Live&Learn, the quarterly magazine of the European Training Foundation (ETF), brings stories about vocational education (VET)and employment from the countries neighbouring European Union. The 29th issue brings the stories from Libya and Syria, update on the EU's Eastern Partnership, an interview with Miami Dade College, an opinion piece on "careering" and more.

1. Live&Learn
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE ETF COMMUNITY
ISSUE 29 – NOV 2013
LIBYA
an uphill
struggle
As Libya searches
for a development
vision after the
2011 revolution,
vocational
education and
training is set
to assume a
grander role
Report from
Tripoli
Young Syrians fight their own battles for skills | 08
View from the top: ETF Policy Leaders’ Forums | 10
Advisor to six US presidents talks about VET | 14
Opinion: “Careering” can cure careers | 20

2. INSIDE
04
Country focus:
Libya
08
16
Young Syrians
fight their own
battles for
education and
skills
In booming
Azerbaijan,
VET gets a
second chance
10
18
ETF Policy
Leaders’ Forums
in Marseilles
and Salzburg
12
Sara Parkin:
Making VET fit
for a sustainable
future
13
The ETF and
the Eastern
Partnership
14
Eduardo
Padrón:
“Quality and
status of VET
must go up
to attract
industry”
02
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November 2013
School
development
for lifelong
learning in
Central Asia
20
Careering:
A solution for
more fulfilling
careers
CONTACT US
Further information can be
found on the ETF website:
www.etf.europa.eu
For any additional information,
please contact:
Communication Department
European Training Foundation
ADDRESS Villa Gualino,
Viale Settimio Severo 65,
I – 10133 Torino, Italy
TELEPHONE +39 011 630 2222
FAX +39 011 630 2200
EMAIL info@etf.europa.eu
21
My vocation:
Moscow
college course
is fast track to
a good career
22
New
publications &
Digital update
To receive a copy of Live&Learn please
email info@etf.europa.eu
The European Training Foundation is the
European Union’s centre of expertise
supporting vocational and training
reforms in the context of the European
Union’s external relations programmes.
ISSN: 1725-9479
@ European Training Foundation, 2013
Cover photograph:
A young man poses in the crowded market of the
Old City of Tripoli.
ETF/Iason Athanasiadis – EUP & Images
Please recycle this magazine
when you finish with it.

3. Editorial
MAKING THE EASTERN
PARTNERSHIP WORK FOR
LEARNERS AND EMPLOYEES
The Eastern Partnership was created in May 2009 to strengthen
the EU’s ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the
Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Successive EU enlargements
have brought these countries closer to EU borders. Their security,
stability and prosperity are more than ever the areas of interest for
EU policies.
The Partnership promotes democracy and
good governance, supports sector reform
and environmental protection, encourages
people-to-people contacts, and helps in
economic and social development. The
ETF is closely involved in many activities
that advance the goals of the Partnership.
Across the region we have been
supporting development of continuing
vocational training. Confirming the
vocational education and training agenda
agreed with the ETF some countries
,
started working on sector skills councils,
others began developing national
qualifications frameworks. A few weeks
ago we published a valuable report from
this project (see ‘New publications’ on
page 22).
gave a unique insight into the barriers
to job creation in the region. In Ukraine
our innovative project helped the local
authorities and social partners in one
industrial region to assess and anticipate
its skills needs.
These are just a few examples of how the
ETF engages the countries of the Eastern
Partnership in practical cooperation and
dialogue, which is beneficial both for our
partners and for the EU. I
Madlen Serban, ETF director
Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP & Images
Under the EU Global Approach to
Migration and Mobility, the ETF carried out
extensive studies of migration and skills
in Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of
Moldova. The findings fed into EU policy
making, but also gave the countries the
evidence they needed to improve the use
of EU mobility partnerships.
The ETF has contributed analysis to a
series of SME assessments in eastern
Europe, based on the criteria contained
within the EU’s Small Business Act.
Our joint reports with the EBRD, the
OECD and the European Commission
November 2013
Live&Learn
03

4. Country focus  Libya
Libya needs more middle-ranking
technicians and fewer engineers.
Photo: ETF/Iason Athanasiadis –
EUP & Images
LIBYA, AN UPHILL STRUGGLE
Libya is striving for a new vision for economic development in the wake of the 2011 revolution that
ended four decades of authoritarian rule. But by all accounts the country has a long road ahead.
The transitional Libyan government is
aiming to kick start the economy by
restarting work on large-scale building
and infrastructure projects, many of
which were planned under the old
regime. There is also a belief that the
role of the private sector must grow.
“We can’t just keep relying on the public
sector to provide jobs, says Deputy
”
Minister of Labour, Ibrahim Abu Bridaa,
“we need to sit down with all the other
ministries and find ways to encourage
the private sector to take over.
”
There is a certain awareness of the need
to wean the economy off its addiction to
gas and oil and to branch out into more
labour-intensive sectors such as tourism.
The Ministry of Labour is proposing
to introduce a series of incentives to
encourage private businesses to employ
more Libyans, such as paying the first
year’s salary or a year’s exemption from
social security obligations.
EU support
The European Union is providing support
with, among others, its vocational
04
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November 2013
education and training (VET) project
– designed by the ETF – which began
in 2013. It aims to address immediate
needs by helping the unemployed,
especially ex-fighters, to find work. It
also supports a longer-term reform of the
country’s VET system.
VET clearly has a big role to play in
rebalancing Libya’s skewed labour
market and contributing to more
sustainable forms of growth.
But many training centres have outdated
equipment and courses which lack
practical content. The system as a whole
is fragmented and runs largely in parallel
to general education. The two biggest
obstacles are the low social prestige of
VET and its isolation from the world of
work.
VET’s image problem
Many Libyans see vocational education
as a last resort in education. “It usually
attracted people who were not very
smart, so many others did not want to
be associated with it, says Rafaa Rejeibi,
”
a lecturer in English at Tripoli University.
Even without this, there is a lack of
awareness of what VET can offer, with
many young people simply being guided
by their families’ aspirations for them to
become doctors or engineers.
With no system in place to track the
outcomes of VET, information on
employability is mainly anecdotal. It is
closely linked to an individual institute’s
reputation, according to the head of the
TVET Board Mokhtar Jwaili. So while
graduates from technical colleges,
such as computer studies in Tripoli or
electronic engineering in Bani Walid,
have no problem finding jobs, others
may struggle.
Hythem Elghoul, managing director of
an advertising company, Semat, says it
is also very difficult for him to find skilled
workers. He says that there is currently
no provision for training people to work
in his sector in Libya. “Usually we end
up training them at our own expense
but we hardly ever find someone who is
ready so mostly we recruit expats, he
”
says.

