Comments to the German Case: New

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Comments to the German Case New updated job
profiles for apprenticeship training

• Miroslav Procházka
• the Czech Republic

Workshop 2 Structural Conditions for Change /
Improvement(Institutional arrangements for
quality assurance, meeting labour market needs
planning improvement in IVET) Graz May 11 12
2006
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IVET and CVET in the CZ recent development

• The Parliament has adopted the act on
  accreditation and validation of further education
• The National Qualification Framework is being
  prepared
• The way of final examination in vocational
  training fields of study is being changed (in
  sense of wider participation of main actors
  schools and employers in framing and
  realisation of the exam)
• A curricular reform is slowly starting (it is
  based on the principle of 2-level creation of the
  curricula)

Quality Assurance becomes the key factor for each
of these steps is successful
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Main aspects of quality

• Functional relevance extent of correspondence
  between qualification structure and structure of
  current and anticipative needs of labour market -
  it depends on methodology of a labour market
  needs survey and on the way of creating curricula
  (training regulation)
• Functional effectiveness extent of
  correspondence between anticipated aims and
  achievements it depends on the way of provision
  
• Adequacy extent of correspondence between
  aspirations and real opportunities both
  individually and institutionally
• Effectiveness achievements comparing with
  invested resources

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Conceptual framework of the comments

• Functional relevance is closest to the defined
  topic of the workshop
• The basic difference between UK and Germany
  (especially in the way of provision of IVET) is
  not relevant from our (workshop) point of view
• It is difficult and problematic to compare only
  parts of educational systems without reflecting
  context

I will focus especially on the context
appropriate balance of various views on quality
(of the whole system, not only its parts)
provides the total view.
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General questions

• Isnt high quality in one view complemented with
  problems of other (wider) concept of quality?
• Are different aims (and quality concepts) in
  conflict?
• Basic conflict (tension) in IVET between
• the need to accomplish especially current
  demands of labour market (employers)
• and to respect long-term needs of trainees
  (lifelong employability, flexibility, key
  competencies, preparing for civil life)

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Specific questions
Are there any data on unemployment rate for DS
graduates in comparison with other forms of
training (especially full time vocational
schools) just after completing the studies and
later (possible according to age)?
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Youth unemployment rates ( of the labour force
aged 15 - 24)
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Specific questions
Are there any data on professional stability
(whether they have been still doing what they
have learnt) or are there any other data on
flexibility of DS graduates? How the graduates
perform as soon as they enter the open labour
market?
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Professional stability of people with upper
secondary education
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Professional stability

• The extensive analysis of LFS data researched
  correspondence between a branch of study and a
  profession being performed
• 4 categories A - full matching, B - partial
  matching, C - partial difference, D great
  miss-matching
• 1996 roughly 5 years after leaving school
• 2001 all, 20-24, 25-29

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Specific questions
What is the perspective trend in relationship
between demand for placement in DS and supply of
positions in enterprises? Is it true what is
sometimes declared, that the number of employers
disposed to have apprentices is decreasing? If it
is true, does it mean something for DS itself or
for the role of schools?
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Specific questions
What is the reason for relatively high proportion
of early school leavers and relatively low
proportion of people with at least upper
secondary level? Isnt the insufficient
capacity of DS (combining with low full-time
schools prestige) one of the reasons?
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Share of the population (18-24) with only
lower-secondary education and not in ed.
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of the population (20-24) having completed at
least upper-secondary education
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Specific questions
Is development of aprentices general and key
competencies sufficient? Prospectively, is the
theoretic education sufficient?
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Percentage of pupils with reading literacy
proficiency level 1 and lower (PISA)
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Specific questions

• What is the vertical permeability (opportunity
  for the graduates from DS to continue studies on
  tertiary level)?
• What will be the level of qualifications
  obtained in DS in EQF?
• Are the qualifications obtained in DS equivalent
  to those obtained at full-time schools (formally,
  practically)?

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Concluding remarks

• DS is excellent in fulfilling the aim of meeting
  the needs of employers
• It is not clear about sufficient fulfilling the
  aim of long-term and broader needs of trainees
  (both they in DS and they dont undergo DS and
  dont continue at higher or university education)