Overseas E-learning and Vocational Education in Au Stralia

Transcription

1 InternationalDevelopm ents invocational Pathways: Lessons for Au stralia Phillip M ckenzie ACER and Monash University ACER Centre for the Econom ics of Educationand Training Presentationto the Conference of the South Au straliansecondary Principals Association Adelaide 3 Novem ber 1998 Contact: ACER Private Bag 55 Ca m berw ellvic 3124 Phone Fax Em ail:m [email protected] 1

2 INTRODUCTION This paper attem pts to distil lessons from international developm ents in the transition from education to work for the current debate on VET in schools in Au stralia. It draws m ainly on the OECD s current review of the education-to-w ork transition process in Mem ber cou ntries. The first part of the paper provides som e backgrou nd on the OECD review. In the second section, key findings from the OECD project are presented and their im plications for Au stralia discussed. The overall conclusion from the OECD review is that im proving you ng people s transition from educationto work requ ires policy coherence across a wide range of policy fronts education and training, the labou r m arket, and social welfare. In term s of education policy, the key requ irem ent is to prevent failure at school and to develop the know ledge, sk ills and m otivation for lifelong learning. How ever, im proving participation and su ccess in education are not, on their ow n, su fficient for overcom ing you th unem ploym ent and other problem s in the transition to work and adult life. The reality is that su pply-side changes to the you th labou r m arket, su ch as are being attem pted through VET inschools, canonly go so far. THE OECD REVIEW OF TRANSITION OECD Mem ber cou ntries have been concerned with transition issu es for at least 20 years since you th u nem ploym ent started to rise in the 1970s. Much of that concern has focused on the particular problem s faced by early school leavers and you ng people who lack sk ills, and on vocational and technical education. But it is now recognised that the transition can pose problem s for you ng people across an even broader span of educational backgrou nds, including tertiary education, and the current transitionreview reflects this broader scope. The transition review, w hich started in 1996, is designed to im prove understanding of why certaineducationand training policies provide effective transition fram eworks in som e cou ntries and not in others, or why they facilitate transition for som e grou ps of you ng people or in som e sectors of activity w hile they fail to do so for other grou ps or sectors. The review is intended to im prove understanding of the increasingly com plexrou tes that you ng people take as they m ove from education into the workforce, and to identify w hat seem to be the key elem ents of a com prehensive policy fram ework. Because of the large num ber of cou ntries interested in taking part in the study it was decided to conduct the review in two rou nds. Six countries w ere selected to take part in Round 1: Au stralia; Au stria; Canada (the Provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia); the Czech Repu blic; Norway; and Portugal. These cou ntries w ere reviewed during 1997 and a synthesising report drafted in m id The present paper is based largely on these six countries, w hich between them provide a diverse range of econom ic and social conditions, and different policy fram eworks. During 1997 each country prepared a 40 page Cou ntry Backgrou nd Report in response to a com m on analytical fram ework and set of questions developed by the OECD Secretariat. In the 2

3 case of Au stralia, DEETYA com m issioned ACER (JohnAinley, Stephen Lam b and Jeff Malley) to prepare the nationalbackgrou nd report. After the Backgrou nd Report had been received, a fou r-person review team spent two w eeks visiting the cou ntry concerned. The cou ntry review visits included m eetings w ith senior policy m akers in education and em ploym ent, education and training institutions, program m e adm inistrators, em ployers and em ployees representatives, researchers, and you ng people. Follow ing each visit the review team prepared a 30-page Cou ntry Note that provided the country authorities w ith the reviewers perspectives on issu es and policy approaches to transition, and which also su pplied m aterialfor the synthesising com parative report. The present paper is based onthree papers arising from Round 1 of the review: Country Note: Australia. Report to the Au stralian governm ent and the OECD arising from the transition review visit, Paris, OECD, Paris, Au gust 1997 (w ritten by Robert Schwartz, Phillip McKenzie, Abrar Hasan& Erik Nexelm ann). Thematic Review of the Transition from Initial Education to Working Life. Draft Round 1 Comparative Report, Paris, OECD, Paris, Ju ne 1998 (w ritten by M arianne Durand- Drou hin, Phillip McKenzie and Richard Sweet). Supporting You th Pathways, chapter 3 in Education Policy Analysis, OECD, Paris, 1998 (w rittenby M arianne Durand-Drou hin, Phillip McKenzie and Richard Sweet). In late 1997 a further eight countries w ere selected to take part in Round 2: Denm ark; Finland; Hungary; Japan; Sweden; Switzerland; the United Kingdom ; and the United States. This set of country reviews com m enced in May 1998 and will run until February The findings from the Rou nd 2 country experiences w ill be progressively incorporated into the com parative report developed for Rou nd 1. By the tim e the whole exercise is com pleted in late 1999, 14 countries -- half the OECD m em bership will have been reviewed. Im proving you ng people s transition from educationto work is clearly a high priority for OECD countries. MAIN FINDINGS AND LESSONS FOR AUSTRALIA Aninitial caution: The lim its of internationalanalysis There is no dou bt that cross-national research provides opportunities for learning in a num ber of different ways. Cou ntries are able to learn m ore abou t them selves by u sing international experience and data to reference their perform ance, strengths and weaknesses. New ideas can be opened up for overcom ing deficiencies in education and training, and strengths can be better appreciated. In this process the analysis of sim ilarities am ong countries m ay be just as im portant as the identification of differences. For exam ple, national debate m ay attribu te problem s in the transition to work to particular features of a country s education system when, infact, problem s su ch as high you th u nem ploym ent are also present in countries w ith m arkedly d ifferent ed u ca tionsystem s. 3

