Adaptation of permanent training approach for rural women returning to the labour market: the Beypazari model

R E F E R E N C E D O C U M E N T R U R W O M B A C K PROJECT Adaptation of permanent training approach for rural women returning to the labour market: the Beypazari model 2 0 0 9 - T R 1 - L E O 0 5-0 8 6 6 0

Table of contents 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION... 4 2. ANALYSIS OF THE TARGET GROUP... 7 2.1. Introduction... 7 2.2. TURKEY... 7 2.2.1. Demographical Aspects... 7 2.2.2. Education and Training... 8 2.2.3. Employment... 9 2.2.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time... 10 2.2.5. Combination of Work and Family Life... 10 2.3. POLAND... 11 2.3.1. Demographical Aspects... 11 2.3.2. Education and Training... 12 2.3.3. Employment... 12 2.3.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time... 13 2.3.5. Combination of Work and Family Life... 13 2.4. GREECE... 14 2.4.1. Demographical Aspects... 14 2.4.2. Education and Training... 14 2.4.3. Employment... 15 2.4.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time... 15 2.4.5. Combination of Work and Family Life... 16 2.7. CONCLUSIONS... 16 3. ANALYSIS OF PERMANENT TRAINING SYSTEM... 19 3.1. TURKEY... 20 3.1.1. General framework of permanent training... 20 1

3.1.2. Management and funding of Permanent Vocational Training System... 21 3.1.3. General organisation of Permanent Vocational Training System... 23 3.1.4. Evaluation and Certification in Permanent Training... 25 3.1.5. Main trends of changes in the National Vocational Training System... 25 3.2. POLAND... 26 3.2.1. General framework of permanent training... 26 3.2.2. Management and funding of Permanent Vocational Training System... 28 3.2.3. General organisation of Permanent Vocational Training System... 29 3.2.4. Evaluation and Certification in Permanent Training... 30 3.2.5. Main trends of changes in the National Vocational Training System... 32 3.3. GREECE... 33 3.3.1. General framework of permanent training... 33 3.3.2. Management and funding of Permanent Vocational Training System... 36 3.3.3. General organisation of Permanent Vocational Training System... 36 3.3.4. Evaluation and Certification in Permanent Training... 37 3.3.5. Main trends of changes in the National Vocational Training System... 38 4. PROPOSAL FOR ADAPTATION OF PERMANENT TRAINING SYSTEM... 39 4.1. Introduction... 39 4.2. Methodology for the Development of Proposals... 40 4.3. Proposals... 42 4.3.1. Employment... 43 4.3.2. Guidance... 47 4.3.3. Training... 54 4.3.4. Labour and family life conciliation... 59 4.4. Conclusions about the Proposals... 65 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY... 68 ANNEX: Good Practices... 75 2

1. Emloyment and Training... 75 2. Employment, Counseling and Guidance... 84 3. Employment, Self-employment and Marketing... 95 3

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Nowadays, a great effort is being made by the national vocational training systems to adapt themselves to the specific characteristics of each target group, as to cope with the peculiar and specific conditions and needs of every group. That is the case for rural women that have no or obsolete skills and competences or after leaving totally or partially the labour market, due to family responsibilities, wish to re enter the labour market, but find their competences and skills obsolete. Considered as a specific target group, they need training actions and programmes adapted to their needs and characteristics. It is a group that, different from active workers or even unemployed people, have gone through a process that meant, at the end, that they left the labour market for a long period, with no idea to turning back, at least in a short term (this is the main the difference with unemployed, that left the labour market, but that seek for re entering it as soon as possible, not being, then, at least in a passive way, out of the market). Keeping in mind those considerations, the goal of the project is to propose an adaptation of the methods, devices, tools and implementation ways of Permanent Vocational Training (PVT) to the needs and characteristics of this group (rural women). It means to propose the best way to use programming and planning of PVT to reach the goal of entering and / or re-entering the labour market, and to adapt the management and methodology of training actions to this group. Together with this, a series of proposals will be centred in the adaptation of vocational guidance tools to this group. In order to achieve this, the project team will study the Beypazari Model as rural development and permanent vocational training for rural women. Then, the goal of the project is to propose, starting with the transnational analysis of the target group and of the current PVT systems, a number of specific methodological adaptations, making reference to programming, planning, managing and development of training activities, as well as vocational guidance. The main steps to follow to develop this work will be as follows: Determination of the research field: target group and PVT national systems. National and comparative analysis of the situation of the target group. 4

