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LEVEL 1: BUILDING EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY

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Advise employers on the dynamics of labour demand, and the need to
strengthen VET curricula, and facilitate instruction, knowledge and skills
acquisition and assessment, supported by technology-enhanced learning

At this initial level of engagement, VET providers and employers are starting a
new relationship. VET providers initiate contact with employers to understand
their hiring or training needs, competences required for specific jobs, and the
dynamics of labour market supply and demand. The aim is to strengthen VET
programmes, ensuring proper instruction and relevant skills acquisition, but also
call employers to advise on, loan or even donate resources (e.g., technology) to
support hands-on learning.

The employers’ consultation can take the form of interviews or surveys of
businesses in a sector or region; or direct contacts with individual businesses.
More formally, employers can be invited to participate in strategic meetings or
be represented on advisory boards of VET programmes. By involving a group of
employers, VET providers can obtain an industry-wide perspective and generate
tacit knowledge that may not emerge from bilateral contacts, as employers can

engage and share with each other. Continuous relationships with employers
help to fine-tune or adapt VET curricula or learning pathways designed to
current labour market conditions.

In this way VET providers not only collect key information that complements the
labour market data from public or private studies, as well as they can advise
employers on these “real time” sources of aid, and thus help them to better
understand regional and sectoral issues. Presenting findings to employers not

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