4 Nevertheless, one of the m ajor challenges in reviewing the experience of other cou ntries is to determ ine the extent to which institutions or program s that appear to work well in one cou ntry can be readily transferred to other, qu ite different settings. Education and training arrangem ents are oftendeeply em bedded inspecific nationalcontexts. Therefore, it is im portant to understand the econom ic, political and social circum stances that shape the operation of educationand training system s, and which m ay lim it their transferability to other cou ntries. The OECD review is attem pting to identify the broad principles u nderlying apparently su ccessfulapproaches to you ng people s transition from education to work, since these are m ore likely to be transferable to you th policy across a wide range of countries, rather than specific structures or program s distinctive to each country s traditions and institutions. Lesson 1: Be cautious about the lessons drawn from international studies Education and training systems are deeply embedded in national contexts The key principles behind successful approaches are likely to be more transferable than specific institutional or program features. Term inology needs to be treated with particular care Much of the debate on the need to reform education and training is qu ite loose in the use of term s su ch as general and vocational education. Although there is a com m on understanding that general education program s are those that are essentially oriented to preparing you ng people for further study, whereas vocational program s are oriented towards direct entry to the labou r m arket, there are few pure exam ples of su ch program s. Classification of any one program or cou ntry s system into the general or vocational category involves m aking judgm ents abou t relative em phases. Such judgm ents can apparently change quite quickly. For exam ple, in the 1995 edition of the OECD s Education at a Glance (OECD Indicators), Au stralia is recorded as having 75 per cent of upper secondary students enrolled in general education program s in 1992, and 25 per cent in vocationaleducationand apprenticeship. Inthe 1997 edition of Education at a Glance, w hich u ses 1995 data, the corresponding proportions for Au stralia were 35 per cent of upper secondary students ingeneralprogram s and 65 per cent invocational and technical program s. In the space of three years, Au stralia apparently m oved from having one of the weakest em phases on vocational and technical program s in upper secondary education, to one of the strongest. The actual situation has not, of cou rse, changed as rapidly as that. The m ain reason for the dram atic increase in the proportion recorded as enrolled in vocational and technical program s in Au stralian upper secondary education is that participation in traineeships and TAFE program s that approxim ate upper secondary education are now classified, for the purposes of these international com parisons, as belonging in the level of education that involves u pper secondary education. The footnotes to data on general and vocational education need to be read very carefully to ensu re that like is being com pared with like, evenwithinthe one cou ntry over tim e. My overall im pression is that what we term general education in Au stralia often has a stronger vocational elem ent than program s classified as general education in m any other countries. For exam ple, the general Year 12 curriculum in South Au stralia includes su bjects in 4

