is
big political decision for any government, though, as it sets rather clear
yardstick for success or failure for employment policy.
Back to top
What role for non-formal adult education?
The above summary of the issue
contents prompts two big questions.
Firstly, is adult education,
especially in the form of non-formal, liberal adult education, a largely
untapped resource in treating youth unemployment?
Pia Cort writes how folk high schools are used
successfully in reintegrating marginalized youth back into education and work.
Haris Doukas tells us that Greece, through the Hellenic
Qualifications Framework, is validating non-formal learning as part of
work-life skills. Still it seems there could be many more instances where adult
education centres, study circles, folk high schools and such could play a
bigger role in alleviating unemployment.
The other question is also related
to non-formal learning. If, as we read, Europe is facing a major realignment of
higher education along the lines of labour market needs, will the university’s
status as the quintessential seat of learning erode? Will the Humboldtian
ideals of free learning and bildung, even slow learning, fade out?
If so, non-formal adult education,
where the student learns for learning’s sake, could be the heir apparent of the
university. In this scenario, an adult education centre could play a far
greater role in the bildung of an individual than any formal seat of higher
learning.
