VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

In Poland professional and vocational guidance is a responsibility of two ministries: Ministry of National Education and Sport is responsible for vocational guidance and career planning of school students. The main institutions maintained by this ministry providing services related to this are the Psychological and Pedagogical Counselling Centres.

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy is responsible for professional and vocational guidance of adults and young people who are unemployed or looking for job. The main institutions maintained by the ministry and providing services related to this are 12 Centres for Vocational Information existing at the Regional Labour Offices ; 52 Information and Career Planning Centres also existing at RLO; as well as Units for Information and Group Counselling existing at the District Labour Offices. They all employ professional advisers.

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

Consultancy related to career planning and vocational guidance is also conducted by Voluntary Labour Corps (Ochotniczy Hufiec Pracy - OHP), which have established Educational and Labour Centres whose personnel includes vocational advisers. With regard to vocational training of young people and preparing them to enter the labour market the importance of the Voluntary Labour Corps will be growing.

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

Organizational units of OHP will become specialized entities of the labour market for that purpose. In order to fulfil this objective a network of Mobile Vocational Information Centres for Youth will be established; their goal is to remove the barrier related to the access to information and prevent social exclusion of young people entering the labour market. The total number of 50 Mobile Vocational Information Centres for Youth are to be established. Mobile Vocational Information Centres for Youth will constitute the foundation for building nationwide information system, and providing vocational guidance and labour agencies for young people, under the joint name of Youth Career Centres.

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

Relatively new structures which are being established by a growing number of educational institutions are the School Career Centres, which are designed to become school centres of educational and vocational information. Ultimately they are designed to constitute a component of the National System of Information and Educational and Vocational Guidance and support the process of vocational counselling and career planning for young people. The rationale for establishing such centres results from the deep conviction that the process of an individuals professional development starts at a very young age. This is when we develop various qualities such as approach to work, capabilities and skills; this is when the first decisions related to education are taken.

PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM IN POLAND

Therefore aiding the process of career planning and vocational guidance at this early stage will allow for obtaining better results. It is absolutely justified that career planning should start at the level of middle schools (gymnasium), and it obviously should be present at the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education maintain Academic Career Offices. Their services (career counselling, employment opportunities) are addressed at the university students and graduates. The National Labour Office and the Ministry of National Education and Sport have jointly established the National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance which cooperates with similar Centres in the EU countries under Euroguidance network.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE EDUCATION IN THE CURRICULUM

Vocational guidance education is part of the basic national curriculum as a crosscutting subject. Schools must integrate it into their detailed curricula in separate subjects such as citizenship education or social science. At ISCED level 2, the compulsory subject called civic education (3 teaching hours per week in a period of 3 years) comprises elements of vocational guidance and consists of three subjects: family education, civic education and education for active participation in the economic life of the country.

Objectives are as follows: the comprehensive development of students, aimed at preparing them for active participation in the socioeconomic life of a country.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE EDUCATION IN THE CURRICULUM

At ISCED level 3, introduction to entrepreneurship is the compulsory subject which is most related to vocational guidance (2 teaching hours in a period of 3 years).

Its objectives:
preparation for active participation in economic life; shaping of the attitude for reliable work and entrepreneurship; developing communicative skills and teamwork; developing skills for active job searching and the suitable choice of career; mechanisms of market economy; basic rules for running various businesses; the role of the state and its law in the market economy; European and world economies.

Traineeships within the framework of the curriculum

The legislation regulating the issue of practical vocational training is the 1 July 2002 regulation by the Minister of National Education and Sport.

The regulation concerns practical vocational training in school workshops, school laboratories, continuing education centers and practical training centers, with employers and on individual farms; it applies to student of public upper secondary schools offering vocational education as well as young workers/apprentices doing traineeships as part of their job preparation course.
Traineeships are organized by the school. Traineeships for apprentices are organized by their employers.

Practical vocational training

Practical vocational training has two forms: traineeships and practical training classes. Practical training classes are organized in order to teach the students and young workers the vocational skills necessary to start work in a given profession. Practical vocational training organized outside school is based on a contract signed by the headmaster of the school and the institution providing the training, in groups or individually. Practical vocational training is delivered by teachers of practical vocational training. In the case of training provided by an employer, it is delivered by employees with teaching qualifications who are referred to as instructors of practical vocational training.

