06.12.2014

Human resource development is one of the key requirements for competitiveness of companies and of the whole economy. Putting the right people in the right positions and enabling their further development is particularly important. It is therefore necessary not only to educate people, but also to develop tools for human resource development on company, regional and national levels, and to develop systems which support initial and continuing education.

Cooperation among educators, employers and the state is necessary for creating a flexible, effective and trustworthy system to allow people to acquire qualifications which they can then use in the labour market.

The development of the NSK takes place through the creation of partial qualifications by sector councils, in which employers and other actors in particular sectors. The sector councils monitor the coverage of their sectors by vocational qualifications and propose, with reference to the National System of Occupations and the needs of the labour market, new vocational qualifications as needed.

They cooperate with experts in the field to monitor the labour market and identify trends. They exchange information on the needs of the sector, particularly in the area of human resources,  actively support education and the development of professional skills in their sectors, propose new qualifications and their assessment standards. They communicate with state and educational institutions. One of the principal aims of the sector councils is the creation of sector agreements – see Appendix V, Sector Agreements - and their subsequent implementation.

Sector councils provide an important platform for the exchange of information and viewpoints among all relevant actors in the labour market. The state and stakeholders in the labour market gain detailed information and employers have the opportunity to influence education policy and recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning.

Coordinators of the Coordinating Council monitors steer the activities of the sectors councils (SC). The activities of individual sector councils may vary according to the needs of individual sectors, contracts and projects in which the councils participate. Nevertheless, they must comply with common rules set in the methodological and organizational document Sector Councils Model. Sector councils’ activities are regularly evaluated on the basis of pre-defined parameters set in Excellence of Sector Councils.

Sector councils working groups are created for specific clearly defined tasks. Members of working groups are mostly external experts in the given field. Further details on the activities of SC are given in Appendix VI.

More and more companies and other labour market involved in the labour market understand the advantages and benefits of participating in sector councils. While the first council sector in the Czech Republic was established in 2005, currently there are a total of 29 sector councils covering the needs of most sectors. The list of these sector councils can be found in Appendix VII, Sector Councils as in 2012. The councils and their working groups involve more then 1 600 participants.