Vocational Education and Training (VET) - Policy and practice in the field of special needs education

The aim of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) project is to identify and investigate the relevant key aspects of vocational education and training programmes for students with SEN with a clear link to employment opportunities: “what works” and “why” in VET for students with SEN.

The project kick-off meeting took place on the 4-6 of February in Brussels with the participation of 46 nominated experts from 26 participating countries: Austria, Belgium (both communities), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK (England, Northern Ireland, Wales).

The meeting comprised plenary and working group sessions. In the panel of the opening plenary session, representatives from the Directorate General Employment (European Commission), the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the International Labour organisation (ILO), debated key aspects of VET, reflecting upon European and International perspectives.

In the six working group sessions, the nominated experts have reflected, discussed and provided some elaborated responses to a number of questions related to the procedure and the methodology for the project analysis.

After the official approval of the country representatives, the organisation of the country practical analysis will be scheduled to take place from June 2010 till the end of 2011.

More information on the project will be posted on this news section, when it becomes available.