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The dominant organizational form of vocational education and training in Switzerland is the dual-track system, in which trainees sign an apprenticeship contract with a training company. Notably, 10 per cent to 40 per cent of those contracts are terminated prematurely each year, depending on region and occupational category, which is an important topic of concern for politics, practice and research. Thus, premature contract terminations (PCTs) are associated with high costs for society, companies, and young people. This study of 335 companies involving cooks and painters from German-speaking Switzerland aims to investigate the relationship between training quality and PCT. Of these companies, 136 had been affected by a PCT, and 199 had not. The results indicate that training at the workplace is universally of rather high quality. In line with the previous literature, trainees evaluate quality significantly lower than trainers. Furthermore, there are considerable differences between the two occupations: cooks evaluate their training quality more positively than painters. Moreover, cluster analyses indicate that high quality training can help companies avoid PCTs.

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The 'Berlin Memorandum on the Modernisation of Vocational Education and Training' is a strategic paper prepared by the advisory committee of the Berlin Senate's Department of Labour, Vocational Education and Training and Women's Affairs, in September 1999. The document provides an analysis of vocational education and training and employment policies. It identifies existing problems and presents approaches for addressing these shortcomings as a starting point for discussion. Seven guidelines have been developed to assist the German vocational education and training system adapt to the social and technological challenges of the coming decades. The Berlin Memorandum was handed over to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which plans to take the memorandum into account in its current work. This article provides a summary of the Memorandum's main points. Show less

In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a 'Dual System', trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25 per cent of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies' selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is based on a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design and on qualitative interviews. Trainers and operations managers (N = 335) of Swiss training companies for cooks and painters were surveyed. Half of the companies have been affected by a PCT in the past and the other half have not. The findings indicate that a certain amount of the explained variance between companies with and without reported PCTs can be explained by the companies' selection process. Companies that were affected by a PCT use a job interview and a company visit significantly less often in their selection process than companies without a PCT.

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