Analysis of the systems, following a division in three fields: programming and planning of PVT; management and development of training actions and vocational guidance. Detection and analysis of good practices, cases in which the PVT devices have been successfully adapted to the target group Following the lessons from those good practices, a series of proposals will be developed to adapt PVT systems, following those three fields. The Beypazari Models as a example of good practice will be studied and analyzed by the Turkish partners to show as an alternative PVT device Finally, a Reference Material will be elaborated, with the conclusions of the research and proposals The general aims and objectives of the project were the following: To analyze the permanent vocational training (PVT) system in partner countries in relations to the rural women. To make proposals, based on the analysis of good practices, to adapt the Permanent Training systems and devices to the specific needs and characteristics of the target group (rural women), in the different elements of training: Programming. Set up of the broad lines of training systems. Planning. Establishment of a training plan, including organizational issues common to different training actions. Management of training actions. Issues related with the organization of concrete training actions. Pedagogical issues. Including issues such as the teaching methodology, structure and contents of training materials, etc. Evaluation of training actions. Giving a feedback for future programming, planning, management and pedagogical issues. Labour and training guidance. As a way to enter a training action or, after it, finding a job. To analyze the Beypazari Model as a good practice example and produce a training system based on the Beypazari Model. 5

This document reflects to the final results of the Rurwomback project, stressing those ones which are more meaningful and innovative for the problem which is posed around the collective of rural women towards it is addressed to. It aims to contribute with a general vision of the rural women in the labour market and in the lifelong vocational training and all factors which determine their situation regarding employment and lifelong learning. The valuation of the lifelong vocational training is included: level of complexity and adaptability to the collective, and their relation with the equal policies. All the research which will be carried out in this project will have been addressed to sit the bases to develop proposals about the adaptation of the vocational training systems to women with family charges who want to promote or return to the labour market; these elements will be also included in this reference document. These proposals will be the results of the quantitative and qualitative researches which will be carried out in every partner country and will be based in the good practices which have been detected in the participant countries. With the dissemination of this document, created from research and comparative works which will have been carried out in the project, it is intended: To improve the skills and competencies of women in vocational training at all levels, with a view to facilitating their integration and reintegration into the labour market. To improve and make more flexible the access of this target group to continuing vocational training and the permanent acquisition of skills and competencies with a view to increasing and developing their labour and social adaptability. To promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation, with a view to improving competitiveness and entrepreneurship, also in view of new employment possibilities of women with family charges. 6

2. ANALYSIS OF THE TARGET GROUP 2.1. Introduction Rural areas are capable to ensure high quality of life but are still characterised with existence of numerous different challenges such as lack of educational and training infrastructure and inadequacy of social service networks, as well as the pressure related to ongoing transformation in agriculture and measures taken in the area of environment protection. In rural areas, access to information and communication technologies is much more difficult, especially for women. Making the rural areas more attractive requires promotion of sustainable and integrated development and creation of new employment opportunities, especially for women and young people, as well as rendering the high-quality health and social services. Poverty and social exclusion are phenomena existing in rural areas in a large scale, especially in new member states. Weaker position of countrywomen on the labour market is affected also by many factors related to their place of residence. In co-operation with local governments and enterprises, the national-level authorities should create incentives for participation of women in professional life, improvement of education and professional qualifications and elimination of discrimination on the labour market. It is necessary to propagate enterprise among women and support business entities that invest in rural areas and offer employment to women. 2.2. TURKEY 2.2.1. Demographical Aspects The demographical aspects of Turkey are summarized as follows: Polulation distribution 74% of the total population (52 540 000) lives in cities and towns 26% of the total population (18 460 000) lives in villages (IFAD) 7