5. “LIBYANS HAVE BEEN
VERY RELUCTANT TO TAKE
ON BLUE COLLAR JOBS,
EVERYONE WANTS TO
BE A CIVIL SERVANT OR
WORK IN A BANK”
Facts & Figures
6 million people live in Libya
45% of them are 24 years old or
under
89.5% can read and write
Nearly 1 in 3 active Libyans is
unemployed
Libya’s economic output in 2012
totalled $78.63 billion
The energy sector generated
99% of government income and
80% of GDP
Based on current estimations of
The CIA World Factbook
Many in government believe
that the role of the private
sector must grow.
Photo: ETF/Iason
Athanasiadis – EUP Images
Elghoul believes that VET should offer
a wider range of courses and that the
country needs more middle-ranking
technicians and fewer engineers. “But
it is also a social question, he says.
”
“Many young people don’t have money
problems, so there is a certain laziness
in the mood of society. People will open
cafés and shops, small businesses that
don’t require a lot of staff and they get by
that way. However he does believe the
”
mood has changed since the revolution.
Rejeibi agrees. “I now see students who
want to work as well as study, whereas
before you would never see that, she
”
says. “People are taking part-time jobs
and this is giving them the notion that
you don’t need an engineering degree
to get a job. Attitudes and aspirations
”
may be starting to shift; “in certain
circles, young people see a job with the
government as not very cool, she says.
”
A skewed market for jobs
Muammar Gaddafi’s unorthodox
approach to the economy has left a
legacy of distortion and disconnection in
Libya’s labour market.
Around 70% of formally employed
Libyans work in the public sector. In
the private sector, oil and gas reserves
typically drilled by foreign companies,
contribute a large slice of government
revenue but employ only a tiny
proportion of the workforce. Private
companies in Libyan hands tend to be
small. The size of Libya’s informal sector
is described in a recent report by GIZ, a
German aid agency, as “uncertain but
large. With no labour force surveys, all
”
figures are approximate.
The disproportionate size of the public
sector, plus the attractive working
conditions it offers, have shaped the
aspirations of generations of Libyans,
giving many a distinctly white collar
orientation and a distaste for manual
labour.
six. Many left during the violence of
2011, some have since returned, but as
Libya’s borders are porous and illegal
work is widespread, no one knows the
exact numbers.
International organisations and some
national bodies agree on a rough rate of
30% unemployment. But there are no
precise figures for this either. Even with
foreign workers in Libya, employers still
struggle to find the right people for the
jobs. I
Text: Rebecca Warden, ICEw
“A whole series of factors mean that
Libyans have been very reluctant to take
on blue collar jobs, everyone wants to
be a civil servant or work in a bank, no
one wants to work on a building site or
in a hotel, says Mounir Baati, the ETF’s
”
country manager for Libya.
The gap was traditionally filled by foreign
migrants. In 2008, the Economist
Intelligence Unit estimated there were
two million of them – a staggering figure
for a country with a population of about
Rafaa Rejeibi, one of the ETF’s Young
Mediterranean Leaders, says less young
people in Libya nowadays see jobs with the
government as cool.
Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP Images
November 2013
LiveLearn
05

6. Country focus  Libya
A QUIET REVOLUTION
FOR LIBYAN VET
Mokhtar Jwaili, in charge of vocational education and training in Libya, tells LiveLearn about his
ideas for quietly shaking up Libyan vocational education.
Jwaili, the head of Libya’s Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Board, is a man with a plan. With his
discrete, under the radar approach, he
is slowly putting the pieces in place to
revamp a badly needed part of Libya’s
education system. “We would like to
make vocational education and training a
major participant in the Libyan economy,
”
says Jwaili.
Investment plans
The stakes are high: the Board has set
itself the goal of getting 50% of students
into vocational education by 2025.
Currently the figures are approximately
20% for secondary students and 16%
for post-secondary, according to Jwaili.
Important though the numbers may be,
Jwaili is convinced that improving TVET
is much more a question of quality
than quantity. “First we have to make
this sector more attractive, by having
good facilities, up-to-date programmes
Mokhtar Jwaili, head of
Libya’s TVET Board
Photo: ETF/Iason
Athanasiadis –
EUP Images
06
LiveLearn
November 2013
There are plans to build 33 technical
education complexes around the country
over the next 20 years. Housing all forms
of vocational education – basic and high,
technical and vocational – these will also
provide accommodation for staff and
students and be similar to university
campuses.
and properly trained teachers, he
”
says. Establishing pathways to
higher education is part of this drive.
“Students should be able to go to
vocational education knowing that
this is not the end of their academic
career, he adds.
”
Starting their last academic year,
graduates of intermediate vocational
institutes or secondary vocational
schools who achieve a final grade of
merit can go onto technical colleges or
higher VET, while those who achieve
distinction can go onto university.

7. “We want to equip our
students with skills for life
and work, not just work,
”
says Mokhtar Jwaili, head
of Libya’s TVET Board.
Photo: ETF/Iason
Athanasiadis –
EUP Images
Introducing key competences
Reaching out to social partners
This year, creative thinking and
communication skills have been
introduced in secondary VET and another
module on SMEs and entrepreneurship
has been revamped. A new model for
teaching English, more suited to TVET
needs, has been launched.
As well as acting as a single platform
bringing the stakeholders together, the
councils’ first task will be to identify
training needs as one way of helping to
boost the relevance of education and
training. This will include people who are
already working.
“We are the first part of the Libyan
education system to be teaching 21st
century skills, says Jwaili, “we want to
”
equip our students with skills for life and
work, not just work. In a context where
”
vocational education has been largely
theoretical and employers regularly
complain that potential employees lack
soft skills, this is a departure indeed.
Mokhtar Jwaili has been aware of the
need to improve TVET’s negative public
image for a long time. He recounts how
his unit was organising an event on this
back in 2011 – “the date was set for
21 February, this had been planned for
months and months, then on 17 February
the revolution began and we had to
postpone everything. Jwaili is still
”
keen to hold such an event, possibly an
international conference for the whole
region, but says this must wait until
security in the country improves.
Breaking down the walls that isolate
VET by reaching out to industry and civil
society is a second priority. Teams are
currently working to establish sector
skills councils for three strategic areas
– tourism and hospitality, building and
agriculture and agrofood. This is another
new development for Libya.
results later this year; “it is very useful
to look at TVET from both sides – from
the point of view of the labour market
and the educators, says Jwaili. The next
”
stage will be to work with the ETF on an
overall strategy for Libyan VET.
In the meantime, Jwaili is not one to
let the grass grow under his feet. “We
aim to move forward with whatever is
available to us, he tells LiveLearn
”
before politely terminating the interview
so he can get back to work. I
Text: Rebecca Warden, ICE
Jwaili recognises that help from
international organisations is also
important. A latecomer to the Torino
Process, Libya hopes to present the
November 2013
LiveLearn
07

