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In 2006, a specific component of the MEDA-ETE project was designed by ETF to support career guidance policies in the MEDA region. This project has generated a number of outputs, such as country and cross-country analyses of career guidance policies, as well as the establishment of a regional network of policy makers in career guidance in the MEDA region, which is supported by a virtual community/discussion forum on guidance.
The analysis built upon previous experience with career guidance reviews carried out by the OECD, the World Bank, and the European Commission (DG Education and Culture, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), and the ETF). It further developed a research methodology by paying particular attention to the socioeconomic and cultural context of the MEDA region and the impact that this context had on the extent and nature of career guidance services. The reviews were based on the assumption that career guidance is not only important for individuals, but can also contribute to a number of public policy goals related to education and training, to the labour market and to social cohesion and equity. They took into account the paradigm shift in career guidance that is emerging in the EU and OECD countries—from ‘choosing a career’ to ‘constructing a career’, from ‘psychological testing’ to ‘tasting the world of work’, and from ‘external expert support’ to ‘career self-management skills’.
The underlying definition of career guidance used in the analyses was the same as that adopted by the EU Ministers of Education in 2004 (EU Council Resolution on Lifelong Guidance): ”services to assist individuals and groups of any age, at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers”.
Although the perspective of lifelong guidance is very new for the MEDA countries and far from being feasible in the short term, a number of broad themes and needs emerge from the country and cross-country analyses of the MEDA region:
- Improving the comprehensiveness and quality of career information;
- Establishing career education more strongly within the school curriculum;
- Extending career guidance services more broadly;
- Ensuring that such provision is strongly grounded in the socio-cultural context;
- Developing the competences of career guidance staff;
- Identifying a focal point for strategic leadership across the career guidance field;
- Enhancing cross-sectoral and regional cooperation.
In all countries there is a need for enhanced cooperation between education and labour market administrative bodies, which would be beneficial for a coherent vision of more effective career guidance services.
The MEDA career guidance network launched by the ETF and composed of national experts and policy makers from each of the 10 participating Mediterranean countries, should function as a knowledge network on career guidance for the MEDA region and as a stimulating factor for career guidance development at the national levels.
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