- 2019Pilot
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
Background
The government intends to promote lifelong learning (LLL) to encourage people to take better control of their career and professional life. Several measures are being developed to increase enrolment in LLL. They aim to develop more suitable VET programmes for working and non-working adults, and stimulate participation in LLL by increasing and improving access to funding.
Objectives
The government aims to:
- improve the links between the demand and supply side of the adult training market;
- increase participation in funded lifelong development activities, for instance by replacing the tax training deduction scheme with a subsidy: the STAP budget (Stimulans ArbeidsmarktPositie).
Through the Subsidy scheme for flexible vocational education third pathway VET, the education and labour ministries intend to stimulate public and private VET institutions and emerging new (regional) forms of cooperation to join forces. The education programmes, working methods and materials developed with the subsidy will be widely disseminated for the benefit of other senior secondary VET programmes. The subsidy is also intended to fund activities or tools reaching target groups and to motivate them to follow (parts of) VET courses.
The objective of the pilot in demand funding for VET is to stimulate more adults to join VET training and retraining courses. This pilot aims to investigate:
- whether and how demand-based funding contributes to increasing the participation of adults in VET, to their study success and their satisfaction with VET education;
- whether there are indications that demand-based funding contributes positively to (regardless of whether they are a funded or non-funded VET institution) the offer of courses adapted to adult learners by VET colleges.
In 2020, the government introduced an integrated and broad LLL policy, addressing four major challenges that form the four pillars of this policy approach:
- further strengthening the demand for professional development among individuals;
- stimulating the role of employers and social partners in learning and development;
- promoting the development of a more flexible supply for learning and development;
- stimulating the development of a learning culture.
Description
Several measures have been developed by the education and labour ministries to stimulate enrolment in lifelong learning. The measures concern both the supply side and the demand side of the adult training market.
On the supply side, the education ministry has introduced three initiatives to stimulate the development of flexible VET and higher professional education courses, responding to the needs of (working) adults.
Through the Subsidy scheme for flexible vocational education third pathway VET, the government has made EUR 20 million available over four years for the development of innovative and flexible VET programmes for employees and jobseekers. Its beneficiaries are partnerships of funded and non-funded VET institutions in the adult learning pathway; this pathway is known as the third learning pathway (derde leerweg), alongside the school-based learning pathway and the dual pathway. In this third pathway, adults can follow a fully-fledged VET course aiming to obtain a VET diploma, or a certificate if only parts of the VET course have been followed. The third pathway is attractive for adults and creates linkages between publicly funded VET colleges and private VET institutions. Legal regulations for teaching time and course duration do not apply in this pathway, therefore colleges can offer flexible education trajectories. The subsidy is also intended for activities or tools and instruments for reaching target...
Several measures have been developed by the education and labour ministries to stimulate enrolment in lifelong learning. The measures concern both the supply side and the demand side of the adult training market.
On the supply side, the education ministry has introduced three initiatives to stimulate the development of flexible VET and higher professional education courses, responding to the needs of (working) adults.
Through the Subsidy scheme for flexible vocational education third pathway VET, the government has made EUR 20 million available over four years for the development of innovative and flexible VET programmes for employees and jobseekers. Its beneficiaries are partnerships of funded and non-funded VET institutions in the adult learning pathway; this pathway is known as the third learning pathway (derde leerweg), alongside the school-based learning pathway and the dual pathway. In this third pathway, adults can follow a fully-fledged VET course aiming to obtain a VET diploma, or a certificate if only parts of the VET course have been followed. The third pathway is attractive for adults and creates linkages between publicly funded VET colleges and private VET institutions. Legal regulations for teaching time and course duration do not apply in this pathway, therefore colleges can offer flexible education trajectories. The subsidy is also intended for activities or tools and instruments for reaching target groups to motivate them to join (parts of) VET training courses. It is expected that the subsidy scheme will give a further impulse to the development of a (regionally) flexible and attractive training offer for employees and jobseekers.
The Lifelong learning action programme, launched by the education ministry in 2018, aims to support VET colleges to engage (more) in LLL activities. The LLL Action programme has also been set up by the ministry, and the Knowledge point VET lifelong learning scheme, to support VET colleges in engaging in LLL by explaining the possibilities available within the rules of the programme and by sharing good examples. The focus of this action programme is both on public and private VET colleges.
The pilot for issuing certificates for the vocational elements of a VET course has been extended. From May 2019, partnerships between VET institutions, companies and social partners could submit new proposals for this pilot. The responsible body is the Cooperation organisation for vocational education, training and the labour market (SBB).
On the demand side, two main initiatives are being developed.