The structure of age, race and gender in native population Age Gender Male Female Total 0-14 years old 9.681.912 9.177.422 18.859.334 15-64 years old 24.557.794 24.060.770 48.618.564 65-over 2.222.764 2.860.650. 5.083.414 Total 36.462.470 36.098.842 72.561.312 Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute 2.2.2. Education and Training % Turkey Urban Rural Education Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female 18 years and older Percentage of involvement in formal or adult educationı 17,20 21,07 13,49 19,29 22,90 15,77 12,82 17,12 8,84 Percentage of involvement in ONLY adult education 13,92 17,17 10,81 15,16 18,08 12,31 11,34 15,22 7,74 Percentage of involvement in ONLY formal education 5,89 7,02 4,81 7,34 8,52 6,19 2,86 3,80 1,99 Percentage of involvement BOTH adult and formal education 2,61 3,12 2,13 3,20 3,69 2,73 1,38 1,89 0,90 25 years and older Percentage of involvement in formal or adult education 12,51 15,83 9,29 13,82 16,90 10,80 9,84 13,60 6,30 Percentage of involvement in ONLY adult education 11,35 14,37 8,43 12,30 15,01 9,64 9,42 13,04 6,02 Percentage of involvement in ONLY formal education 2,05 2,57 1,54 2,60 3,14 2,06 0,93 1,38 0,51 Percentage of involvement BOTH adult and formal education 0,89 1,11 0,67 1,07 1,25 0,90 0,51 0,82 0,22 S Tü ki İ ttitikk (TUIK) T ki h St ti ti l I tit t 2010 The respondents of 18 and olders years old indicated that % 17,2 of them have participated in formal or adult education for the last 12 months in all Turkey. In urban areas, the percentage was % 19,3 and rural areas had % 12,8 of involvement in formal and adult education. For the same age group (18 and olders), the respondents who had only adult education during this period, in all Turkey was % 13,9, urban areas % 15,2 and rural areas % 11,3. 8

During the period of last 12 months of the research, the respondents who were 25 years and older indicated that % 12,5 of them have involved adult or formal education. The percentage for urban areas were %13,8 and rural areas were % 9,8. For the same age group, in all Turkey, % 11,4 of them participated only adult education, in urban areas were % 12,3 and in rural areas were % 9,4. 2.2.3. Employment 44,0 42,0 40,0 38,0 2005/1 2005/7 2006/1 2006/7 2007/1 2007/7 2008/1 2008/7 2009/1 2009/7 2010/1 Employment Rate (with sessional effect) Employment Rate (without sessional effect) Graph 1- Employment Rate without Sessional Effect 1 (%) (TUIK, 2010) Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute, The labor force number was 19 million 962 thousands (19.962.000) for 2005 January. The number has increased 2 million 203 thousands (2.203.000) within 5 years. The labor force has risen to 22 million 165 thousands (22.165.000) in 2010 January. The unemployment number had additional 1 million 58 thousands (1.058.000) by reaching 3 million 347 thousands (3.347.000) within 5 years period. Employment number has increased from 22 million 251 thousands (22.251.000) to 25 million 512 thousdands (25.512.000) with increase of 3 million 261 thousands (3.261.000) for 5 year period. 1 Sessional Effect means employment. 9

2.2.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time In Table 1, 2, 3, and 4 shows some statistics from Household Survey (2006) that shows family structure, food preparation habits, women work, and marriage age in urban and rural areas. Table 1- Family Structure of Household in Urban and Rural Areas (%) (TUIK, 2006) One person Nuclear Extended Students and Household family Family Workers Turkey 6,0 80,7 13,0 0,3 Urban 6,2 83,0 10,3 0,5 Rural 5,7 76,3 18,0 0,0 Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute Table 2 - Urban and Rural Differences Who is Doing the Housework (%) (TUIK, 2006)-Food Preparation Male Female Family Nonhouseh Somebody Not done in members all outside in the house together old return for relative s payment Turkey 2,0 87,1 9,5 0,8 0,4 0,2 Urban 1,8 86,7 9,8 0,9 0,6 0,2 Rural 2,3 87,8 8,8 0,7 0,1 0,3 Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute, 2010. Table 3 -The Percentage of women working without salary (%) (TUIK, 2006) Turkey 83,6 Urban 84,9 Rural 81,4 Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute, 2010 Table 4 - The marriage Age in Rural and Urban Areas (%) (TUIK, 2006). 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45+ Turkey 13,0 61,0 24,3 1,5 0,1 0,0 0,0 Urban 8,7 59,5 29,6 2,0 0,2 0,0 0,0 Rural 20,4 63,8 15,0 0,7 0,1 0,0 0,0 Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute, 2010. 2.2.5. Combination of Work and Family Life According to the Turkish Statistic Institute Family Survey Structure, both gender see women as houswives. More than half of both gender perceived women should not work (60 64%). They stated their reasons to be against women work as follows: 10

