Labour Ministry Launches Educational and Retraining Project Worth €42 million(2)

Bratislava, March 19 (TASR) - The Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry presented a new project aimed at educational and retraining courses for the unemployed on Tuesday. The programme, called 'Labour Market Skills' and costing €42 million, will be financed from the European Social Fund (ESF) and should help some 40,000 people, Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) told a news conference. "The principle is very simple. Job applicants will come to a job centre, choose an educational or retraining course, and the job centre will fully reimburse them for it," said Tomas, adding that this will also apply to employees who have to or want to change their current job. Upon finishing the course, the participant must receive a certificate. Tomas pointed to a fundamental change when compared to the past, when similar programmes were often misused, training many people for various professions and industries that weren't needed. In line with the new rules, the level of demand for professions in individual regions will be updated quarterly by the Alliance of Sectoral Councils. Courses can be organised by private educational agencies and state institutions, i.e. secondary schools and universities. The only condition is that such educational organisations must have been on the labour market for at least one year. In addition to this project, the ministry is preparing a special educational and retraining programme for industry worth some €40 million, said Tomas. It's related to Volvo's investment in eastern Slovakia and should prepare 25,000 people for industry. ko/df