8. Guest writer  Syria
YOUNG SYRIANS FIGHT
THEIR OWN BATTLES FOR
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Many Syrians are aware just how important skills
and training are and will do whatever it takes to
make sure they get them.
Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma
Razan Rashidi reports
from Damascus on
how two years of
conflict and civil
unrest are affecting
young people’s
opportunities to
learn.
08
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November 2013
Every morning 17 year-old Ayman waits
for his mother to decide whether it is
safe for him to leave for his vocational
training school or not. The school, Bassam
Kiki, is one of three vocational schools in
Masaken Barzeh in northern Damascus.
Ayman joined the school’s business
department in March 2011 just as the
protests were beginning. It stands on
the side of the Qassioun mountain
overlooking Barzeh, a Damascus
neighbourhood that has become famous
for its opposition to the government
and where several Free Syrian Army
battalions are stationed. In August 2012,
the area was the scene of heavy military
operations by official Syrian forces.
The majority of its inhabitants were forced
to flee, seeking refuge in safer areas nearby
and around the Syrian capital. “We have
seen a lot of students drop out this year as
the majority were displaced while others
had to look for jobs to support their families”
says Wahiba, a teacher at the school.

9. Young people in Syria bear the brunt of
the conflict and civil unrest.
Photo: Flickr Creative
Commons / Freedom House
Bassam Kiki school belongs to the
Ministry of Education and is still operating
as an educational establishment. Some
schools in the country are now used as
communal shelters for internally displaced
people. UNICEF estimates that this is
the case for 6% of Damascus schools. In
Barzeh, the First Arts School, a vocational
school for female students, has recently
closed for this reason.
One of Ayman’s closest friends, Iyad,
was top of his class until he started
missing lessons. He lived in the area,
which was affected by the military
operations.
“I helped him by explaining the practical
sessions he missed, says Ayman. “But
”
Iyad couldn’t attend many exams, so
he failed the whole year and now he is
retaking eleventh grade. I still see him
during breaks but it is not the same as
when we were in the same class and
doing our projects together.
”
Time to leave
In early June 2013, military operations in
Barzeh intensified. For five months now
the Syrian army has been using the top
of the mountain above Ayman’s school as
a base for tanks. “The sound of shelling
never stops. I am now an expert and from
the sound of an attack, I can tell which
kind of military gear was used, Ayman
”
brags. His mother grimaces.
As a result, it was Ayman’s family’s turn
to evacuate their two-bedroom flat and
seek refuge in his grandparents’ house
in a safer area. Three months later,
when school began once more, Ayman’s
parents had to take a difficult decision.
They weighed up giving up Ayman’s last
year of training in order to live in a safer
neighbourhood and reduce the risks of
shelling and bombs. The family decided to
go home and be closer to Ayman’s school
rather than leave him to commute all the
way there alone.
“Some of my friends think I was crazy to
go back but this is the only chance for my
son to have a better future, his mother
”
explains.
Back to school in spite of everything
Ayman and his younger brother are well
aware of the financial challenges for their
family. This year both got new trousers
only for school. “Last year’s shirt still fits
so no need for a new one, the young
”
man with the beginnings of a moustache
smiles. The area where they live has seen
ever worsening living conditions. Many
people now suffer from shortages of food
and medicine, according to pan-Arab daily
Asharq Al-Awsat.
Syria and the EU
Since violence and repression broke
out in Syria in March 2011, the EU
has not only called repeatedly for an
end to attacks, but also suspended
other agreements intended to forge
a closer relationship with Damascus.
[This includes also all ETF operations
in the country.] By September
2013, over 100 000 people had lost
their lives, 4 million were internally
displaced and about 2 million had
fled the country.
Source: EU European External Action
Service
Ayman is as pleased to get home as he is
when he makes it to school. He dreams
of starting his own business soon. He
thinks for a moment and says “I like going
back to school but I feel sorry for mum
as now she has to queue for bread for at
least three hours every other day. In the
summer, I did this”
.
With the country in state of civil war, it
is difficult to see how Syrians can take
control of their future and contribute to
rebuilding a devastated economic and
social fabric. But it is clear that many
Syrians are aware just how important
skills and training are and will do whatever
it takes to make sure they get them. I
Text: Razan Rashidi
The interviewees and people mentioned
in this article asked for their full names not
to be used.
Razan Rashidi is
a journalist and
consultant for
communication and
social media based
in Damascus, Syria.
November 2013
LiveLearn
09

10. Events
ETF POLICY LEADERS’ FORUMS
Between 6 and 10 October the ETF organised two key conferences that attracted some 20 ministers
and deputy ministers of education and employment. In Marseilles, France, the Policy Leaders’
Forum brought together decision makers from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. In Salzburg,
Austria, the ETF joined forces with Salzburg Global Seminar to provide a wonderful setting for frank
discussions among senior officials from South Eastern Europe and Turkey.
Arab leaders step up the debate on
jobs for youth
There was a tangible spirit of openness
and plain speaking at the ETF’s forum
for policy leaders in Marseilles on
6 October. The meeting of leaders from
eight Arab Mediterranean countries,
including several ministers, showed that
politicians are ready to respond to the
high expectations of the region’s young
people.
One year on from the first meeting of
ministers of education and employment
organised by the ETF in Jordan in
September 2012, Marseilles signals a new
way of doing things. In spite of their busy
political agendas, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon,
Libya, Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia
made time to attend again while Algeria
made its debut.
Twelve ministers and deputy ministers attended
the ETF Policy Leaders’ Forum in Salzburg.
Photo: ETF
10
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November 2013
“We have tried a lot of different
approaches to VET in Algeria, without
much success until now, which is why we
were so keen to attend, said Mohamed
”
Benmeradi, Algerian Minister of Labour
and Social Security. This forthright
tone and willingness to recognise past
mistakes very much set the tone in
Marseilles. With the Arab Spring still
making waves, the countries represented
were able to put aside any petty rivalry
and share a common concern – with the
numbers of young people of working age
in the region ever increasing, how could
they create 40 million jobs by 2030?
“Compared to Jordan where some
delegations were just reading from
their notes, I think that the quality of
interventions is much higher. There
was real dialogue, not just a series of
monologues, said Geert Bouckaert,
”
Director of the Public Management
Institute at the Catholic University of
Leuven in Belgium. The heartfelt interest
shown by Androulla Vassiliou, European
Commissioner for Education and Culture,
together with the plain-speaking of
Pervenche Berès, chair of the European
Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs
Committee, helped to enliven the debate.
With some countries in a difficult political
situation, it came as little surprise that the
debates centred less on solutions than
on a thorough analysis of the problems.
However one thing that came up time and
time again was how to improve the image
of VET – how to make VET more attractive,
not just to young people, but also to their
parents who often tend to see it as a last
resort.
Text: Armand Chauvel, ICE

