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The strategy for digital competence and infrastructure, from kindergarten to upper secondary education, contributes to the government's overall digitalisation and education policy goals as they emerge from the government’s political platform. It aims to enable children and young people to experience a greater emphasis on practical skills and abilities in school. Increased competence, better equipment and more learning arenas are highlighted in the political platform as measures that can...

There are different kinds of initiatives and events to promote and disseminate VET:

Professional Education and Training Campaigns (Campanha de Educação e Formação)

The campaign targets young people who are in the ninth grade (13-15 years old) when taking an informed and well-guided choice is of the utmost importance. Civil society, and particularly parents and guardians of young people in the third cycle of basic education are also target groups. It will promote vocational education as...

In September 2021, the IEFP signed a financing agreement for the application of EUR 230 million with the Estrutura de Missão Recuperar Portugal, the body responsible for negotiating, contracting and monitoring the implementation of the national recovery plan, as part of the implementation of the investment Modernisation of the supply and of the educational and vocational training facilities.

The financing contract runs until 31 December 2025. It aims to provide 22 000 training workshop...

Citizenship education plays a vital role in preparing students for full participation and functioning in society. In the Netherlands, this means fostering a culture of mutual respect, upholding democratic principles and the rule of law, and recognising and respecting individual freedoms. It also means empowering people by strengthening their civic and social skills, and enabling them to develop critical thinking and functioning in society. This includes understanding one's rights and...

WorldSkills and EuroSkills are aimed at all young people aged between 17 and 25 who have completed or are attending a qualification programme in vocational education and training. They aim to demonstrate the individual level of skills, rigour and mastery of techniques and tools for the exercise of each profession in the competition, through practical performance tests evaluated according to demanding criteria and in accordance with internationally established technical prescriptions by...

According to the Government Strategic Analysis Centre (STRATA) study University, college or vocational training institution?, based on data retrieved from the 2013/14 school year to the 2018/19 school year, the number of students who chose to study in vocational education institutions together with second part of the basic education programme education has doubled. The number of students who chose to study only according to initial vocational education programmes (ISCED 2) has been...

The ESF project Support for reducing early school leaving (PUMPURS) aims at reducing the number of learners leaving education and training early. The project promotes the creation of a sustainable cooperation system between the municipality, educational institutions, educators, support staff and parents or representatives of the learners, in order to identify learners at risk of interrupting their studies and provide them with personalised support.

Educators are given the opportunity to...

Specialised technological centres (Centros Tecnológicos Especializados) are an investment in modernising training in technological areas, particularly emerging sectors with a high potential for added value. They re-equip and strengthen the technological infrastructure of education establishments providing lower secondary vocational education, and develop new courses linked to the green and digital transitions. It is intended to create 365 specialised technological centres, and to reorient...

Apprenticeship courses allow for academic and vocational certification, emphasising inclusion in the job market, boosted by a strong training component undertaken in a work context and pursuing higher-level studies. Although dual learning has a strong tradition in Portugal, increased requirements for workers' skills and the need to deal with accelerated scientific and technological development led to a new generation of apprenticeship programmes (Programas de Aprendizagem).

Apprenticeship...

Professional programmes (cursos profissionais) are IVET upper secondary education programmes leading to EQF level 4 (academic and professional certification); they are part of compulsory education and of the formal education and training system. They target graduates of basic education aged between 15 and 18, including NEETs and learners at risk of early leaving, who would like to attend a practical programme linked to the labour market. They last three years (from 3 100 to 3 440 hours)....

High professional technical programmes (CTESP) correspond to a short cycle linked to the Bologna Process, provided exclusively by polytechnic higher education institutions, within the first cycle of higher education. These courses have a study cycle of 120 ECTS, which includes a set of curricular units organised in the components of general and scientific training, technical training and on-the-job training. It confers a qualification equivalent to level 5 of the national qualification...

Development programme for the sustainable development and green transition of VET is part of the wider development package for Climate and sustainability education. The programme supports implementation of 10 projects of sustainability practices in VET. The biggest project, Responsible and sustainable VET (VASKI) involves 61 training providers. It prepares a sustainability roadmap for the entire VET system, aiming for sustainable and green VET by 2030.

The sustainability breakthrough affects...

The development comprises several actions.

