Search Results

This document provides a cross-country analysis of the current situation in relation to [vocational education and training] VET governance in the nine countries in the [southern and eastern Mediterranean] SEMED region that are participating in the [European Training Foundation's] ETF's [Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean] GEMM project. It presents a clear review of the challenges that these countries are facing as they seek to improve VET outcomes through better management and partnership at the national and local levels.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

This paper is one of a series addressing aspects of the role of the socioeconomic context in the development of education, training and employment systems. It is organised into eight broad themes to describe trends in systems development and vocational education and training (VET) provision. The first two explore aspects of the context in which VET operates: decentralising aspects of management and administration of the education service; and, the prevailing view of lower secondary education as a transitional and preparatory stage before further education and training. The following four themes concern aspects of the systems and provision of initial VET: increasing and extended participation in post-compulsory education and a prolonged and less secure transition to the labour market for young people; a continuing distinction between general and vocational education accompanied by governmental effort to raise the status of VET and improve the flexibility of educational pathways; the policy push to encourage closer partnerships between the education sector and business and industry; and, an increase in the role of social partners, especially employers, in VET, particularly at the national level. The last two themes briefly examine aspects of higher education and continuing VET: the development of higher education in response to lifelong learning and new social, economic and labour market conditions; and, the tendency of continuing training to emphasise the skill development of valued and capable employees rather than those facing disadvantage and labour market exclusion.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/IRD 88.37. Show less

In this chapter, the authors look at vocational education and training (VET) as an integrating factor with the potential to bring about articulation across geographical, social, cultural and political boundaries. They also contend that VET systems cannot develop in isolation and that some sort of regional integration is inevitable. The authors examine the common challenges faced by VET systems and the experiences within the European Union (EU). They also examine ways of facilitating and managing regional learning, with reference to the Maastricht study and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The chapter concludes with a section on lifelong learning policies.

The book from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 100.51. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 100.52 to TD/TNC 100.244. Show less

For a long time, [technical and vocational education and training] TVET has been considered a path for absorbing low performing students both from basic and secondary education. Its poor quality and its lack of relevance to the needs of the labour market are associated with the absence of clear mechanisms to analyse labour market needs and link these to education and training provision. Participation in the TVET system by labour market actors is minimal, and no systematic approaches to reduce the gap between the supply and demand of skills have yet been implemented. Thus, programmes in vocational schools are based more on the availability of equipment and teachers, than on meeting identified needs. The TVET system [in Libya] comprises three types of school: intermediate institutes, higher institutes and technical colleges. In addition, both the Ministry of Labour and the Warriors Affairs Commission are now prioritising programmes to support former fighters' integration into the labour market. Before the revolution, vocational training was implemented through three types of institutions: private enterprises and/or companies (on job training), women's centres (for women) and vocational training centres. Currently, these systems are not functioning.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

This report will describe the situation concerning the governance of [vocational and technical education] VTE [in Lebanon], with particular reference to VTE management, how finance and funding are organised, and the extent to which quality assurance approaches are being harnessed; the purpose is to help to secure improvements in VTE policy and implementation. The report will go on to consider which improvements to aspects of VTE governance can be made and how these can be introduced. The report is based on the expectation that VTE - alongside other education sub-systems and productive sectors - has an important role to play in developments in the Lebanese context and that realistic improvements in VTE governance can assist all the agencies and stakeholders who engage with VTE to make sure that the sector can better fulfil its labour market and social missions, and make a positive contribution to innovation.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

‘Education and Training 2010’ is a long-term project governed by the European Commission which aims to contribute to the Lisbon Strategy in the area of education and training. The goal of the project is to see Europe recognised by 2010 as the world leader in terms of the quality of its education and training systems. This report, prepared for the Maastricht conference in 2004, focuses on the contribution vocational education and training (VET) has made towards achieving the goals set out in the Lisbon strategy, which aims to ‘create a drive towards a more dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in Europe that will deliver sustainable growth, generate more and better jobs and create greater social cohesion’. In order to analyse the contribution made by VET, and how this contribution can be strengthened, research for this report was focused upon three main themes: to identify progress of the national VET systems towards the Lisbon objectives and priority benchmarks; to report on innovation in teaching and learning; and to provide a clear view of progress towards building ‘competences’ for a European labour market. The report concludes with a lengthy analysis and draws conclusions in regard to four major areas: the potential of VET; the current state of play with VET; indicators and data for VET; and the quest to optimise VET in Europe.

