Ministers agree on Riga Conclusions to boost competitive and innovative
vocational education and training
Over 40 delegations came together in Riga on 22 June at the meeting of
Ministers in charge of Vocational Education and Training (VET), the European
social partners and the European Commission to address workforce challenges. The
first part of the meeting concluded with the endorsement of the Riga
Conclusions, a declaration that sets medium-term deliverables in VET until
2020.
The afternoon session was also attended by representatives of VET
schools, employers and employees – 320 people in total. 40 companies signed a
pledge to join the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, thus opening up 140
000 new apprenticeships and training opportunities for young
Europeans.
Entitled Innovating for the Future of VET, the meeting was
chaired by Ms Mārīte Seile, the Latvian Minister for Education and
Science.
"Innovation and excellence have traditionally been associated
with higher education and research. Today, however, innovation is not an end in
itself, but a necessity of life, and the Latvian Presidency sees VET as part of
the innovation system. It is wrong that discussions have overlooked this issue
so far," says Minister Seile.
The declaration aims to promote investment
in work-based learning by involving social partners, companies, chambers and VET
providers, as well as by stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship; to further
develop quality assurance mechanisms in VET; to enhance access to VET and
qualifications for all through more flexible and permeable systems; to further
strengthen key competences such as language skills and digital literacy in VET
curricula; and to introduce systematic approaches to, and opportunities for, the
initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and
mentors in both school and work-based settings.
"The commitment shown
today in Riga by EU [European Union] Ministers, companies, social partners and
other organisations sets the pace for putting enhanced vocational education and
training systems at the heart of Europe's skills agenda. Apprenticeships are
part of the solution to Europe's unemployment crisis and the European Alliance
for Apprenticeships is a useful tool to strengthen their supply, quality and
image among Europeans," says Ms Marianne Thyssen, the European Commissioner for
Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.
Apprenticeships
are seen as part of the toolkit to tackle the challenge of youth unemployment in
Europe. There are currently more than 6 million young people unemployed in the
European Union, but businesses point at difficulties in finding employees with
the necessary skills and stress the need to shorten the gap between skills
provided and skills needed. To boost the competitiveness of work-based learning,
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – the three Baltic countries – signed today a
Declaration of Intent to lay the foundations of a Baltic Alliance for
Apprenticeships.