Ceemet welcomes the possibility of contributing to the debate on the update of the Skills Agenda. The majority of the initiatives add value to the debate on skills, but would have more effect if they had been better coordinated.
- EU initiatives in the area of skills need to be better coordinated to be more efficient
- Breaking silos between the different skills initiatives and creating synergies between them is a good start to increase their efficiency and usefulness
- Before launching new initiatives, the Commission should build on the existing ones
- We should all have a common and clear understanding of the terminology in the area of skills, such as re-skilling, up-skilling, platform, skills intelligence etc
- A swift adoption of the 2021-2027 MFF where more and easier funds are allocated to right skilling initiatives is key to overcome the skills gap
- Ceemet generally agrees with the challenges presented in the Commission paper, however, STEM education/disciplines are not sufficiently highlighted
- Social partners have a key role to play in the update of the skills agenda both at national and European level, it is important to:
- Involve social partners in the design, development and delivery of VET programmes
- Boost the cooperation of social partners with training providers
- Involve social partners in educational and career guidance/counselling
- Involve social partners in awareness raising of the value of training
- Involve social partners in the exchange of good practice
- Reinforce the involvement of social partners in the European semester
- Improve consultation of social partners
- Support social partner involvement in the discussions on the anticipation of skills etc.
- Motivation of employees to train is a big challenge when speaking about upskilling
- New online tools can make available training offers more visible and more easily accessible
- Employee training is a shared responsibility between employers and employees
- Improving the match between job seekers and companies is a good way to address the skills mismatch
- It is important to reinforce the interaction between education & training systems and labour markets
- For VET related issues, see Ceemet position paper on the future of VET post 2020, see link