Education
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Articles on the role of education in the work environment.
Language training boosts self-confidence for Norway's Coke staff
(May 10, 2011) Coca-Cola Enterprises Norway started a successful language training programme in the workplace after a visit to another food and drinks company - the dairy group Tine.
Norwegian food industries offer in-house language courses
(May 10, 2011) Knowing a country's language is important to get a job. But language is also getting more and more important in order to hold on to that job as new technology is introduced, employers demand written documentation and linguistic skills become an increasingly important part of the daily tasks at work.
Free workplace language training in Denmark
(May 10, 2011) All foreigners with permanent residency in Denmark are entitled to Danish language lessons. Many language courses are held in the workplace, and businesses see the benefits of in-house language training.
English - Denmark's future professional language
(May 10, 2011) To get a job in Denmark you must learn Danish, but in the long term both private and public employers must accept English as the professional language, says Foreningen Nydansker (the association for the integration of immigrants into the Danish labour market), which represents 130 small and larger Danish businesses.
Job-related Swedish language training boosts employment
(May 10, 2011) Several larger municipalities in Sweden are making Swedish lessons for immigrants more and more targeted to the labour market. Language lessons are mixed with practical learning and the language taught is tailored to specific occupations. Örebro municipality west of Stockholm represents one example where vocational education is mixed with language lessons and where there is strong cooperation between the municipality, businesses and the employment service.
Finland demands strong language skills
(May 10, 2011) Finnish can be a difficult language to learn. Many immigrants have found out the hard way. To get a job you need very good spoken and written Finnish. It is crucial to invest in language skills in order to fully take part in Finnish society.
Soft skills needed for the new White and Green jobs
(Dec 06, 2010) The EU Commission has presented a new agenda for new skills and jobs. During the economic crisis there are still two kinds of jobs that are in extra demand – the white and the green ones.
Hillevi Engström: more social responsibility needed in working life
(Nov 24, 2010) Once the leading star of Swedish Police, Hillevi Engström is now in charge of whipping working life into line. She wants to use her role as Minister for Employment to challenge businesses to take social responsibility. In return she offers economical incentives and an improved education system.
Red cabinet member - impatient in the long run
(Jun 30, 2010) Audun Lysbakken swears that it is he - and not the media - who will set the agenda for his ministry's work. That means working on long-term, preventative measures to avoid people becoming social outsiders - results of which will not show up on statistics for another 10 to 15 years.
Labour ministers up the fight to prevent a lost generation
(Nov 26, 2009) How do you fight youth unemployment? That was the theme when Nordic labour ministers met in Reykjavik in November. One in five European youths is unemployed. There is fear of a lost generation. The Nordic countries focus on education and help on an individual level to help young people into working life.
Tailored and targeted measures to help young Danes
(Oct 26, 2009) Denmark is launching a tailored and targeted drive for 15 to 17 year-olds to get them into education or work. The Danish government plans to spend 1.25 billion Kroner (€170 million) over three years to see the plan through. But the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions says a threat to cut youth benefits is a slap in the face of the weakest families.
Making new welfare policy in the US
(Jun 01, 2008) Can conditional cash payments help your kids stay in school or do well on tests or help families beat the poverty trap? It was proven successful in Mexico, New York City is testing it now, and Britain's Gordon Brown is watching closely to see if there is something to learn.
Chasing nurses and sailors - Norway's ethical dilemma of importing workers
(May 01, 2007) The lack of skilled workers is a big problem in Norway, where unemployment has fallen to less than two percent. Healthcare and shipping might seem like very different sectors, yet both are trying to attract foreign workers.
Border-less learning
(Oct 01, 2006) "Adult learning is a priority." The words of Norwegian deputy minister Åge Rosnes in June this year, when opening the conference "Quality adult learning. A challenge for the Nordic welfare model?" The conference was one of many events which form part of "The Nordic Network for Adult Learning" (NVL). It begun in January 2005 as an initiative by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It's task is to develop adult learning.
Packing your bags is hard to do
(Mar 01, 2006) Two nights a week, over twenty foreigners like me gather in a classroom at an Oslo language school, determined to improve our faltering Norwegian.
A Nordic strategy for maintaining a supply of labour?
(Jan 01, 2001) As with the rest of Europe, the labour force in the Nordic countries will change in the future. There is a great risk of a future lack of manpower. Therefore, during the autumn, discussions will start between politicians and the social partners in the Nordic countries regarding future manpower requirements. The challenge is to find strategies that cover future manpower needs, without renouncing fundamental value systems.