The expansion of initial vocational qualifications above 180 competence points need to be enabled, given they include more general upper secondary education studies, higher education studies and/or vocational qualification units. The possibility of expansion is set to be limited by 30 competence points. The expansion of a qualification is to be recorded in the learner’s personal competence development plan and funded, regardless of the type of...

This development consists of an eight-year programme in which all 113 education institutions in upper secondary vocational education (MBO, HBO and WO) and higher education (post-secondary and higher education) cooperate. They are joining forces to enable system transformation in education. The programme is led by the education ministry and is funded by the National Growth Fund. It has a budget of EUR 560 million. In the programme four action areas are created.

Transformation hubs

A...

The Training abroad scheme(OPU) is a Danish mobility programme that allows students in Danish VET to gain international experience by completing training periods abroad after finishing their basic course. The trainee/apprentice can spend all or part of their training abroad. The scheme is funded by AUB, the Employers’ Reimbursement System (Arbejdsgivernes Uddannelsesbidrag). Depending on whether the trainee has a Danish apprenticeship or not either the Danish employer or the...

Denmark will be hosting EuroSkills 2025 in the city of Herning from 9-13 September 2025. It will be Denmark’s largest educational event in history. Hosting the event is seen as a great opportunity for the National skills team to demonstrate Danish quality and competencies to the whole of Europe, as well as winning medals and being strong role models for other young people. EuroSkills 2025 is regarded as an event that will collectively inspire young Danes and other Europeans to look towards...

According to the requirements of the Employment Promotion Act, the national employment plans are prepared every year by a working group with the participation of experts from the responsible institutions, the social partners and the non-governmental sector. They are agreed by the social partners, members of the National Council for Employment Promotion and the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation and are adopted by a Decision of the Council of Ministers.

Priority target groups of the...

At the end of 2020, the Education Development and Quality Office (URKI) with the Ministry of Education, prepared the document Overview of the challenges of the education system in Slovenia. The purpose of the activities during the preparation of the document was to identify the key challenges in the education system. These challenges were identified through content analysis, contributions from the ministry's internal organisational units, and proposals from public institutions and the school...

The Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience calls to develop a culture of quality assurance in national systems, the French-speaking part of Belgium has designated for the first time a National Quality Assurance Reference Point (NRP). A partnership agreement has been signed to formalise the commitment of the project partners to the NRP and to allow the hiring of a project coordinator.

Between 2017 and 2024, Poland implemented the Active Blackboard programme to enhance digital infrastructure in schools, beginning with Resolution 108/2017. The initial phase (2017–2019) showed positive outcomes for pupils and teachers, though schools still lacked modern ICT equipment. Recommendations led to the expansion of the programme to secondary and VET schools, allowing for software purchases and teacher training. The second phase (2020–2024), launched during the COVID-19...

If they meet specific conditions, the changes enable vocational HEIs with a vocational higher education institution (uczelnia zawodowa) status, to:

1. offer courses preparing future teachers for the teaching profession without entering a cooperation agreement with a university, which has scientific achievements in the respective course discipline;
2. use the words practical academy (akademia praktyczna) in its title.

The six strategic objectives of the plan are further analysed into sub-objectives that serve the effective implementation of the strategy.

More specifically, the implementation of the first strategic objective, Development and strengthening of VET and LLL with emphasis on quality assurance, is achieved through the following sub-objectives:

1. increasing the attractiveness of VET through the creation of new opportunities;
2. design of VET and LLL programmes and their quality assurance;
3. investment in...

LLCS 2030 focuses on four thematic areas: the qualification system; basic skills and civic education; lifelong learning, counselling, and motivation of citizens for lifelong learning; and building a system of skills management and identification of lifelong learning needs. It proposes 51 measures divided into 13 thematic units corresponding to topics in need of urgent intervention:

1. second chance education and ‘F-type programmes’ (ISCED 253) for low achievers in lower secondary general...

The Government expressed its willingness to increase monthly minimal remuneration in order to increase the attractiveness of VET for young people.

Each year some existing VET programmes are updated to respond to new developments on the labour market, so that graduates have up to date qualifications allowing them to find an employment.

To update a VET programme, companies request the Institute for vocational and educational training in small and medium-sized companies (IAWM) to adapt its VET offer. When a programme has then been modified, the government requires three types of expertise from training companies, which certifies that all...

