OECD Skills Strategy Implementation Guidance for Flanders, Belgium

Annex A. The OECD Skills Strategy Flanders: Assessment and Recommendation project

The National Skills Strategy (NSS) Flanders project was published in 2019 and launched during the high‑level Skills Strategy Seminar in Brussels in January 2018 with the Flemish Minister and representatives from the Department of Work, Economy, Innovation and Sports; the Department of Education; the Social Economic Council; and the European Commission.

Throughout the project, two workshops were held in May and September 2018 to provide input and shape the recommendations featured in this report. The workshops convened a wide range of stakeholders, including unions, employers, sectoral training providers, education institutions, academics and government representatives. Bilateral meetings with stakeholders and experts, as well as site visits, also took place.

Five priorities were selected by the OECD and the Flemish Government, with analysis and recommendations for each area (see overview in Table A A.1).

Table A A.1. Overview of priority areas and recommendations

Priority area	Recommendations
1) Developing a learning culture	1. Raise awareness of the importance of adult learning. 2. Embed adult learning within a lifelong development approach. 3. Make adult education more accessible and relevant. 4. Transform adult learning providers into learning organisations. 5. Enlarge the accessible course offerings for adult learners in higher education. 6. Expand work-based learning in university colleges, universities and adult education. 7. Establish a co-operation network to identify and disseminate best practices in stimulating a learning culture in the workplace.
2) Reducing skills imbalances	8. Provide individuals with a balanced portfolio of skills. 9. Make the education system more responsive to changing skills demand. 10. Support assessments of skills needs and skills forecast exercises. 11. Create bridges between learning and career development support. 12. Raise awareness about skills validation (Erkennen Van Competenties, EVC) among employers and potential users. 13. Mobilise sectoral training funds to address skills shortages. 14. Prioritise training in skills in high demand for jobseekers, particularly those at risk of long-term unemployment.
3) Strengthening skills use in workplaces	15. Raise awareness of the importance of skills use in the workplace. 16. Examine incentives to employers to re-shape their workplace and encourage more management training, especially among SMEs. 17. Promote flexible career mobility opportunities (e.g. upward, sideward and downward) within sectors and firms. 18. Examine company working conditions and human resource practices to help fill job vacancies and address potential skills shortages.
4) Strengthening the governance of adult learning	19. Establish a comprehensive and concrete vision for adult learning. 20. Promote coherence and complementarity between levels of government in adult learning. 21. Support local community organisations to foster, host and co-ordinate local networks of stakeholders that work to improve adult learning. 22. Establish a common knowledge and evidence base.
5) Improving the financing of adult learning	23. Group all existing training incentives into a single learning account. 24. Expand programmes to reach out to marginalised groups with information, advice and guidance about training. 25. Explore options for financially supporting transitions from job to job or from one employment status to another. 26. Ensure that training incentives support flexible modes of training delivery.

Source: OECD (2019[1]), OECD Skills Strategy Flanders: Assessment and Recommendations, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264309791-en.

Reference

[1] OECD (2019), OECD Skills Strategy Flanders: Assessment and Recommendations, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264309791-en.