EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Educational Push

Educational Push - Deventer, the Netherlands

Introduction

Deventer wants to increase the job opportunities of vulnerable groups through an integrated plan that focuses on educating these groups up to the level of a basic qualification.

Problem

How can Deventer make sure that groups with hardly any job opportunities are educated in a way that matches the needs of employers, and how can we prevent these groups from dropping out of school?

Description

In the labour market in the municipality Deventer there has been a lack of balance between demand and supply for some time now. Despite the current economic growth and the fact that many new jobs have been created, the municipality still has many vacancies that prove difficult to fill, while at the same time there are many citizens that are unable to find a job. Often, this is due to the fact that they lack the required qualifications.

Approach

From 2000 to 2004, various organisations within the Deventer municipality worked together to increase job opportunities for vulnerable groups. The target groups – drop-outs, job-seekers, and people with subsidised jobs or lowly-qualified people – have a shared characteristic, i.e. the fact that they generally have a level of education that does not match the wants and needs of employers. This is why Deventer opted for an integrated approach that focuses on educating these groups up to the level of a basic qualification.

The project was completed in the spring of 2004 with the issuing of a manual: Putting Education into Practice. The experience gained during this educational push has been implemented in the regular work processes and the collaboration with other partners will be continued in the Local Platform for Education and the Labour Market.

Results

The number of individuals with no basic qualification has dropped.
Of the total potential labour force, the percentage of people with no basic qualification has dropped from 42 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2002.
Methods for learning on-the-job.
System for reporting drop-outs. Through an almost foolproof system, the number of reported drop-outs has grown from 123 in the 1999 - 2000 school year, to 509 in the 2002 – 2003 school year.
The Manual Putting Education into Practice.
Local Platform for Education and the Labour Market. With various industrial sectors networks were formed of parties involved in the education of these vulnerable groups. This collaboration is followed up in the Local Platform for Education and the Labour Market.

Contact info

City of Deventer
Iko Kakes, tel. +31 57 0693956

Project start date

01/01/2000

Links

City of Deventer

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Keywords

Education