working women are against traditions, work environments are not safe, children of working women suffers and job exhaust women. Table 5 - Considered about working women (TUIK, 2006). Considered about working women (1), 2006 (%) Female Male The main job of women is the housework 64,7 60,7 It breaches our traditions 14,1 12,0 Work environments are not safe for women 9,5 16,5 Children of working women suffers 7,8 7,0 A paid job exhaust women 2,5 2,0 Other 1,4 1,8 Total 100,0 100,0 Source: Family Structure Survey, 2006 (1) 23% of males, and 10% of females think that it is not appropriate for women to work. Source: Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUIK), Turkish, Statistical Institute, 2010. 2.3. POLAND 2.3.1. Demographical Aspects The demographical aspects of Poland are summarized as follows: Polulation distribution 61.8% of Poles live in towns, and 38.2% in rural areas. The structure of age population Under 17 years of age 24%, Aged 18 24 11.8%, Aged 25 39 20.3%, Aged 40 59 27.1%, Aged 60 79 14.8% Above 60 years of age 16.7% Above 80 years of age 2%. 11

2.3.2. Education and Training Education level of the population Population aged 15 and more by gender and education level in the year 2007 Education level % of population % of men % of women University 10.2 9.7 10.8 Higher and lower secondary 32.6 28.7 36.3 Post-primary vocational 24.1 31.3 17.5 Primary, completed 28.2 26.2 29.9 No education, primary not completed or not determined 4.9 4.2 5.5 Education within the framework of non-formal informal system has a highly selective nature. Almost a half of all persons studying in the non-formal informal system are university graduates, and about 27% individuals with secondary, vocational and post-secondary education. The share of persons holding diplomas of general-profile secondary schools amounts to 6%, vocational schools 15%, and less than 3% correspond to education at a level not higher than lower secondary school (the socalled gymnasium). Continuing education is therefore carried out by persons with high education level as well as individuals with vocational education. 2.3.3. Employment Almost all results of research studies indicate significant inequality between women and men. The professional activeness ratio among men amounted to 61.9 %, while among women only 46.2 %. Working persons represented 53.6 % of all men, compared to 39.3 % of women. In 2009 year women worked shorter than men and in most cases on the part-time basis. A woman s average working week was 37.6 hours. At the same time, a man worked for 43.4 hours. Part-time work was rendered by 13.5% of women compared to 7.1 % of men. 12

2.3.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time Traditional division of roles played in realisation of household duties is still very popular in Poland. Such activities as: laundry, ironing, preparation of meals and dishwashing, cleaning house (both daily and thorough from time to time) and daily shopping are carried out by women in most of households. Percentage of men dealing with such duties without any help from women is in any case definitely lower. For realisation of all of the duties, women spend more time then men (by 7.5 hours a week as an average, and in the age group 25 34 as much as 31.8 hours a figure representing nearly an additional full-time job ). In 2007 the number of women dealing exclusively with taking care of home was as much as 1.5 million. There are many reasons for such state of affairs. As this is the husband in Poland who usually earns more the woman looks after the house. However, in case of the man deciding to emigrate in search of a job, the woman stays at home being unable to combine household duties with professional work. 2.3.5. Combination of Work and Family Life In the conditions of contemporary economy we deal, as far as women are concerned, with increasing difficulties in combining the professional life with the family life, resulting in high cost paid with respect to the family and reduced performance at work. On the other hand, exclusion of women from professional work results in obsolescence of their qualifications and the resulting discrimination of the labour market. An opportunity to change such situation consists, among other things, in implementation of flexible employment and work scheduling forms that could reconcile the professional work management with realisation of other duties. 13

