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1. The Committee notes the communication from the General Union of Workers (UGT), which was forwarded to the Government in December 2003. The UGT indicates that the Government is not paying sufficient attention to vocational guidance and training. In the view of the UGT, the educational system does not guarantee an adequate level of basic training for young persons compared to the educational levels of other countries in the European Union. Many measures are taken to promote recruitment, but very few unemployed persons take part in training measures. The services of the National Employment Institute lack effective resources to carry out real vocational guidance and training measures commensurate with the social and labour situation in Spain. The UGT points out that it has called for the resources devoted to active employment policy and training measures to be doubled so as to attain the average level of European effort devoted to programmes of employment promotion, vocational training, the hiring of the unemployed and the improvement of occupational situations.

2. The UGT emphasizes that immigrants are particularly affected by the situation. It states that it has requested the creation of specific departments for inter-cultural education and the removal of centres with a high concentration of immigrant students, to be replaced by the development of programmes emphasizing basic learning by students with difficulties.

3. The UGT also emphasizes that for the past eight years social dialogue between the social partners has been consolidated concerning continuing vocational training, which has been positive for enterprises and workers, who are in agreement that the process should be continued. The number of workers covered by the various training measures in the context of training agreements has risen from 294,000 in 1993 to over 1,450,000 in 2000.

4. Taking into account the comments of the UGT and the fact that it will also be examining the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), at its session in 2005, the Committee asks the Government to provide a report including up-to-date information on the manner in which it is ensured that vocational guidance and training systems cover the continuing learning and vocational training needs of persons with specific needs and in all sectors of the economy. In this respect, the Government may consider it useful to refer to the provisions of Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195).

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to these comments in 2005.]