Total Counselling 4. April, 2006 Andrej Vukovič, CPI, Slovenia

General information: SLOVENIA  20,273 km²  2 million inhabitants  Capital city Ljubljana  Coastline: 46.6 km  Land boundaries: border countries: Austria 330 km, Croatia 670 km, Italy 232 km, Hungary 102 km

Drop out  Young people in secondary education ( years)  41% in general secondary education  59% in vocational secondary education  Drop out rate from vocational secondary education is 14 % (5000 per generation during the 5 years)  Only 5% register at the employment service

I. Measures within the school system: The model measures for drop out prevention Three levels of prevention:  Primary prevention/measures (consultancy work with the entire population before entering in the secondary vocational school, as well as in the beginning of the schooling. These measures are supposed to prevent emerging of more complex problems)  Secondary prevention measures (the secondary vocational school intervenes in the beginning of the programme)  Tertiary prevention measures (prevention of circulation of the existing problems and disturbances)

II. Out of the school system Total counselling network:  The main aim is: to create a safety net of advice and guidance to young people ‘outside the system’  The main target group: young people (between 15 and 25 years) not involved in education and not active in the labour market.  Location: 6 regions with the highest drop out rates.

III. Active Employment policy measures: 1. Counselling and guidance: Employment plan- the tool used in: –planning the activities that lead to employment, –realising and monitoring of all activities agreed upon in the plan, –appraising the progress.  The target group: young people registered at the Employment service.

2. Programme :  An education programme that enables inclusion of unemployed persons in education schemes based on public programmes with the aim to provide:  basic, general, vocational, professional, technical or university education and at programmes aimed at providing NVQ’s.  Target group: unemployed persons without vocational or professional education, particularly those up to 26 year of age. Other groups include persons with completed education who cannot find job in their filed of profession and have been unemployed for more then 6 months.

3. The Wages Refund for the First time Jobseekers:  The main aim is to enable the training for 500 first time job seekers for independent work within their occupation of profession.  Target group: the unemployed people who completed secondary, higher or university education.  Location: the regions in which unemployment rate exceeds the average unemployment rate in the country.

Policy environment:  Background: Leonardo da Vinci project Total Counselling: –analysis of the needs of young people –analyses of the counselling services for young people  Present policy framework: the programme is defined within the Single programming document : Knowledge, Human Resources Development and Employment

Objectives:  to provide a holistic counselling and guidance to the young people who have dropped out from school and have not registered with the employment service,  the new service should take young people's whole life situation into consideration while providing the service,  the programme should provide a common platform where specialists from different fields of work can work together towards the common goal of assisting young people.

Organisational structure at the national level: Ministry of Labour, Family and Social affairs Ministry of Education and Sports Employment Service of Slovenia Entrerprises Center for Vocational Education and Training Slovene Adult Education Centre The National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (Local) Resource Centres for Vocational Guidance Counseling and Informing Network for young adults - ISM The Slovenian National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance School CentersNGO's

Organisational structure at the regional level: Organizations organizing leisure time activities (Sports clubs, leisure time activities etc.) ISM Network for information and counselling of young people outside the educational system Center for Social Work Center for Vocational Guidance CIPS Local administration bodies NGO’s performing activites related to the aassistance and education of young people, bridging programs … Youth organizations Local companies Employment Service of Slovenia (regional offices) Formal educational institutions (schools) Organizations offering psycho- social assistance to young people

Main principles as underlying the provision of guidance:  centrality of the beneficiary  holistic approach  enabling young people  improving access  assuring quality

We have carried out the research among the counseling services available to this age group with the aim to: We have carried out the research among the counseling services available to this age group with the aim to:  To find out which programmes are available to young drop outs (who are not in education and haven't entered the labour market).  To find out which methods are used and are successful while working with this target group.  How does the cooperation between different organizations function?

 As the most frequent reasons for dropping out of the school system – The curriculum is too demanding, – personal problems, – problems in the family. Some of the findings

The counselors stated the need for:  Motivational workshops  Preventive programmes  The need for Extensive field work  And holistic approach of information and guidance for the young. Some of the findings

 The lack of cooperation between different institution (governmental and nongovernmental).  The need for building local teams for better information flow.  The need for clear division of responsibilities between different institutions.  There is a need for specific institutions to which these young people should turn to.  There is a need for institution to coordinate and plan the target specific activities… The institutional cooperation:

Current state:  The six offices for Information and guidance provision were selected to manage TC at the regional level.  The CPI is the coordinating body (in cooperation with the Employment Service of Slovenia, School representatives, Slovene Adult Education Centre, MSS, MDDSZ)  6 Total Counsellors are creating the local networks. The actual work with young people started in April, 2005.

Main weak points:  Lack of availability of data.  Lack of coordination between different sectors (education, employment, social sector).  Lack of targeted research.

Results of ISM network 2005 Indicators / local centers OS Koper OS Kranj OS Ljubljana OS Maribor Os Velenje NGOSmeri No. Of all enlisted young boys -girls No. of informed young No. of young included in the counseling process No. of counseling sessions No. of successfully concluded counselling sessions no. of young reintegrated in regular educational system no. of employed No. of young enlisted in the Employment office and in the program of project based learning for young adults Other (medical treatment, youth addiction programmes …) No. of informed institutions, in continued negotiations for the level of cooperation

Lessons learned  The methods which work in one environment are not necessarily applicable to another  Always include the young persons in the process of aid creation  Try to look at the difficulties as means for improving and innovating the service

Further information is available at:   rdo_da_vinci/totall_councelling.aspx rdo_da_vinci/totall_councelling.aspx rdo_da_vinci/totall_councelling.aspx  vetovanje.aspx vetovanje.aspx vetovanje.aspx  Thank you for your attention.