Several major events on employment and education are being held this week in Cyprus, the country holding the EU Council Presidency. Cedefop is there, presenting its latest policy analysis and research findings.
- Meeting of the Directors-General for Vocational Training: Cedefop outlines trends in policy since 2010, the year of the Bruges Communiqué.
- Presidency Conference on Employment Priorities: Cedefop's research shows that, at the secondary and post-secondary level,  vocational graduates do better on the job market than graduates of general education.
- Lifelong Guidance conference and policy network meeting.
Meeting of the Directors-General for Vocational Training
The Directors General of Vocational Education and Training of the Member States, representatives of candidate countries and other VET stakeholders and social partners are expected to participate. The objective of the Meeting is to discuss and promote the Bruges Communiqué and more specifically vocational excellence and equity, which will be achieved through the modernisation of VET systems in Europe. During the second day, the Meeting will focus on the pathways between Vocational Education and Training and Higher Education, and vice versa.
Presidency Conference on Employment Priorities
The Presidency Conference on Employment Priorities takes place with the participation of members of the Employment Committee and of Public Employment Services, together with representatives of Social Partners, educational training institutions, other relevant to the Employment stakeholders and the Commission, and other European Institutions. The intended objectives of the conference, amongst other, are to review the problems and barriers in employment, to encourage the EU Member States to initiate strategic activities in employment, and to establish proposals for directional operation policy. More specifically, the priority on Youth Employment which is the theme of the Conference, could include issues related to training opportunities like apprenticeships traineeships, working conditions as well as the matching of the qualifications and expectations of young persons with the needs of the economy and the needs of enterprises. This priority will be linked to the Youth Opportunities Initiative and the forthcoming Employment Package. There would also be an attempt to adopt council conclusions on the subject.
Lifelong Guidance conference and policy network meeting (ELGPN)
The main objective of this Conference is to examine the transversal role of Lifelong Guidance in meeting the Europe 2020 priorities. The conference seeks to enhance structured mutual policy learning between the EU Member States in developing their national guidance systems. The agenda covers selected national examples and European level syntheses of Lifelong Guidance Policies, Structures and Services as well as discussion on the Cyprus Resolution on Lifelong Guidance.