5 areas su ch as Business Studies, Com puter Studies, Hom e Econom ics, and Technology that have a clear applicability to the world of work. Such su bjects m ay not be vocational in the sense of having beendesigned inclose collaborationwith industry, or giving students a qualification that provides direct access to em ploym ent in those fields, bu t they at least have som e connection to developm ents in the econom y and labou r m arket. In other cou ntries, especially in Europe and Japan, the general curriculum is m uch m ore general in that it focuses on languages, m athem atics, cultural studies, natural and social sciences that are taught very m uch w ith university entry in m ind. Subjects su ch as Accou nting or Inform ation Technology are not always offered as part of the general education program in senior secondary education in su ch countries. On the other hand, w hat we term vocational education in Au stralia is often less tightly connected to the labou r m arket than in other cou ntries, especially those with strong apprenticeship system s. Vocational education in Au stralian schools seem s to have m ore of the character of learning being applied to workplace settings than direct preparation for entry to em ploym ent. Drawing these two threads together im plies that the Au stralian secondary school curriculum is m uch less differentiated thaninother cou ntries, especially ineurope. Lesson 2: Particular care is needed in the term inology used to describe education and training The term s general education and vocational education and training can have different em phases in different cou ntries General education in Australia is less general than in many other countries, and vocational education is less vocational Tracking the destinations of young people exiting from various programs can often indicate m ore about the character of the programs than the labels applied to them There is need for a lifelong learning focus for the whole age grou p Although m uch of the concern with you ng people s transition to work has arisen because of problem s faced by early school leavers in tim es of high you th u nem ploym ent, transition can pose difficulties for you ng people across a broad span of educational backgrou nds. Increasing num bers of you ng people are staying longer in form al education, partly because of problem s in the you th labou r m arket, w ith the consequence that transitionissu es arise over a wider age span. In Au stralia, arou nd 20 per cent of you ng people are still enrolled in form al education at the age of 24 years. Am ong the Rou nd 1 countries, only Norway (25 per cent) has a higher proportion in education at that age. The OECD transition review has adopted a broad perspective that com prises the whole spanof school-leavers including those who enter the labou r m arket directly from secondary school or apprenticeship-type schem es, those who go on to further education and training before seeking work, and those who com bine educationand work invariou s ways. The pathways from vocational education to work, and the linkages between these and the general education pathway, are central policy concerns in m ost OECD countries. The effectiveness of the general education pathway in preparing you ng people for work has generally received less attention. Yet in Au stralia, Canada, Norway and Portugal the direct flow s from generalupper secondary education to work are sizeable, w ith between one-third and one-half of all final year secondary students in the general pathway not proceeding directly to 5

6 tertiary study. Au stralia, w ith abou t one-half of Year 12 students not m oving directly to tertiary education, was the highest am ong this grou p. OECD countries are increasingly developing education and training policy from a lifelong learning perspective. The pace of econom ic and social change is so rapid that that individuals need to acquire new sk ills and know ledge throughou t their adult lives to m aintain their em ployability. This im plies that a su ccessful transition to work depends on having a sou nd fou ndation for further learning, as w ell as having sk ills that the labou r m arket requ ires now. Im proving the transition to work m eans m ore than finding ways of helping you ng people to find work and teaching them specific sk ills, im portant though these are -- it also requ ires helping them to becom e effective learners throughou t their adult lives. Therefore, in considering whether particular approaches to im proving transition are effective or not, there needs to be a broader set of indicators, and a longer tim e horizon, thanis com m only u sed. Placing the transition from initial education to work within a lifelong fram ework context raises qu estions abou t whether there m ay be a trade-off between efficiency in the short and the long run, that is, between a rapid, sm ooth transition to em ploym ent provided by equipping you ng people with recognised vocational qualifications, and a delayed transition offering m ore durable lifetim e career opportunities through a strong general education. How ever, as discussed below, experiences in countries su ch as Au stria and Norway suggest that it m ay be possible to design pathways that ensu re both a sm ooth transition from initial education to work, and access to lifelong learning opportunities that m aintainand bu ild em ployability. Lesson 3: The policy framework for improving young people s transition to work needs to encom pass the whole age group and be placed in a lifelong learning perspective Issues concerned with the transition to work are not confined to those enrolled in vocational education A successful transition to work requires a solid foundation for lifelong learning as well as skills that enhance im m ediate em ployability A su ccessfulstart inthe labou r m arket is vitalfor you ng people Given that em ployers u se both qualifications and experience to select workers, early school leavers are at a dou ble disadvantage. They tend to spend a relatively long tim e searching for a first job and they are m ore likely to end up with w ork of poor quality. Although low -pay jobs can be a stepping stone to better em ploym ent, the evidence suggests that su ch jobs are often only tem porary, and that the unqualified you ng personsoonreturns to the unem ploym ent pool. Yet not all those who leave school before com pleting upper secondary education are necessarily at risk in the labou r m arket. The greatest problem s face those who do not su bsequently enrol in further education, and who are unem ployed or ou tside the labou r force altogether. What happens in the first year after leaving school is particularly im portant. Longitudinal data analysed for Au stralia, France, Germ any, Ireland and the United States in the OECD s Employm ent Outlook 1998indicated that you ng people who are either unem ployed or ou tside the labou r force in this first year after leaving education spend su bstantially less tim e in work over the follow ing five years than those who find work early. This is especially so for you ng wom en with low levels of education. 6

