Renold / Probst The Swiss Vocational Education and Training Initiative India

Background, Concept and Results of the Pilot Project 2008-2013
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-0355-0506-1
Verlag: hep verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 264 Seiten

Reihe: Preselect

The demand for highly qualified professionals with practical vocational edu- cation and training is increasing worldwide. However, many countries do not have

a vocational education and training system comparable to the scheme in Switzerland. Vocational education and training is usually provided in schools, which seldom work together with local industry. Otherwise, it is implemented in individual companies and aligned to the specific needs of those organisations only. Generic, academic and soft skills are rarely provided.

This book describes the Swiss Vocational Education and Training Initiative India, its background, concept and results. The initiative is a response to the requirements of Swiss companies in India, which can only fully exploit their growth potential when they can employ better qualified personnel. A fascinating role concept for implementing the dual vocational education and training system in India was designed, implemented and evaluated together with the participating organisations, regional vocational education and training schools, coordinating organisations and the authorities. The results are very promising for expansion to other regions and occupations. The book also highlights the obstacles that must be overcome in such a project.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Renold, Ursula

Probst, Franz

Leseproben

Maria Esther Egg and Ursula Renold
SVETII meeting during the 2009 feasibility mission, Bangalore One of the main objectives of any educational system is to equip young people with the competences and skills that firms demand in the labour market. In this chapter, we describe the Swiss education system and its approach to integrating young people into the labour market, and explore in particular its vocational education and training (VET) system. We start out by providing some facts and figures about the Swiss education system and the Swiss economy. We then move on to describing the Swiss education system, which consists of both general education and vocational education programmes. At the same time, we touch on the transition options available and the permeability of the system. We also highlight the VET system’s legal aspects and explain its governance. These aspects form the basis of the system. Furthermore, we explain Switzerland’s curriculum value chain process, since the quality of education programmes is highly dependent on the underlying educational curricula. It is important to know how these curricula are developed, as they shed light on important aspects of the system’s high efficiency. In the penultimate section of this chapter, we discuss the financing of the VET system and round off the chapter with possible approaches for improving the Indian VET system from a Swiss perspective. 1 Facts and figures on Switzerland’s education and economy
Switzerland’s population is highly educated with a literacy rate of over 99 per cent. Moreover, most residents have a post-compulsory school-leaving certificate as their level of highest education, of which 47.8 per cent have an upper-secondary II education certificate and 40.2 per cent a tertiary level degree (2014; data BFS 2015). Accordingly, only 12 per cent of the population hold just a compulsory school-leaving status. As for the labour market, Switzerland had a participation rate of almost 70 per cent, with the unemployment rate at a level of 4.7 per cent in 2014 (data FSO 2015). The youth unemployment rate of 8.6 per cent (FSO 2015) points to the good labour market situation for young people. The KOF Youth Labour Market Index in Figure 1 shows that Switzerland and Germany enjoy high values in comparison to India and the OECD countries (for more information, see Renold, et al. 2014, Renold / Bolli 2014). It is therefore not surprising that Switzerland – according to World Bank[3] statistics – had a GDP of approximately 55,000 US dollars per capita in 2013 (purchasing power parity constant 2011) and an average monthly wage of about 6,100 US dollars (FSO 2015) in 2012. In addition, Switzerland is very active in the creation of innovations, as its first place in the INSEAD Global Innovation Index 2014[4] testifies. These figures lead one to ask where the differences lie between Switzerland and India, and how can similarly good economic conditions be replicated? A common view, based on Becker’s human capital theory (Becker 1964), is that cross-linking of the education system and the labour market in a country is of key importance. Becker’s theory asserts that a good education system provides the knowledge and skills needed in the labour market. In applying this theory to Switzerland, we can see that the Swiss education system and labour market are in fact very closely connected to each other. The part of the education system that provides the knowledge and skills for the labour market is vocational and professional education and training (VPET), based on the upper-secondary II and tertiary level. VPET trains highly-qualified employees for various types of occupations, thus covering the labour market demands and boosting the Swiss economy (SBFI 2014). On average, two-thirds of a youth cohort choose a vocational education and training programme option leading to a Swiss federal VET diploma. The remaining third will acquire an academic baccalaureate or another general education qualification. To help provide an understanding of why VET is such an attractive option, we describe below the Swiss education system, which comprises academic education as well as vocational education and training. Figure 1: The youth labour market situation in Switzerland (yellow), Germany (blue), India (red) and OECD countries (light blue). The higher the indicator’s value, the better the situation is. A value of 0 means that no data is available. Compiled by the authors 2 The Swiss education system
