Career Services in Estonia Margit Rammo Academia Exchange in Estonia April 2009

2 Republic of Estonia Living in this area since 2500 B.C; Strategic location as a link between East and West; Through the ages several kings and conquerors - Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles and Russians; By 1285, Tallinn was part of the Hanseatic League; In the late 19th century - nationalist movement; 24 February 1918, Estonia declared its independence; forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940; 1991 Estonians again reasserted their independence; Population: ~1,3 million Capital City: Tallinn, ~ 1/3 of entire population of Estonia Language: Estonian Land area: sq km

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4 Background of Guidance in Estonia Practised since 1920s (during the first period of independence) Strongly influenced by the political situation Closely related to psychology Gap in the systematic development between 1993 and 1998 Revival in 1998/1999 (establishment of National Resource Centre for Guidance)

Foundation for Lifelong Learning Development Innove National Observatory EU Structural Funds Unit Project Development and Implementation Unit National Resource Centre for Guidance including Euroguidance EstoniaNational Resource Centre for Guidance including Euroguidance Estonia Financing and AdministrationFinancing and Administration

6 National Resource Centre for Guidance Founded by the Ministry of Education and Research in 1998 Main aim – to support guidance practitioners in promoting mobility and the European dimension within education and training and in the field of guidance. Main target group – guidance practitioners Main activities – producing different information and methodological materials (printed and electronic versions), organising seminars and trainings on regional, national and international level, and developing web sites.

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8 National Resource Centre for Guidance NRCG has become the main partner of the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Social Affairs in developing career services system.

9 Contractual Agreement between two ministries In 2008, contractual agreement to develop career services was signed between the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Social Affairs stating the areas of responsibility in providing high quality career services to the whole population.

Contractual Agreement Development of methodology; Development of training system; Wider range of service provision; Development of quality assurance; Co-operation between different parties. 10

Developments in the Field Developments mainly take place through different European projects within Lifelong Learning Programme (incl Euroguidance) and European Structural Funds projects and programmes. 11

12 Career Services In Estonia we have developed a concept of three guidance services within career guidance system: Career education to help young people raise their self-awareness and the understanding of the opportunity structure (learning and work), and acquire skills and attitudes to enter and succeed in the modern world of work Career information to provide well-structured information about education, labour market and professions, and links between them Career counselling to support people in making and implementing informed career decisions

13 Service Provision Guidance in Estonia is mainly provided by the public sector within the education and labour market structures. General education – cross-curricular theme; Vocational education and training – diverse system; Higher education – career centres on own initiative, no central regulation; Youth work – Youth Information and Counselling Centres (YICC); Open Youth Centres; Labour market sector – Labour Market Board (Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund starting from May 1, 2009); Private sector – personnel recruitment, mediation services to companies.

14 Qualification and Training Since 2005 there are 3 professional standards: –Career counsellors; –Career co-ordinators at schools; –Career information specialists. Professional examinations: –First in May 2006 –20 qualified counsellors by 2009

Qualification and Training Regular accredited basic training unavailable yet A variety of short and long-term courses offered by: –NRCG; –Different projects; –Training centres; –Open universities etc. Background of practitioners – psychology, pedagogy, youth work and information sciences 15

16 Quality Assurance and Financing Several tools are implemented to assure the quality of career services: –National Curriculum; –Service and professional standards; –Client’s satisfaction surveys, reports, feedback sheets etc. The career services are financed according to the schema determined by the provider.

17 European information sources Council Resolution on Better Integrating Lifelong Guidance into Lifelong Learning Strategies Euroguidance network – PLOTEUS – ec.europa.eu/ploteusec.europa.eu/ploteus CEDEFOP’s web-pages on Lifelong Guidance – ELGPN – elgpn.euelgpn.eu EURYDICE – EURES - ec.europa.eu/euresec.europa.eu/eures EUROPASS - europass.cedefop.europa.eueuropass.cedefop.europa.eu IAEVG -

18 Thank you! More information: Mrs Margit Rammo National Resource Centre for Guidance Head of Unit