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Cross-border regions display significant economic, political, and cultural cooperation and represent a central feature of Europe - not least as innovation labs for the European integration project. A key example is the trinational French-German-Swiss Upper Rhine region. Each of the respective bordering countries displays a specific mode of regulation in VET. How do actors govern vocational education and training (VET) in this dynamic industry cluster in which distinct national political-administrative units do not overlap with the functional needs of employers and (future) employees?

Relying on expert interviews and document analysis, this chapter offers a novel comparison of the respective subnational units within each cross-border region. The institutional study finds a key pattern through which skill formation is institutionalised within the cross-border context: the leveraging of complementarities between distinct educational institutions. In combining the specific strengths of different national skills regimes, VET stakeholders in cross-border regions are in a position to enlarge the scope and capacities of their skill regime far beyond national borders.

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This report was compiled under the ILO's research project, Apprenticeship Development for Universal Lifelong Learning and Training (ADULT), funded by the Government of Flanders. The project aims to explore how apprenticeship systems are being modernised and transformed to promote and enable lifelong learning and decent work for youth, adults, and older workers (both employed and unemployed). This research paper explores the status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that offer apprenticeship opportunities in various countries, the reasons for the low participation of enterprises with especial reference to developing and developed countries and the various factors which affect the participation of enterprises in apprenticeship. It also highlights the experiences and lessons learned from the initiatives taken by various countries in encouraging employers to participate in the apprenticeships.

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Following its late, but rapid, industrialisation in the 19th century, Germany defined its 'dual' system of vocational education and training (VET). In contrast to workplace-based or school-based models, the dual VET system combines an apprenticeship at the workplace with classroom-based education at a vocational school – hence the 'dual' label. Although the German system of vocational training also offers a wide range of school-based programmes, the dual system has, throughout the 20th century, become the hallmark of German VET. Perhaps the most striking feature of this system, for those unfamiliar with it, is the engagement of businesses (and employers in general) in the conception and implementation of dual apprenticeships: cooperation between employers, vocational schools, chambers, governmental bodies and labour unions is at the heart of dual vocational education. The dual system seeks to provide the labour market with the skilled workforce it requires and to equip young apprentices with market-relevant skills for their future professional lives. Given that it is employers who are the ultimate users of skills, it is eminently sensible to involve them in both the conception and the implementation of dual training programmes. The purpose of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, it seeks to give an unfamiliar reader an overarching picture of the system, placing an emphasis on the importance of the cooperation between employers, governmental bodies, labour unions and other social partners; on the other hand, it outlines the current challenges of the dual system – issues that often pass unnoticed by outside observers.

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This paper analyses the vocational education and training (VET) system in four selected countries - namely India, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Vietnam. The need for adequately skilled persons is rising in all four countries. And all four countries have identified the VET system - in cooperation with the private sector - as a key actor to provide such skills. In consequence, all four countries have developed individual and apposite measures to strengthen their VET systems. Even though the four countries are very different in terms of their starting points and their demographic, economic and institutional framework conditions, they all face the same challenge: designing a VET system that makes the country future-proof, i.e. skilling young people for good employment outcomes and skilling to adapt to ongoing challenges, for example digitalisation of the economy, and for sustainable growth of the economy. Since the German dual training system has a long tradition, it is also introduced as a reference model. The results of the country analyses allow the identification of promising reform options and policy recommendations in VET which also have the potential to be transferred to other countries.

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This movie depicts key elements of vocational education and training in Germany, such as the cooperation between the state and the private sector, the principle of having two learning venues, and the presence of accepted nationwide standards in vocational education and training. Available in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, Korean, and Portuguese.

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This chapter provides an international overview of research in vocational education and training that is concerned with economic education in a broader sense. The domain of business and administration comprises research in a wide range of occupational fields such as production and distribution of goods, human-centred services to the public and the consumer, banks, administration, insurances, transportation, logistics, and tourism. Potential workers for the above-mentioned occupational fields are trained and educated in many different ways across different countries. Often business education is relocated to universities where undergraduate degrees provide occupational qualifications. Despite the general trend, Germany still offers many occupational qualifications that can be acquired in apprenticeships in the dual system. Education and training for jobs in business and administration is also provided at many different educational levels and for different age groups.

Excerpt from publication.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/IRD 88.423. Show less

A strong [vocational education and training] VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good position to contribute to a faster economic recovery and long-term sustainable development. However, crucial for this role is continuous and systematic VET renewal that assures its relevance for the labour market. This publication explores 15 European national approaches to feedback mechanisms between VET and the labour market. It illustrates the diversity of solutions currently applied across Europe and how they are embedded in national traditions and education philosophy. The study asks three fundamental questions: how inclusive are national mechanisms for feedback between the VET system and the labour market; how responsive are existing mechanisms; and how transparent?

