Developing and sustaining partnerships and networks
Although no formal lines of cooperation have been established, work on GOAL to date suggests that non-formal cooperation between the regional guidance centre and the Labour Office branch in Olomouc is proving effective. The Labour Office is the main partner in client acquisition for the GOAL project. Partners do not consider lack of formal cooperation to be a barrier. One counsellor however stated that if it is in the state´s interest to set the system and provide high quality career guidance.
Implications for future programme development
The process of establishing regional career guidance centres from scratch is very time demanding. In the event of a future project, GOAL project team will probably recommend to put more emphasis on PR activities, administration, organisational issues and development of partnerships in the pre-programme stage. Career guidance counsellors should be focused mostly on quality of guidance process in the future and not on these activities, which have been very time consuming for them.
Policy implications
Implications of policy
The inability of GOAL to establish cooperation with prisons highlights the importance of understanding and meshing with the broader policy landscape, in terms of delivery of guidance services to GOAL’s target groups. In order to maintain cooperation with stakeholders that have been established within the GOAL project at the highest possible level, the funding of these services needs to be clarified but this issue requires broader and complex discussion at the national level.
Implications for policy
Amongst policymakers, GOAL is considered as a significant step to the integrated system of career guidance. According to qualitative survey, clients were regularly informed about educational possibilities during the process. The educational system offers a variety of options to support the target group such as ability to return to formal education, retraining courses, validation and recognition of prior learning etc. Clients were informed about the educational possibilities within the Act No. 179/2006 Coll.); according to quantitative findings (WAVE 1), none of these clients was previously aware of the system! Steps should be taken to raise awareness about this system between all relevant stakeholders involved in career guidance process. According to qualitative interviews with staff members, policymakers should decide whether the state wants to establish this service or not (clear message) and if yes, then it is important to determine funding, scope of the services provided within the career guidance and which institution should be responsible for these services (broaden awareness of career guidance to the general public, for example through appropriate promotional activities, tools and campaigns).
