Swiss and European actors discussed the importance of Vocational Education and Training for the development of a more resilient and inclusive society.
In the context of the European Year of Skills, DLR Projektträger, SwissCore and the Swiss Mission to the European Union co-organised on 12 March 2024 the 8th edition of the ‘Brussels: Future Talks’. The topic of the event was ‘Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Europe’, with a focus on ‘shaping a more inclusive future of VET in times of transition’. Around 60 actors in the VET sector gathered to discuss the tools to build a more inclusive and innovative VET.
Rita Adam, Ambassador of Switzerland to the EU, and Hannes Barske, Head of “International Cooperation in VET” at DLR Projektträger, opened the discussion by highlighting the importance of VET for the Swiss and German society. This allowed Anna Barbieri, Team Leader for Apprenticeships at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) of the European Commission (EC), to present the strengths of the VET sector. Barbieri emphasised the importance of VET for acquiring adequate work competences as well as the transversal skills seen as necessary by employers. She stressed that to ensure a better learning experience, the attractiveness of VET at a European scale should be improved. Barbieri highlighted the role of the Centres of Vocational Excellence in fostering innovation in the VET sector (CoVE, see SwissCore article).
Jérôme Hügli and Catherine von Wyl, both from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), presented how the Swiss VET system tackles skills shortage and supports the digital and green transition in Switzerland. Through the example of the newly created solar installer apprenticeship, they also emphasise the need of cross-sectoral coordination in order to set up VET programmes providing the right skills for the apprentices. Frank Petrikowski from the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU in Brussels explained how private companies help the public sector to create new programmes and to modernise VET. Maija Zvirbule from the Permanent Representation of Latvia to the EU said that Latvian VET enrols 52% of all learners at upper secondary level. However, the VET sector still has attractiveness and quality assessment problems. Zvirbule presented the main challenges for VET in the future: provide to learners’ future professional skills, prepare the next generation of teachers and trainers, and provide excellence as well as internationalisation in the programmes.
During the following panel discussion, Mergim Jahiu, from the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET), introduced the need of including informatic tools, like Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, in VET pedagogy to sensitise learners to these tools. Andreas Müller, from DLR Projektträger, reminded the audience of the diversity of VET systems around the world. Through his examples, he highlighted the need for countries to develop their own training system as well as consolidating it throughout international best practice sharing. Grace Papa, working for the European Federation of Food Agriculture and Trade Unions, said that “there is a lack of skilled formation because of the lack of work recognition”. She emphasised ‘unrecognised’ work, e.g. done by domestic workers, who have often a migration background, lack of training, and face a lack of available quality courses.
The subsequent interactive section tackled the main difficulties currently faced in VET: from the lack of government effort or the absence of social dialogue between trade unions and workers. As for the CoVEs, both employers and employees experience difficulties to integrate a mobility component in the VET school as it’s difficult to create a programme with enough flexibility to fit a mobility period, given the workplace component of the programmes that plays a crucial role in dual VET programmes. The lack of flexibility of VET, like in Germany, does not sufficiently allow the government and employers to innovate in courses, hindering the development of skills that apprentices could need in their future careers. The VET actors agree that the main challenges remain the lack of skills recognition and training in certain professions, as well as the inclusion of people with a ‘disadvantaged background’. Finding ways to motivate people to join VET, especially those who don’t have enough information, is key to develop a resilient society with adequate work competences.