7 How ever, as Figure 1 indicates, the extent of disadvantage faced by early school leavers varies m arkedly am ong this grou p of five countries. Unfortunately, Au stralia is second only to the United States in how little tim e, on average, that early school leavers are likely to spend em ployed intheir first five years after leaving education Women Men United States Australia Ireland France Germany Figure 1 Average num ber of years spent em ployed over the first five years after leaving initialeducationby persons w hose highest levelof educationalattainm ent is low er secondary Source: OECD, Em ploym ent Outlook 1998, Paris. Lesson 4: Long-term employm ent prospects improve if a job is obtained soon after leaving education Getting a job early m atters, especially for young women with low educational attainment There is a need for close monitoring of school leavers labour m arket experiences and early action to ensu re access to em ploym ent Early entry to vocationalpathways increases participation, but at a cost Broadly speaking, those cou ntries in which the decision abou t entry to vocational pathways is taken early in secondary school experience relatively high participation in vocational education and training. For exam ple, in both the Czech Repu blic and Austria decisions abou t entry to vocational education and training are com m only m ade in low er secondary school. In the Czech Republic abou t 85 per cent of upper secondary students are classified as being in som e form of school-based vocational education or apprenticeship, and in Au stria abou t 75 per cent. In countries su ch as Au stralia and Canada, w here the decision abou t entry to vocational program s is delayed untilat least upper secondary education, enrolm ents in vocational program s at school generally involve only abou t 10 per cent of students. 7

8 The strong apprenticeship system s in the Germ an-speaking countries have had a good track record of keeping you th u nem ploym ent in the age grou p at com paratively very low levels and at ensu ring that these labou r m arket benefits persist for you ng adults. This has led to m any efforts at developing sim ilar arrangem ents in other cou ntries. Over the years it has becom e obviou s, how ever, that a whole range of social, econom ic and political conditions need to be fulfilled for apprenticeship system s to function su ccessfully. In countries su ch as Au stralia, w ith relatively deregulated labou r m arkets and little organised involvem ent by em ployers or trade unions ineducationand training, these conditions are hard to create quickly. Fu rthem ore, the early tracking of students into separate stream s that is com m on in m uch of continental Europe is highly socially selective (the social elites are concentrated in general education), and rigid in that it is difficult to cross between the vocational and general pathways once the early specialisation has started. Furtherm ore su ch countries are now finding that students are preferring pathways that keep open the option of university study and firm s are increasingly reluctant to provide training places for the you ng. Lesson 5: Early entry to vocational pathways can increase participation, but at a cost Early entry to vocational education pathways is associated with social selectivity and later inflexibility The traditionally strong apprenticeship countries are seeking to develop m ore diverse pathways that keep options open Purposes need to be clarified when introducing vocational content into predom inantly generaleducationprogram s The attem pts in countries like Au stralia and Canada to introduce a stronger vocational elem ent into upper secondary school raise questions abou t the role of the vocational content. Is it to deliver an occupational qualification that provides direct entry to the labou r m arket? Or to prepare students for entry to tertiary studies that will provide su ch a qualification? Or is it to m otivate students both to continue at school and to see the choice of a vocational pathway, rather thanextended generaleducation, as a desirable post-secondary option? In Au stralia, all three purposes (direct entry to em ploym ent, preparation for tertiary-level vocational education, and m otivating low achieving students) seem to be present in the VET in schools debate, and are to som e extent conflicting which each other. If the purpose of the vocationalcontent is to provide an em ploym ent qualification, greater depth and rigou r is requ ired thanif its pu rpose is prim arily to m otivate or to link to further study. But this can raise dilem m as if the stronger em phasis on vocational preparation m eans that the possibility of entry to tertiary study is reduced. Where the general education pathway is long and chosen by the m ajority of students, and has few recognised exit points, the introduction of vocational education content can be a strategy for preventing parts of it from becom ing a dead end for low er achievers, and for reducing failure at school. But if the vocational content is not designed prim arily to provide an em ploym ent qualification, som e m eans of capturing its benefits through ensu ring strong links into further educationand training need to be fou nd. 8

