What Are Social Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training?

What Are Social Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training?

Social partnerships are forms of collaboration where social partners work with VET actors at the national, regional or local level to constantly improve the alignment between VET and the skills needs in the labour market. To this end, they engage in and contribute to dialogue on VET policy and provision. The social partners are organisations that represent the interests of employers or employees. They include trade unions and employer federations, as well as chambers of commerce and business associations which represent the interests of their members in specific sectors or regions. The partnerships themselves are often tripartite in nature. They not only involve social partners and VET institutions, but actors from government and public administration at the national or sub-national level with an interest in issues such as local growth, job-creation or entrepreneurial development.

The ETF has developed a range of tools to help partner countries understand the need for social partnerships. These include a position paper which explains the importance of cooperation with social partners in the design, delivery and financing of VET services. In addition, the policy brief summarises who the social partners are, why they need to be involved in VET, what form their involvement should take, and what decision makers can do to improve their participation.

Browse VET Governance Toolkit/SOCIAL PARTNERSHIPS: https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/content/area-5-social-partnership