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Democratic values, including respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, play a fundamental role in guiding democratic societies. In addition to preparing young people for employment, VET institutions must continue to reinforce the democratic values and skills students need to become active citizens.

Supporting citizenship education in VET through policy

Social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development are integral parts of high-quality vocational education and training, according to the 2020 Council Recommendation on .

In April 2024, the ran a peer-learning activity which focused on quality assurance for democratic citizenship education in VET. VET stakeholders discussed national and EU initiatives that address the quality of democratic citizenship education in VET, challenges in reaching learning objectives and potential solutions.

EU Member States have put several initiatives in place. Finland has adapted its VET system to foster inclusion and democratic involvement: the Finnish National Agency for Education supports initiatives that include civic education in VET programmes to motivate students to participate in community service and local government as part of their required training.

In the Netherlands, the government’s was implemented from 2017 and reaffirmed in 2023 to strengthen citizenship education as part of vocational education. Additionally, the Dutch citizenship knowledge centre for VET (Kennispunt MBO Burgerschap) supports vocational schools by providing information, teaching materials, training, citizenship advisors, and more. They have recently published guidelines on ‘’.

Projects that build citizenship

Erasmus+ projects can play an important role in reinforcing citizenship education in VET. For example, the aims to improve the comprehension and teaching of EU citizenship among VET teachers and students. The project, which runs until 2026, will develop methodologies for teaching EU-related subjects, support teachers’ skill development, and develop European citizenship awareness for VET teachers and students, to show them the impact the EU has on citizens’ daily lives.

The empowers young VET learners and raises awareness among VET teachers, institutions and companies. It has developed reports, training and interactive tools to develop students’ democratic thinking, participation and awareness of discrimination to strengthen common values in society.