11. EU Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou (R) and
Pervenche Berès MEP (L) joined ETF director
Madlen Serban at the Policy Leaders’ Forum
in Marseilles.
Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP Images
Framing human capital policies in EU
would-be members
Jobs, jobs and jobs. This is how Erion
Veliaj, the newly appointed minister
of Social Welfare and Youth of Albania,
describes his main goal and the challenge
he faces. His counterparts from South
Eastern Europe and Turkey, who attended
the ETF Policy Leaders’ Forum in Salzburg
on 9 and 10 October, would agree.
The ETF’s forum took place in the
context of the South East Europe (SEE)
Strategy, which the region’s governments
are to adopt this November. The basic
goal of the strategy is to improve living
conditions in the region. The document
draws inspiration from the EU’s Europe
2020 strategy. Its objectives include
employment growth from 39% to 44%,
and raising the region’s GDP per capita
from the current 36% to 44% of the EU
average.
“ETF POLICY LEADERS’
FORUM SERVES AS
A DRIVER FOR THE
STRUCTURAL REFORMS”
Goran Svilanovic, secretary general of
the Regional Cooperation Council, under
whose auspices the SEE Strategy has
been developed, said at the meeting that
building human capital was one of the
key elements of the strategy, because
smart growth needs knowledge-based
economies. “We’re putting the reform of
education in the context of increasing the
chances for employment and increasing
growth, said Svilanovic. One of the most
”
important targets of the strategy is the
addition of 300 000 highly qualified people
to the workforce across the region.
The ETF’s FRAME project, launched earlier
this year, supports the region’s countries –
EU candidate and potential candidate
countries – with their human resources
development strategies. The initiative is
built around four components: foresight,
review of institutions, monitoring and
regional cooperation.
“Human resources are a key factor in
all of the European countries as we do
not have many natural resources… and
the enlargement countries are not much
different, said Gerhard Schumann Hitzler,
”
director for pre-accession assistance
strategy and regional cooperation at the
European Commission’s Directorate
General for Enlargement.
“What we try to do is to assist these
countries in preparing meaningful, realistic
strategies, and make sure that these
strategies are then implemented, said
”
Schumann Hitzler. “We want to see real
progress on the ground, real impact. The
ETF’s Policy Leaders’ Forum serves as a
driver for the structural reforms, which are
badly needed. I
”
Text: Marcin Monko, ETF
November 2013
LiveLearn
11

12. Interview
MAKING VET FIT FOR A
SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Sara Parkin is an independent European
Parliament expert on the ETF’s Governing Board.
Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP Images
in a job where someone else pays them.
Thinking about how difficult the future will
be suggests we need to focus on how
we build the capacity of people to better
secure their livelihoods in a range of ways.
It seems VET systems need to be able
to do that. We need to develop people’s
capacity to engage in lifelong learning so
that they can adapt their knowledge and
skills and, if necessary, be able to move
from job to job.
Sara Parkin, founder and director of Forum for the Future and an
independent expert on the ETF’s Governing Board, talks about
how organisations and vocational education and training (VET) can
be more sustainable and how the Torino Process could help.
Parkin’s goal is to raise awareness about
future trends and to get people to think
about how their organisations might adapt.
In order to achieve this, top managers must
support new initiatives but it is often the
workforce which generates new ideas, as
LiveLearn found out.
How can VET systems respond
to the challenges of sustainable
development?
Our approach at Forum for the Future is
to ask people to think about the future
of their organisation 15-20 years from
now, and then to factor in things like
what might happen to the economy as a
result of climate change. This often raises
questions such as: ‘could our company
survive this?’ and ‘what can we do in
terms of strategy to be resilient to the
future?’ But Forum for the Future is not a
consultancy, we challenge people to work
things out for themselves.
At Marks Spencer, for example, Stuart
Rose, the executive chairman at the
time, decided to invest over two million
pounds in sustainability training and
implementing this philosophy throughout
the organisation. We helped his staff to
look at what was happening right down
12
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November 2013
the supply chain and to think about the
future, so that they could identify where
they could intervene now to achieve
sustainable outcomes. Through reducing
waste, recycling things like coat hangers
and working through what happens with
clothes – MS now works with Oxfam
and other charitable outlets to enable
people to swap items – they both saved
money and enhanced their reputation,
because this is what is important to
customers.
It is this kind of ‘futures approach’ that
could be used in VET systems to promote
sustainability.
How can we reform VET systems to
make economies work in a more green
fashion?
Research shows that individuals most
want to feel good about themselves,
sustain great relationships, make
transactions and take decisions about
where they live – to beautify their towns
or cities and think about how to improve
the quality of their environment.
It is important to remember that there
are around five billion people of working
age in the world and only a fraction are
Specifically, sustainability competences
should be integrated into everything
and not just treated as an add-on
module. That means cooks, builders,
managers, hairdressers and everybody
else should know how to work in a way
that contributes to resilient social and
environmental sustainability and wellbeing.
How could the ETF integrate this green
approach into the Torino Process?
We need to think about futures in the
world of work and how people can secure
their livelihoods in hard times. There are
both difficulties and opportunities ahead
and it is important to ask what VET can do
to give people the skills to participate.
I gave a talk about this at the Torino
Process event last May and a lot of people
came up to me afterwards to say how
encouraged they felt by this approach.
If I had had the opportunity I would have
made the conference less structured and
opened up some space for more feedback
and input from the participants. Get the
creative juices flowing!
The whole VET system would benefit from
an overhaul and the Torino Process is the
ideal opportunity to do that. Every VET
system needs to future proof its learning
and skills policy, institutions and delivery
mechanisms to ensure that it is not busy
equipping people with a whole set of skills
that will quickly get out-of-date. I
Text: Paul Rigg, ICE

