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This publication considers reforms of European post-16 education and systems of vocational education and training and their response to the challenge of promoting parity of esteem between initial vocational education and general/academic education. The project surveyed and analysed upper secondary school reforms within and across eight European educational systems. Its conclusions have been drawn from the case studies of Austria, England, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Scotland and Sweden. This volume is the final report of the Post-16 Strategies Project. The two-year project was carried out with the financial support of the Commission of the European Communities under the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. The Post-16 Strategies Project has been managed by Dr Johanna Lasonen and coordinated by the Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyvaskyla.

This chapter discusses the separation of reform strategies into four types and concludes that this approach is too simplistic. It discusses the cases of Germany and Austria, whose strategy has been classified as vocational enhancement, linking general and vocational education. The authors comment that in reality there is very little vocational enhancement, as there is no mutual enhancement between general and vocational education. Vocational education is enriched by the incorporation of elements of academic education, but general education is not incorporated and there do not seem to be current plans to unify the system. However, a major aim of reforms in Germany and Austria focuses on promoting access to tertiary education by strengthening the academic component within vocational education and training (VET). In spite of similarities between Germany and Austria, there are also significant differences. In Austria a systematic approach has been taken, while Germany uses a model experiment. The reforms to both systems are discussed and compared, including examination of the educational system and the labour market.

This book is indexed at TD/INT 60.264. Show less