Initial VET in OECD Countries: What is it and what challenges does it face?

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Alice Escande and Marie-Aimée Altmeyer

"Vocational Education Training (VET) aims to equip people with knowledge, know-how, skills and competences required in particular occupations or more broadly on the labour market" (European Training Foundation). In this post, we focus on Initial VET (IVET), different from Continuous VET (CVET), which focus on training individuals entering the labour market or already working. The objectives of IVET focuses on better preparing students for the future, matching their skills with labour market demands and providing them with adequate career guidance. IVET usually takes place at the elementary, middle to high school level but can also in some cases, take the form of short post-secondary education programs. In Europe, about half of students enter IVET programs.

How has the conception of IVET evolved throughout time?



300 years ago, VET existed mostly in the form of Apprenticeship. 13-14 years old students would go on to pursue a specific training (in trade or crafts, usually) guided with a "master". The apprentice would receive only little pay but in return would get trained by his "master" as well as being fed and hosted. The apprenticeship was usually for a long period and the apprentice was bound to his master. It had nothing to do with what we think about education today. It was directly linked with the labour market. Nowadays, this link has weakened tremendously.

What happened? 


The success of general education has played an important role in weakening apprenticeship. This happened gradually, as the idea that real learning take place in a classroom, presided by an academic teacher facing the students rather than in the backroom of a workshop, with a supervisor with no academic standings. These factors and the devaluation of the apprenticeship status in the general opinion progressively led to a decline in the status of VET. 

What is IVET now?

In the last 20 years, efforts have been made to tie back together education and the labour market. This extremely old form of learning, which predated most of modern schooling, is being laboriously reinvented. IVET is now embedded in our education system. It fits within the broader framework of work-based learning. Even though originally VET was more geared towards manual and labour intensive work, nowadays it is expanding to other disciplines such as banking, accountancy, graphic design etc. 


Country differences:

For the last 20 years, countries have shown great interest in redeveloping their apprenticeship systems, with more or less success. While, the US, France or the UK struggle with encouraging talented students to go into IVET, Germany, Switzerland or Austria's IVET system is rather well integrated into their educational system. In Switzerland, 70% of a students’ cohort in upper secondary, go to Vocational Education. IVET models are also very diverse. The traditional model would be a 15-16 years old student entering apprenticeship for 3 or 4 years of training in the workplace with an employer. The German model, also known as the “jewel model” or “classical model” is based on a Dual system where students enjoy both work-based and school-based learning. In Norway and other countries, students enter a “2+2 model” whereby they spend 2 years learning theoretical knowledge (off-the job training) and 2 years of practice (on the job training). In most countries, there is a mix of work-based and school-based learning.


The German Dual System:



What are the issues of contemporary IVET?

Across countries, there is a growing concern that IVET programs are not well adapted to the reality of workplace and labour market demands. The reason is that the workplace is moving at an extremely fast-pace, while teachers and education infrastructures move at a slower pace. Often older-generation teachers are disconnected from the reality of present-day industry.

Another persistent issue is the fact that initial IVET suffers a stigma of unpopularity, being seen as a second rate choice. Traditional education in class-room based context has been largely successful, and is regarded as delivering the most prestigious degrees. On the contrary, IVET degrees are often connoted as less prestigious degrees. IVET students are often forced into such training because of a lack of other options. Linked to this stigma is the idea that once in IVET there would be no way out. Efforts have to be made in improving the permeability between IVET and general education. 

The challenge lies in reversing this stigma. While there has been a decline of IVET over time, more and more education actors are aware of this issue and work into putting value back into work-based learning. Mindsets are slowly changing.


Opening speeches at the Meeting of Ministers for Vocational Education and Training, Simon Field




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