13. EU Eastern Neighbourhood
THE ETF AND THE EASTERN
PARTNERSHIP
The third Eastern Partnership Summit in
Vilnius will be held on 28-29 November
2013. The highest representatives of
the EU institutions, 28 EU Member
States and the six Eastern European
partners are expected to take part
in the event.
In the context of the European
Neighbourhood Policy, the ETF
helps improve the relevance
of vocational education and
training provision to meet the
demands of the labour market;
support lifelong learning,
especially in continuing
vocational training; and reinforce
the overall governance of VET.
The ETF assists the European
Commission in implementing
the components of the
Eastern Partnership related to
employment and education
and in developing the mobility
partnerships. Take a look at what
the ETF has recently been doing
together with the EU’s eastern
neighbours. I
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14. Interview
“QUALITY AND STATUS OF VET MUST
GO UP TO ATTRACT INDUSTRY”
Eduardo Padrón has served as an
advisor to six US presidents
Photo: American Council of Education
Eduardo Padrón, advisor to six US presidents and one of the
country’s most influential voices in education and training, gives
LiveLearn his recipe for getting education and industry to really
work together. President of Miami Dade College (MDC), Florida’s
largest provider of higher education, since 1995, he has introduced
innovative approaches to teaching and learning and is a powerful
advocate for underserved groups such as low income and minority
students.
“Governments should resist the
temptation to micromanage education
systems” says Padrón, “you have to free
institutions from state bureaucracy so
that they can have freedom to interact
with businesses, he adds. More
”
freedom for schools and colleges must
be accompanied by greater responsibility.
“You have to make schools accountable –
you set expectations and you judge them
on their results. And finally, difficult
”
though it may be to achieve, “quality
matters, this is the best way to convince
business to support you.
”
Vocational education and training or VET
suffers from a bad reputation in many
countries. This is not helped, according to
Padrón, by the way decision makers often
vote with their feet when it comes to their
own offspring. “The very same people
who are trying to tell you to go into VET
programmes want their children to go into
a different system, he says. The negative
”
perception of VET creates another barrier
to better links with business – “you have
to elevate the status of VET in order for
industry to want to benefit from it and
draw its employees from it.
”
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November 2013
One way of doing this is to make sure
that VET is offered alongside more
academic courses within a single
institution – as is the case at MDC.
Another is to train not just for the specific
or hard skills for a specific job, but also
soft skills such as analytical thinking,
the ability to work in a team or problem
solving. The aim is to produce selfdirected, creative and adaptable people
who will be able to navigate today’s less
certain job market.
Teachers have a vital role to play in
improving the quality of VET. But if they
are to act as bringers of change, first they
have to change themselves, says Padrón,
and act more as coaches and facilitators of
learning and less like traditional lecturers.
“Many are still in the 20th century mode
of teaching but today’s students do not
relate to that, in fact they switch off, he
”
says.
Working conditions in many countries may
not encourage teachers to give their best.
“Imagine I do all the extra things, like
learning new techniques and motivating
students. But you just come in, teach
your classes and go home and you get
paid exactly the same as me, explains
”
Padrón, “there are no incentives in terms
of professional development and salaries
so we are not rewarding people for
innovation or effort.
”
How MDC responds to industry …
Community colleges are a distinctly
American phenomenon somewhere
between higher VET and university. Close
relations with industry and an open-door
approach to admissions, which makes for
a very diverse student body, are defining
characteristics.

15. “There are 300 programmes at my
institution and every one has a small
board of industry people who try to keep
the curriculum and the programme up-todate, says Padrón. Industry not only has a
”
significant input into existing programmes
at MDC, but sometimes the college will
develop a specific course to meet demand
from the private sector.
In the mid 2000s, Florida Power Light
(FPL) was having trouble finding new
employees to join an ageing workforce
at its Turkey Point nuclear power station.
It approached MDC. Working with the
company, MDC came up with its electrical
power technology programme, whereby
students are trained by industry experts,
mostly from FPL, in an environment which
prepares them for available jobs.
flexible schedules including evening and
weekend classes, but efforts to support
students through higher education go
beyond this. Guidance begins online
before students arrive and continues
throughout their time at MDC.
Advice covers not only academic issues,
but also finance and managing family
obligations, aiming to free students up to
focus on their studies. Students can enrol
in communities of interest which provide
a support system of peers, lecturers
and other staff with similar interests.
Mentoring puts them in touch with
professionals in relevant fields.
Eduardo Padrón defends this inclusive
approach as the way that education can
really add value. “Many universities are
remnants of elitism as just a few people
get in based on artificial barriers. If you
only let in the best and the brightest –
students who will succeed anyway – you
are not harnessing the value of every
individual, he says, “the real added value
”
comes by taking those individuals who
did not have the same opportunities and
by harnessing their potential to be real
contributors to society, then you are
adding a lot of value. I
”
Text: Rebecca Warden, ICE
In May this year, the sixth cohort of
students graduated. Padrón says the
partnership has benefits for all. “FPL has
a pipeline of qualified candidates from
which to draw new employees, MDC is
able to educate students who will get jobs
at the end of their training. Students, who
are the greatest benefiters, know that
they have a high-paying job waiting for
them, he says. As the curriculum meets
”
national standards, graduates can also
seek work elsewhere.
… and students
Over half of MDC students are the first
generation to attend college, 70% work
and 20% work full-time. The college offers
November 2013
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15

16. Letter from Azerbaijan
IN BOOMING AZERBAIJAN,
VET GETS A SECOND CHANCE
The car from the airport glided
towards the city on a freshly
tarred highway. We passed
by brand new steel-and-glass
office buildings, gleaming
high-rise apartment blocks and
advertising billboards. Those
of us who hadn’t been to
Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in a
while, could barely recognise
the place. It was May 2013
and my colleague Arjen Deij,
an ETF expert, and I had
just arrived to check out the
country’s progress in reforming
vocational education.
The “Flame Towers” of Baku,
one of the hallmarks of the burgeoning
capital of Azerbaijan.
Photos: ETF/Inna Dergunova and Arjen Deij
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November 2013
The rapid economic development of the
past few years has been fuelled by energy
resources. The changes can be seen
everywhere: in the newly constructed
and modernised infrastructure, busy
traffic, lively streets, new shops, and
packed cafes and restaurants. Thanks to
targeted state programmes and private
investments, wealth has begun to spread
outside the capital. Many Azeri seem
proud when they talk about the latest
achievements of their country.
There is a chance that vocational
education and training will benefit from
this new prosperity, too. Until recently,
for almost two decades, vocational
schools had been left without support
and attention from the state. The time
was merciless both for the infrastructure
and teaching programmes. The buildings
and equipment gradually degraded and
changes in the labour market rendered
curricula irrelevant. Many teachers lost
skills and touch with what is expected
from modern vocational education.
In 2007 having recognised the
,
importance of a qualified workforce for
economic growth, the government in
Baku turned its attention to the vocational
education system. The State Programme
for VET Development for 2007-12 was
adopted. It is the implementation of this
programme that the ETF has been asked
to evaluate.
The programme was designed
comprehensively but it started without
a targeted feasibility study and the

