Description
Country
Focus area
The organization of the committees (members of both employer organizations and trade unions) assures that skills gained within education are also relevant within the labour market and up to date.
Every education within the vocational area is run by a trade committee. One of the tasks of the committees is to follow the business development and development opportunities and, if necessary, take the initiative for new establishments, reorganizations and closures of education centres.
Every education within the vocational area is run by a trade committee. One of the tasks of the committees is to follow the business development and development opportunities and, if necessary, take the initiative for new establishments, reorganizations and closures of education centres.
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
The committees are regulated by law. See: https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2020/51 (danish)
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
The committees have been operational for quite some time. It is not possible to locate the exact implementation date, but documents show that they were operational back in 2007 as well.
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
Not explicitly mentioned, but the committees are to follow the business development and development opportunities and, if necessary, take the initiative for new establishments, reorganizations and closures of educations. Especially the establishments of new educations can be expected to build on some kind of skill forecasts.
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by national government
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Overqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are above their job's needs)
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
The committees address mismatch more broadly across the population since they take care of the entire VET-area and keep track on which educations are relevant right now, which are to be closed and which ones we will need within the nearest future.
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Other
Specific methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation are not mentioned explicitly. However, it is stated that it is the social partners relevant for the given education who will assess and decide the skills needed within that specific education. Furthermore, when the trade committees submit a recommendation to the Ministry (e.g. regarding changes to one of the educational areas), this work is based on analyses and forecasts within that specific area.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
In order to be able to solve the task of ensuring that education at all times match the competence requirements in the labour market, the trade committees must, among other things, follow the business development and development opportunities within the committee's area. In this connection, the professional committees are also obliged to follow the employment development in the given education area and submit a recommendation to the Ministry if this shows a need for changes in the education. In order to carry out this task, the trade committees base their work on analyses and forecasts within the educational area of relevance.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National ministry
The Ministry for Children and Education: The ministry has the final say regarding all the rules. These are decided on the basis of the wishes of the committees. Furthermore, the ministry may also appoint development committees to examine new job areas that could possibly be covered by a VET programme. The committees are typically established in areas where no trade committees exist
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
Social partner: employer organisation
Employer organizations are included as members in the committees. Their role are similar to the one the committee performs (see above)
Social partner: trade union
Trade unions are included as members in the committees. Their role are similar to the one the committee performs (see above)
Other
Other: Local vocational committees: There are local committees for each education. The local committees fill out the framework for the specific education, whereas the trade committees decides the skill needed for the specific education. Also, these committees consists of employer organizations and trade unions within the relevant area.
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Other
The trade committees benefit students and employer organizations within the entire VET-area.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
The trade committees are obligated to take care of education so that it always match the skills needed within the labour market. One of the ways to measure whether this has succeeded is to look at the employment rate.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
No major evaluations of the trade committees and local committees have been conducted recently.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
No
No major updates of the committees have been taking place. Their construction is written in the law and is, therefore, pretty stable.
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
No major evaluations have been conducted so, therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the committees effectiveness. However, they have been operational for quite a long time, and, furthermore, play a key role in the management and development of vocational education and training in Denmark. One can therefore say that they are an effective tool in developing the VET-area.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
The initiative seems likely to continue in the years ahead since it represents something unique about the Danish labour market model: Mainly, that employer organizations and trade unions are included as essential actors in the work of developing the entire VET-area. Furthermore, and by doing so, it is assured that the skills gained within vocational education are also relevant within the labour market and, thereby, up to date.
Other instruments in Denmark
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