This was the key message delivered by Kate Ling, Vice Chair of CEEP’s Education and Training Task Force, at the meeting of the European Social Partners with the European Ministers of Employment and Social Security in Vilnius today.

“Preparing young people for the world of work, depends critically on CEEP’s members working in the education sector. And all our members provide services for which the demand will never dry up, indeed demand is constantly increasing. The services we produce may be delivered in different ways in the future and may require new kinds of knowledge and skills but the need will always be there, and with the need, the jobs,” stated Ms Ling.

A major part of the meeting was devoted to how to implement the recently launched European Alliance for Apprenticeships. Kate Ling underlined that “employers can contribute actively to turning the Alliance for Apprenticeships from a paper exercise into a concrete reality, by making training opportunities available.”

In this respect, Ms Ling gave a concrete example from the National Health Service in England where the number of apprenticeships has increased significantly over the last few years. This was possible due to cooperation with government employment services to identify unemployed young people who could be encouraged to join apprenticeship schemes. Health service employers have also joined forces with local schools to provide classroom games and quizzes as a fun way to help pupils identify their strengths and preferences and open their eyes to the wide range of health service jobs they could do.

As a final remark, Kate Ling highlighted that this is a win-win situation: jobs are created, the economy is stimulated and higher quality public services are provided. Social partners can make this happen.

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For further information, please contact:
Priya Klinkenberg- tel. +32 (0) 2 229 21 40

CEEP gathers enterprises and organisations from across Europe, both public and private, at national, regional and local
level, which are public employers or providers of services of general interest. CEEP members contribute to more than 26%
of EU GDP and employ 30% of the EU workforce; CEEP is one of the three general corss-industry European Social Partners.