The Government of the German speaking community decided to equip teachers and secondary learners (including apprentices) with laptops to guarantee good functionality of online classes. The Ministry of the German-speaking Community is responsible.

The Integrated student evaluation system (ISES), which includes formative assessment and diagnosis of student needs, is in place since the 2019/20 academic year. Based on the operating regulations of secondary education, semester core exams have also been implemented.

Through actions compatible with the framework of teachers’ professional development on formative assessment, alternative forms of student evaluation and modern teaching methods, teachers are supported in implementing ISES.

The...

Under the Equal start initiative, the following developments are foreseen:

1. development of a network of regional career centres that would ensure provision of career guidance services starting from early years pupils and accessible to all age groups;
2. creation of a centralised system for the recognition of formal, non-formal and informal learning, facilitating transition from one level of education to another;
3. creation of a model for a joint lifelong learning system, including the principles...

There is increasing attention for the well-being of VET-students, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry set up different measures to improve the mental well-being of VET students and to monitor this.

COVID-19 caused a delay in studies for many students. To recover from these delays, the Dutch government has made EUR 8.5 billion available for a national education support programme for recovery and perspective (Nationaal Programma Onderwijs: steunprogramma voor herstel en perspectief, NPO), of which EUR 2.7 billion has been reserved for measures in upper secondary vocational education programmes. Over the next 2 school years (2020/21 and 2021/22), VET colleges may choose from a menu of...

On 1 October 2020, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports launched a pilot aimed at recognising international ICT certificates, that prove students’ knowledge and skills not only in informatics and information and communication technologies (in upper-secondary general schools, Gymnázia) and in education in information and communication technologies (in secondary VET schools) but also in digital competences in the profile part of the Maturita examination: Maturita in 4-year programmes...

The financial support provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT) will, at the same time, contribute to the transformation of educational content. Schools will build their own supply of mobile digital technologies and will be able to lend them. However, this should not lead to an unjustified acquisition and accumulation of technological equipment which is actually not needed.

Under Component 3.1 Innovation in education in the context of digitisation, funding is provided to...

Section 3 of the plan, Education and labour market, proposes the following reforms and measures in education and training:

Transforming HE institutions to adapt to new forms of learning and changing the labour market needs by 2026:

The plan foresees measures to increase the ability of higher education (HE) institutions to adapt study programmes to new forms of learning and new fields, particularly digital expertise, in line with changing labour market needs. It includes especially expansion...

In order to learn more about motives and expectations, as well as existing obstacles to mobility and potential incentives for mobility abroad, the project Partnership commissioned ibw Austria: Research and development in VET in 2020 to conduct the study 'Foreign mobility in apprenticeship training'. The results were presented at the OeAD on 30 September 2021 and a concrete objective and five action priorities for increasing apprenticeship mobility were derived from it.

The study shows that...

There are three national programmes with VET as their focus, not all starting in the same period. All these programmes are managed by the VET Directorate of the education ministry:

National VET programme

The programme aims to support improvement in the quality of VET provision and the labour market relevance of VET by providing schools with state-of-the-art equipment, update and/or developing, for the first time, curricula and study programmes, e-learning material and VET teacher training.

The...

The plan is addressed to the basic and secondary level students, with a focus on three structural elements:

1. teaching and learning that focusses on pedagogical tools for a more flexible curricular development, based on a greater capacity for autonomous and contextualised management, on strategies of proven effectiveness, on school and community activity and on support for students, especially in the school years and skills development most affected by the pandemic;
2. support to educational...

The Federal Government provides subsidies of around EUR 50 million annually for the inter-company apprenticeship training (ÜLU), making a contribution to the course and accommodation costs for apprentices from the second year of training onwards. The current funding guidelines allow a subsidy of up to one third of the course costs and up to half of the accommodation costs. The assessment basis for the federal funding lump sums is based on the determined average cost rates of the courses....

The creation of CoVEs is determined by the Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30 adopted by the government on 24 November 2021. According to the strategy‘s action plan, a pilot phase to transform some of the existing centres of VET into CoVES was scheduled to start in 2022, co-funded by ESIF (specific objective 1.4 ‘Developing skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship’ under Operational programme Slovakia 2021-27). About 20 CoVEs...

