There is around 25 million people were unemployed throughout the European Union. The youth unemployment rate (for 15-24 year olds) is worst than the EU average. Apprenticeships cannot solve the problems of youth unemployment, but they can bridge the gap between school and the labour market. There are various activities that can be undertaken in order to bridge the gap such as: ensuring that VET programmes correspond to the needs of the labour market; contributions to the development of professional qualifications; advising on the content of training, both in training institutions and at the workplace; improving terms and conditions for apprentices, particularly possible wages; providing guidance for apprentices via chambers representatives; improved system for monitoring the quality of work-based training; deciding on the funding arrangements for work-based training by means of bilateral training funds.

This EU funded ERASMUS+ Key Activity 2 – Strategic Partnership, aims at using Lean and Six Sigma tools and methodology to address the issues of “New Apprenticeship Standards: company driven apprenticeship standards”

Objective of the program :

Develop basic and cross-cutting skills in entrepreneurship and digital technologies using innovative and learner-centered learning approaches.

These skills are part of the development of “initiative and entrepreneurship”, one of the eight areas of the European Key Competencies Framework. They involve :

• Creativity,
• innovation and risk taking,
• the ability to plan and manage projects to achieve goals.

For those responsible for social or commercial activities, they include raising awareness of ethical values and promoting good governance.

The project modules use the Youthpass, a method of assessment and certification of learning outcomes created by the European Commission. The use of Youthpass helps to promote greater coherence between the different European and national transparency and recognition tools, so as to ensure that skills and qualifications can be easily recognized across borders.

It also contributes to the Innovation Union (part of the Europe 2020 initiative), which represents the European Union’s strategy to create an enabling environment for innovation. It facilitates the transformation of good ideas into products and services that will bring economic growth and employment.

The Innovation Union 2013 Guide (EU Publications Office) also notes that “we have a lot of innovation, especially among young people and we need to trust them” (Leszek Borysiewicz)

Training and support for self-employment are also mentioned in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans of the Member States. In this respect, ECLEE has been approached by European Youth Guarantee agencies to communicate about its tools and actions.

Objective of the program :

The program consisted in developing a network of European vocational training actors to share knowledge, prepare a comparative study of good practices and share innovative approaches in the field of vocational guidance and new technologies used to make the profession more accessible. vocational guidance more efficient.

Although new jobs are emerging on a daily basis, transitions between periods of activity – from school to work, during the active period and during active aging – require ever more new skills and the acquisition of new tools. . It is a factor that increases the mismatch and gap between demand and supply in the labor market.

Designing and planning initial and continuing education programs is now a challenge for job placement and / or reintegration. Also, the match between the training and the production system of the company meets the requirements of the “crossroads of knowledge”.

The network has carried out the following actions :

• A report on career guidance (guidance at school – after school – in the lifelong learning community-LLL) ;
• A web page that will serve as a guide for jobseekers and students ;
• A sharing platform among teachers and consultants ;
• A survey applied to students and job-seekers to obtain information on their applications and to understand how they are directed to advice, training modules and materials for target groups.