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Measuring the impact of the framework curriculum is the third and final phase of the education process’s curriculum value chain. At this stage, the quality of the VET framework curriculum, its implementation and its graduates are assessed so as to obtain feedback on the strengths and weaknesses in the curriculum value chain.

The immediate results of the apprentices are for the time being the focus of attention. The apprentices’ quality of knowledge and skills are measured by means of tests or assessments (see output in Figure 4). To ensure that everyone adheres to the same qualification standards, external specialist agencies, which were involved in the development of the framework curriculum, conduct the national apprentice examinations. The evaluations assess not only the trainees’ academic skills but also their professional and social skills. To this end, apprentices have to undergo tests of both their academic knowledge and their professional skills at the companies and vocational schools. To achieve a high quality of instruction throughout the training period, the tests are carried out both during and at the end of the VET programmes.

If entire professional reforms are carried out and tested in pilot projects, the pilot project is normally evaluated to identify what works on a small scale and what can be improved on. The biggest reform project ever to have been carried out in Switzerland concerned the commercial VET, which covers approximately 25 per cent of all training contracts.[13] Important information for improving the entire system can be obtained from such pilot tests and evaluations.

In addition, a series of measures have been taken at system level in order to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the educational processes. The Vocational Education and Training Act regulates the quality assurance in Switzerland (Art. 8 VPETA). The federal government itself has developed several tools to monitor certain effects. In addition to the periodic monitoring process as part of educational reporting (see SKBF 2010, 6 f.), there are specific tools which are applied to VET. The apprenticeship market barometer, introduced in 1997, can be mentioned. The barometer serves to monitor developments on the apprenticeship market. In addition, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) organises a ministerial apprenticeship conference each year to discuss the situation on the apprenticeship market – in accordance with Art. 13 VPETA, the Federal Council may take measures to rectify any imbalances on the market. Another instrument is the job entry barometer, which was developed between 2010 and 2012 to monitor the situation of graduates in their transition from education into the labour market. The job-specific VET ordinances lay down another instrument: commissions for occupation development and quality are mandated to ensure the high quality of framework curricula and to review them every three to five years to determine whether they are up to date.

Research contributes other instruments for measuring the impact of the system. In 2014, the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) at the ETH Zurich presented its KOF Youth Labour Market Index (KOF YLMI), which collects data on the situation of young people in the labour market. The index value is obtained from 12 indicators and is available for the years 1991 to 2013 (see Figure 1). The index makes it possible to provide a detailed analysis of the current problems in the youth labour markets in different countries. It is also possible to use the index for comparing different countries.[14] Figure 7 illustrates the index’s performance over time for four countries. Switzerland and Germany both have a dual VET system, as opposed to India and most OECD countries. The index shows the performance of education systems with respect to the integration of young people into the labour market (see Impact/Results, Fig. 4). To comprehend the causality of education systems and labour markets further studies are, however, needed.

Figure 7: The Youth Labour Market Index over time for Switzerland (yellow), Germany (dark blue), India (red), and the OECD average (light blue). The lines in the upper part of the figure represent the index values for the respective years, while the bars at the bottom indicate the number of available indicators for the calculation of the index. Compiled by the authors