The Conference on the Mobility of Apprentices took place at the European Parliament in Brussels on 21-22 March. This conference aimed to explore ways to support and contribute to the long-term mobility of apprentices in Europe. The event drew a wide spectrum of stakeholders from the VET sector across Europe, who presented good practices, research findings as well as individual experiences and recommendations ”from the field”. The conference was organised by EAfA, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships.
The conference was opened by MEPs Jean Arthuis and Martina Dlabajová, and Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility. EFEE was invited to speak at the event in a panel discussion, in which the views of EFEE members on improving apprenticeship mobility were communicated to the conference audience and policy makers. These included simplifying administration and supporting mobility of education personnel in addition to learners.
Long-term apprenticeship mobility has been gaining momentum on the European agenda: the European Commission has called upon governments, social partners and education and training providers to promote apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning. With the doubling of the budget of the Erasmus programme, three times as many VET learners will be able to benefit, from 650,000 today, to 2 million in the next seven-year period.
The next EAfA conference, jointly organised with the Czech Chamber of Commerce, will take place in May in Czech Republic.