Council Resolution on vocational education and training
A Council Resolution on vocational education and training in the 1990s (11.7.1993) considers that the quality of vocational and educational training in the Member States should be strengthened in order to encourage continuing opportunities for individuals to develop their knowledge and skills and thus contribute to increased economic and social cohesion as well as to competitiveness of the European Communities. The Council notes that the Community can make a significant contribution to cooperation between the Member states by developing a global and coherent approach towards education and training which supports and supplements the policies of the Member States, and by consolidating the achievements of the Community education and training programmes, in particular COMETT, ERASMUS, LINGUA, EUROTECNET, PETRA and FORCE. Member States should make particular efforts to: - Improve the development possibilities of the individual through enhanced education and training as an essential element in working life; - Offer all young people recognized broad vocational education and training to make them better qualified for the labour market; - Ensure that the educational and vocational training system is attractive to young people; - Use relevant vocational education and training as an important instrument to support employment; - Take account of the needs of the economy and the competitiveness of enterprises. Inter alia, the Council invites the Commission to work towards: - Greater coherence at Community level between vocational training and education programmes and other policies supporting Member States' efforts in this field; - Promotion of the development of European cooperation on qualifications; - The strengthening of transnational cooperation, reviewing the possibility for students and trainees to undertake courses, or part of them, in another Member State; - Intensification of transnational initiatives designed to promote information exchanges and the level of knowledge, with a view to enhancing the transparency of qualifications and facilitating mobility; - Promotion of the transfer of innovation and the development of applied research with a view to supporting modernisation, adaptability and quality in vocational education and training; - To take account of this Resolution in its proposals for reviewing and coordinating Community education and training programmes.