17. Vocational lyceum in Goychay. Here teachers try
themselves to maintain the outdated machinery.
The authorities in Gabbala district hope the
mountainous region will soon attract more tourists.
mechanisms for implementation and
monitoring were rather poor. The main
problem was that the government clearly
knew what kind of VET it didn’t want,
but it had not quite decided what kind of
VET it needed. Vocational schools were
poorly equipped, staff were ageing and
demotivated, and the schools provided
only basic practical skills for disadvantaged
groups. The government wanted to
change it.
Even if it covered components such as
creating links with business, improving
management, updating curricula, training
staff and upgrading the image of the
entire system – the main thrust of the
programme went towards modernising
the outdated and obsolete infrastructure
of vocational schools.
In May 2013 we went to Azerbaijan
to see how government actions had
changed the situation on the ground.
We travelled to different regions, visited
13 schools providing training for different
sectors. We spoke to school directors,
teachers, students, parents, employers
and local authorities.
We went to newly-built schools beaming
with positive energy but also dilapidated
schools, with no equipment worth
mentioning and demoralised staff.
The visits and interviews revealed that
although there were many common
problems, attitudes towards them differed
considerably. It seemed as though some
directors and staff were just trying to
survive, while others tried to overcome
difficulties, improve – where possible –
and develop.
The prospect of renovation and
modernisation was a major motivator. In
most schools the decisive factor was the
quality of leadership – the entrepreneurial
abilities of the managers could improve
performance, attract more students and
engage employers.
In vocational lyceum No 3 in Ganja, in the
west of the country, the school team led
by the director Ali Aliyev and his young
enthusiastic deputy, Azer Rustamov,
updated training programmes and
teaching aids, identified new partners
and developed cooperation with local
employers. They succeeded in creating a
motivating environment for teachers and
students. During out visit, the school held
a crafts competition and we saw how
engaged and happy the students were to
show off their new skills.
The vocational lyceum in the small
district town Goychay, right in the
heart of Azerbaijan, was on the list of
establishments that received support
under the State Programme. Some
laboratories had been refurbished and
new computers installed. However, what
remained of the old training equipment
and machinery was worn out. The school
director Gabil’ Zeynalov together with
his instructors repaired old trucks and
tractors to allow students to specialise in
agricultural machinery. He also attracted
donations from local business to refurbish
the classrooms.
mountains and lavish vegetation. It’s
a logical tourist destination: it attracts
hikers in summer and skiers in winter.
The State Programme for Social and
Economic Development of the Regions
for 2009-13 chose it as a target for
development. Private investors built two
luxury and several mid-range hotels. At
the same time, a new VET centre opened
specialising in tourism and hospitality.
To study at this school and to get a job
in tourism is a good opportunity for
young people living in Gabbala and the
neighbouring districts.
Azerbaijan has still a long way to go
in reforming its vocational education
and training. Now it is crucial for the
government to take a few decisions.
Should it make a huge investment to
modernise the existing network of state
schools? Should it give more weight to
the private sector? Which model could be
most suitable for the country? The ETF is
ready to help answer these questions. I
Text: Inna Dergunova, ETF
In other places we saw the importance
of the “community approach” in trying
to resolve the problems of youth
employment. Not far from Goychay is
the district town of Ismaiili. The town is a
good example of what can happen when
public administration and a vocational
school work together. The head of district
administration, Mirdamed Mirsadiq oglu
Sadiqov, helped the school to cooperate
with a sewing factory in Baku. The
company decided to open a branch in
Ismaiili and now provides practical training
to the students and instructors.
In the district of Gabbala, a three-hour
drive west of Baku, we could see the
importance of linking training with the
needs and strategic development of the
local economy. Gabbala has stunning
November 2013
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17

18. Project update
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
IN CENTRAL ASIA
The ETF school development project was based
on a survey that covered one in three vocational
education and training institutions in Central Asia.
Photo: Ard Jongsma, ICE
In 2009, the ETF introduced a major initiative on school development for vocational education
in Central Asia. The project, which ran from 2009 to 2011, built on two previous projects – Skills
Development for Poverty Reduction (SDPR) and National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) –
conducted in the region between 2006 and 2009.
The initiative involved three countries –
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
They were joined in regional activities
by Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The
aim was to support capacity building by
engaging policy makers and practitioners
in development activities related to
improving quality management in
vocational education, mainly in public
vocational schools. In some countries,
adult training and other public providers
were also included.
The 2012-14 phase of the project has
three main components:
capacity building through training
programmes,
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November 2013
regional policy dialogue,
networking through communities of
practice.
effective school management and
leadership; and
management of teaching and learning.
Capacity building
Participants used interactive tools and
exercises to apply the lessons learnt
in real work simulations, and in small
groups they analysed and designed
plans, negotiated, reflected on and
assessed different issues affecting their
daily working lives. So useful, innovative
and mind opening the courses were
considered that participants expressed an
interest in training other colleagues in a
similar way. For this reason, an additional
‘train the trainer’ module was added to
equip them with the relevant skills to do
this.
Teams from vocational schools, adult and
teacher training centres were selected
to take part in the capacity building
programme which focused on the
following areas:
strategic development and planning in
vocational schools;
school development in cooperation with
partners;
monitoring as a driver of school
development;