The STAP budget (Stimulans ArbeidsmarktPositie) is a subsidy scheme replacing the tax training deduction scheme. Demand-based financing could help achieve a breakthrough in LLL policies in the Netherlands. For this reason, the demand financing pilot in higher education will be continued and extended to secondary VET. Demand-based financing will enable adults to buy the training that suits them. The education and labour ministries want to give shape to the pilot within the STAP scheme. The scheme includes the possibility of using the STAP budget for secondary VET, which is organised in the so-called third learning pathway. Within the STAP scheme, it is possible to finance multi-year programmes. Priority will be given for setting up multi-annual courses, particularly for adults. The STAP budget is limited to a maximum of EUR 1 000 per year per person. The most important stakeholders, apart from the ministries, are the Council for upper secondary VET schools (MBO Raad), The Council for private providers of education and training (NRTO) and the National Association of Employers (VNO-NCW/MKB Nederland).
The proposal for the introduction of learning rights to finance the training of adult workers and jobseekers has been developed by the Council for upper secondary VET schools (MBO Raad), The Council for private providers of education and training (NRTO) and the national umbrella organisation of the social partners (Stichting van de Arbeid) will be involved in discussions in the coming months on future-proof funding of formal (higher) education for adults and alternatives to the current funding of adult diploma-oriented pathways.
For expenses for the training and development of their employees, employers can appeal to the specific exemptions for training costs within the labour costs scheme (Wages Tax Act 1964).
The pilots of Subsidy scheme for flexible vocational education third pathway VET and the financing of the demand side are being implemented and further developed.
In 2020, existing and new measures were integrated in a broad LLL policy, along with measures to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market and economy. A new, integrated long-term perspective on LLL has been developed. The main measures are described in each pillar of the Roadmap on learning and development.
New measures are: the NL continues learning programme (NL leert door), a programme of free of charge development advice for individuals; a social package as part of the third COVID-19 support; and a recovery package. Extra attention is being paid to training with a focus on sectors facing structural labour shortages.
Pillar 1 contains measures strengthening the demand for professional development among individuals and stimulating self-efficacy.
A STAP development advice tool (Ontwikkeladvies) is being developed as an additional measure to the STAP budget and is meant to be available for groups that need more support, for instance the low-educated or the elderly. Until the STAP development advice is launched in 2021, the free of charge advice from NL continues learning (NL leert door) will remain available.
Crisis measures include the extra funding for the NL continues learning programme and temporary training funding for individuals entitled to unemployment benefits.
Pillar 2 contains measures stimulating the role of employers and social partners in learning and development.
Collective labour agreements increasingly contain elements about stimulating employees' self-management by introducing individual learning or development budgets. The government is actively informing labour market parties about these possibilities.
Creating a learning culture in SME’s is being promoted by two schemes: the SLIM and MKB!dee. Strengthening the basic skills of employees (language, numeracy, digital skills) is being supported by extending the existing programme on basic skills. In addition, the government, together with social partners, has agreed on an action plan to create a breakthrough in mapping skills.
Measures addressing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic include a tailor-made scheme for partnerships supporting individuals threatened with dismissal to find new work, a retraining scheme for enterprises in sectors with structural labour shortages and extra funding for attending the dual pathway (apprenticeships) is also available.
Pillar 3 contains measures stimulating the development of a more flexible supply for learning and development. It deals with the supply side of education and training and consists of three types of measures responding to the needs of (working) and stimulating the development of flexible VET and higher professional education courses:
- flexibilisation of offer in upper secondary VET and higher education;
- tailor-made practical training for learners and students with learning difficulties;
- support to education institutions.
The newly introduced measures include the tailor-made learning routes in the dual pathway initiative for workers and jobseekers who do not have a diploma or certificate. Taking part in on-the-job VET training can be a stepping stone to a job and/or further learning in VET. This learning route is completed with a statement of practice by the employer, containing the work processes the student learned to perform. This initiative is being piloted by several VET colleges.
The Lifelong learning action programme, launched by the ministry of education in 2018, aims to support VET colleges to further engage in LLL activities. The programme was restarted in 2020 due to its relevance in mitigating the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The LLL Action programme is mainly a knowledge sharing programme focussing on developing courses and sharing good practices.
Measures related to COVID-19 include extra funding for short-term training and retraining through the dual pathway in VET and extra attention for the development of VET certificates by the Cooperation organisation for vocational education, training and the labour market (SBB).
Pillar 4 contains measures to stimulate a learning culture.
Both the regular measures and the crisis measures in this pillar are communication measures, such as campaigns that aim at increasing acquaintance with these measures and awareness of the importance of LLL.
The Cooperation Organisation for Vocational Education, Training and the Labour Market (SBB) presented its aspirations for lifelong development in VET. The bidbook offers ten concrete and coherent proposals to enhance the lifelong development of adults.
The parliament made additional investments to guide people to new jobs, facilitate retraining and further education, and combat poverty and debt. Part of this additional investment is the subsidy scheme for learning on the job in the third pathway (de derde leerweg). With this subsidy scheme, employers receive compensation for providing apprenticeships for job seekers or employees at risk of unemployment.
