Improving the Employability of Young People through Dual Vocational Training –

V4 Conference

Budapest, 5. 3. 2015

Political changes and economic transformation after 1989 had a substantial impact on the Czech system of vocational education and training (VET).

State-owned companies, which previously used to be the main providers of VET and employers of VET graduates, fell apart in the course of the privatization.

Practical training shifted largely to school workshops and laboratories (equipment did not match existing needs and rapid development and the teachers themselves started to lose contact with new technologies).

Lack of skilled workers particularly in the fields of craft became major obstacle to further business development

CZE VET in a nutshell ①

The mismatch between employers’ needs and the capacity of the school system to satisfy those requirements thus led to the recovery of the employers’ interest in cooperation with schools.

CZE always recorded a high proportion of persons with upper secondary education (ISCED 3).

Trend general secondary education - graduates of vocational secondary education stays relatively high compared to the European average. (IVET students as % of all upper secondary – ISCED 3 – students in 2006: EU-28 – 51.9% and ČR – 79.3%; in 2012: EU-28 – 50.4% and ČR – 72.7%1)

CZE VET in a nutshell ②

1 Source: Eurostat, table educ_ipart, extracted on 27th May 2014.

No formal apprenticeship programme / dual system i.e. no programme that includes contract between the apprentice and the employer.

No shared responsibility between employer and the school related to the training.

Schools are exclusively responsible for education and training and curriculum shows a high proportion of theory in comparison with practical training.

However practical, work-based training and work placements are integrated into IVET (Initial Vocational Education and Training) curricula as a mandatory part.

CZE VET in a nutshell ③

The Education System of the Czech Republic: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic

Organization of the Education System in the Czech Rep.

Pre-primary education - ISCED 0

Primary – Single Structure – ISCED 1 + ISCED 2 (no institutional distinction between ISCED 1 and 2)

Lower secondary general - ISCED 2 (including pre-vocational)

Upper secondary general - ISCED 3

Upper secondary vocational - ISCED 3

Post-secondary non-tertiary - ISCED 4

Tertiary education - ISCED 5A

Tertiary education - ISCED 5B

Compulsory education

Part-time or combined school and work place courses

Secondary education with vocational certificate – provided typically by secondary vocational schools (SOU – střední odborná učiliště – ISCED 3C)

Secondary education with maturita exam – provided typically by secondary technical schools (SOŠ – střední odborné školy – ISCED 3A);

IVET schemes in the CZE

Table: Secondary education programmes – description and share of graduates in the academic year 2012/13

In terms of attractiveness the Czech Republic is recording a long-term decline of interest in secondary VET and study programmes without „maturita“ exam in favour of those concluded by „maturita“.

Attractiveness of VET

Development of the share of graduates (%)Source: MŠMT, www.msmt.cz, 2014

The responsibility for funding of secondary VET schools ◦ secondary vocational schools - střední odborná

učiliště – SOU, ISCED 3C; ◦ secondary technical schools - střední odborné školy

– SOŠ, ISCED 3A) ◦ and tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné

školy – VOŠ, ISCED 5B) is shared between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MŠMT) and those responsible for establishing schools, i.e. regional authorities or in some cases private entities, churches, ministries.

Funding of VET

POSPOLU - Promoting Cooperation Between Schools and Companies Focused on Vocational Training in Practice (POSPOLU = TOGETHER)

One of the projects implemented by NÚV (National Institute of Education), in cooperation with Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and employers' associations (Confederation of Industry, Association of Engineering Technology etc.)

Individual project from the ESF 2012 - 2015

Project „POSPOLU“

Promoting cooperation between secondary vocational schools and employers, leading to ◦ better prepared graduates,

◦ deepen the preparation of students in a real work environment,

◦ and seeking additional opportunities for cooperation besides school vocational training and work practice in companies.

The main objective of the project is to produce a draft of systemic and legislative changes that cooperation between schools and businesses facilitate and enable its expansion.

Project „POSPOLU“, Goals

The concept of the cooperative model, it is supposed that cooperation between schools and businesses must be coordinated at the national level to ensure that pupils achieve comparable results and acquire comparable qualifications regardless of where vocational training or professional experience completed,

Coordination should ensure the country represented by the Ministry of Education, in close collaboration with the representative bodies of employers

Project „POSPOLU“, Cooperative model of VET

Cooperative model of vocational training addresses the following questions:◦ legislative confirmation,◦ the possibility of financing,◦ own education of students in practical activities

ensure that desired outcomes through educational programmes,

the duration of training, the method of solving the final exams

Project „POSPOLU“, Cooperative model of VET

Comparison Dual system x Cooperative system

Project „POSPOLU“, Cooperative model of VET

  Dual system Cooperative system

Legislation Governed by a separate law regulating the rights and obligations of the partners involved

Can be implemented within the existing legislative framework with only minor legislative changes

Student status Student has a dual status: sign an employment contract; a student at school

Status remains as a student at school

Responsibility for final exams Final testing ensures employers, respectively their chambers

Responsibility for the final exam remains at school, employers participating in trials are members of the boards of examiners

Financing Employers bear most of the costs of vocational training students

Multi-source funding (state, companies)

Programme Erasmus+ is a chance for intensification in VET collaboration (former Leonardo da Vinci)

KA1 mobility of student and VET staff KA2 Strategic partnerships in VET AMSP ČR is involved in 2 projects from Call

2014◦ VoCOL - Vocational Cooperative Learning Triangles◦ TUNED UP! - Tools Under the Need of Enhancing

Diversity

Erasmus+ Programme

Project objectives:◦ To develop skills of staff to use COL to develop & assess

learners’ key competencies for employment

◦ To improve attractiveness & relevance of VET by ensuring curriculum meets the employability needs of learners & employers

◦ To strengthen alignment & collaboration between the worlds of work & VET through innovative methods

◦ To enhance the modernisation & internationalisation of VET systems in partner countries

VoCOL - Vocational Cooperative Learning Triangles

Thank you for your kind attention!

Jakub ŠKÁBA / AMSP ČRInternational Projects Manager

Sokolovská 100/94186 00 Praha 8 Tel.: +420 603 433 114E-mail: skaba@amsp.cz Web: www.amsp.cz

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