1. Learning for employment
vocational education and training policy
in Europe
Spain

2. Learning for employment: second policy report
aims to contribute to and stimulate debate on the development of vocational education and training policy in the EU
looks and the development and results of vocational education and training policy in the EU, in the light of the Lisbon strategic goal to make the EU the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010

3. Lisbon employment targets for 2010
Linked to the strategic goal is a more employment intensive economy and targets set to:
raise average employment rate to 70% (currently 61%)
increase number of women in employment to over 60% (currently 52%)
raise average employment rate of people aged to 50% (currently 40%)

4. Some key vocational education and training benchmarks: by 2010
an EU average of no more than 10% early school leavers;
EU average participation in lifelong learning should be at least 12.5% of the 25 to 64 age group;
at least 85% of 22 years old in the EU should have completed upper secondary education;
increase by at least 15% the number of graduates in mathematics, science, technology in the EU, while at the same time the gender imbalance should decrease

5. Employment rate projections -Spain
Forecast is that Spain will meet the overall employment rate target
However, the task is not an easy one
Now look at Spain’s performance in relation to the other benchmarks

6. Early school leavers, 2002
Considerable work needs to be done to reduce early school-leavers in Spain
10% benchmark

7. Adult participation in lifelong learning, 2002
12.5% benchmark
Participation in continuing training is low

8. Educational attainment 22 year olds, 2002
85% benchmark
Levels of educational attainment in Spain are just below the EU average, this reflects a dramatic increase levels of educational attainment among young people over the last few years.

9. Science and technology graduates, 2001
The aim is to increase the overall numbers of students in science and technology by 15 % by 2010
Overall Spain is up to the EU average, however, the graph does not show the gender imbalance
In maths and science, more women than men are enrolled in Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden.
However, in computing, men make up around 80% or more of students in the EU as a whole and in Spain

10. European vocational education and training policy framework
Following Lisbon the EU established a policy to achieve the benchmarks comprising:
developing lifelong learning
implementing agreed objectives for education and training systems
developing e-learning
promoting mobility
cooperation Copenhagen process

11. Conclusions of second policy report
achievement of Lisbon targets for Spain depends particularly on increasing participation of women in the labour force
participation in the labour force is strongly influenced by levels of education and training
However, for each Member state the policy priorities are different

12. Employment rates by gender, 2002
Spain has one of the lowest employment rates for women in the EU.

13. Proportion of women aged 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, with upper secondary and tertiary education, 2001
Also levels of education for older women are also low

14. Proportion of men aged 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44 with upper secondary and tertiary education, 2001
Although they are higher for men, for older men in particular they are below the EU average

15. Educational attainment EU new Member States, 2002
Educational attainment among population aged in candidate countries, 2002
% population 25-64
NB: MT no data
100
100
Tertiary education 90
Upper secondary education 90 80 80 70 70 60 60 50 50 40 40 30
This graph illustrates that although levels of educational attainment in the EU have risen, the average is still below that of some of the new Member States 30 20 20 10 10 BG CY CZ EE HU LT LV PL RO SI SK
CC11
EU15

16. Projected growth of employment divided by educational attainment level, 2001-2010
This graph looks at the projected changes up to 2010, including the projected growth in the employment rate, given employment growth over the period
It shows the importance of increasing overall levels of educational attainment

17. Conclusions of second policy report
To achieve the benchmarks:
reforms underway in Member States, but need to be speeded up
achievement of Lisbon target depends on employment among four key sections of the population: women of prime working age, young people, older workers, and disadvantaged groups
continuation of current trends means a significant number of new jobs will be in occupations requiring high levels of education, and in traditionally low-skill jobs

18. Copenhagen declaration on enhanced European cooperation, November 2002
strengthening European dimension
single transparency framework
common credit transfer system for VET
quality assurance, common criteria and principles for quality in VET
development of sectoral qualifications
strengthening information, guidance and counselling
validation of non-formal & informal learning
learning needs of teachers and trainers in VET
Some reforms being taken forward in the context of the Bruges-Copenhagen process

19. Cedefop - supporting developments
Cedefop’s added-value
collating and analysis of research, developments and best practice
timely provision to our stakeholders
laying the foundation for effective and
productive policy development
Cedefop is supporting the cooperation process by providing information on and analyses of developments in vocational education and training systems, policy, research and practice.
We look to provide accurate and timely information to a diverse audience of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners.
With our information we also support policy development.

20. Cedefop - supporting developments
the European Training Village (ETV) - some 35,000 residents
the Cedefop website available in the 11 official EU languages
the library and documentation service - more than 43,000 VET references
virtual communities to support cooperation process, with more than 2000 experts
reports on policy and research
building up a European Knowledge Management System (KMS)

21. For further information:
P.O. Box 22427
GR Thessaloniki
Greece
Tel.: (30)
Fax: (30)
Web sites:
Brussels Office:
20, avenue d’Auderghem
B-1040 Brussels
Tel.: (32-2)
Fax: (32-2)