2.4. GREECE 2.4.1. Demographical Aspects The demographical aspects of Greece are summarized as follows: Polulation distribution Population Distribution (%) 2009 Annual rate of population change % 2005-2010 Urban Rural Urban Rural 61 39 0.6-0.3 Source: The Statistics Division of the United Nations Secretariat The structure of age population Age group 0 14 years old 15 64 years old 65 + years old Percentage 14,3% 66,6% 19,2% Men 788.722 3.568.660 902.617 Women 742.270 3.578.344 1.156.815 Source: General Secretariat of the National Statistical Service of Greece 2.4.2. Education and Training Year Postgraduat es studies or Doctoral University Degree Agriculture, forestry and fishing (in thousands) Degree of Technological Education Institution Upper Secondary Education Lower Secondary Education Primary Education Some classes of Primary education No school Men 2009 107 4.164 11.500 71.134 56.331 162.933 6.065 3.975 2008 115 2.525 9.788 70.887 54.052 156.573 8.018 3.655 2007 0 1.553 4.728 30.411 26.777 143.508 9.121 4.328 2000 115 4.052 6.902 57.756 47.301 262.550 22.443 12.925 Women 2009 0 1.844 5.094 32.487 25.639 137.291 7.150 3.875 2008 206 1.804 5.459 31.533 25.866 137.116 7.033 4.093 2007 335 5.296 6.388 63.233 54.217 159.206 8.962 4.302 2000 0 404 2.591 26.194 18.015 212.425 21.830 17.210 Source: General Secretariat of the National Statistical Service of Greece 14

Year Postgradu ates studies or Doctoral University Degree Degree of Technological Education Institution Manufacturing Upper Secondary Education Lower Secondary Education Primary Education Some classes of Primary education No school Men 2009 5.389 22.793 51.646 144.390 66.596 91.659 1.472 343 2008 4.606 25.818 59.189 150.286 66.368 88.168 1.440 446 2007 4.922 32.040 58.392 148.508 66.936 91.747 1.535 406 2000 1.351 27.080 43.421 129.355 71.972 123.437 3.258 932 Women 2009 3.782 11.038 20.956 51.453 15.877 28.040 379 189 2008 2.675 13.402 27.479 50.974 16.768 30.664 344 156 2007 2.354 14.469 29.285 50.399 21.919 35.469 351 121 2000 638 11.520 22.694 48.163 19.872 65.084 1.407 1.185 Source: General Secretariat of the National Statistical Service of Greece In Greece, rural women attend courses on clothing, handicrafts, rural home economics, food-processing and agrotourism; in contrast for such as animal husbandry, arboriculture, horticulture and agriculture machinery, rural women represent less than 20% of the trainees. 2.4.3. Employment In Greece the employment was 66,5 % in 2008 comparing to European Union (27 countries) with 70,5%. Relatively few women are in work: female employment was 52,5% well below the 63,0% EU. The year 2009 the rate of employment for Greece was 53,98%, which 41,47 was for women. The female employment in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing was 40,26 % and for men 59,73%. Age groups In thousands Total 15 19 years 20 24 years 25 29 years 30 44 years 45 64 years 65 years and over Females in Agriculture, forestry and fishing 219,6 1,9 3,4 7,6 60,8 133,1 12,9 Males in Agriculture, forestry and fishing 325,8 5,4 12,3 26,3 107,5 149,2 25,0 Source: National Statistical Service of Greece: 3 rd Quarter 2009 2.4.4. Domestic Work, Family and Use of Time However the inactivity rate for women aged 25-54 was 30,9 % in Greece in 2006. The degree of household tasks depends on the age, the number of children and the general family situation. 15

According to European Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities for the 2005 the Avarage time spent per week in domestic and family work was 28,8 for women and 7,1 for men. It is clear that the difference is 21,7 hours. 2005 Women Men Gap Domestic and family work Paid employment Domestic and family work Paid employment Domestic and family work Paid employment Average time spent per week in domestic and family work and in paid 28.8 43.6 7.1 53.1 21.7-9.5 employment Source: European Commission: Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities 2.4.5. Combination of Work and Family Life Rural women have multiple roles: in the domestic sphere they are household managers and family carers; in the community they maintain social and cultural services, predominantly on a voluntary basis; and in the economy, if they are not formally engaged as employees or entrepreneurs, they are often active in family businesses and farms. Often their domestic and community maintenance roles not only restrict them from participating in decision-making, but provide the support which enables men to participate. The unequal share of family and domestic responsibilities is a significant constraint to the equal participation of women and men in rural development. In Greece, the successful agrotourism cooperatives, many of which are run by women, are also examples of the benefits of collective initiative and of group working. 2.7. CONCLUSIONS Rural labor force participation is declining for both men and women and the gap between men and women remains. This gap is identified statistically as population not in the labor force. All government, international and non-governmental institutions in Turkey have in the past directed some of their efforts to increasing the labor force participation of rural women. The low and decreasing participation rate of the labor force is an important indicator of the gender disparity that results in poverty and vulnerability. 16

