Social and Economic Council calls for individual entitlement to education

In a medium-term draft recommendation, issued in July 2006, the Social and Economic Council (SER) emphasises the importance of individual rights to education. The draft recommendation outlines how such rights should guarantee the possibility of lifelong education, thus increasing the employability of workers. This idea forms part of a government approach that is focused on activation measures aimed at facilitating employees in maintaining their employability in a rapidly changing knowledge economy. Although the social partners appear to be in agreement about this issue, the employers in return wish to achieve their long-held goal to increase the flexibility of dismissal rules – a measure that employee representatives in the SER are strongly opposed to.

Terms of proposal

In its medium-term recommendation, drafted in July 2006, the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER) – the main advisory body to the Dutch government and the parliament on national and international social and economic policy – emphasises the importance of individual rights to education. Accordingly, employees would no longer have to contribute to collective education schemes and funds, but would instead be given a personal budget for future training. This individual budget would be funded by three sources. The government would make a substantial contribution because of the importance of this social issue. Employees could also save for their training budget through the salary savings scheme or the life course scheme; the latter two schemes are both statutory arrangements that give each employee in the Netherlands the opportunity to save part of their gross salary, tax free, in order to finance a period of unpaid leave in the future. The government would thus have to double its subsidies. Furthermore, employers would also be required to make a contribution, which the government would subsidise accordingly. As a result, the employee could take money from their own individual fund for training programmes during the course of their career. According to the SER, the existing schemes should not be abolished, but rather expanded. It also argues in favour of more traineeships and learning/working projects and increased training options for employees.

Potential benefits

The proposed individual rights to education should, in turn, increase the options for lifelong learning, thus enhancing the employability of workers. This would give employees more flexible mobility in the labour market, enabling them to move from job to job rather than from job to social benefits. A key aim of the SER’s proposal is to prevent people from becoming dependent on benefits and to make employees more resilient and employable. Activating education measures would also increase the ability of companies to adapt and respond to challenges, which would also allow the Dutch economy to become more internationally competitive.

Moreover, the council highlights that as an open knowledge economy, the Netherlands cannot afford to allow for high levels of unemployment while the population is rapidly ageing. It sees its latest proposal as part of a broader programme in this next stage of the welfare state’s development. In the post-war period, the emphasis was on protection; the 1980s involved a period of austerity which included cutback measures in relation to benefits. The council now wants to shift the focus to a period of greater activation and participation, in which education and training could form an important pillar.

Views of social partners

Both the social partners and the members of the SER appointed by the Queen are in agreement over the issue of individual education rights. Employers, however, have set a price for the proposed investment in employees’ knowledge and skills aimed at increasing their employability. They want to make dismissal rules more flexible, thus realising a long-held priority. Employee representatives do not agree with the employers’ demand. It is nevertheless hoped that both sides will come together on the SER recommendation of individual rights to education. If the recommendation is to count politically, it must be unanimous; similarly, if it is to have any influence on the current cabinet or the ruling parties, then agreement must be reached rapidly.

Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)