The Lifelong learning and counselling strategy for 2021-30, approved by the government on 24 November 2021, addresses early school leaving in the section ‘Second chance education and F-type programmes’. It suggests four measures aimed at:

1. transformation of former F-type programmes into ‘combined’ programmes that allow learners to complete lower secondary general education and earn at least an EQF level 2 VET qualification, enabling progression in initial VET;
2. allowing exceptional extension...

The strategy is focused on strengthening and improving Norwegian participation in Erasmus+ and the European Education Area, in order to provide more learners, youths and students, teachers and staff with opportunities for intercultural learning and exchange in Europe. The quality of education and training is to be further developed through international cooperation.

The government also wants more Norwegian interests to be able to cooperate with the best environments in Europe in order to...

The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (previously Skills Norway), and the Directorate for Education and Training, have to assess how a national portal may simplify the matching of learners and apprenticeship placements and needs.

The directorates studied models for, and the costs of, developing and operating a national apprenticeship portal. They also suggested different solutions. It was a requirement that at least one of the solutions had to be able to be implemented within the...

The government has decided that Norway will participate in several EU programmes in the period from 2021 to 2027. Some programmes are a continuation of existing cooperation, but the country also plans to join new programmes. The EU's major investments in digitalisation and green priorities are important factors in the programmes Norway has chosen to join.

These priorities are nationally important and affect several areas in the society, as well as vocational education and training.

Norway...

The reform will include more options for completing upper secondary education, including for adults, along with more relevant training and a right to apprenticeship in VET.

All students in upper secondary education, including both IVET and CVET, will benefit from the policy development.

These are the most important measures foreseen in the Completion reform:

1. everyone who starts upper secondary school will have the right to complete an upper secondary degree;
2. training courses will be better...

The Ministry of Education and Research established an expert group to investigate how schools may raise education quality. The expert group has to suggest measures to reduce the impact that the learner's gender, social background and previous learning outcomes may have for the benefits of education. The expert group is to explore how school owners and schools can better conduct a systematic quality development approach to increase the education quality, reaching better learning results.

The...

The platform for education on the environment and sustainable development, created following the 2007 National Nature Conservation Plan and launched online in 2012 as part of the Luxembourg Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) strategy of 2010, enables networking among professionals, NGOs, local administrations, institutions, teachers, and trainers involved in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), who now cooperate in line with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. It provides...

The EDCL offers many benefits for citizens, employers, and organisations, enabling:

1. students to prove the validity of their diploma or certificate;
2. training institutions across Europe to issue diplomas and other certificates of learning in a format that is easy to generate;
3. authorities (employers, universities, etc.) to easily check the authenticity of harmonised documents;
4. a common understanding of qualifications and certification across and beyond the European Union;
5. the recognition of...

The VET agreement is to be a common ground of a tripartite understanding, between the government and the social partners, in the following areas of intervention:

1. regulation and governance of the vocational training system (framework and regulation, regulation model and financing sources and quality improvement);
2. further development of the system’s instruments and responsiveness (improve the flexibility of the SNQ, strengthen responses to sectoral needs and dynamics and improve incentives...

The project is based around a strategy for sharing classes between schools (a class, in some subjects, may have students from different schools), under a pedagogical experience regime, aimed at promoting the diversification of the educational and training offer in low-density areas.

The schools involved in the pilot should define tutoring mechanisms that, in permanent dialogue with the families, allow close and systematic monitoring of the learners, both in pedagogical and organisational...

The following measures are foreseen:

1. promoting learning mobility in VET: supporting the internationalisation of VET, including support for the implementation of Europass, improving data collection and analytics, monitoring and analysis of learning mobility;
2. participating in Erasmus+ and other development and cooperation projects, and mobility schemes to mobilise best international experience;
3. participating in EU-level debate and development activities on the creation of key profiles for VET in...

With the ESF Plus education municipalities programme, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports districts and independent cities in the further development of their education landscape. One thematic focus of the programme is the establishment of digital-analogue networked education landscapes for lifelong learning. Local education authorities also choose specific thematic priorities, for example, in the area of cultural education, democracy building/political education,...

An average of EUR 1.33 million (DKK 10 million) is planned to be available for distribution each year from 2021-23. The Ministry of Children and Education is responsible for distributing the funds for supporting courses and action learning activities for teachers and trainers. The aim is to enhance knowledge on green entrepreneurship and contribute to green development.

All youth institutions, including VET, can apply to the pool for funding on projects that aim to support and strengthen...

