Community programme of study visits for vocational training specialists

EG Studienbesuchs:
programm für Berufs­
bildungsfachleute ACTIVITIES IN 1990
Community
programme of study
visits for vocational
training specialists
Experience and trends Programme commu­
nautaire de visites
d'étude pour spécia­
listes de la formation
professionnelle
Programma comuni­
tario di visite di
studio per specialisti
di formazione
professionale
CEDEFOP
Europäisches Zentrum
für die Förderung
der Berufsbildung
European Centre for the
Development of
Vocational Training
Centre européen
pour le développe­
ment de la formation
professionnelle
Centro europeo
per lo sviluppo
della formazione
professionale
Bundesallee 22
Jean Monnet House
D-W-1000 Berlin 15
Tel.(030)884 12-0
Fax (030) 884 12 222 Duccio Guerra Telex 184 163 eucen d û. Community programme of
O study visits for
LU vocational training
g specialists
O ACTIVITIES IN 1990-
Experience and trends
Duccio Guerra
The following people within CEDEFOP have helped to
create the Community programme of study visits:
Madelaine Cazáis (secretariat)
Heidi Führmann)
Duccio Guerra (coordination)
Corrado Politi, Deputy Director of CEDEFOP
Translation service: Alison Clark
First edition, Berlin 1991
Published by:
CEDEFOP — European Centre for the Development of
Vocational Training,
Jean Monnet House, Bundesallee 22, D-W-1000 Berlin 15
Tel. (030) 88 41 20; Fax (030) 88 41 22 22;
Telex 184 163eucend
The Centre was established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75
of the Council of the European Communities Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1991
ISBN 92-826-2374-2
Catalogue number: HX-70-91-055-EN-C
Articles and texts appearing in this document may be reproduced freely in whole or in part providing their source
is mentioned.
Printed in Belgium CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
1. PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES 3
2. THE ORGANIZATIONAL MACHINERY AND STRUCTURE 4
3.E PARTICIPANTS 6
3.1 Finding and selecting applicants
3.2 The participants 7
4. THE GROUPS 18
5.E THEMES 24
6. EVALUATION: THE SURVEY OF PARTICIPANTS 29
I. ORGANIZATION OF THE VISIT 30
II. THE GROUP 33
III. CEDEFOP
IV. GENERAL ASSESSMENT6
V. SUGGESTIONS8
7. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 40
7.1 Organizational aspects
7.1.1 Generals
7.1.2 Finding and selecting applicants1
7.1.3 The visits
7.1.4e themes
7.1.5 The groups2
7.2 Financial aspects 4
BY WAY OF A CONCLUSION4 Enclosures:
1 Participants' proposals
2 List of participants
3 List of National Liaison Officers
4 List of groups
5 Themes for the visits
6 Application for participation
7 Survey questionnaire INTRODUCTION
The European Community programme of study visits has drawn to the
close of its sixth edition. The purpose of this report is to give an account
of those study visits and to evaluate their content and the results. It is an
evaluation based on:
- the end-of-visit reports drawn up by the participants in the programme;
- the conclusions of the end-of-visit debriefing seminars (where reports
on those seminars are available, or when CEDEFOP was represented
there);
- the reports drawn up by the National Liaison Officers at the end of the
activities;
- a questionnaire-based survey of all those taking part.
In addition to this structured evaluation, there have been discussions with
many of the people responsible for organizing the visits. Although they
were not actual interviews, the discussions have contributed a good deal
towards evaluating the desirability of making changes to the arrangements
and towards their continuing improvement.
This structured analysis and evaluation measure has not always been easy
to administer, but it is a means of obtaining a vitally needed overview of
the visits and helps with the continuous "fine-tuning" of the Programme. The survey of participants has provided facts and figures that serve as
material for evaluating the effectiveness of the Programme (see question­
naire items 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4).
In 1989 a "retrospective survey" was conducted of a sample group of
people taking part in the Programme in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. The
survey was designed to determine how long certain effectiveness
indicators persisted (such as contact among participants and the
circulation of information). This survey revealed the effectiveness of the
Programme dwindled to a low level with the passing of time, although it
should be borne in mind that the brevity and occasional nature of the visits
were such as not to promote better results.
We should like to thank the National Liaison Officers of the twelve
Member States, on whose efforts the success of the Programme so much
depends. We should also like to thank all those people (about 500 of them)
who, in welcoming foreign visitors to their agencies or undertakings, have
made a substantial contribution to the exchange of information and ideas,
a process that is a prerequisite for transnational cooperation. Finally, our
thanks go to the interpreters, translators, secretaries, typists and accom­
panying staff who, through their indispensable professional work, have
helped to run this sixth edition of the Programme so efficiently. 1. PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES
The study visits programme originated in a resolution of the Council of the
European Communities (11 July 1983) on vocational training policies for
the 1980s. The Programme was explicitly listed as one of the implement­
ing measures.
The Commission of the European Communities, pursuant to the Council
resolution, entrusted CEDEFOP with the organizational and cultural
management of the Programme, which was launched in 1985.
The Programme was designed to achieve three general objectives:
a. enrich the professional knowledge of participants;
b. circulate ideas and pool information among vocational training
specialists;
c. augment the flow of information among Member States.
In 1989 and 1990, an opportunity was perceived to link the Study Visits
Programme with the major programmes being launched by the Com­
mission, in particular the PETRA programme. For example, in 1990 over
200 vocational training specialists took part in visits on the theme of
"youth training". In the various national contexts, there were meetings
with the PETRA programme coordinators and project managers.
For synergy with the work of the EC Commission and its Task Force
(TPNR) in particular, steps were taken to align the aims of the Community
Programmes even more closely with those of the Study Visits Programme.
The rapid approach of the 1993 deadline has suggested that the goals
should be pragmatic and that it should be possible to put the results to
immediate use. With this in mind, the Study Visits Programme has been
run in an awareness that its effectiveness would be measured by its
capacity to achieve its preset objectives. 2. THE ORGANIZATIONAL MACHINERY AND STRUCTURE
Machinery was needed to implement the Programme (see enclosure ),
operating both centrally (within the Community) and locally (in Member
States).
a. At central level, the organization, management and evaluation are the
responsibility of CEDEFOP, which:
- plans the subject areas around which study visits are to be arranged,
and suggests them to the EC Commission and the National Liaison
Officers (NLOs);
- collects applications pre-selected by the NLOs and enters
particulars from the forms in a computerized data processing
system;
- draws up the annual plan for the visits and submits the outline to
the National Liaison Officers;
- briefs the NLOs on the principles and outline organization plans for
the visits;
- prepares and forwards individual documentation to each participant;
- arranges for payment of the grant awarded to each participant (in
two instalments);
- operates an information centre (via telephone, fax and correspond­
ence) for the benefit of all participants;
- maintains contact with NLOs, coordinating their plans and, where
possible, attending the national seminars they organize;
- monitors and regulates all activities, evaluating their efficiency and
effectiveness by appropriate means.