During 17th and 18th June EfVET attended the European Alliance for Apprenticeships High-level Event and Get Together Event that was held in Brussels.
The event was welcomed by Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights. He emphasized that skills policy will remain a top priority on the European Agenda and underscored the necessity of advancing efforts to address labor and skills shortages. Afterwards, he presented new and renewed EAfA members were announced.
Following it, the first panel discussion Apprenticeships to address labour shortages started moderated by Chiara Riondino, being the speakers Ludovic Voet, Maxime Cerutti, Valentina Guerra and Guillaume Afellat. The panel covered several crucial aspects related to apprenticeships, including the importance of providing good working conditions for apprentices, addressing the unique needs of SMEs, and enhancing adult participation in apprenticeship programs.
The second Panel discussion was Apprenticeships as a quality offer under the Youth Guarantee moderated by Manuela Prina, being the speakers Manuela Geleng, Bernardo Sousa, Miquel Carrión and Albert Janssens. The youth guarantee seeks to decrease the number of young people who are not employed, in education, or in training. They discussed different reasons for why young people could be in NEET and how different regions manage Youth Guarantee programs.
The first session was finished by presenting the 2024 EAfA Champions and with a cocktail where the young winners of “Show Your Job” received their awards.
On the 18th June, the third panel discussion Guidance – the key to anticipation! was moderated by Ana Carrero and the speakers were Laila Hove, Jan Wilker, Alberto Guerra and Vincent Joseph. They emphasied the importance of guidance in informing both young people and adults about the career and learning opportunities offered by VET and apprenticeships. It also provided a platform to showcase some best practices implemented by EAfA members.
In the fourth and last panel, Apprenticeships for adults: Unlocking opportunities was moderated by Ramona David and discussing the panel were Olga Kafetzopoulou, Vasile Gafiuc, Gertrud Hirtreiter and Alessandro Mele. Alessandro Mele, President of the Cometa Network, presented the GIVE project. The GIVE project works with individuals from disadvantaged groups, for example those with a history of dropping out or those who struggle with mental issues. He stressed the need to shift the paradigm from performance-oriented to person-focused, placing the individual at the centre and fostering their development and growth. Ultimately, this will help fully integrate vulnerable groups into the labour market, society and economy. The panelist urged for more adaptable training options to meet the varied needs of different adult demographics, with a particular focus on individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
The day ended with a Get Together Event with different parallel sessions. One of those sessions was presented by the SAAM project by Béatrice Bellet, where we have been partners.
Last but not least, we were glad as we had the chance to meet some of our members there: FPEmpresa, LA COMETA Società Cooperativa Sociale, Albanian Skills-National Association for Skills, Dirección General de Educación Secundaria, Formación Profesional y Régimen Especial – Comunidad de Madrid and Asociación Mundus.