In November 2020, the government and the social partners signed a tripartite agreement with initiatives worth EUR 66 million (DKK 500 million) annually.

According to the agreement and as from 1 January 2022

1. Students must not be left on their own when searching for an apprenticeship

The VET institution must provide information on apprenticeships to students who cannot find one; this is to minimise the responsibility that today is placed entirely on the student.

b.Early apprenticeship contracts

VET...

The initiative supports:

1. competence development and continuing education in relation to green transition and climate response EUR 13.5 million (DKK 100.5 million). The education ministry is responsible for the administration of the funding. Activities will primarily take the form of courses and action learning activities for VET teachers and trainers;
2. knowledge centres to develop new materials and teaching courses in the green transition and sustainability, to be implemented in VET and the...

The Scholarship policy 2020-24 includes an overview of the legal bases and of the scholarship allocation system, an overview and indicators of the Scholarship policy 2014-19, describes the current situation on the labour market, and defines deficit areas for the next five years. It sets up the implementation framework for awarding scholarships for professions in deficit (goals, funding, indicators) to encourage young people to study for these professions (programme ‘Scholarship for deficit...

The UPskill programme is the result of a partnership between the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) and the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP).

The main objective of the programme's first call is to upskill 3 000 professionals (employed and unemployed) within a 3-year period. It provides intensive training (6 months) in specific ICT areas offered by polytechnic institutes...

Rapid changes in teaching took place: using online methods and new applications to create and develop resources. The pandemic also created the opportunity to develop new types of learning communities by learning from peers or sharing good-practice experiences. New online platforms and support channels (phone lines) were created to support teachers, learners and parents.

Since March 2020, the education ministry has issued three policy letters discussing the new approach to further combat early leaving from education and training and support young early leavers achieving sustainable economic independence.

In the first letter (March 2020), the government and various stakeholders from education and the labour market (including employers’ organisations) expressed their joint intention to focus on apprenticeships (dual pathway) to help working, young dropouts to...

The Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Development and European Cohesion Policy issued a decision on financial support for the programme COVID-19 – Additional ICT support for the implementation of the education process. The programme, which falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, receives EUR 4 million funding from the European Regional Development Fund and is implemented by the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (Arnes). The...

The subject is implemented in vocational (30 hours) and technical (35 hours) upper secondary programmes. It is designed as interdisciplinary, as it intertwines and connects various disciplines, such as sociology, philosophy, political science, history, geography, and upgrades the goals and content of the subject of social sciences. It contains four thematic units, from micro (citizen) to macro (EU and world) level:

1. citizen individual position;
2. participation in a community;
3. citizen of the...

Regulations addressed to schools, including VET schools, in 2020 and 2021 (until February) mainly concerned the temporary closure of institutions and the easing of the transition to distance learning. More than 23 regulations were issued by the education minister for these purposes.

EU funded projects have been implemented aiming to solve problems resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools, including VET providers. For example, computers and software were delivered to...

The process of designing the National recovery plan was managed by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy (MFiPR). In February 2021, the document was submitted for public consultation, which influenced its final shape. In May 2021 the plan was officially submitted to the European Commission.

Its main areas of focus are:

1. resilience and competitiveness of the economy;
2. green energy and reducing energy intensity;
3. digital transformation;
4. availability and quality of the health care...

The policy development envisages creating a coordinated approach to VET graduate tracking. It involves stakeholders, especially those dealing with statistics and taxation systems, and is based on the experience accumulated by the higher education graduate tracking and international experience.

The concept proposed by the education ministry is based on the analysis of available administrative data regarding the employment and income of VET graduates. The framework for graduate tracking...

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the following measures were introduced to assure the continuation of vocational education and training (VET) and specifically of apprenticeships. School closures were limited to the minimum and school training was continued as distance learning. School closures were limited to the minimum and school training was continued as distance learning. Practical training was mostly suspended during the lock-down but the work placement periods were recovered, by...

In December 2020, Law 4763/2020 introduces a legal framework regulating VET and LLL and describing the organisation of each school type, the qualifications and the role of their staff (manager, teachers, career/vocational counsellors). The Law also establishes the structure of the Hellenic Qualifications Framework (HQF) and regulates qualifications for NQF/EQF levels 3, 4, and 5.

