Career Guidance and Counselling in Latvia Aleksandra Joma, NRCVG of Latvia 6 October, 2004, Vienna

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Career Guidance and Counselling in
LatviaAleksandra Joma, NRCVG of Latvia6
October, 2004, Vienna
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Stakeholders

• Ministry of Education and Science

• Ministry of Welfare, Labour departament

• Local School Boards

• State Employment Agency (SEA)

• Vocational Education Development Agency
  (VEDA) National Resource Centre for Vocational
  Guidance (NRCVG)

• Professional Career Counselling Agency (PCCA),
  5 regional offices, 15 local

• National Youth Iniciative Centre

• Schools

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Legal Framework

• EU Charta (rat. 2001)
• Entitlement to Career Guidance
• Provision of cost free institutions for students
  and adults
• Chances and ways into the 21st Cent.(1993)
• HR-development improvement and coordination of
  Career Guidance for young people
• Systematic guidance and counselling
• Integration of long-term unemployed and youths
• Continuing guidance

ILO Convention 142, Art.3 A system of career
guidance and counselling for Children, youths,
adults, people with disabibilities and health
problems
EU policy papers on education and guidance and
counselling Making a European Area of Lifelong
Learning a Reality, High Level Task Force on
Skills and Mobility, Copenhagen declaration, etc.

• LATVIA
• Social Security Bill (1995)
• Entitlement to costfree Career Guidance and
  Counselling for everyone
• National Development Plan (2001)
• HR-development important precondition for
  development of the country.
• Legislation on support of unemployed and job
  seekers (2001 or 2002)
• Public Agency for Career Guidance
• Costfree guidance and counselling in career
  choice, suitability, retraining and training
  options There are different providers of career
  guidance
• Regulation by the Welfare Ministry (2003)
• To establish a public Career Counselling Center
  offering Counselling for everyone.Counselling
  in all questions related to planning a career
  and to life long
• learning free of charge to individuals,
  cost-covering for organizations
• Education Law (1998)
• Regional municipalities shall ensure guidance for
  children and young people
• Law on Vocational Education (1999)
• The Ministry of Education and Science shall
  organize vocational guidance and research into
  the development of the labour market and into the
  demand on the labour market
• National Education Standards Basic education
  (ISCED level 1 and 2) secondary education (ISCED
  level 3) includes basic skills on selfassesment,
  career planning, information processing

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Aims
  Create the enviroment for lifelong guidance
andcounselling - from 1st education tolast
employment
Support human resourcedevelopment
Empower people to develop flexibility,
mobility, adaptibility, decision-making skills
Promote employability
Promote equal access to information, equal
opportunities to education and training
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Life-Long Guidance
Define interests and abilities
Information and advice in all questions related
to planning a career and tolife-long-learning

Job, change of job, further training, retraining
Set realistic aims
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Services Provided

• Information
• general, vocational, further and higher
  education
• job descriptions, requirements and prospects
• Training / further training options and
  requirements / situation on the labour market

• Counselling
• Clarify interests and motivation
• Prepare decision making, considering
• personality and health
• Develop and improve education and job
  seeking skills
• Support and promote development of
  professional and social competences assisting
  people to adapt to new education and job
  requirements

• Psychological examination
• tests of aptitude and interestsself-exploring
  programmes