9 The fact that VET courses in Au stralian schools are now com m only linked to the national qualifications fram ework gives them som e currency in the labou r m arket. In addition, the possibility for having assessm ents in vocational courses recorded on final school certificates enables them to be used for tertiary entrance. Both of these features of the Au stralian approach to VET inschools are significant inaninternationalsense, and are attracting attention from other countries. How ever, in practice it m ay be difficult to achieve the em ploym ent preparation and tertiary entrance purposes sim ultaneously. If vocational program s in Au stralian secondary schools are to eventually attract significant enrolm ents, and to broaden beyond m otivational vehicles for those who are not interested in m ainstream schooling, the linkages between vocational program s and post-school work and educationopportunities w illneed to be clarified and strengthened. Lesson 6: The further developm ent of vocational programs in upper secondary schools with a strong emphasis on general education requires the employm ent and further education objectives of those programs to be clarified and strengthened The purposes of generaleducationalso need to be clarified It m ay w ell be, though, that the real problem with a lack of clarity of purpose in secondary schooling com es not so m uch from introducing m ore vocational content for a m inority of students, bu t from uncertainty abou t the objectives of the general education pathway w here the large m ajority of senior secondary students rem ainenrolled. In thinking abou t this qu estion, the OECD review team that visited Australia in 1997 drew on the 1994 Schools Cou ncil discussion paper The Role of Schools in the Vocational Preparation of Australia s Senior Secondary Students. Given the goal of m aking the com pletion of senior secondary school (or its equivalent in the VET system ) virtually u niversal, the Schools Cou ncil paper suggested that there are three m odels Au stralia could use to realign its secondary schools to better fit with the reality of student interests and aspirations: a dual model, in which a vocational track leading to vocational qualifications is bu ilt to coexist alongside the university-bou nd track; a unitary m odel, in which there is a single credential that incorporates academ ic and vocationalstudies; and an integrated m odel which extends the em phasis of the unitary m odel on the convergence of general and vocational studies by requ iring that all students take cou rses that integrate academ ic and vocationallearning. The OECD review team observed that the dual m odel in a sense recreates an older Au stralian system in which separate technical colleges existed alongside academ ic secondary schools, bu t this tim e the technical or vocational option wou ld exist within the sam e bu ilding. This m odel requ ires the least change on the part of the academ ic su bject teachers w ho set the tone in m ost Au stralian secondary schools; bu t its dow nside, given the predom inant culture, is that the 9

10 vocational stream, as it was in the older system, w ill alm ost inevitably be perceived as second class. The unitary m odel, w hich is the path that a num ber of Au stralian school system s have taken in prom oting a single school certificate that is recognised for entry into tertiary education or work, reduces the separationim plicit inthe dual m odel, bu t it nonetheless m aintains a clear distinction between academ ic and vocational courses and pathways w ithin the secondary school. The integrated m odel begins from a different prem ise: nam ely, that all students need to be prepared for both w ork and further learning, and that all students, w hether headed for university or directly into the labou r m arket, w ill benefit from a program m e of studies that integrates academ ic and applied learning. The integrated m odel wou ld appear to be m ore consistent with the need to prepare allstudents for lifelong learning. Lesson 7: Any consideration of young people s preparation for work must also involve those who are enrolled in the general education pathway All young people need to be prepared both for work and further learning In countries like Australia, where the general education pathway is predominant, real change requires the closer integration of academic and applied learning for all The strongest grow th is inpathways that lead to both em ploym ent and higher education The com m on experience in cou ntries is that vocational pathways w hich lead only to em ploym ent are proving less attractive to you ng people and their fam ilies. Where vocational pathways generate qualifications that lead to either work or to further study, the attractiveness of vocational education is rising. In Au stria, for exam ple, participation in the five year vocational colleges that allow su ch an option has been at a high level for m any years and continues to rise (it is currently over 20 per cent of the cohort), and participation in apprenticeship, w hich does not norm ally enable entry to higher education, is falling. In Norway, w here the vocational pathways in upper secondary education now enable students to qualify for both w ork and higher education, participation in the vocational pathways is rising. A sim ilar developm ent is evident in the Czech Repu blic, w here abou t 37 per cent of students entering upper secondary education are now going to technical schools that also provide access to higher education, com pared with 24 per cent in This grow th has been m ainly at the expense of the vocationalschools w hich provide only very lim ited access to tertiary study. There is a strong argum ent from the perspective of lifelong learning for enabling you ng people to obtain su ch com binations of qualifications. They can encourage students to see the world of work and the world of study as intertwined and can be a highly desirable form of preparation for an uncertain econom y. For exam ple, w hile in Au stria the im m ediate em ploym ent rates of those who have com pleted apprenticeships and those who have com pleted five-year vocational program m es are sim ilar, the latter are able to bu ild longer careers because their cou rses provide generaleducationsk ills that give access to higher educationat later stages inlife. The effective provision of su ch pathways, though, requ ires far-reaching changes in curriculum, pedagogy and assessm ent, and strong partnerships between schools, enterprises and tertiary institutions. It is w orth noting, that dou ble-qualifying pathways through u pper secondary 10