Like most education systems, Switzerland’s can be divided into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. The secondary level comprises lower-secondary I and upper-secondary II education. The primary and lower-secondary levels together form the compulsory education part, which begins at the age of six and ends about nine years later. Figure 2: The Swiss education system at a glance. The solid line represents direct access to the next degree course. The dotted line indicates that additional qualifications or practical experience are required to proceed to the next course of study. Source: SBFI (2014) 2.1 Transition pathways between compulsory school and upper-secondary II education After completing compulsory school education, students continue with upper-secondary II education (see Figure 2). At this level, the young people have the choice between two main pathways: vocational education and training or general education. Various measures have been put in place to ensure the smooth transition between compulsory education and upper-secondary II education. One such measure is the provision of numerous independent career information centres (CIC) that support the students in their search for and decision-making process regarding an appropriate education programme, taking into account their interests and abilities. The centres provide unbiased information about all possible educational programmes and can also be consulted for career decisions later in life (SDBB/CSFO 2008). After visiting the CIC, students are encouraged to get a deeper insight into the desired fields of study or occupations, whether by attending information sessions, taking short «sniffing courses» or pre-apprenticeships (from one or two days up to a week) in companies. In this way, students can compare the expectations they have of the occupation or course with the reality in order to make an informed decision. However, this is only the first step towards their dream job. The second step involves being accepted in the chosen education programme or company. The possible entry barriers for general education are the students’ grades or an entrance examination, depending on the canton. In VET, students need to find an apprenticeship position at a company in the desired occupation. The search for an apprenticeship position and the application process on the apprenticeship market is designed along similar lines to job searching in the labour market (SBFI 2014, p. 11). This means that students have to find an open apprenticeship position and apply by sending a letter of application. From the received applications, the companies invite suitable candidates for an interview. Thereafter, the companies are free to choose which candidates they want to hire as apprentices. In addition, there is an early support programme, the Case Management System, for students who are at greater risk of dropping out of the education system at this level, or are at risk of not finding an education opportunity. This programme was launched in cooperation with the federal and the cantonal authorities in 2006, with the aim of better coordinating the existing support measures of various institutions so as to offer the students a customised solution[5]. Despite the support measures in place, some students do not find a suitable education opportunity after their compulsory education. Possible reasons are indecision concerning the future course of studies, failure to find an apprenticeship position in the desired area or company, failing the entry exam or obtaining insufficient grades to continue studying in one of the general education programmes. Regardless of the reason, the state offers bridge options to overcome the intermediate year. Students are encouraged to undertake a tenth school year, look for a pre-apprenticeship, take part in a preparatory course, or go abroad for an exchange semester to learn a foreign language. The purpose of all these measures is to prevent students from dropping out of the education system without a post-compulsory qualification. Furthermore, these measures are intended to increase the students’ satisfaction with regard to their choice and keep the drop-out rate as low as possible. Statistics show that these measures are working, as around 95 per cent of students complete post-compulsory education (SBFI 2015a, p. 14). The courses at upper-secondary II level lead to a variety of diploma and certificates that qualify the student for tertiary education and / or the labour market. The VET qualifications include the Federal VET Certificate, which lasts two years, and the Federal VET Diploma, which takes three to four years depending on the chosen occupation. VET students can complete the Federal Vocational Baccalaureate parallel to or after the Federal VET Diploma. This qualification is optional and intended for academically stronger students who wish to continue with an academic education at tertiary level. The education diplomas in general education, which usually last three to four years, are the baccalaureate or the specialised...