How can Small and Medium-sized enterprises be more engaged in apprenticeships?

The European Apprentices Network (EAN) has actively participated in the conference ‘How can Small and Medium-sized enterprises be more engaged in apprenticeships?’ which took place in Brussels on the 22 of November 2018.

The Network has been represented by its member, Panayiotis Krashias, who had the opportunity to be one of the speakers at the panel regarding the ‘Future of VET’. The conference has been organized by the Chambers of Commerce & Industry and its AC4SME project that aims to involve a growing number of SMEs in apprenticeships.

During the conference, there was a discussion on work-based learning and its challenges (1st panel) and the future of VET (2nd panel). Both panels were focused on current and future challenges presented to European VET systems, as well as on the joint vision of VET in Europe post-2020.

In relation to the ‘Future of VET,’ our member has made a strong reference to the role and vision of our Network as he analyzed the 7 priorities that we consider in order to create better apprenticeships and have the voices of the apprentices heard at the EU level. Panayotis underlined the necessity to invest in VET education nowadays he explained how the Network can positively contribute as an expert group to the greater promotion of VET and generally on the better representation of marginalized youth in order to ensure quality education and employment.

Lastly, we repeated to the European Commission and the VET experts at the plenary that the EAN will continue supporting every apprentice and working closely with them in order to ensure that all the implemented policies at EU-level are youth-oriented.

The EAN believes that VET should be seen as an EU-wide issue that requires a coordinated approach between stakeholders and policy-makers, as well as every youth,  should be put at the center of policy-making.

Written by Panayotis Krashias, European Apprentices Network member from Cyprus.