Selected documents relating to ‘Education and Training 2010’ are indexed from TD/TNC 80.530 to TD/TNC 80.541. Show less

In 1998, more than 100 researchers and vocational training experts from most European Union (EU) Member States and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe attended a conference that was held in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology and the European Training Foundation (ETF) to: examine how comparative vocational training research is related to policy and practice and how it contributes to the transfer of innovation in the European context; and assess the current situation and highlight prospects for the development of comparative vocational training research in future.

This conference paper was presented at the first workshop and is based on the findings of a 1997 research project which analysed trends in policies and practices in the education and training systems of the current Member States of the European Union over the last 10 years in order to contribute to an understanding of the trends of convergence and divergence and their policy implications at European level. The research was carried out at the Institute of Education, University of London for the European Commission’s Directorate General XXII. The paper begins with an overview of the convergent and divergent trends and briefly explores some of the underlying factors. It then explores the trends in initial postcompulsory vocational education and training, and in continuing education and training.

The volume of papers is indexed at TD/TNC 72.305; selected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 72.306 to TD/TNC 72.330. Show less

This report compares selected issues of further education (FE) in England with other comparable FE systems in Finland, Ireland, Sweden and New South Wales, Australia. The method involved a review of the literature and analytical reports for each country followed by expert consultations in each country. This research emphasises the complex nature of post-compulsory provision in the four country contexts, and highlights the acute necessity for 'joined-up' policy thinking that crosses different policy domains, carefully designed and prepared reforms, and 'creeping rather than jumping' reform. The evidence suggests that excessive reform of one particular feature of a system (such as qualifications) will not provide the stability and coherence that post-compulsory [vocational education and training] VET systems need in order to be able to attract learners to that provision and employers to learners who successfully complete that provision.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The Dearing Report on 16-19 qualifications argues that the proportion of the cohort who can benefit by A-levels has reached its limits and proposes a broad-based Advanced Diploma, based on the A-levels, but leaving the A-levels themselves unchanged. This chapter argues that leaving the A-levels unchanged is a very small step towards an advanced level curriculum of the future. The authors examine the A-level curriculum and consider what purpose it serves, and look at the history of A-level reform and the lessons that can be learnt from it. Emphasis in this chapter has been placed on the distinction between the ideological and educational roles of A-levels and the distinction between subject and connective specialisation as curriculum principles. The authors conclude that A-level reforms failed in the past because people did not have a clear idea of what the alternatives to A-levels might look like and because past governments have had political and ideological interests in preserving A-levels.

The monograph from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 68.248. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 68.249 to TD/TNC 68.261. Show less

This report describes the situation concerning [technical and vocational education and training] TVET governance in Palestine, with particular reference to the current system of TVET management, how finance and funding are organised, and the extent to which quality assurance approaches are being introduced. Its purpose is to help the ministries and stakeholders at all levels of the system to secure improvements in the implementation of TVET policy, particularly in the light of the revised TVET strategy. The report begins with a synthesis of the more detailed mapping of the governance of TVET that was carried out by the National Committee of the [European Training Foundation's] ETF's [Governance for Employability in the Mediterranean] GEMM project. It then considers which improvements to TVET governance can be further considered and makes recommendations on how feasible changes can be introduced, so as to strengthen TVET governance. The report is based on the expectation that implementing the TVET strategy requires, among other developments, enhanced roles on the part of stakeholders, in order to make sure that the sector can better fulfil its labour market and social missions, and make a positive contribution to innovation.

Excerpt from publication. Show less