This is the first document published on this site in Hungarian. It is the policy statement adopted by the National Lifelong Guidance Council in July 2008, the English version of which can also be found on this site.

1. It outlines reform measures required to develop an interlinked lifelong guidance system
2. It provides an overview of guidance service developments in the last 30 years in Hungary set against the background of international developments
3. The statement presents a set of proposals for building a nationally coordinated system - key tasks and specific steps for the policy areas of education, training and employment.

This policy statement was adopted by the National Lifelong Guidance Council in July 2008.

1. It outlines reform measures required to develop an interlinked lifelong guidance system
2. It provides an overview of guidance service developments in the last 30 years in Hungary set against the background of international developments
3. The statement presents a set of proposals for building a nationally coordinated system - key tasks and specific steps for the policy areas of education, training and employment.

This document was drawn up and recently completed by a national working group consisting of university guidance experts and some representatives of the ministries of education and higher education. Its contents cover the following:

• Caracterization de la orientacion y del sistema nacional de orientacion
• Bases legales
• Mision, vision, objetivos, valores declarados
• Organizacion: subsistemas, programas y servicios
• Perfil del profesional de la orientacion.

It is the first such document received from Latin America, thanks to Dr Olga Oliveros of the University of Carabobo, a member of the working group.

School dropout prevention continues to exercise the mind of policy makers in many countries. The European Ministers of Education (2003), for example, established several reform targets for education systems in Europe for the year 2010 including increased participation in the upper end of second level schooling and the reduction of non-completion rates. In the USA the Department of Education established within its confines the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), one of whose units is known as "What Works Clearing House" (WWC). The role of WWC is to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education. It reviews extant research about programs, policies or practices and assesses the "quality" of the research. Based on the research that meets particular standards, the WWC then reports on what the research indicates about the effectiveness of the program, policy or practice, which can be abbreviated as "the intervention".

The WWC produces three types of reports and a guide:

• intervention reports which assess all studies of a specific intervention within a topic area, rating each of them on WWC evidence standards;
• topic reports which compile the information from intervention reports within a topic area and enable WWC users to easily compare the ratings of effectiveness and sizes of effects for numerous interventions in one area;
• quick reviews designed to provide education practitioners with timely and objective assessments of the quality of the research evidence for recently released research papers and reports, and
• practice guides that contain practical recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools.

School dropout prevention is one of the topic areas of the WWC. Evidence for following three outcomes is rated for effectiveness:

• Staying in school
• Progressing in school
• Completing school.

Educational and vocational guidance are to be found as part of many dropout prevention strategies but they are only one element of a multidimensional approach to proving solutions to school dropout.

The WWC section on school dropout prevention is essential viewing for all policy makers, researchers and practitioners concerned with this problem.

Given the increasing policy importance being paid to the development of the skills to manage one's career, learning and work pathways in a lifelong learning context(Council of European Ministers of Education, 2008), this Australian publication is very timely to provide guidance on what exactly these skills look like. A joint initiative of the federal, state and territorial governments, and published by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, and Training and Youth Affairs, this recently released document provides a framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of career development rogrammes for young people and adults. It identifies the skills, attitudes, and knowledge that individuals need to make sound choices and to effectively manage careers.

It is divided into three sections:

• What are career management competency skills?
• Who uses the Blueprint?
• What is the Blueprint used for?

There is a very useful Blueprint toolkit included - a series of resources to be downloaded to inform and enhance career development programmes and activities.

An examination of policies for career guidance was one component of a European Union programme (MEDA-ETE) being implemented by the European Training Foundation to support education and training for employment in the Mediterranean region. It involved 10 Mediterranean countries. The research on career guidance policies produced country reports on which this comparative analysis is based. The report covers:

• the socio-economic context
• the drivers for change
• current provision
• policy issues
• ways forward.

It also presents country profiles and comparative statistics.

This report is a review of the implementation of the EU Council Resolution on lifelong guidance (2004). Undertaken by Dr Ronald Sultana, the review examines progress in:

• the implementation of lifelong guidance systems
• broadening access to guidance
• strengthening quality assurance systems
• learning and career management
• strengthening structures for policy and systems development

and presents good examples of practice which have emerged since 2004. It also suggests ways forward to progress these issues at national level and through European cooperation.