National Model Chart


PARAMETERS

Romania Spain Italy Greece
Governance and coordination Postponed or no feedback offered to thematic reports in the field, having as consequences the lack of primary data and reccomendations.
Lack of coordination across sectors, coordination lying at the local and field level.
(Legea Educației Naționale nr. 1/2011. Art. 350)/ Education Act Definition of guidance and counselling types of activities
Framework methodology regarding the Lifelong Guidance and Counselling approved by both Ministry of Education (Regulation 4469/2012) and Ministry of Labour (Regulation 1804/2012)
Ordin 3070, 14.01.2015 Modificarea Metodologiei-cadru privind organizarea şi funcţionarea centrelor de consiliere şi orientare în carieră în sistemul de învăţământ superior
In Spain, there is a decentralization of the guidance system where traditionally two guidance subsystems coexist: one within the field of education and the other in employment. There is a variety of actors involved including educational administrations, schools, regional administrations, local governments and other institutions. Social and Youth services also play a role in guidance activities and need to be incorporated into coordinating bodies. The new guidance system (National Guidelines for Lifelong Guidance, 2013) should guarantee access to quality services for all citizens throughout the whole of life. The system is based on the role of Regions that should promote a territorial coordination to allocate resources and to provide technical assistance to all local actors (schools, employment centers, training institutions, guidance centers of the universities).
This coordination role, played at local level by the Regions, will ensure support to local guidance systems and the level of quality of guidance provision for all citizens. At the national level there is also a Commission on Guidance within the Conference of Regions and it includes also technicians and representatives from different institutions (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Regions).

In Greece the responsibility for administering career guidance services in the fields of education and employment lies with the Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Labour, Social Security & Welfare, through the activities of EOPPEP. EOPPEP is the National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance, an all‐encompassing statutory body investing on better quality and more efficient & reliable lifelong learning services in Greece. EOPPEP operates under the supervision of the Minister of Education.

Accessibility and awareness of services

Good media campains concerning counselling services.
Remus Pricopie, Valeiu Frunzaru, Nicoleta Corbu, Loredana Ivan, Alina Bârgăoanu, Acces și echitate în învățământul superior din România – Dialog cu elevii și studenții, editura Comunicare.ro, 2011
Many services use new technologies to disseminate their services and to reach certain target groups, especially young people. The accessibility to career guidance service is ensured by the public employment services. Schools, guidance centers and other local services provides mostly information. National web portals on career guidance are not yet available.  
 Methodologies of provision Few initiatives for encouraging approaches which allows best customized to individual’s needs
ICT tools are present, but rarely used. In order for them to be more widely used, teachers and counsellors need training and supervision.
There are a variety of projects and initiatives customized to the characterisitcs of certain target groups, including early school leavers. Disorientation, early school leaving and high rates of youth unemployment represent serious problems in Italy and they press institutions to provide dedicated services.
The Ministry of Education has issued national guidelines to all schools for improving guidance activities for all students.
The Public Employment Services in each town provides career guidance to Early School Leavers and NEETs, following national quality standards.
In Greece the main projects that contribute to the reduction of early school leaving are those organised by the Universities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Thessaly and are addressed to children of the Roma, Pomaks and Muslim populations.
Measures to promote lifelong guidance and learning For the school counsellors in public schools, better ratio counsellor/ pupils for school would be greatly needed. This holds also for the counsellors in social services. For the local administrations, relationships with the schools and vocational training centres are key to reaching early school leavers or those at risk of early school leaving. Guidance is becoming a main strategy to support transition from education to work and to reduce Early School Leaving. Schools and Public Employment Centers are in charge of reducing early school leaving and promoting employment and training of young NEETs. All school must offer work experiences to all students (16-19) and a new vocational system (Dual System) is going to be implemented. Other programs and initiativesof interest are Second Chance Schools and the project School for Parents organised by the Ministry of Education and supports parents in their communication and encouragement of their children through the educational system.

Empowerment of choice and personal development

       
Competences and skills for practicioners The need to constantly update the practitioner’s competences and skills based on the vivid challenges of the Romanian society. Those that work in the field of guidance come from a variety of backgrounds. They are often psychologists, psycho-pedagogues or teachers/tutors. There is no standard and specific required training for guidance practitioners. Guidance services within Public Employment Service are provided by experts, by guidance practitioners and by companies as external providers. Career guidance at school is one of the main task of the school, but at the moment it is provided mostly by teachers. In Greece a guidance practitioner can be anyone with a bachelor degree on either education, social or financial sciences and further training in career guidance. Unfortunately, as there is no standardized qualification for professional career counselors, and various certificates are offered nationally by public and private sectors as well, there are a lot of people who provide guidance services.
Common framework and quality standards Lack of indicators to what is considered good work in the field.   Each Region has to promote the quality of the guidance services at local level. Some of the Regions have established a Technical Group for guidance, involving schools, employment offices, guidance centers of the universities and other local actors. Since 2014, there are national standards for ensuring the level of quality of the services provided by the Public Employment Service.

EOPPEP acts as the national coordination body and ensures the quality of guidance services.  It participates in the formulation of standards, rules and procedures for quality assurance consulting services and guidance under the National Quality Framework for Lifelong learning.

Evaluation of performance and effectiveness

National system of quality assurance in schools includes indicators concerning counselling services in schools. Practitioners and stakeholders recognise the need to improve evaluation systems of services. They also lament the lack of available data about Early School Leaving in order to evaluate  and plan their local initiatives. Monitoring and evaluation of career guidance service are activities strongly connected with the procedures and the deadlines for the evaluation of the ESF programmes. In Greece, there is not an evaluation system for services within the public sector. On the other hand, in the private sector, evaluation includes questionnaires given to the clients (students, parents, unemployed, employers) at the end of the program, where they reflect on thier experience with the methodology, tools used, the counsellor and the benefit, as well as proposals for improvement.