Post-school vocational training initiatives for young adults in Greece: the case of IEKs (vocational training institutes)

Abstract

In 1992, the National System of Vocational Education Training (ESEEK) was established by law 2009/92 to enhance the training of the middle-echelon workforce in the context of competitiveness for economic growth within the single European market. The Organisation for Vocational Education Training (OEEK), a legal entity created by the same law, was charged with the establishment, organisation and operation of Vocational Training Institutes (IEKs). The report introducing the law refers to the incomplete technical and vocational training provided at Comprehensive Upper Secondary Schools (EPLs), Technical and Vocational Schools (TES) and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TEE) due to lack of modernisation. On the basis of this necessity, IEKs officially opened on 1st February 1993. In this article I look at the organisational structure of IEKs and their coherence with the formal education system and the labour market, the target groups and the types of training programmes and vocational opportunities, and the problems and future perspectives of an institution that ten years after its establishment has not yet been able to prove its market value.