In the presence of the PtD, the Environment Department, General Directors of Ministries and the social partners, the Minister Labor gave on Friday to the Presidential Palace details of the action plan
The Government's action plan for the European Year of Skills lays a solid foundation for upgrading the skills of our country's human resources, the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis said on Friday, with the Minister of Labor Yiannis Panagiotou saying for his part that the goal is all human potential to enter productive work.
In the presence of the President of the Republic, the Commissioner for the Environment, General Directors of Ministries and the social partners, the Minister of Labor gave on Friday at the Presidential Palace details of the action plan, which was recently approved by the Council of Ministers.
The project entitled “Modern Professional Development for the Green and Digital Transition” aims to involve 100,000 people with the aim of staffing the labor market with modern professionals for the development of the economy and the cohesion of society.
The budget will be drawn from the THALEIA program, from HRD programs and from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
In the presentation, the Minister of Labor Yiannis Panagiotou characteristically referred to the phrase that “the culture eats the strategy for breakfast” noting that the culture must be changed so that as many citizens as possible benefit for the benefit in the end of the economy.
He also said that the development of the human resources of our country is the top priority of the Government.
Greetings were addressed by President Christodoulidis and the deputy head of the Commission's delegation in Cyprus, Nicolas Issaris.
The Director General of the Human Rights Council of Greece, Giannis Mourouzidis, answered questions from both the President himself and the social partners. It should be noted that the HRD is the national coordinator for the implementation of the year of skills which officially started on May 9 and will last until May 2024.
The actions of the Ministry of Education plan will be implemented by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy and the Office of the Commissioner for the Environment.
The plan, objectives, participants, training and certificates of attendance
Minister of Labor Yannis Panagiotou, presenting the program, said that the objective is all human resources to enter productive work.
He asked for the cooperation of all, social partners and agencies, businesses, employers and the media, saying that there will be coordination of actions with the Ministry of the Interior, the Deputy Ministry of Research and the office of the Environment Commissioner.
“We will go everywhere, we will visit all workplaces, we will be outside and not in our offices”, he said.
The plans include learning activities to upgrade knowledge, skills and work culture, upgrading political framework with social dialogue and institutionalizing procedures to improve the interconnection of education with the economy and strengthening the role of professional learning and developing international partnerships to exploit expertise , exchange of expertise with the EU and international organisations, as well as bilateral agreements.
The tripartite goals include developing a modern professional culture, providing socially targeted professional learning and promoting professional specialization and certification.
He said that we cannot all be experts in everything and we cannot we want to have experts on the general.
Participants will be employed and unemployed, pupils and students, national guards, socially vulnerable groups, people out of education and training aged 15 to 29, people over 55, women out of work and people with disabilities, and current and future Green professionals and Digital Economy, Construction Industry, Hospitality, Retail Trade (Photovoltaic Technician, Builder, Hybrid/Technical Vehicle Technician, Central Heating Technician, Air Conditioning/Refrigeration Technician, Salesperson, App Developer, Banker, Secure Access Certification).
The objectives will be achieved through informative seminars, learning workshops and e-learning.
The Director General of the Human Resources and Social Development Agency, Yiannis Mourouzidis, explained that depending on the group that will be specialized and depending on the subject, training will take place from 80 to 150 hours (25 hours of training per week) and will be followed by a duration evaluation by experts from 6 to 15 hours for participants to secure a certificate of attendance.
The new actions from the THALEA program have a budget of 1.4 million, the actions of the Human Rights Council 1.2 million and the existing actions have a cost of 15 million with a budget drawn from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
PtD: The plan lays a solid foundation for upgrading the skills of our country's human resources
In his greeting, President Christodoulidis reiterated that the Government is working for a human-centered development model, with the aim of expanding the productive base of the economy and better utilizing human potential, which is our most important wealth.
He said that investment in human resources is a necessary condition in a rapidly evolving international economic environment, which urgently requires the enhancement of adaptability and innovation, with a highly qualified workforce, equipped with the necessary skills and appropriate expertise.
The President said that the ever-evolving world of work requires us to embrace lifelong learning and the continuous upgrading of knowledge and skills and a culture of learning, innovation and continuous education must be fostered by inviting the social partners, the business world, the actors of society and also every fellow citizen, to work together to achieve this goal.
Commission: The shift to skills is the only way
The deputy head of the Commission's delegation in Cyprus, Nicolas Isaris, said that based on data, more than three quarters of companies in the EU report that they face difficulties in finding workers with the necessary skills, while only 37% of adults attend training programs on a regular basis.
Mr. Isaris said that we need to realize that with the rapid changes that are taking place with the digital and green transition, we will have an ever-increasing need for people who can manage these new realities and we will not be able to do it without a workforce and without people to manage the successive changes.
He said the Year of Skills would help create quality jobs by bridging skills gaps and mismatches and the digital divide in the EU and enabling the workforce to take full advantage of the opportunities of the digital and green transition.
It will also give new impetus to the social goals of the Europe 2030 strategy, according to which at least 60% of all adults should be in training and at least 78% should be in work .
The initiative, he continued, will also contribute to the so-called “Digital Compass 2030” targets according to which at least 80% of all adults must have basic digital skills, while at least 20 million IT specialists must be employed and Communications in the EU, with a satisfactory representation of women.
The European Commission will coordinate the activities of the European Year of Skills in synergy with national coordinators from each Member State and the relevant EU agencies, notably CEDEFOP, ENISA and ETF (European Training Foundation).
Mr. Isaris said that in order to make the right to skills a reality for citizens, investment in training and skills upgrading, matching workers' skills with employers' needs, harmonizing workers' aspirations and skills with employment opportunities and attracting qualified people from outside the EU to promote the digital and green transition.
He also said that in order to promote all these objectives the Commission will develop, among others , a European skills agenda, a record of all the skills that would be useful to each of us, to help people and businesses develop more and better skills and use them.
So far, he said, more than 700 organizations have joined the skills pact, committing to upskilling up to 6 million people.
The Commission also proposed a new European strategy for universities to ensure that their curricula help develop high-quality and future-proof skills, and that their students become creative and critical thinkers, problem-solvers and active and responsible citizens and created the European Digital Skills and Jobs Platform with information and resources on digital skills and training and funding opportunities.
It is important to mention that significant funding and technical support is available with the aim of supporting Member States' investments in upskilling and reskilling, including from the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the Digital Europe program (especially for the development of a skilled talent pool digital experts), the Horizon Europe program and Erasmus.
The Commission calls on employers to invest in the skills of their employees and promote a learning mindset within their organizations , but also to support the recognition of non-formal and informal learning and to encourage their employees to acquire new skills throughout their careers.