Practical vocational training

Traineeships are organized for students to enable them to apply and further develop the acquired skills and knowledge in real working conditions. Traineeships may be organized throughout the whole school year and during summer holidays. The curriculum for each profession specifies the range of skills and knowledge taught during traineeships. Students below the age of 16 have a maximum of 6 hours of practical training per day, and students of 18 and over can have up to 8 hours of training a day.
Traineeships organized in firms or on farms have supervisors who are employers or nominated employees of the firm or individual farmers. The supervisors of traineeships should have teaching qualifications.

COOPERATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS, EMPLOYERS, PARENTS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

Contacts with the professional world Seminars and workshops related to vocational guidance education programmes are organized by schools in cooperation with the professional world. There is no national regulation concerning the issue. However, cooperation is taking place on an individual institution, local business and community basis. Many schools and businesses take part in the European educational programmes such as Leonardo da Vinci or Comenius.

Guidance services at school

Since 2003, School Career Centres (Szkolne Orodki Kariery SZOK) have been created in schools at lower (gimnazjum) and upper secondary level. Currently, 361 centres are operational. The educational counselors who work in them are responsible for the implementation of a specific guidance system for each school. Their role is to provide pupils with information on possible educational pathways, the local labour market, labour laws, etc., and to help them acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to make their future career choices. They offer counseling to pupils and parents, individually or in groups.

Guidance services at school

The clients of SzOK are in majority pupils of the school, where the SzOK was established, and pupils from other schools in the area (about 80%) as well as their parents (over 10%). The next group of clients consist of teachers interested in vocational guidance (about 3%) and unemployed youth aged up to 25 years of age (1%). The rest 5% of clients are all people interested in contact with SzOK.

Guidance services at school

Classes in School Career Centress are implemented in various forms: - activating group classes, - lectures, questions and answers, brainstorming and other workshops, - individual educational and vocational guidance, - diagnose students' needs for information and assistance in career planning through interviews, surveys and other methods, - dissemination and discussion with the students the information gained in above way, - watching films, - access to Internet, borrowing books and publications of SZOK and use of other pedagogical materials, - publishing and editing newsletters or school additions, - organizing trips to places connected with the world of education and work - secondary schools, universities, offices and private companies to present various professions, trips to job fairs, learning how to use office equipment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Ministerstwo Pracy i Polityki Spoecznej Departament Rynku Pracy www.mpips.gov.pl
2. Statystyki UE - http://europa.eu/documentation 3. Eurostat, Profile krajw w zakresie ICT - Statistics in Focus oraz Data in Focus. 4. GUS- Gwny Urzd Statystyczny- www.stat.gov.pl 5. Polskie Badania Internetu- www.pbi.org.pl 6. www.pracuj.pl 7. www.rynekpracy.pl 8. www.eurostudent.pl 9. www.wokolkariery.pl

BIBLIOGRAPHY

10. National Centre for Vocational Guidance Resources, (Narodowe Centrum Zasobw Poradnictwa Zawodowego): www.psz.praca.gov.pl 11. Educational Assistance and Counselling Centre (Centrum Metodyczne Pomocy PsychologicznoPedagogicznej): www.cmppp.edu.pl 12. http://bip.men.gov.pl/men_bip/akty_prawne/rozporzadzenie_090207. 13. http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet 14. http://edu.info.pl/file/4149 15. Country report (CEDEFOP) www.cedefop.europa.eu

BIBLIOGRAPHY

16. Guidance policies in the knowledge society. Trends, challenges and responses across Europe. A Cedefop synthesis report. Ronald G. Sultana. Cedefop Panorama series; 85. 17. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2004. 18. ETV and Cedefop thematic analysis Guidance and counselling for learning, career and employment 19. Eurybase; Eurydice.

Foundation for Educative and Social Initiatives Development Trzebownisko 731B 36-001 Trzebownisko Email: biuro@fries.org.pl www.fries.org.pl