10.8 Current debates and reforms
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Forthcoming policy developments
The national framework on non-formal education of children and young people is being revised, so that more areas than open youth work at local level are covered. The implementation of the 2017 law on Secondary Education (loi du 29 août 2017 portant sur l'enseignement secondaire), by which social pedagogic services were introduced in secondary school, is ongoing. Based on the initial experiences, further developments, on how youth work can be implemented in schools and which resources are required, are under discussion in the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth which is in charge of the implementation.
The Ministry of Education, Children and Youth has introduced a new training scheme. From 2022 onwards, a nationally coordinated and expanded range of further training courses will be offered in partnership with further training agencies. It will be free of charge for both participants and employers.
The priority areas of the final declaration, titled 'Signposts for the Future' of the 3rd European Youth Work Convention (EYWC), will be implemented. The declaration defines joint activities for the Bonn Process, at the local, regional, national or European level and formulates recommendations for objectives, areas of work and concrete actions in the field of youth work.
The next Youth Report and National Action Plan on Youth Policy will deal with the topic of digitalisation and the associated opportunities and risks for young people.
Ongoing debates
A current discussion revolves around the question of which tasks can be carried out by youth work and where the boundaries to social work lie. In many municipalities, traditional youth work is increasingly taking over projects in the field of street work, which is aimed at young people who are very disadvantaged and who need support with a wide range of problems. It is discussed whether this is the task of youth work as defined by the law and the national framework, and whether the current resources and context of youth work are sufficient for these tasks.