The law also establishes for the first time a two-year vocational training programme for lower secondary (basic)...

Outgoing mobility:

1. Erasmus+: as shown in the Study on Mobility (NA at BIBB, 2018), Erasmus+ funds about half of all outgoing mobilities of VET learners. Since 2015, Erasmus+ has also been promoting the internationalisation of VET learning venues through accreditation of vocational schools and companies for a simplified participation in the VET mobility programme.
2. VETworldwide: to expand IVET mobility outside the EU, BMBF and NA at BIBB initiated the programme VETworldwide...

The total budget of the youth plan is EUR 6.7 billion, with measures to support young people aged 16-25 after the COVID-19 crisis. It mobilises a set of tools: hiring assistance, training, support, financial assistance for struggling young people, etc. to respond to different situations.

Under priority 1 – facilitating entry into working life;

1. compensation of EUR 4 000 of costs to the businesses for any young person recruited between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021;
2. exceptional support to recruit...

France Relance has a budget of EUR 100 billion in total over two years, out of which 15 billion is for vocational training. The main measures in terms of education and vocational training offered in both IVET and CVET (excluding exceptional employment subsidies) are:

Training young people in strategic and promising sectors

1. 100 000 qualifying training courses via the Regional skills investment pacts; with a revaluation of the remuneration for trainees undertaking professional training;
2. 16 000...

The programme to develop quality and equality in VET is mainly implemented through comprehensive development projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The projects are mainly wide-ranging network projects with one coordinator. This secures the efficient direction of the projects and the transition of the results as part of national development and VET provider everyday routine.

As part of its 2025 Strategy, the government put the following measures in place to combat early school leaving:

1. strengthening its 'DAS and DASC' mechanisms (stated as a priority, see below for further details on these mechanisms);
2. increasing financial support but also to simplify (one call every three years);
3. introducing more systematic monitoring of actions (see school service).

In 2016, the Brussels government established the School Service within perspective.brussels (Strategy 2025). This...

The National recovery and resilience plan sets out a package of reforms and public investments to be implemented by 2026. For programmes at ISCED levels 0 to 5, the component Education for the 21st Century mainly focuses on reforming the curriculum, introducing new education methodologies, and updating textbooks. The main goal of the curriculum reform is to improve learner competences needed for the 21st century (critical thinking, digital and soft skills).

The plan also prioritises teacher...

The Digital Wallonia 2015-18 strategy has helped to position Wallonia as a territory seizing the opportunities of digital transformation. On 6 December 2018, the Walloon Government validated the update of the Digital Wallonia strategy for 2019-24. This sets the framework defining the orientations that Wallonia will have to take to seize the socio-economic opportunities of digital transformation for a period of five years. The Walloon Public Service (SPW) provides its expertise to the Walloon...

Since 2014, every year several dozen learners from different VET programmes and from the IFAPME network complete a professional and linguistic training course of 4, 8 or 12 weeks duration abroad. This internship abroad is an integral part of the vocational training offered by the regional training provider IFAPME. Focused on practice and know-how, these scholarships cover all or part of the compulsory internships necessary for graduation. Language classes are offered to learners involved ...

Strengthening the position of ‘sectoral assignees’ and the Employer Council for VET over the VET system as a whole from 2021 induced a debate over creating a new institution covering the VET system as a whole. The Sector Councils Alliance has been newly created to take over some responsibilities from the education and labour ministries from 1 January 2025.

In January 2021, the education ministry submitted to public discussion an extensive amendment of the Education act (245/2008), which provoked a heated debate with more than 1 000 comments, of which more than 680 were fundamental. In March 2021, therefore, the revised version was resubmitted for public discussion. This discussion was expected to pave the way to introducing curricular reform and also reforms embedded in the National recovery and resilience plan (RRP). Public discussion and...

The action plan for the digital transition has three main pillars. Each one comprises three sub-pillars:

1. Capacity building and digital inclusion of people
   1. digital education,
   2. professional training and reskilling,
   3. digital inclusion and literacy,
2. Digital transformation of enterprises
   1. entrepreneurship and investment attraction,
   2. existing companies (with a focus on SMEs),
   3. scientific and technological knowledge transfer to the economy,
3. Digitalisation of the public sector
   1. digital...