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The German building and contracting industry is extremely important as an economic sector, a source of employment, a setting for initial and continuing vocational education and training, and an actor engaged in the creation of living and working spaces. In Germany the building trade currently employs a workforce of 1.6 million consisting of two main producer groups, the building construction and the building finishing trades. It accounts for over 11 per cent of the gross domestic product. The building and construction industry is also an important provider of initial vocational training. Despite declining numbers in absolute terms, more young people receive initial vocational training in this industry than in most other sectors. The training rate of 9.4 per cent is also higher than the average for other sectors (cf. BMBF 2005; BMWA 2005). This is explained in good part by the levy-based financing of initial vocational training, which is a long-standing tradition in the building and construction industry. Based on a voluntary agreement between the social partners, all firms in the industry have, since 1976, contributed a levy towards the costs of initial vocational training. The majority of the funding is then paid out by the Sozialkasse der Bildwirtschaft (SOKA-BAU), the German construction industry's 'leave and wage-equalisation fund', to the firms actually providing initial vocational training.

Excerpt from publication.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/IRD 88.423. Show less

On the basis of biographical data, the author analyses and compares the transition from school to work and the integration into the employment system of young adults in the UK and the Federal Republic of Germany. The social regulation of the transition from school to training and employment is described in each training system and with regard to individual biographies. The author analyses the extent to which the transition to initial employment is regulated in both societies; the criteria according to which graduates of the training system are assigned to jobs available on the labour market and how and why these processes have changed historically. The historical period from 1940 to 1980 is considered. Show less

The special focus of the 5th International VET Conference Crossing Boundaries held on 25-26 May 2023 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, is on 'vocational education and training transformations for a digital, sustainable and socially fair future'. Keynote speeches: Skill formation in Central and Eastern Europe: a search for patterns and directions of development / Vidmantas Tutlys, Jonathan Winterton, Jorg Markowitsch; Changes in vocational education and training in Lithuania: employers' perspectives / Vaidotas Levickis; Vocational education and training in the conditions of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine: challenges and strategic directions / Sergiy Melnyk. Papers were presented with respect to three thematic strands: (1) systems and policy of VET and lifelong learning; (2) educational institutions and institutional settings in the VET and skill formation; and (3) VET actors and stakeholders. The topics of conference papers are very diverse and provide insights on VET development in the conditions of digitalization, changing roles of VET providers, teachers and learners, sustainability of VET provision, challenges of VET provision in developing economies, empowering effects of VET, changing roles and work of VET teaching staff and many other issues.

Papers are as follows: Evaluation of resources for teaching of technical and vocational education and training courses in technical colleges in Osun State, Nigeria / Tajudeen Adewumi Adebisi; The attractiveness of the industrial technology program among newly arrived students in Sweden / Hamid Asghari; AI pioneers: developing a community of practice for artificial intelligence (AI) and vocational education and training / Graham Attwell, Ludger Deitmer and George Bekiaridis; Investment in human capital: company expenditures on continuing vocational training in times of technological change in Germany / Myriam Baum and Lisa Fournier; Open content development as a challenge and an opportunity (Hungarian case) / Andras Benedek and David Sik; Similarities and differences in the evolution of VET in Hungary and Poland 1989-2022 / Magdolna Benke and Tomasz Rachwal; Promoting VET by implementing a 'dual system' in Ukraine / Vera Braun and Oksana Melnyk; Promoting citizenship competence in Italian vocational education and training through assessment / Flavio Brescianini; Challenges and helpful conditions for vocational teachers in Europe: findings from the 'VETteach' project / Birger Brevik, Franz Kaiser and Melanie Hoppe; A bootcamp as an experiential learning activity for nurturing creative talent: a Hong Kong case study / Kara Chan, Maggie Fung, Justin Lau and Jasmine Zhang; Competence retention for non-routine-situations in digital working environments (condition): studies based on the professions of chemical technician and pharmaceutical technician / Stephanie Conein; The COVID-19 pandemic impacts on apprentices' occupational health in Western Switzerland: between invisibilisation of their status and ordinary suffering / Gilles Descloux, Mathilde Romanens, Nadia Lamamra and Barbara Duc.

Young apprentices' critical perspectives on the curriculum of Portuguese apprenticeship courses / Alexandra Doroftei; On the planned apprenticeship guarantee for Germany: an attempt to reduce the risk of social exclusion during the transition from school to VET? / Marcus Eckelt; Swiss VET: a successful model and its sacrifices on the balance of power between company- and school-based VET in the political governance of the transition to upper-secondary level in Switzerland / Raffaella Simona Esposito; Sitting on the fence: adapt or import?: a study on training activities of foreign multinationals in Germany / Lena Finken and Matthias Pilz; Dual apprenticeship and continuous vocational training of German family businesses in Central and Eastern Europe: commitment, motives and trends / Michael Gessler and Susanne Peters; Arts-based educational research in action in vocational education / Daniel Gregson; If it was going to work it would have worked by now / Margaret Gregson; Online and soft skills training in vocational education in international context: reflections about the state-of-the-art and future potential on the example of China / Karin Hamann, Anne Rickert and Shun Yang; From work force immigration to inclusion: a study of vocational education and training development in relation to society changes and immigration in a historical perspective / Lazaro Moreno Herrera, Asa Broberg and Ali Osman; The apprentice perspective: a blind spot in the governance of VET systems?: a German-Danish-Swiss comparison / Ute Hippach-Schneider and Janine Grobe-Rath; How an apprenticeship can direct learners beyond the local context of teaching and learning: transferable skills in Germany's dual system of vocational education / Gabriela Hohns; 'Making a virtue of necessity': substitution potentials in the face of the shortage of skilled workers: ways to a sustainable future using the example of the German vocational training system / Sebastian Ixmeier, Dieter Muenk and Nina Muscati.

