Minister Kalliomäki at Conference on Lifelong Guidance

Guidance policies - EU Presidency perspective

Mr Commissioner
Madam Rector
Representatives of the European Commission Ladies and gentlemen

I take great pleasure in welcoming you to Finland, and especially Jyväskylä, which is known as the Athens of Finland and renowned as a city of education and educational research.

Now that we are over halfway in our EU Presidency term, we do well to look back to see how far we have progressed in promoting our common educational aims. Our Presidency goals in education policy were to bring the decision-making process on the Lifelong Learning Programme to completion; to promote the Education 2010 programme; to boost the quality, equity and efficiency of education; and to strengthen the connection between education and innovation.

I'm glad to be able to say that the Council and the European Parliament have reached agreement on the new Lifelong Learning Programme, so that we can launch the programme from the beginning of 2007. I take this opportunity to thank the preceding Presidencies and the European Parliament for their efficient work leading to this decision.

The programme supports the development of the EU as a knowledge society and adds to coherence. The programme will benefit more students, teachers, researchers and trainees than ever before.

Young people and adults participating in Education 2010 projects will improve their knowledge of European languages and cultures and learn ways of thinking and working which are vital for promoting sustainable development. I'm convinced that the new programme and its forms of cooperation will have a very positive effect on the quality of education and will reinforce the European dimension in education.

I am also delighted that the Council and the European Parliament have decided on the Recommendation concerning the European Quality Charter for Mobility and the Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. These recommendations will give a strong impetus to exchanges and the implementation of national lifelong learning strategies.

I trust this line of favourable decisions will continue when the Education Council meets later this month to adopt Conclusions on the efficiency and equity of education and on the priorities of cooperation on vocational education and training in Europe, and to discuss the reform of higher education in Europe.

In its Lisbon Strategy, the European Union has set a target to boost growth, employment and innovation and socially balanced development. Education has an important role in the effort to achieve these objectives.

Studies show that it is possible to achieve good learning outcome, equity in education and efficiency at the same time. We need to deepen EU cooperation in order to improve return on educational investment and to achieve high-quality and equitable learning outcome. The important means to this end are learning from others and creating a common information base.

The European Qualifications Framework, which is currently being developed, will make it easier for Member States to compare the knowledge and competencies produced by their education systems. The Framework is built on learning outcomes and knowledge − I think this is a good approach which will improve the transparency of European education systems and facilitate cooperation at all levels.

Another important European project is to develop a European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training − ECVET for short. In October, Finland arranged a seminar, where the Member States discussed the development of the system.

The results achieved at the seminar were encouraging, and the Member States look forward to the proposal. As I see it, the ECVET, when it is ready, will be a good complement to the corresponding system in higher education.

Ladies and gentlemen
Your conference will discuss Lifelong Guidance Policies and Systems. Comprehensive guidance and support services are an absolute precondition for the adoption of any new tools.

Guidance is a key factor for equity in education and good learning outcome at all levels of education. Rapid changes in the operating environment entail that we are constantly on the alert for new challenges and respond to the demands that globalisation and rapidly evolving knowledge society make on us.

It is also important to make sure that the school promotes and supports learning in every way. Active guidance and support services are necessary for improving children's and young people's well-being. In view of this, we in Finland have initiated special action to improve well-being at school, especially in compulsory schooling.

Our "flexible basic education" project will develop procedures and teaching methods in the upper stage of basic education to cater better for individual needs.

In Finland, guidance is based on legislation. We have been able to develop our guidance counselling on a long term as an integral part of our education system. A few years ago, we reviewed our guidance system. Based on these findings, we initiated development measures at all levels of education.

The review indicated that there is still room for improvement in access to guidance counselling in secondary education. Similarly, the opportunities for adult students to get individual guidance need further development.

In basic education, the situation is good. There are qualified full-time counsellors to give guidance. In basic and upper secondary education, the objectives of guidance counselling are determined in the core curricula.

As you see, guidance is integrated into the day-to-day running of schools. We have found this to work well in everyday school life. What's more, many studies have demonstrated that this is an efficient and effective solution.

We have a long tradition of cross-sectoral cooperation − we have had national and regional guidance groups for almost twenty years now. The challenge is, however, to create open guidance services for young people outside school and − despite the good results − to further develop cooperation between different administrative sectors.

