The growing personal and social cost of early leaving from education and training, has led educational policy-makers all over Europe, to focus their attention on counter measures to eliminate this phenomenon[1]<\/a>. The majority of such measures focus on promoting student development and support their professional learning path, for example through Career Guidance and Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Career Guidance and Services, formulated by the OECD and the EU, includes activities like providing career information and advising, competence assessment, mentoring, supporting career decision-making, developing career management skills, which help citizens assess and identify their skills, competences, areas of interests and make decisions concerning training and employment. Thus, in the world of learning and working they should be able to make and manage their own decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teachers and trainers in the VET sector are specialists in particular subject areas, however they are not trained career guidance counsellors. Although they may have some knowledge of employment opportunities and the required knowledge, skills and competence for some jobs, their knowledge is not necessarily up-to-date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CAPE<\/strong> \u2013 Careers Advice and Pathways to Employment- Project Studies (Country Desk Researches) analyse how these services are implemented in the partner countries and which are the strengths and weaknesses of the different systems, providing an overview of the careers guidance practices and initiatives in the partner countries (Spain, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Poland, Italy and Cyprus).<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the analysis of the countries Desk Researches came out that in some countries (i.e. Romania, Hungary) there is the lack of a coherent national\/regional\/local career guidance system targeting the initial and continuous vocational training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover in all partner countries the co-ordination of lifelong guidance as \u2018a cross-cutting theme\u2019 \u2013 in schools, vocational education & training (VET), higher education, employment services and social inclusion policies, needs to be strengthened significantly in the current system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, in many cases career guidance still depends on whether school staffs are aware of the importance of it and whether they have the necessary information about available possibilities of career guidance and counseling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the country researches show that there is an increased interest in investing in Career Advice and Guidance services as well as in improving the relation of the School Education System with the labour market, even if the desk researches reveal gaps of actions and negative implementation of Career Advice and Guidance services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally CAPE project studies identify education and training needs of the target groups<\/strong> (teachers and trainers, young people at risk of ESL, employers) involved in Career Guidance and Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Specifically the research consists in the analysis of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of the topics mentioned have been explored through primary research using different methods according to the target group in Spain, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Poland, Italy and Cyprus. Precisely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main conclusion drawn from this primary research show the interest by all the target groups involved, namely teachers\/tutors, young people at risk of dropout and employers, in the development of more structured Career Advice and Guidance services in educational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In almost all the educational institutions involved in the research, those services have some limits and can be improved. They usually do not support students in the development of Career Management skills and are poorly focused on practical experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main needs of the different target groups in the development of Career Advice and Guidance services are summarized in the following table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the basis of the different needs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results of the studies mentioned above are the base for the development of \u201ctraining the trainer programme\u201d targeting teachers and trainers<\/strong> to provide them with the skills and knowledge to embed employer required competences i.e. career management skills, into the learning programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It aims to familiarise teachers\/trainers, who are not experts, with the field of careers advice and guidance.<\/strong> Participants will learn about employer needs and how to embed the concept of career management skills into the learning programme. They will become familiar with methodology and resources\/ tools to engage learners in career planning. Additionally it aims to foster closer links with employers, who have an active part in the learner programme through practical learning in a real working environment, not only improve the quality of the learning process, but also helps to address the needs of those at risk of ESL.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhich are learners and teachers needs in Career Advice Guidance and Services? Which are employers expectations?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
Which tools and methodologies\/strategies should teachers adopt to prevent early school leaving?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n