Читать книгу The Swiss Model of Vocational Education and Training - Markus Mäurer - Страница 4

The high rate of youth unemployment, up to 20 or even 30% in many countries, is a social and economic problem of great concern. Unemployment at such an early stage in life is a humiliating experience for young people: instead of being able to start a career, school leavers and university graduates feel as though they are absolutely no use to society whatsoever. The challenge may become greater in the near future: according to a recent UN forecast, more than 600 million new jobs will be required over the next decade to provide school leavers with a perspective in the labour market.

Vocational education and training (VET) plays an important role in the transition of young people into the world of work, and policy makers in different parts of the world have, therefore, started reforms to strengthen it: many of them are looking at countries with dual-track VET. This form of VET combines company-based apprenticeships (with a special type of employment contract) with school-based learning, which is one of the reasons why these countries have comparatively low rates of youth unemployment. Dual-track VET is a particularly effective way of acquiring both practical vocational skills and theoretical know-how. Practical intelligence and cognitive, theory-oriented intelligence thereby reinforce each other.

In Switzerland, two thirds of all young people start their career with dual-track VET lasting two to four years. With their VET qualification and the skills they have developed they are fully employable. Nevertheless, a growing number of VET graduates subsequently participate in some type of tertiary education, be it at a PET college, a university of applied science or a regular university.

Given the interest of many countries in dual-track VET systems, there is a need for publications that provide a broad overview of these systems. This book explains – in a highly accessible way – both the systemic elements as well as the key pedagogical approaches upon which the Swiss model of vocational education and training is based.

Rudolf H. Strahm, Dr h. c.

Former Swiss Member of Parliament/Former Price Supervisor of the Swiss Confederation

Lecturer in Professional and Vocational Education, Universities of Berne and Fribourg