• Placement
• Support in education and job
• placement and staff recruiting

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Services Provided by PCCA
Individual counsellinginterview, discourse,
testing andinformation
Group counsellinginformation on Latvian
education and vocational training
systemdiscourse on services provided by PCCA
Training on Career Guidancefor teachers and
practitioners in education and vocational
trainingtheories and practice, games as a
method in class
Individual counselling on job seeking skills
interview and discourse how to write a CV and
aletter of application...
Group counselling especially for
unemployedinformation on service providedand
training optionsinterest testswórking on an
individualcareer plan
Annual survey on trends, behaviors and concepts
of students regarding theirchoice of a career
Workshopson job seeking skillscommunication,
strenghts and weaknesses analysis,how to apply
for a job, where to get addresses Prepare for
interviewpositive image
Information compile, edit and disseminate
information on career paths, vocational,
professional and highereducation and training
Group counsellingespecially for
studentsinformation on education and vocational
training optionsinterest testsworking on a
first career plan
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Services Provided by VEDA - NRCVG
Information Compile, edit and disseminate
information on education opportunities in Latvia
and Europe as Euroguidance service Provide
individual information to a limited number of
people getting directly into contact with
VEDA Organize and participate at information
events on educational and career opportunities
Support to guidance practitioners Promote the
European dimension in education and
training Diseminate the information on new
methods in vocational guidance and
counselling (self-assessment, decision making,
career planning, social skills to be used in
class and train practitioners and
multiplicators) Provide training to
practitioners working within the educational
system, to enable them to work with the new
information and methodological tools
Website Update and keep up PLOTEUS (Portal on
Learning Opportunities Throughout the European
Space)and NRCVG (National Resource Center for
Vocational Guidance of Latvia) websites
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Services Provided by SEA
Active employment measures Organise and
implementFurther training and retraining short
term jobs for unqualified (certain
regions) Subsidise jobs (6-10 monts) (certain
groups of unemployed e.g. youths or
elderly) improve employabilitye.g. Job Club
Placement Record vacant workplaces and make
information available to unemployed and job
seekers Advise unemployed and job seekers on
issues of occupational suitability, selection of
appropriate jobs and free vocational retraining
andfurther training Organise dialogue between
employer and unemployed Cooperate and exchange
information with employers
Information job vacancies, rights and
obligations of unemployed and job-seekers,
development of the labour market in the country,
measures implemented andplanned to reduce
unemployment Compile and assess information on
training providers
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Target Groups
PCCA Individual students in general education
from grade 8, professional or vocational
schools, higher education Parents Unemployed
being passed on by SEA Job seekers Unregistered
Unemployed Handicapped,after mothers leave,
elderly and after custody (limited numbers)
Employers

• SEA
• Youths between 15 and 18
• Unemployed
• Long- time unemployed
• Job seekers
• Elderly persons
• Handicapped
• employers

• VEDA
• Practitioners in the educational system
• Students at all educational levels
• General public

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Access to Services Provided

• PCCA
• 5 regional centers15 local offices
• Access during opening hours
• and by appointment

• VEDA
• 1 office in Riga
• Access mainly through website or by e-mail,
  phone
• Information events
• no regular opening hours

SEA 32 local offices 28 affiliates Access
during opening hours
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Interfaces
organize testing for unemployed with training
providersemploy contracting psychologists for
individual counsellingorganize workshops on job
seeking skills with contracted providers Contract
out suitability and aptitude tests
compile, edit and disseminate information on
career paths... Provide guidance and
counselling for individuals provide training
for teachers / practitioners in guidance and
counselling
SEA
PCCA
Compile, edit and disseminate information
on learning opportunities Organize
information events and training for
teachers/practitioners. Promote international
mobility of practitioners and trainers
of guidance counsellors
VEDA
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Networking - the natural network partners -

• Common target groups and interests
• avoid overlapping activities leading (at the
  moment) to
• double efforts and costs
• Concentration on core services by cooperating in
  all common matters (according to strengths
  of each network partner) leads to synergetic
  effects to to benefit of each

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Chalenges in the Use of ICT

• USERS
• User profile
• Cognitive skills of
• the user
• PROVIDERS
• Reviewing and handling
• information

• DELIVERY
• Why deliver guidance
• through the web?
• Can the website substitute
• the physical Careers
• Centres?
• What kind of services?
• Necessary skills for
• web guidance
• practitioners?

• Design/Developing
• Is design important for
• a website?
• Who is responsible for
• the content?
• Is the website accessible for
• speakers of other languages?
• How to handle collection,