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1. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period 1998-2003, which essentially includes the response of the Federal Council, of 9 April 2003, to a question from a parliamentarian, on 20 March 1996, with a view to the introduction of a right to further training for workers in Switzerland. The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (USS), in its opinion on the Government’s report concerning the application of Convention No. 142, observes that it is the view of the Government that it is not necessary to introduce a right to further training in federal legislation, considering that further training is a matter for individuals and not the community. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics contained in the response of the Federal Council relating to further training in labour law, training continued to stagnate during the 1990s. According to the Federal Statistical Office, four criteria are characteristic of persons who undertake most further training for professional purposes: they are persons with a high level of training; they are active persons in employment; they are of Swiss German origin; and are men rather than women. Moreover, it is principally persons who already have good training and high skills levels who benefit the most from further training. This selective policy by enterprises appears to have particularly negative effects on women workers, who are over-represented in the lowest occupational categories. The Committee also notes that collective labour agreements, whether or not they have been extended, cover only 50 per cent of employees in Switzerland and that a significant proportion of workers are probably not covered by any applicable legal arrangements relating to their right to further training and the arrangements for exercising that right, as these arrangements may be determined in individual employment contracts.

2. The Committee recalls that Article 1 of the Convention requires the adoption and development of "comprehensive and coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training, closely linked with employment, in particular through public employment services". The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that it is aware of the importance of further training in the implementation of a "lifelong learning" strategy, as well as the problems related to inequality of access to further training for vocational purposes. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it develops comprehensive and coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training: the manner in which effective dialogue is ensured in this context; and the manner in which these programmes are linked with employment and public employment services (Article 1, paragraphs 1 to 4). It also requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it is ensured that employers’ and workers’ organizations cooperate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training (Article 5).

3. In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which these policies and programmes encourage and enable all persons, on an equal basis and without any discrimination whatsoever, to develop and use their capabilities for work in their own best interests and in accordance with their own aspirations (account being taken of the needs of society) (Article 1, paragraph 5).

4. Finally, the Committee hopes that the Government will indicate the measures adopted to extend vocational training systems to cover areas of economic activity which are not yet covered and with a view to ensuring that such systems remain adapted to the needs of individuals throughout their lives (Article 4).

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2004.]