19. Sharing information and
experience is a key element in
the project.
Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko
Participants at a regional
meeting on school development
in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2012.
Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko
Regional policy dialogue
Sharing information and experience on
school development policies and practices
between countries is a key element.
It involves policy makers, business
representatives and school directors
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and regular
meetings enable participants not only to
share their views on developments in the
region but also to exchange information
about international developments on
school quality and development.
Networking through communities of
practice
within the community comes mainly
from sharing knowledge and discussing
ideas about practices and how they can
be further developed. Over time the
knowledge base grows and becomes
a reference of expertise on improving
practices. Within the school development
initiative, communities will initially
be developed from the participating
schools on a country basis. Topics are
likely to cover the areas addressed over
the past four to five years and include:
partnerships, school planning, analysis
of local environments, train the trainer,
school leadership and services, and
teaching and learning. I
A community of practice draws on
the acquired and tacit knowledge and
experience of its members. Learning
Extracts from letters from schools
We have launched a new profession in the school: agronomist.
We met partners for the first time to plan the activities
of the school with them. They raised the issue of the lack
of agronomists and told us that we focus too much on
training machine operators for agriculture but that they lack
agronomists in the area. We then developed a curricula with
them, developed learning and teaching materials and asked
the authorization from the Ministry of Education. We had
no problems to obtain the license for the new profession
and we could start immediately with the new academic
year. The teachers for this new area come from the partners
themselves. We made agreements for a partnership for
teaching in this new area.
Vocational School No 22 in Kuljab, Tajikistan
The methodology and team working was new to us. As
an example, given the high enrolment this year we faced
problems with computer classes. We established a working
group to successfully address the issue. For us trying to
have more participation in school decision making is a new
approach. But the “home work” assigned between the [ETF
training] modules gave us the opportunity to reinforce our
team spirit.
Communication Lyceum, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
This training helped us to better understand what it means
to have real partnership relations. Before the training it was
only about visiting the partners/companies and asking for
cooperation, however, after the training the relationship
became a real partnership and now we visit the companies
with very concrete proposals for agreements.
Professional Technical Lyceum No 8 of Kazailki, Kyrgyzstan
The ETF training has taught the school about the usefulness
of strategic planning. It became clear that school planning
should be a joint process involving the entire school staff and
should be based on dialogue and reflection. This school year a
move has been made in that direction and the school director
presented the school plan to all staff, so everybody is aware of
what is in it.
Professional Technical Lyceum No 90 in Talas, Kyrgyzstan
The training programme gave us a new vision for our work…
We were asked by the Ministry to develop strategic planning
documents, and it would be useful if the state educational
authorities incorporated some of those [i.e., proposed by the
ETF] elements into their frameworks.
State College of Almaty, Kazakhstan
We appreciated very much learning about tools for selfassessment and we started to use them in our activities at
school.
Prikaspisk Modern College, Kazakhstan
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19

20. Opinion
CAREERING
A SOLUTION FOR MORE
FULFILLING CAREERS
Raimo Vuorinen is a project coordinator of the European Lifelong Guidance
Policy Network at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research.
Photo: ETF/Marcin Monko
Secure, lifetime jobs are a thing of the past for most people. Nowadays people need to be prepared for
lifelong learning to achieve a degree of safety on the labour market. There is still work out there to be
done and people need work-related skills alongside recognised or accredited qualifications to do it.
A trigger of lifelong learning
There is one particular skill workers need
to learn to be on the safe side of the
labour market. It’s the ability to evaluate
your current competences in the light
of emerging labour market needs and,
if necessary, identify your new learning
goals in formal or informal learning. This
skill is like a trigger for lifelong learning.
What this new situation requires, both
from individuals and education and
training systems, is flexibility and the
ability to adapt. It requires refocusing from
supplier language (education and training,
employment) to user language (learning,
employability).
Current EU policies, with the notion of
competence development and individual
learning paths, imply an active role for
citizens. Lifelong learning and lifelong
guidance should provide an open
architecture for individuals to develop
skills for meaningful life choices so that
they can manage their individual paths
and build their own careers. A career is no
longer ‘chosen’, it is ‘constructed’ through
a series of choices we make throughout
our lives1.
Changing nature of career guidance
New technology and social media give
opportunities for individuals to reflect on
their future options with peers, with or
without the support of professional career
guidance practitioners.
Sultana, R. (2011) Flexicurity: Implications for lifelong
career guidance. A concept note commissioned by the
ELGPN
1
20
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November 2013
The traditional relationship between
the guided individual and the guiding
practitioner is changing, and the concepts
related to it are being challenged. If
people think about and discuss their
future careers among themselves, can
we still call this process “guidance” a
,
supplier language word? Wouldn’t it be
better to find a proper concept for this
individual process by drawing from user
language?
So, let’s call it “careering”! Traditionally
this concept refers to driving fast and
out of control. Today indeed an individual
might feel less in control in the labour
market. The transition from school to work
is becoming more diverse. We are not
able to promise young people shortcuts
for a sustainable future. Job seekers
find jobs and employers recruit workers
through online networks. We need a
“visume” a virtual resume, which can be
,
communicated via different online and
mobile channels.
If we think of all these changes, the
concept of “careering” might be a useful
metaphor for the development of lifelong
career management skills, and the role
of an individual as an active agent in this
process.
Lifelong career management skills2 are
a range of competences, which provide
structure for individuals and groups to
gather, analyse, synthesise and organise
educational and occupational information.
These are the skills required to make
ELGPN (2012) Lifelong Guidance Policy Development:
A European Resource Kit. ELGPN Tools 1. European
Lifelong Guidance Policy Network.
2
and implement career decisions and
transitions.
From the policy perspective this renewed
emphasis on “careering” should not be
interpreted as suggesting that those who
end up jobless have only themselves to
blame for failing to prepare for transitions.
Career management skills can support and
facilitate transitions, but many problems
lie not in the individuals themselves but in
structural failings in the economy.
The European Lifelong Guidance Network
(ELGPN) has started to examine how to
ensure that individuals are not expected
to assume greater individual responsibility
without being offered appropriate support,
particularly of a collective nature. Coherent
and accessible career guidance services
can become one form of such collective
support. I
In 2012, the ELGPN produced a
“resource kit” in different languages
for policy makers to help stakeholders
review existing lifelong guidance
provision within their country or
region. By using the kit gaps in the
system and issues that should be
addressed can be identified.
More http://elgpn.eu

