The Recommendation on Tracking Graduates was adopted by the Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council, of 20-21 November 2017. It will be paramount to ensure that the skills that graduates are expected to have are in agreement with the needs of the economy and labour market, and to promote excellence in skills development, in line with the News Skills Agenda for Europe and the Renewed EU Agenda for Higher Education.
The Council calls upon Member States to improve the availability and quality of data about the activities of graduates (including those of vocational education and training), making progress by 2020 on the establishment of graduate tracking systems. They are also encouraged to take part in a network of experts, which encourages cooperation and mutual learning among Member States regarding tracking systems and their further development, to be organised in line with existing governance structures for cooperation within the Education and Training 2020 framework.
The recommendations made to the Commission include developing the pilot phase of a European graduate survey in tertiary education, establishing and supporting the network of experts, and supporting the use of European sources of funding. The Commission has already launched a public tender for the development and implementation of the survey, and has invited the Member States to express their willingness to participate in the survey and/or join the network of experts. Should the pilot phase prove successful, a full roll-out of a European graduate survey will be considered.
Full text of the Recommendation: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32017H1209(01)
