Despite the fact that unemployment among people under 25 years, in February this year decreased in comparison to January, it still remains on a very high level - 26.9 percent. In the European Union as a whole this rate amounted to 22.9 percent. According to experts, the reasons for such a bad situation on the labour market can be seen, among others, in the low quality of internships and practices, discrepancy of competences and the lack of extended co-operation between business and education.
According to the European Union, the problem of unemployment can be solved by standarising and improving the quality of internships and practices in the member states. The way to achieve this is the implementation of the European Quality Framework for Traineeships. They include, among others, concluding written internship agreements, the regulation of teaching and training aims, working conditions applying to the trainees, reasonable duration of internship and appropriate recognition of the internship. The Council of Europe has decided that the implementation of the Framework is necessary, and the monitoring of this process is the responsibility of the European Commission.
How does the situation look like in Poland? Domestic employers also try to take some steps to improve the quality of internships and practices: Polish Association of Human Resources Management has launched the Polish Quality Framework for Traineeships. The aim of this project to bring business and education closer. Polish Quality Framework for Traineeships is the response to the appeal of the EU, urging to reduce the high unemployment rate among the young. To promote the ideas of the Framework, currently we implement the social campaign “Internship. Check before you go! " Its aim is to encourage employers to organise reliable internships and practices based on the Polish Quality Framework for Traineeships, and to encourage the young to make informed choices related to their career, commented Piotr Palikowski, the president of Polish Association of Human Resources Management.