Transitioning jobseekers with short-term education into regular education – mission, activities and governance
(RiR 2024:3)
Summary
People who do not have a complete upper secondary education constitute a group that has difficulty in obtaining and keeping a job. They are over-represented among jobseekers registered with the Swedish Public Employment Service, and especially among the long-term unemployed. Since 2017, the Government has been steering towards getting jobseekers with short education who need an education to transition into studies within municipal adult education or at folk high schools, that is, regular education.
It is the assessment of the Swedish National Audit Office (NAO) that the Government’s objective to increase the transition of jobseekers with short-term education into, and participation in, regular education has only partially been fulfilled. This is due to shortcomings in both the work of the Swedish Public Employment Service and the governance of the Government.
Where the Swedish Public Employment Service is concerned, the Swedish NAO has found shortcomings particularly in terms of how the agency uses the tool for referring people to apply for regular education. In particular, there are shortcomings in the control and monitoring of referred individuals.
The governance of the Government has been unclear. This is the case, for example, for governance in the appropriation directions aimed at increasing the number of jobseekers transitioning into regular education. The audit also shows that the regulations concerning the individual’s means of subsistence during regular studies are complex on the whole.
It is also the assessment of the Swedish NAO that the Government’s initiatives to increase the number of study places within adult education have not sufficiently targeted people with a very limited educational background and deficient Swedish language skills. It has therefore been particularly difficult to work towards more transitions into regular education within that group.
The Government’s objective to increase transitions into regular education means that labour market policy is clearly linked to education policy. For this to work, well-functioning collaboration between the Swedish Public Employment Service and the municipalities and other education providers is required. The Swedish NAO’s assessment is that the Swedish Public Employment Service’s collaboration with municipalities has been inadequate, but that collaboration has gradually improved in recent years.
Transitions into regular education increased initially during the audited period
The Swedish NAO notes that the proportion of people transitioning into regular education increased among those enrolled in the Job and Development Guarantee scheme between 2017 and 2019. This indicates that the efforts and initiatives implemented early in the period helped increase transition. When the Government commissioned the Swedish Public Employment Service to use a referral process to get jobseekers to apply for regular education in 2020, no further increase in transitions can be seen. It has not been possible to demonstrate the effects of the motivational initiatives or referral process in detail based on the available data. The COVID-19 pandemic also probably had an adverse impact on transitions. Transition increased mainly among the long-term unemployed enrolled in the Job and Development Guarantee scheme. This suggests that the Government’s initiatives mostly reached those who were long-term unemployed.
Shortcomings in the work on referrals, monitoring and control
The Swedish Public Employment Service’s efforts to refer more people to apply for regular education has not been sufficiently effective. Such efforts are flawed, for example, in that referrals are directed at people on whom sanctions cannot be imposed or who the municipalities deem incapable of acquiring a regular education. The Swedish Public Employment Service’s follow-up of whether a referred person goes on to actually apply for studies is also flawed.
The Government’s drive for education have not reached the entire target group
The Swedish NAO finds that there is sometimes no study option within regular education to capture those with very short education and deficient Swedish language skills. The Swedish NAO considers that the Government’s initiatives for regional vocational adult education at upper secondary level do not sufficiently target people with a very limited educational background and inadequate Swedish language skills.
Individuals’ subsistence during studies is complicated
According to the Swedish NAO’s assessment, the provisions that regulate subsistence during studies while unemployed are complicated. This makes it difficult for the individual to understand and plan how to finance a continuous period of regular studies.
Collaboration is key to obtaining a holistic view
The Government’s objective to increase transitions into regular education means that labour market policy is clearly linked to education policy. For this to work, well-functioning collaboration between the Swedish Public Employment Service and the municipalities and other education providers is required. The transition into regular education for people with short-term education has, at times, been given too little scope in the collaborative efforts of the Swedish Public Employment Service, according to the assessment of the Swedish NAO. Also, there is no system for an effective exchange of information between the Swedish Public Employment Service, municipalities and other actors within education, such as folk high schools. Since 2022, the Swedish Public Employment Service has reached new or revised agreements on cooperation with municipalities. The Swedish NAO’s assessment is that most of these are relevant to the efforts concerning participation in regular education by jobseekers with short-term education, albeit to a varying degree. However, it is too early to see the results of the new agreements.
Recommendations
On the basis of its audit, the Swedish NAO makes the following recommendations:
To the Government
- Review central government regulations and information-related responsibility regarding the means of subsistence for jobseekers with short-term education during regular studies, to make it easier to understand and use the possibilities afforded by the system.
To the Swedish Public Employment Service
- Strengthen follow-up and control of individuals who have been referred to apply for studies through, for example, more effective digital processing systems.
- Follow up to ensure that collaboration between municipalities and the Swedish Public Employment Service functions properly in terms of the transition from unemployment into regular education and ensure its stability over time.