SERVICE QUALITY
Implementation and aims
Establishing the cooperation with suitable partners has been one of the most important activities and conditions for successful implementation of the project in the Czech Republic. According to staff members and partners, this cooperation is currently at the very high level and if financial barriers will be overcome and solved, all relevant stakeholders would like to maintain this level of partnership. GOAL project team/NUV aimed to introduce career guidance as a new service provided by regional LLL centres. GOAL project team would like to mention that in terms of creating the cooperation with suitable partners and introducing career guidance as a new service provided by the LLL centres in both regions, our initial expectations were exceeded. Regarding the fact that GOAL project team were starting from the scratch, the main focus was on establishing the cooperation and introducing this service to the clients.
Strengths and achievements
Key strengths and achievements were: establishment of two regional career guidance centres in both regions; motivated staff having wide range of professional skills; development of intensive and mutually beneficial cooperation with labour offices and other relevant partners; and further professional development of the staff. Amongst policymakers, GOAL is considered as a significant step to the integrated system of the career guidance.
Challenges and barriers
Regional counsellors were not 100% focused on career guidance; they had to deal with administration, establishing the partnership networks in the regions, promotion, client, acquisition, reporting. They had to travel to clients – this was very time demanding for them.
Baseline and progress across GOAL’s five intervention strategies
The table below provides a brief evaluative summary of the quality of different aspects of the GOAL programme in the Czech Republic, comparing quality at the start of the evaluation (baseline) and at the end. In this table, evaluator provides numerical ratings for each of the five intervention areas, and an explanation of that rating for each category. These ratings and explanations are provided for the start of the evaluation and the end, with the aim of briefly summarising key issues and change over time. In addition to provide ratings and commentary for the five core GOAL intervention areas, evaluator also addresses overall service quality and policy interest/support. The latter is a key factor in determining future programme sustainability.