Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

Article 1 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies and programmes. The Committee notes the Government’s detailed report received in September 2013 which includes information in reply to the 2011 observation. The Government indicates that the Strategy of Lifelong Learning has continued to be implemented and so far, two reports have been submitted to describe the status and course of the implementation of individual measures. The final report on implementation of the Strategy is due in 2015. The Committee notes the Government Resolution No. 836 of 16 November 2011 which approved the Long-Term Policy Objectives of Education and Development of the Education System in the Czech Republic (2011–15). The long-term objectives describe the main reform steps together with further measures aimed at enhancing the quality of education. It also states that an information system should be developed to promote qualified decision-making concerning the selection of a profession and the relevant education path. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that vocational guidance and vocational training policies have been the subject of close collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Labour. Effective coordination with the public employment service is ensured, at the national level, by the fact that one section of the Ministry of Labour is responsible both for employment and vocational training policies, and at the local level through regional Information and Counselling Centres, which are established within structure of the Labour Office. The Centres provide services to pupils, students and jobseekers and other interested people. The Government indicates that vocational counselling is also, together with retraining, among the most used activities in the framework of individual action plans prepared for jobseekers registered at the labour office for more than five months. These plans take account of the jobseekers' personal history, employment situation and vocational opportunities in the region. In the 2009–12 period, vocational counselling mostly focused on groups with special needs and groups at risk of long-term unemployment (young persons, persons with disabilities, workers with low skills or competences, older workers and workers dismissed in the wake of the economic crisis). Furthermore, the Government describes a national project called ‘Support to Cooperation of Schools and Businesses Focused on Vocational Training in Practice’ (Pospolu), which is being implemented by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports with the National Education Institute as its partner. The project aims to support cooperation between secondary vocational schools and vocational apprentice centres and to enhance the vocational education quality. The project is financed by the European Social Fund and the State budget of the Czech Republic. The project will create models of school-employer cooperation, which will be further specified according to individual education branches. Based on the created cooperation models, the project will select at least 25 partnerships of schools and businesses to participate in a model evaluation process. Following an evaluation of the cooperation and verification of models, proposals of legislative and other systematic measures will be elaborated and amendments to support future cooperation of vocational schools and businesses in practice. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information on the policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training, including information on their implementation and outcomes. Please also include extracts from reports, studies and inquiries and statistical data relating to the matters covered by the Convention (Part VI of the report form).

Article 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government indicates that the National Register of Vocational Qualifications (NSK) is a state-guaranteed national system built on real requirements on work performance for individual occupations and job positions. The NSK defines requirements on professional competences for individual qualifications, notwithstanding the manner of acquisition thereof. Employers have a decisive influence on the qualifications content. In addition to public administration bodies, sectoral boards are involved in defining and implementing the qualifications. Sectoral boards are independent associations of experts organised by employers, acting in the sphere of human resources for all industries and branches. The NSK enables not only the identification, sorting and classification of qualifications but also their recognition and certification. The NSK does not replace the current qualification and education systems; it tries to act as an interlinking umbrella element, making the systems transparent. The Committee refers to its 2011 observation on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), in which it noted that the International Competiveness Strategy for Czech Republic 2012–20 (ICS) aims at increasing the employment of certain population groups, such as older workers, women, people with low qualifications and young people. As part of the ICS, the Changes in the Content of Education Programme was implemented to change the educational system in order to help young persons acquire a wider range of skills and to motivate them to take part in lifelong learning. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations and other interested bodies in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and vocational training policies and programmes, including on the NSK and the ICS with respect to the matters related to the Convention.