In February 2022, it was announced that from March 1st 2022 both working and unemployed adults, can apply for subsidies in the STAP budget (Stimulans ArbeidsmarktPositie) subsidy scheme, which replaces the tax training deduction scheme. Under certain conditions, a maximum subsidy of EUR 1000 per year is available to each applicant.
As of March 2022, the STAP budget became available and was immediately extremely popular: the budget (EUR 32 million) was spent in three days. The use of STAP is closely monitored and evaluated. Three improvements have already been identified:
- a more prominent role was given to the accreditation marks in order to both monitor the quality and labour market orientation of the training offered and to prevent that trainers and courses, that do not meet STAP's conditions, enter the training register;
- the tighter design of the STAP scheme so that abuse and improper use are prevented as much as possible, for example, by limiting the number of granted applications per course;
- quick and firm enforcement afterwards in case of abuse.
Regarding the further development of STAP, priority is given to two areas: financing of trajectories for the recognition of acquired competencies (Erkenning van eerder verworven competenties, EVC) and financing multi-year training activities.
In September 2022, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment shared their ambitions regarding lifelong learning. According to the policy brief on Lifelong development policy, 1.2 billion is invested for the period 2022 to 2027 in order to stimulate a lifelong learning culture. Through three coherent policies, people, companies and trainers are encouraged to engage in training:
- People are better supported in their own development by the simplification and expanding of the public funding of training, making additional support available for the most vulnerable people, and providing reliable, up-to-date and as complete as possible information on public and private training and financing options.
- Companies are supported in shaping a learning-rich working environment and in scaling up successful initiatives. In order to facilitate the various forms of learning and development in the workplace, subsidy schemes exist to finance on-the-job learning guidance, basic skills training and other forms of upskilling, retraining and further training.
- Trainers are encouraged to better align the provision with the wishes and needs of workers and job seekers. For instance, by developing and scaling up short training programmes and matching training to learning and work experience already gained.
The Cabinet has decided to skip the January 2023 application period for STAP budget. Additional time is needed to implement measures aimed at reducing abuse and improper use. The STAP budget available for 2023 will remain the same and will be available for later application periods in the same year.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
- Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
- Council for upper secondary VET schools (MBO Raad)
- Cooperation organisation for VET and the labour market (SBB)
- Council for private providers of education and training (NRTO)
- National association of employers (VNO-NCW/MKB Nederland)
- National umbrella organisation of social partners (Stichting van de Arbeid)
Target groups
Learners
- Adult learners
- Unemployed and jobseekers
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
Thematic categories
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
VET standards and curricula define the content and outcomes of learning, most often at national or sectoral levels. VET programmes are based on standards and curricula and refer to specific vocations/occupations. They all need to be regularly reviewed, updated and aligned with the needs of the labour market and society. They need to include a balanced mix of vocational and technical skills corresponding to economic cycles, evolving jobs and working methods, and key competences, providing for resilience, lifelong learning, employability, social inclusion, active citizenship, sustainable awareness and personal development (Council of the European Union, 2020). The thematic sub-category also refers to establishing new VET programmes, reducing their number or discontinuing some. It also includes design of CVET programmes and training courses to adapt to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and re-skilling needs.
This thematic sub-category refers to acquisition of key competences and basic skills for all, from an early age and throughout their life, including those acquired as part of qualifications and curricula. Key competences include knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by all for personal fulfilment and development, employability and lifelong learning, social inclusion, active citizenship and sustainable awareness. Key competences include literacy; multilingual; science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM); digital; personal, social and learning to learn; active citizenship, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Council of the European Union, 2018).
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Transparency and portability of VET skills and qualifications
European principles and tools, such as EQF, ESCO, ECTS, Europass and ECVET, provide a strong basis for transparency and portability of national and sectoral qualifications across Europe, including the issuing of digital diplomas and certificates.
This thematic category looks at how individuals are supported in transferring, accumulating, and validating skills and competences acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings – including learning on the job – and in having their learning recognised towards a qualification at any point of their lives. This is only possible if qualifications are transparent and comparable and are part of comprehensive national qualifications frameworks. Availability of qualifications smaller than full and acquirable in shorter periods of time is necessary; some countries have recently worked on developing partial qualifications, microcredentials, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to validation mechanisms allowing individuals to accumulate, transfer, and recognise learning outcomes acquired non-formally and informally, including on-the-job learning, or in another formal system. In case they are not automatically recognised, a learner can have these learning outcomes validated and recognised through a particular process with a view to obtaining a partial or full qualification. This thematic sub-category covers such provisions and mechanisms.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing high-quality lifelong learning and career guidance services, including making full use of Europass and other digital services and resources.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges
Osnabrück Declaration
- Establishing a new lifelong learning culture - relevance of continuing VET and digitalisation