LABOUR’S MEP for Dublin, Emer Costello, has called for a change in attitude towards vocational education to encourage young people to follow career paths that will lead to employment.
Ms Costello was speaking at a recent conference on the delivery of a European Youth Guarantee in Swords. She also called on the European Commission to publish their proposals for Quality Framework for Traineeships agreed at European level, to ensure that young people acquire high-quality work experience under safe conditions and to guard against exploitation.
“Ireland’s rate of youth unemployment currently stands at 28.5 per cent, down admittedly from 31 per cent a year ago, but still wholly unacceptable,
? said Ms Costello.
“The European Youth Guarantee offers us a unique opportunity to change the architecture through which we support young people into employment.
“It’s vital that we get it right so that the social and economic costs of youth unemployment are never allowed to become so grave again.
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Ms Costello said that for too long, vocational education and apprentice-based training have been viewed as the
“Cinderella of our education system
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“Countries with strong vocational education and training (VET) systems – such as Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria – tend to have less youth unemployment,
? she stated.
“It’s time we drew from this and placed high-quality apprenticeships and work-based learning as part of the acceptable pathway to work.
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Dublin North TD Brendan Ryan (Lab), who also addressed the event, said:
“It’s important as we reconstruct our economy that we also look at making our future workforce more resilient in terms of employment.
“Learning from what works in other countries who seem to escape the ravages of youth unemployment is important.
“Emer Costello’s determination to ensure Ireland gets its share of funds to implement the Youth Guarantee is vitally important, as is her vision of making skills-based education a bigger part of our offering to school leavers.
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Ms Costello added:
“From my experience in Europe, I know that in countries where vocational training is highly valued, parents, teachers, employers and young people themselves put as strong a value on achieving a quality apprenticeship as they would on completing a university degree.
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