Building bridges between higher education, vocational learning and employment: fostering a sustainable ecosystem through practically based higher education (HE) models / Natasha Kersh, Andrea Laczik and Katherine Emms; Using smartphones for learning: a case study on the impact of digitalization on apprenticeship in the informal sector in Ghana / Lena Krichewsky-Wegener and Lukas Bruck; Women in information and communication technology: creating opportunities for career changes towards IT and IT-mixed professions / Ida Kristina Kuhn, Valerie Ambrosi and Peter Kaune; Comparing dualised forms of initial VET across countries: insights from the IEM survey / Isabelle Le Mouillour, Daniel Neff and Paula Klein; Quality management in vocational education and training: a reflection on educational governance in Austria, Germany and Spain / Junmin Li, Ekaterina Schluter, Hannes Hautz, Julian Bell and Fernando Marhuenda; Vocational students at risk of social exclusion in Estonia: social ecology approach / Krista Loogma, Meril Umarik, Inna Bentsalo and Terje Valjataga; A narrative understanding of boundary crossing by vocational teachers in their career path / Maret Aasa and Krista Loogma; Vocational education and training offered in second chance schools in Spain: possibilities and limits from an organizational analysis / Fernando Marhuenda; Gentle guidance does it?: are public employment service recommendations affecting adjustment of IVET capacities in Croatia? / Teo Matkovic; Social partners' conceptions of their role in school-based initial vocational training of specialists / Rita Miciuliene; Defining green occupational groups in the Spanish vocational education and training system: an emerging approach / Monica Moso-Diez, Juan P. Gamboa, Mikel Albizu-Echevarria and Antonio Mondaca-Soto; Lecturer industrial attachment for TVET teachers in Kenya: access, challenges, opportunities / Moses Njenga; Innovation in vocational training: an action research project / Chiara Ostuni; Instructional technologies and training models in Industry 4.0: an explorative literature review / Marco Perini and Riccardo Sartori; Motivation in international VET cooperation: VET providers and their engagement in transfer / Susanne Peters and Lisa Meyne; VET, patience and the wealth of nations / Susanne Peters and Christine Siemer.

Study success in course of TVET: results of a mixed-methods study / Joana Pletscher; Italian higher technical education: reactive or proactive institution in the skill ecosystem? / Andrea Potestio, Francesco Magni and Paolo Bertuletti; Co-creation and indirect approach as a methodology to improve student engagement in initial and continuing VET / Elena Quintana-Murci, Francesca Salva-Mut, Carme Pinya Medina, Carlos Vecina Merchante, Caterina Thomas-Vanrell, Carme Rossello-Rossello and Julia Vilasis-Pamos; Framing an environment and sustainability lens on vocational education and training (VET): a laminated system analysis / Presha Ramsarup, Heila Lotz-Sisitka and Simon McGrath; A sector qualification framework (SQF) level 2-7 for industrial shoe production / Andreas Saniter and Vivian Harberts; Hydrogen as a future topic in German VET?: research design and initial findings from the research project H2PRO / Maximilian Schneider; Modelling skills mismatch evolution in the European Union / Mantas Sekmokas, Ashish Rajendra Sai, Maria Friedel and Naomi Tilon; Recognizing foreign acquired VET qualifications: potential to empower and challenge skill formation ecosystems / Jehona Serhati and Linda Wanklin; The impact of collaboration among vocational teachers implementing teaching practices during a state of emergency / Meidi Sirk; Emotional intelligence and scholastic achievement in VET: a study among apprentices in healthcare and social care / Laure Tremonte-Freydefont, Marina Fiori and Matilde Wenger; Vocational aspects of empowering at-risk VET students in the Baltic countries and Norway for employment and lifelong learning / Vidmantas Tutlys, Lina Kaminskiene, Tarja Tikkanen; Marieke Gerdien-Bruin, Biruta Sloka and Meril Umarik; Lehrkunstdidaktik and its potential for vocational didactics / Ruhi Tyson; Outside-in: public-private partnerships upgrading the institutional equilibirum in Morocco, the Netherlands and Serbia / Marc Van der Meer, Siria Taurelli and Aram Avagyan; Beyond the classroom: exploring teacher agency in making and breaking educational reforms / Linda Wanklin; What Swiss in-company trainers want: needs, interests, and availability for continuing education / Matilde Wenger and Nadia Lamamra.

Excerpts from conference website and program. Individual papers are available in VOCEDplus.

'Lehrkunstdidaktik and its potential for vocational didactics' by Ruhi Tyson is not included in the proceedings table of contents but can be found at pp. 458-462. Show less