21. My vocation
MOSCOW COLLEGE COURSE IS FAST
TRACK TO A GOOD CAREER
Workplace training placements and an excellent network of social partners help a small business
college to find top jobs for graduates, Nick Holdsworth in Moscow reports.
Egor Smetanin never had any second
thoughts about taking up vocational
training.
The son of two successful entrepreneurs
– mum Irina and dad Aleksei both run
their own independent clothing sales
businesses – Egor enrolled at Moscow’s
College of Small Business No 48 in the
Russian capital’s north-western district
when he was 16.
Now 23, and a store manager at one of
Dutch menswear company McGregor’s
chain of 10 Moscow outlets, Egor is
convinced that the training he received
in the college’s programme on sales and
cash-control gave him a distinct advantage
in Russia’s competitive jobs market.
Students at the college combine
theoretical and practical training from the
first day. It is based at three sites and
offers courses in hairdressing and beauty,
hotels and tourism and business. The
college has partnership agreements with
top firms including Sportmaster, consumer
electronics retailer M video, METRO Cash
Carry, beauty salon network Persona
Lab and hotel chains including Marriott,
Ibis and Holiday Inn.
For the first two years of the 29-month
course, Egor spent Saturdays working
at a supermarket and department store,
learning about sales techniques for a
multitude of different lines, from children’s
toys, clothing and shoes, to alcoholic
drinks.
In his final year he spent two days a week
learning on the job at Sportmaster, a major
Russian fitness clothing and equipment
franchise. It is one of more than a dozen
partners with whom the college has
collaboration agreements.
“The course gave me an excellent
grounding in the working world I had
chosen, by reinforcing the theoretical
college training in the workplace, Egor
”
says.
It is this hands-on experience that was to
prove crucial to his later swift rise in store
management.
In the third year, he was one of 30 from
his group of 120 students chosen to take
part in a special internationally certified
five-week course at global wholesale giant
METRO Cash Carry’s European training
centre.
His project was to design a new shift and
personnel pattern for a typical company
store. At an age when many of his
contemporaries are still studying academic
subjects at university, this has given the
young man wisdom beyond his years.
“At this stage in my career I am
concentrating on gaining experience,
”
he says, adding that despite his rapid
progress he is “too young” to think about
setting up his own business. That is
something he would consider in his mid
30s, he remarks.
For now his five-year plan is to become a
brand director.
Egor’s responsibilities as store manager
include all aspects of running a 120 m2
retail outlet with six employees.
He sets shift patterns, takes care of
human resources management and
agrees holidays and overtime at the
store, located in the east of Moscow at
a shopping mall at Belaya Dacha, not far
from the city’s outer ringroad.
And, because he has learned the nuts
and bolts of his trade, he can take over
at the cash desk and deal directly with
customers himself when the store gets
busy.
Egor, who lives alone in a flat inherited
from his family near the old Soviet-era
VDNKH exhibition centre in the north of
Moscow, finds human resources the most
challenging part of his job.
What he loves most is seeing customers
leave the store satisfied.
“I really like it that people come into my
store, get the best service, clothes and
other items and go home happy, he says. I
”
Text and photo: Nick Holdsworth, ICE
Egor Smetanin, 23, graduated
from Moscow’s College of Small
Business No 48
It probably helps that he has also
completed compulsory military service,
something many university students try
to avoid by prolonging their studies until
the age of 27 Egor rose to the rank of
.
sergeant during his stint in the army and
is a slim, fit young man keen on mountainbiking who still wears his hair in a military
style crew-cut.
“My vocation” is a series of profiles
of vocational students and graduates
from our partner countries. In this
section LiveLearn presents the
challenges and rewards of young
people who choose vocational
education and training to advance
their careers and live better lives.
November 2013
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22. Off the press and on the web
NEW PUBLICATIONS
CONTINUING VOCATIONAL TRAINING: MUTUAL LEARNING IN
EASTERN EUROPE
Following the 2010 Torino Process, the ETF
launched the regional project ‘CVT in Eastern
Europe’ involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Russia and
Ukraine. The aim was to identify the policy issues
affecting continuing vocational training (CVT),
i.e. the elements sustaining CVT and those
impeding its development. This report, prepared
by ETF experts Siria Taurelli (ed.), Petri Lempinen
and J. Manuel Galvin Arribas, wraps up the main
findings. http://ow.ly/qCqWe
CROATIA – DESTINATION UNCERTAIN? TRENDS, PERSPECTIVES AND
CHALLENGES IN STRENGTHENING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SOCIAL COHESION
Social exclusion among young people is not a widely
researched area in Croatia. Therefore this last ETF
report on Croatia (on 1 July the country joined
the EU) provides new insights on the subject. It
focuses on three-year ‘industrial and craft’ vocational
education and training and the ways in which its
structure and processes alleviate or enhance the
risk of social exclusion. The report was prepared in
cooperation with LSE Enterprise in the framework
of an ETF research project on social inclusion in the
Western Balkans, Turkey and Israel.
http://ow.ly/qCr2G
DIGITAL UPDATE
The time has passed when strategies were written in grey offices behind closed doors
by men wearing grey suits. The ETF encouraged an expert team in the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia to think creatively and seek networking solutions to prepare the
country’s entrepreneurial learning strategy. Its writers turned to social media for help.
http://ow.ly/qaphJ
EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL, A KEY DRIVER FOR
COMPETITIVENESS
The European social model is more important than ever to help tackle the jobs crisis in
Europe. This is the key message of the seminar organised jointly by four EU agencies
(Cedefop, EU-OSHA, Eurofound and the ETF) and the European Parliament in Brussels in
September. The ETF’s guest speaker at the seminar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Economy of the Republic of Moldova, Valeriu Lazar (on the photo), described the
model as an inspiration for countries around the EU. http://ow.ly/qaq0G
ILO’S INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE AND ETF
SIGN AGREEMENT
The Turin-based International Training Centre (ITCILO) – the training arm of the
International Labour Organization – and the ETF signed a declaration of intent on
7 August to consolidate and further develop their cooperation. The agreement, signed
by Madlen Serban, ETF director, and Patricia O’Donovan, director of the ITC, foresees
regular meetings between the two organisations to exchange information on their work
programmes. I
22
LiveLearn
November 2013
Photo: ETF
Photo: ETF/Juha Roininen – EUP Images
SOCIAL MEDIA HELP DRAFT ENTREPRENEURIAL
LEARNING STRATEGY

23. Photo: David Dufresne / Flickr Creative Commons
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
 COUNTRY FOCUS: ALBANIA
The new government in Tirana wants to kick-start the economy,
fight poverty, create jobs and move the country towards EU
membership. In October 2013, the European Commission
recommended that Albania be granted EU candidate status.
LiveLearn will talk to the new minister of youth and social
affairs to learn what his main policy challenges are, how the new
government is planning to address them, and what it all means
for young people in the country.
WHAT SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE?

Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma
Governments, companies and individuals try to peek into the
future to see what new skills will be in demand in five or ten
years. This is a crucial question whether you are a worker,
employer or policy maker. What to learn? How to re-qualify? How
to adapt the education and training offer? Can these questions
be answered definitively? LiveLearn takes stock of recent ETF
projects in the area of skills anticipation and matching, and looks
more broadly at the quest for the skills of the future.
 MAKING THE MOST OF MOBILITY
Photo: ETF/Ard Jongsma
In November 2013, policy makers and experts met at an ETF
conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, to discuss the issue of skills in the
context of migration in eastern Europe. The EU and the Member
States have in the past few years signed so called mobility
partnerships with Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.
These agreements regulate migration and aim at making it more
beneficial for the host countries, the sending countries and the
migrants themselves. LiveLearn will talk to migrants, decision
makers, and to those who advise them to report on the big
picture.
THE ETF GOES LOCAL IN TUNISIA
Photo: ETF/Lindsay McKenzie – EUP Images
Photo: ETF
Coming up

How does life go on outside the capital city in Tunisia three years
into the Arab Spring? LiveLearn will report from Medenine,
a region in the south of the country with the seaside resorts
of Djerba and less fortunate towns in the scorching interior.
The ETF has been supporting the district authorities there to
develop human capital strategies by involving school boards and
enterprises and other stakeholders. I
November 2013
LiveLearn
23

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