A satisfactory answer to explain the declining trend in the rural female participation rate is still absent. This not an easy task if one considers the great variations among regions (provinces) and age groups. The increased mean years of schooling, the slowing down of rural-male migration, changes in cropping patterns, together with decreasing labor intensity might be possible hypotheses, yet the available statistics on population not in the labor force offer only very limited information (explanations) in this regard. Polish woman s position on the labour market is much worse than her European s counterpart. She is unemployed much more frequently and it is much more difficult for her to combine professional work with bringing up their children. In Poland, a woman earns still less than a man, by 15 percent as an average. To boot, the higher the position, the larger is the difference in earnings. Women s situation on the labour market is diversified according to such dimensions as: form of employment contract, work time, workplace stability. Every third woman from the group of unemployed females who declare their readiness to get a job claims that the reasons of unemployment are related to stereotyped roles played by them and necessity to look after family members and their homes. Similar reasons are quoted by women absent on the labour market. The more children an unemployed woman has, the more pessimistic is her own assessment as for a chance to get a job. In opinions of women, combining professional, household and childcare duties can be realised smoothly provided the spouses or partners divide their duties equally and can count on support of another relative. Many women attach significance to attitude of employers and availability of crèches, pre-schools and day care centres. More than a half of women living in rural areas do not work professionally, of which 7 percent had no job during their lifetime. One fifth of countrywomen work on the farm, one fourth professionally, outside their farms; 4 percent of them run a farm and work professionally at the same time. The most frequently quoted rationale behind lack of professional activity is the burden of protective responsibilities 44 percent of countrywomen can not 17

enter into employment relationship for that reason. Many of them have no sufficient qualifications. Sometimes the obstacles include also such prosaic reasons as transport difficulties or lack of appropriate infrastructure. There is much less women then men in rural areas; the countryside is getting old, and most young women, especially those with higher level of education, run away to the towns. It follows from research work that situation of women remains outside the scope of interest of local social policies, and activities carried out for the benefit of that social group are of temporary and provisional nature. Both employment and birth ratios among women situate today s Poland at the end of European rankings. Improvement of women s position on the labour market, increase of employment ratio and implementation of mechanisms facilitating combination of professional work with maternity are matters of primary importance for further development of Poland and reversal of the society s ageing trend. The following measures, taking into account different demographic, social, economic and cultural factors, could improve professional and family situation of Polish women: Promoting the partnership family model and increasing involvement of men in household duties. Significant increase of availability of high-quality inexpensive childcare institutions, services in scope of care of adults and services releasing from household work. Creation of conditions allowing the employers to offer employment to persons taking care of their children. Raising professional position and qualifications of women. Creation of opportunities for women bringing up their children to render work on part-time basis and continue education. Reduction of periods for which women remain at home for reasons related to maternity and implementation of mechanisms facilitating reemployment. Adaptation of work schedules to different life phases. 18

The Greek rural women constitute an important labour force in the sector of rural production, while at the same time is very important their contribution to the improvement of standard of living for rural regions and national rural economy. The rural women participates actively in the process of agricultural production, offers in the family in order to be able to create the essential human values and contributes effectively to the increase of the rural family income. In the Greek rural sector the women have the main responsibility for the small cultivations and manual work. On the contrary when the work requires technique knowledge or use of agricultural machinery, this handled usually from men. This segregation allows also discriminations to the wage between rural women and rural men. In fact the daily wages of women for the same work are lower than those of men in percentage of 20-30%. The improvement of educational level of Greek rural women helps to their personal - economic improvement and furthermore to her social status. For this success is necessary to exist the right and wide information for the existing opportunities that are provided by national and European level. In the frame of National and European programs for the rural development, the Community initiatives promote the equality between men and women. Especially the initiative Leader+, supports the young men and the rural women which constitute one from the levers of growth in rural regions and foreseen the improvement of possibilities of employment or such activities for these target groups. 3. ANALYSIS OF PERMANENT TRAINING SYSTEM Vocational education and training is included among the top priorities of the European Union administration. This is dictated by the need for moderating the inequalities in knowledge among nation-members, also for responding to the technological challenges, requiring a qualified and adaptive work force. 19