30/09/2014 Session
The Assembly today called for urgent measures to improve the quality of vocational training, boost its attractiveness and bring it into line with the needs of the labour market.
At the end of a joint debate, and following the proposals by the rapporteur, Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians said that vocational education and training face “many challenges regarding lack of quality, social recognition, esteem and attractiveness” when compared to other forms of education.
Among other measures, states should make the right to vocational training a binding obligation – by signing up to the relevant parts of the revised European Social Charter – develop national strategies to boost the learning of technical and practical skills, and make available grants and scholarships for students and employers involved in this kind of training.
In a separate resolution on good governance and enhanced quality in education, based on a report by Paolo Corsini (Italy, SOC), the Assembly called for inclusive and innovative education policies aimed at students’ well-being and achievement and at the promotion of European common values.