We have seen it important to develop teachers' guidance skills by means of in-service training. All teachers need skills relating to guidance and career counselling. The wide range of duties involved in guidance entail that teachers also contribute to it. This is particularly important at the final stages of basic education and in secondary education and training.

Our greatest challenge is, however, in supporting and counselling students after basic and secondary education. Special attention must be paid to counselling young school-leavers who do not continue their studies. The aim of our Government is to make it possible for all school-leavers to continue in secondary education and training.

The situation in Finland is already good in international comparison, because 95% of school-leavers continue in general or vocational secondary education after compulsory schooling. It is clear that raising the rate from this requires tailored, individual services.

In Finland, we have excellent experiences of a joint application system, through which students apply for post-compulsory education and training. Guidance counsellors in comprehensive schools are key players in this. At present 98% of school-leavers apply for place in secondary education and training immediately after basic education.

Guidance within the education system is supplemented by counselling given by labour authorities to adults. We have built a system in which the division of work between educational and labour authorities works well. Young people also get help in choosing and planning their career at the job centre.

In higher education, too, guidance has been to the fore. We have been conducting a lively debate on the duration of studies. This is why we have also developed guidance and counselling in universities and polytechnics.

The two-cycle degree structure was adopted in all fields, except medicine, last year. According to the Universities Act, universities have a duty to arrange teaching in a way which enables students to graduate within the normative time. The degree reform in Finnish universities also addressed progress in studies by modifying the extent of studies and study modules and by introducing a system of personal study plans in 2006.

For example the University of Helsinki has put in place an academic monitoring and support system. It is designed to identify and address obstacles to progress in studies at an early stage. For the purpose of monitoring progress, the accumulation of credits is assessed at certain "checkpoints", and progress is supported by means of a personal study plan and supervision. The monitoring system is linked with the practices and procedures relating to the personal study plan in each faculty.

Similarly, every polytechnic student has a personal study plan, which facilitates the monitoring of progress in studies.

Ladies and gentlemen
Globalisation, demographic developments and accelerating change in working life make great demands on the knowledge of the adult population. Adult education is an important element not only in education policy, but also in labour and industrial policies.

For lifelong learning, it is necessary to make sure that each adult has a strong general education and vocational or higher education on top of that, and that they have learning skills for constant development of competencies.

Improving competencies among the working-age population and enhancing the equality and impact of education and training are topical aims in Europe. Guidance and counselling provided for adults play a key role in efforts to achieve these aims. It requires systematic cooperation between the ministries concerned, labour market organisations, educational institutions, and teaching and guidance professionals.

In October, Finland arranged a conference on "Adult Learning, Competence and Active Citizenship" as part of the Presidency programme. Its primary aim was to promote the Communication on Adult Learning prepared by the Commission and its subsequent implementation.

The message of the Communication is timely. As the Communication notes, we need to increase the volume of participation in adult learning and address the problem of its distribution. Further, we need to invest in teaching methods and materials and in adult educators' competence in order to improve the quality of adult education and training. Through better recognition of prior learning, we can make adult learning more student-centred.

Horizontal cooperation is important. This was also stressed in the presentations and discussions at the adult learning conference.

In Finland, we have already embarked on the route of broadly-based cooperation: the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour, labour market partners and experts have jointly drawn up a programme for developing information, advisory and guidance services in adult education and training.

Dear participants
This conference has an important role in the follow-up to the Council Resolution on Lifelong Guidance and Counselling adopted during the Irish Presidency. You will discuss the development of guidance at the national and European levels in the spirit of the Resolution. Most of the participating countries have already evaluated their guidance activities. The key findings and preliminary conclusions on lifelong guidance policy and practice initiatives in Europe will be interesting to hear.

The purpose of the Conference is to step up European cooperation in the field of guidance and counselling. I hope that the discussions and the exchange of information will promote the emergence of new forms of cooperation and, above all, will give the participants a lot of information and good practices to take home.

Thanking you in advance for your active contribution, I give you my best wishes for an interesting and rewarding seminar.

To end with, I would like to thank all those involved in the organisation of the seminar; you have done a great job!