The ministry of education has approved the creation of a working group which will analyse the specialised artistic programmes. The main tasks of this working group are to:

1. describe and analyse the evolution over time of these programmes;
2. evaluate their current model of funding;
3. propose alternative scenarios for the reorganisation of these programmes, regarding, for instance, the curriculum or pedagogic methods;
4. recommend new ways of quality assurance;
5. recommend new methods of assessing...

By 2023, the VET system will be structured to focus on the common professional basis within the relevant group of fields of study. This innovation will allow for a gradual choice of career paths and will able learners to postpone early specialisation. It will also lead to a reduction in the total number of fields of study (current number of fields is 281). The amended fields of study system will be open and offer the possibility to follow up on previous education at any time and continue to...

The Long-term plan for education and the development of the education system of the Czech Republic (the Long-term plan) covers the entire system of regional education (pre-school, basic, secondary, tertiary professional education). Decision-making and consulting powers are vested in self-governing bodies: regions (for public VET schools at upper secondary and tertiary professional levels) and municipalities (pre-school and basic schools).

The plan determines the framework of long-term plans...

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports focuses on expanding options for students to get practical training in a real work environment with the use of elements of the dual system of VET. Favourable conditions will continue to be created to increase the involvement of experts from practice in teaching and implementation of internships for pedagogical staff in companies. Cooperation with employer representatives will be developed based on the Agreement on the division of responsibilities...

In the framework of the Competence 4.0 project (2019-22; Operational programme Employment, Ministry of Industry and Social Affairs), the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Czech Chamber of Commerce and the consultancy company TREXIMA jointly participate in mapping new future competences associated with the introduction of Industry 4.0 in the Czech Republic.

Other expected project outputs include:

1. analyses of international studies and labour market trends;
2. methodology of mapping...

The expert group is led by the Ministry of Education and Research and Universities Norway (UHR), the National Council for Higher Vocational Training, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and student representatives. Students and the community council will also be involved in the work.

There have been regular meetings with all principals, students and organisations since March 2020 to map concerns, to discuss possibilities for improving the situation...

The Catching-up regions initiative, in cooperation with regional authorities, aims to identify challenges and priority areas at regional level to direct investments to. Improving VET programmes in line with labour market needs can foster economic development in regions lagging behind.

The initiative was initially carried out in the Prešov region in 2018. In 2019, a report was published providing specific suggestions on how to improve secondary VET. The cooperation with the Banská Bystrica...

The ministry proposed two temporary legislative amendments to provide young people in VET the opportunity to take a bridge course to general education competence in the school year 2020/21.

Learners with an apprenticeship contract may be admitted to a one-year bridge course extension even if they have not completed the craft or journeyman exam. It was suggested that the right of young people to education should be expanded. Young people who complete the second year of a vocational programme...

The targets presented in the roadmap and the measures needed to achieve it are based on the state of play in education and research as well as on key factors for changing the education and research environment. Finland's demographic trend is the most significant factor affecting the education system. The birth rate is dropping, age groups are smaller, and people live in growth centres in increasing numbers. The report (roadmap) outlines the guidelines for the future of the Finnish education...

The VET graduate pilot tracking project (No 609397-EPP-1-2019-1-BG-EPPKA3-EQAVET-NRP) is funded by the Erasmus+ programme. It is implemented by the education ministry in the period April 2019 to March 2021.

A graduate tracking mechanism (prototype) has been developed under the project to monitor the career development of VET graduates. The prototype was presented and adopted by the Consultative Council for VET and the education minister on 29 September 2020. The prototype includes a sequence...

There are normally several requirements for conducting trade and journeyman exams.

The government adopted changes regarding dispensation from the requirements for trade and journeyman certificates for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal is for the county municipalities to be able to conduct trade and journeyman exams for as many apprentices as possible. The same applies to final exams for apprenticeship candidates and internship candidates. The most important aspect is that no...

The Ministry of Education and Research sent temporary regulations based on the COVID-19 Act on a hearing. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Norwegian Directorate of Health decided to close kindergartens, schools and other education institutions. With kindergartens, schools and other education institutions closed, it would be impossible to fulfil all the rules of the Ministry of Education in full. To ensure that children, young people and adults would be protected as much as possible in...

The National Agency for Education received a government mission in 2020 to support secondary VET providers in including subjects and courses in all VET programmes that learners need to complete to become eligible for admission to tertiary education. For eligibility to tertiary education, learners need to complete two modules in Swedish and one module in English. These courses are elective for secondary VET learners but are not necessarily a realistic option within the framework of the...

