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Reintegration of individuals at risk into education, training or the labour market is one of the main objectives of vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning programmes. A holistic approach embedding strengthened cooperation among a wide range of stakeholders is key in achieving this objective.

Low levels of skills are associated with negative economic and social consequences not just for the individuals and their families but also for the whole economy and society. 

The other side of the coin is that investing in education is linked to higher economic and social returns. Thus, empowering low-skilled adults by means of promoting their upskilling and re-skilling must be seen as a priority, especially nowadays that employment and the economy overall is becoming skills intensive.

Supporting policy-makers and practitioners to promote inclusive excellence in VET

Vocational education and training (VET) provides opportunities for young people to develop, enrich and upgrade their skills, and to acquire qualifications. Better skills and qualifications increase young people’s employability and assist their inclusion in society.

Research has shown that some young people are at greater risk of becoming NEET than others. According to Eurofound research led by Massimiliano Mascherini (2012, 2016 and 2021), low education level is the most important variable and has the strongest effect in influencing the probability of becoming NEET: this has been confirmed at both the individual and family level, i.e. for young people themselves, but also for young people’s parents with a low education level.

The VET toolkit for empowering NEETs offers different interventions to support NEETs. One of them is easing transitions into work. Work-based learning provides young people with the opportunity to apply their technical or academic skills while developing their employability. It encompasses on-the-job experience such as apprenticeships, as well as off-the-job experiences such as close-to-real simulations.

This Europe-wide toolkit is inspired by successful VET practices and aims at helping policy makers, practitioners, and providers of support to young people not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) to design policies and implement practices that will better address the needs of NEETs, helping them to reintegrate into education or training and the labour market.