Blog Educpros de Pierre Dubois. Geneviève Fioraso s’est entretenue, hier jeudi 25 octobre 2012, avec Christian Pierret, maire de Saint-Dié des Vosges et président de la Fédération des maires des villes moyennes (FVM). Pas encore de communiqué à cette heure sur le site du Ministère. Selon Virginie Bertereau (EducPros), la Ministre aurait dit: “je crois beaucoup à la puissance des écosystèmes du territoire et à leur créativité”. Que veut-elle dire par là?
L’occasion de sa rencontre avec le maire socialiste: le lancement de la “Plateforme Enseignement supérieur en villes moyennes”. Communiqué de la FVM: “cette plateforme présente, pour la première fois, un panorama global des formations post-bac dans les villes centres de 20.000 à 100.000 habitants, répartis sur 264 sites d’enseignement supérieur de proximité. Elle a pour objectif d’améliorer la lisibilité de l’enseignement supérieur dans ces villes, ce qui permettra de faciliter l’orientation des jeunes, tout en leur donnant accès à de nombreuses informations sur le cadre de vie (logement, services, etc.) ainsi que sur l’actualité des formations post-bac”.
Le MESR apportera-t-il un soutien financier à ce qui ressemble fort à une opération de lobbying des villes moyennes? J’espère que non! La plateforme de la FVM, c’est n’importe nawak!
1. Il faut d’abord rappeler que les villes et les intercommunalités n’ont pas, dans le cadre actuel de la décentralisation, de compétences en matière d’enseignement supérieur.
2. La plate-forme va à contre-courant de l’objectif affiché du guichet unique d’orientation, mission assignée à la Délégation interministérielle à l’orientation (DIO). Chronique “Guichet unique” et “subsidiarité“.
3. Le  portail FVM s’ajoute à ceux existants: la plateforme les cite, tout en oubliant le complet et incontournable Admission post-bac: les bacheliers qui souhaitent poursuivre des études supérieures doivent obligatoirement y recourir!
4. Amélioration de la lisibilité de l’offre de formation? De qui se moque-t-on? Les formations organisées dans les villes de moins de 20.000 habitants et de plus de 100.000 habitants ne sont pas, par construction, recensées. Le portail FVM est, dans la réalité, un site de désinformation.
Deux exemples suffiront pour convaincre. Formations post-bac identifiées dans les villes moyennes de l’Alsace à partir de la recherche géographique: Colmar, Haguenau, Sélestat. Qui peut croire que le lycéen, le bachelier alsacien qui veut s’informer se contentera des formations proposées? Second exemple, cette fois en Midi-Pyrénées: Figeac, 10.000 habitants environ, n’apparaît évidemment pas sur la carte et pourtant la ville possède un IUT de plein exercice (photo ci-dessus) et des lycées avec BTS!
5. Selon la FVM, “les villes moyennes sont le fer de lance d’un développement alternatif à la surconcentration autour des grandes agglomérations, garant de l’égal accès de tous aux formations supérieures”. La FVM veut-elle tuer les formations post-bac dans les villes de moins de 20.000 habitants? En Alsace, 24 villes accueillent des formations supérieures! Celles-ci ne sont pas localisées seulement à Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Sélestat, Colmar et Haguenau!
Le lecteur du blog sait parfaitement que je suis en faveur d’un enseignement supérieur de proximité pour le 1er cycle, grâce à la création d’Instituts d’enseignement supérieur (128 chroniques sur les IES). Ce n’est pas en créant une plateforme n’importe nawak pour les formations supérieures des villes moyennes qu’on résoudra sérieusement la question de l’offre de formation et de la carte des formations en région! La plateforme FVM est une tromperie pour les lycéens et leurs familles, et un gaspillage d’argent public.
Blog Educpros Pierre Dubois. Genevieve Fioraso met yesterday Thursday, October 25, 2012, with Christian Pierret, Mayor of Saint Die des Vosges and president of the Association of Mayors of towns (FVM). Not yet communicated this time on the Department's website. According to Virginia Bertereau (EducPros), the Minister would have said: "I strongly believe in the power of ecosystem planning and creativity." What does she mean by that?
The occasion of his meeting with the socialist mayor: the launch of the "Higher Education Platform in medium-sized cities." Press the FVM: "This platform provides, for the first time, a comprehensive view of post-baccalaureate training in cities centers from 20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants spread over 264 sites of higher education nearby. It aims to improve the readability of higher education in these cities, which will facilitate the orientation of young people, giving them access to a wealth of information on the living (housing, services, etc..) as well as the news of post-bac". More...

By Katherine Mangan. Princeton and Stanford can rest easy now that Minnesota higher-education officials have backed away from threats to track down dozens of universities like them for offering free online courses in their state without permission.
On Friday, just hours after an administrator in the Minnesota Office of Higher Education said the state planned to demand registration and fees from universities that were offering the noncredit classes through the online course provider Coursera, the director of his office struck a more conciliatory tone. Technically, the dozens of universities offering courses through Coursera were violating a 20-year-old Minnesota law that requires universities to get permission from the state first, the director, Lawrence Pogemiller, said. But after his office’s tough stance prompted a flurry of complaints and critical blog posts, Mr. Pogemiller said, essentially, Never mind.

By Michael Chessum. The £1bn funding gap that universities face is not an accounting error – it is a calculated attempt to marketise higher education
The Higher Education Policy Institute has announced that the university sector faces a huge funding gap, which will necessitate cuts to student numbers and hikes in loan repayments. For those who have spent the last two years mobilising against fees and privatisation in education, this announcement will not be a revelation – and it is no longer enough to remark, as many commentators have done, that the government has "got its sums wrong". In reality, the £1bn gap in funding that universities now face is part of a broader, and calculated, policy to shrink higher education through a process of chaotic marketisation.