In 2020, the Career check for young adults was introduced by the Austrian Economic Chambers and rolled out in five federal provinces. The career check is a combination of testing and counselling that supports young people in their career development. The development of the career check started in 2019 in cooperation with experts from the career centres of the regional Economic Chambers with the support of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.

The career check includes a test and an...

The basis for this concept was the most comprehensive possible survey of the status quo of the career guidance offers and needs of young people and adults in the province of Salzburg, taking into account all subgroups and regions. Short-term and long-term proposals for measures were also included in the project.

First, the existing orientation and guidance offers in the province of Salzburg were surveyed and categorised with regard to their content, formats, target groups and regional...

In close cooperation between the Vienna Economic Chamber (WKW), the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK), the Vienna Public Employment Service and the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (waff), as well as conceptually supported by the two research institutes ibw and öibf, a model of a new, innovative training association was developed. It was finally implemented at the beginning of 2021, offering apprenticeship training companies the possibility of continuing their apprenticeship training for a...

In November 2020, the National action plan for entrepreneurship education was presented, the core element of which is the Map of actions for children and young adults in the field of entrepreneurship education.

The plan was developed from a cooperative venture between the Federal Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDW), the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and other ministries, including the Federal Ministry of Labour, Family and Youth (BMAFJ) and the...

To keep the apprenticeship system running, the following two key measures were taken in response to the COVID-19 crisis:

Apprenticeship bonus

Companies that hired apprentices during the coronavirus crisis from 16 March 2020 until 31 October 2020, receive a bonus of EUR 2 000 for each new apprentice, which is paid in two instalments: EUR 1 000 when the apprenticeship starts and EUR 1 000 if the apprenticeship relationship is continued after the probationary period. For apprentices who were...

In 2018, a Flemish evidence-based research facility – commissioned by the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training – carried out a study to formulate an answer to three questions, together with teachers, directors, business leaders and networks:

1. What are the major technical challenges facing education?
2. Which training needs for teachers are related to this?
3. What does good professionalisation look like to meet those needs?

The resulting policy development consists of three phases:

1. 2018-19:...

A national commission of enquiry was set up in 2018 with a mission to propose a grading system that would increase incentives for learners to study more advanced courses in a subject and to reduce stress by replacing the current course-based grading system with a subject-grading system in which the grade for the last and highest-level module in a subject would be used for calculating the average grade. In the new system, a grade will be given for a subject as a whole not for each course in...

The finance ministry was responsible for preparing the National integrated reform plan (NIRP). Over 100 experts, including analysts from respective ministries and experts from NGOs and businesses, contributed to the identification of milestones, measurable goals and required costs in eight priority areas. The following are the most relevant to VET:

1. education;
2. research, development and innovations;
3. digitalisation;
4. labour market and social sustainability.

The priority area education includes...

VET provision, curricula, examination

In December 2016, the ESF project ‘Development of sectoral qualifications system for vocational education development and quality assurance’ was launched to develop new occupational standards and modular VET programmes for most of professional qualifications (sectoral qualifications).

In 2017, amendments to the Vocational Education Law specified the legal framework for the modularisation of VET programmes. VET modules were included in the State vocational...

In December 2015, the Government adopted regulations on career education. Within this framework, the State Education Development Agency (VIAA) launched a national ESF project Career support in general and vocational education schools (2016-20) to ensure accessibility of career education in all general and vocational education schools. New methodological materials were developed. In 2017-18, more than 20 seminars and two national conferences for schools’ career guidance teachers/specialists...

Regulations on scholarships have been amended to ensure the principle of equality and provide for a clear procedure for awarding scholarships, thus ensuring that all VET providers apply common basic criteria for eligibility and amount of scholarships. The regulations set the criteria, purpose and procedure for awarding scholarships and their amount.

Work-based learning approaches have been developed and implemented through a complex of interventions financed by the State budget, European Social fund, Erasmus+ and other EU programmes.

The Erasmus+ project ‘National authorities for apprenticeships: Implementing work-based learning in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia (WBL-Balt), the Baltic alliance for apprenticeships (BAfA)’ was launched in June 2015 to develop and promote conceptual approaches for WBL, as well as ensure exchange of...