Problem addressed

Leaving school early produces many negative consequences for individuals, including unemployment, social exclusion, poverty, poor health and are at higher risk of addiction. In Flanders, approximately 11.9% of young people left school early in the academic year of 2017–2018. In Antwerp, one of the largest cosmopolitan areas of the region, this number was higher with an early school leaving (ESL) rate of 21.7%. Aside from a high ESL rate, the city also has one of the highest levels of youth unemployment in the region. In 2020, the youth unemployment rate in Flanders stood at 17.7%, while in Antwerp the rate was 25.2%. While there is not one single explanatory factor for the high levels of early school leavers, studies have shown that young people may feel disillusioned and distrustful of formal education institutions, or ‘authority figures’, due to negative past experiences.

Innovative solution

Youth Competence Centres (YCCs) are spaces where young people in Antwerp can seek advice and counselling on their personal and professional development. The Centres are open to all young people aged 16 to 25, but particularly target those from migration backgrounds, who face higher risks of being unemployed or socially excluded. YCCs’ innovative approach are that they actively seek to build a trusting, personal relationship between counsellors and young people. The Centres aim to get young people involved in social and educational programmes that can enhance their self-esteem, and ultimately boost their labour market and social integration.

There are six YCCs across the city that adopt a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to youth counselling by offering leisure, employment and education opportunities. The YCCs’ activities are built around competences and are divided into three stages: identification (awareness raising and mapping of young people’s competences), development (additional development of young people’s competences) and recognition (recognition of prior learning outcomes and competences).

Youth workers and counsellors meet young people in both formal (e.g. youth centres) and informal (e.g. parks, events, cultural and sporting events) settings. This ensures that young individuals feel at ease when communicating with counsellors, which supports the trust-building process. Counsellors provide support, either individually or in groups. Their counselling sessions focus on either Work-related Acquired Competences (WAC) or Recognition of Acquired Competences (RAC). WAC counselling primarily targets unemployed youth and early school leavers, to ease their transition into the labour market. RAC counselling targets young people aged 16 to 25, and focuses on finding volunteering experiences for them.

Key results and benefits

Between 2017 and 2019, of the 1 135 people who received intensive coaching sessions, 35% resumed their education activities, 19% found a job, and 6% started a training course.

Overall, 60% of the coached young people found employment or a training opportunity (with the limitation that most such work opportunities were temporary). The majority of those young people found jobs in sectors such as logistics, industry and electricity. In addition to employment opportunities, young people have increasingly participated in volunteering activities at youth centres as a result of being involved in the YCCs.

Potential for mainstreaming

Two of the YCCs were initially funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in 2005 (YCC Kronenburg) and 2006 (YCC Zappa), respectively. In 2008, Antwerp formally established another centre (YCC De Branderij), and since then another three YCCs have been set up. YCCs are now principally funded through the agreements between the City of Antwerp and the youth non-governmental organisations JES, Formaat and Kras Jeugdwerk, which are renewed on a yearly basis. Each of these organisations manages two YCCs. 

One of the key factors for sustainability of the YCCs project is the employment of youth counsellors with a thorough understanding of the local context, who can easily reach out to and connect with local youth, in particular in public squares, sports centres and other areas where young people often spend time. Counsellors also need to be sufficiently trained and informed about employment and education frameworks relevant to their target groups. Hence, adequate resources need to be dedicated to training the counsellors themselves. In this context, linking the project to local government structures has been pivotal in ensuring the sustainability of the YCCs, as it provides a steady flow of financial, administrative and human resources. This would be an important condition for successful transfer to another context.

YCCs have been replicated in Brussels and Ghent, which demonstrates the potential transferability of the project. YCCs are widely recognised as a good practice to support youth labour market integration, with interest from national and international stakeholders. YCCs lessons and results are disseminated at various national and international conferences.