11 education are generally longer than pathways w hich lead either to tertiary education or to em ploym ent. For exam ple in Au stria, w here su ch courses have operated su ccessfully for m any years, the program s last for a year m ore than regular secondary education, and involve students in extensive contact with enterprises through su m m er internships and enterprise-based project work. In Norway, w here the 1994 reform s greatly expanded the opportunities for vocationaltrack students to enter higher education, su ch students need to engage in an extra six m onths of school study in order to su fficiently lift their general education sk ills and know ledge if they want to enter higher education. Lesson 8: Ensuring that vocational pathways can qualify young people for both work and tertiary study increases their attractiveness, although programs that lead to high-quality em ploym ent and education destinations can be demanding and require m ore time The m ost su ccessfulvocationalpathways have strong enterprise involvem ent The com m on ingredient in su ccessful approaches to education-to-w ork transition is the developm ent of partnerships between education institutions and enterprises of all sizes and in all parts of the econom y. The im portance of partnerships at the national level between em ployers, trade unions and governm ent in setting the curriculum, assessm ent, certification and financing fram eworks for dualor apprenticeship system s incountries su ch as Au stria, Denm ark, Germ any and Norway has long been recognised. In su ch countries the close involvem ent by em ployers and trade unions at national level is also evident in su pport for vocational education and training at the regional and local levels. Such involvem ent requires considerable resou rces, including the preparedness to engage in extensive consu ltation and the patience to work towards long-term resu lts. Building education-industry links is not easy, especially in countries like Au stralia where em ployers associations and trade unions do not have a strong tradition of working in partnership towards social goals. To do so norm ally requ ires the initiative to com e from educators, who need to find ways for enterprises to have m ore than token involvem ent in program developm ent and student assessm ent. Developing su ch relationships requ ires considerable tim e and resou rces if enterprises are to eventually see that they can benefit as m uch as the students and the schools. Lesson 9: Vocational pathways that involve strong links to employers and enterprises result in better labour m arket outcom es than do those with weak links In countries like Australia where there is only limited engagement by employers and trade unions in education, the initiative to build partnerships generally has to com e from educators, and requires considera ble resou rces CONCLUSION As indicated at the outset, the overall conclusion of the OECD transition review is that im proving you ng people s transition from education to work requ ires a com prehensive policy approach that involves far m ore than education and training policy alone. The m ost su stained exam ple of su ch coherence is probably to be fou nd in the youth guarantee approach w hich the 11

12 Nordic cou ntries have been developing over the past two decades. The evolution of this idea has led to the concept of a guaranteed opportunity for all through a position in either education, training or work. Whether each individualtakes u p the opportunity is u ltim ately his or her ow n decision. How ever, a system of incentives and penalties, and tight safety nets for those who fail, helps you ng people to develop towards u sefuland productive roles. You th u nem ploym ent has not beeneradicated in the Nordic cou ntries. How ever, the num ber of very you ng people in the labou r m arket has been considerably reduced, and stronger partnerships have been developed between educational institutions and enterprises. The Norwegian and Swedish experiences in particular show the value of individualised follow -u p m easu res for those who have left school early, or who are at risk of leaving early. Such services, inwhich m unicipalgovernm ents play k ey roles, canbe resou rce intensive. How ever, the Nordic experience also show s that there is no inevitability abou t the num ber of early school leavers, and that chances for su ccessful intervention seem to be higher while you ng people are still in school. Offering a range of pathways su ited to differing interests and needs at the end of com pulsory education encourages a higher proportion of you ng people to rem ain in education and training. Intensive m easu res to help early leavers in the labou r m arket can be all the m ore effective if resou rces are freed up by k eeping their num bers low inthe first place. * * * * * 12