VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

CEDEFOP Editor: Fernanda Oliveira Reis European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training Editorial committee:

Jean Monnet House Chairman: Jean François Germe Bundesallee 22 Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers D-10717 Berlin (CNAM), France Tel.: 4930+88 41 20 Matéo Alaluf Telex: 184 163 eucen d Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium Tina Bertzeletou Fax: 4930+88 41 22 22 CEDEFOP Keith Drake Manchester University, Great Britain Julio Sanchez Fierro As of 1.9.1995 the seat of Asociación de Mutuas de Trabajo, Spain Gunnar Eliasson CEDEFOP will be The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden Paolo Garonna Thessaloniki (GR) Istituto nazionale di statistica (ISTAT), Italy Eduardo Marçal Grilo Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal Alain d’Iribarne Laboratoire d’Economie et de Sociologie du Travail (LEST-CNRS), France Bernd Möhlmann CEDEFOP Fernanda Oliveira Reis CEDEFOP Arndt Sorge Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Germany Enrique Retuerto de la Torre CEDEFOP Reinhard Zedler Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, CEDEFOP is a Community body Deutschland established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the Council of the Eu- ropean Communities, last amen- Representative of the Management Board: ded by Council Regulation (EC) No Anne-Françoise Theunissen Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens de 251/95 of 6 February 1995 and Belgique (CSC), Belgium Council Regulation (EC) No 354/95 of 20 February 1995. It is managed by a quadripartite Management Board on which are represented the trade union and employer or- ganizations, national governments Published under the responsibility of: The contributions were received on and the European Commission. Johan van Rens, Director or before 16.02.1995 Stavros Stavrou, Deputy Director Pursuant to Article 2 of the found- Enrique Retuerto de la Torre, Deputy Director Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial ing regulation, CEDEFOP “has the purposes, provided that the source is indicated mission of assisting the Commis- Technical production, coordination: sion in order to promote at Com- Bernd Möhlmann, Barbara de Souza Catalogue number: HX-AA-95-001-EN-C munity level the development of vocational training and continuing Responsible for translation: Colin Mc Cullough Printed in training”. the Federal Republic of Germany, 1995 Layout: Werbeagentur Zühlke Scholz & Partner Through its academic and techni- GmbH, Berlin This publication appears three times a year in cal activities, CEDEFOP is called Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, upon to produce relevant knowl- Technical production on DTP: Axel Hunstock, Berlin Italian, Dutch and Portuguese edge of a precise and comprehen- sive nature on the Community per- spective to assess the issues in the Work Programme which is ap- proved by the Management Board The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of CEDEFOP. in agreement with the Commis- The European Vocational Training Journal gives protagonists the opportunity to present sion. The Work Programme cur- analyses and various, at times, contradictory points of view. The Journal wishes to contribute rently focuses on two major is- to criticial debate on the future of vocational training at a European level. sues:

❏ trends in qualifications ❏ trends in training systems Call for contributions and to implement this programme CEDEFOP uses a variety of means: The Editorial Committee wishes to publication. It will inform the authors of ❏ studies and analyses encourage the spontaneous contribution its decision. Articles (5 to 10 pages, 30 ❏ dissemination of information (in a variety of forms using vari- of articles. Articles submitted will be lines per page, 60 characters per line) ous media) examined by the Editorial Committee should be addressed to the editor of the ❏ the promotion of opportunities which reserves the right to decide on Journal. Manuscripts will not be returned. for the exchange and transfer of knowledge. CEDEFOP 2 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL Editorial This volume celebrates the accession to the and Sweden at 79 per cent march with Den- European Union of three new Member mark (79 per cent in 1991) and Norway (71 States. Of the Nordic countries, Denmark is per cent) in using training (and public sec- a long-standing member, Finland and Swe- tor employment) to target particular groups. den have now joined, Norway and Iceland In this case, the enhancement of flexible remain outside the Union. Austria has joined facilities enables more women to combine but Switzerland remains outside the Union. family and job. Long periods of political sta- The statistical section speaks of the material bility in several Nordic countries facilitated status of the new members - their demo- an alliance of the social partners and cen- graphic, employment and educational pro- tral government to make unusually exten- files. The absence of comparative data on sive provision for the remote rural inhabit- training - as opposed to publicly-financed ant as well as the city dweller, for women primary, secondary and tertiary education - as well as for men, for the older at-risk is revealing. There are national training data worker as well as for the young entrant to for all three new entrants. But the FORCE the workforce. Austria, like Sweden, has a programme’s Tableau de Bord on Continu- highly corporatist approach to the setting ing Vocational Training1 demonstrated the and implementation of training policy. But non-comparability of much of the existing Austrian corporatism is of a different vari- training data in Member States. Where reli- ety, combining a strong social democratic ably comparable data do not yet exist, at- flavour with adherence to a social market tempts to manufacture it are more likely to model of economic management. mislead than to inform. The warmth of the welcome derives from the commitment of Riemer reveals that for Austria accession Austria, Finland and Sweden to the values coincides with an impetus towards realistic of democracy and social solidarity, and the and self-critical analysis, openness to new expression of these values in their systems solutions and a vision of integration which of vocational education and training. goes beyond economic issues to the devel- opment of a ‘Europe of citizens’. Like Ger- Finland and Sweden share many character- many and Switzerland, Austria’s training istics with the other Nordic countries. system is based on the apprenticeship Lundborg reflects on forty years experience model: 41 per cent of its young people of their integrated, five country labour mar- graduate each year from its dual system. But ket. This experience suggests that sustained one of its most pressing concerns is not ini- income narrowing across EU Member States tial vocational training but the sheer size of will reduce migratory flows - as it did in the continuing training effort which it faces. the eighties between Finland and Sweden. Echoing an earlier plea (in 2/94) by Eliasson Lundborg also argues that migrations re- for institutional reform to stimulate and fa- sponding to increased labour demand in cilitate increased self-investment by indi- some better off Member States may require viduals, Riemer favours improved incentives policy changes to ensure that unemploy- for investment in continuing training both ment compensation does not prevent job by individuals and by companies. search. He develops in a fresh direction a concern with the operations of Nordic la- Finland and Sweden share the Nordic pro- bour markets which was addressed in an pensity for a very high level of unioniza- earlier volume (2/94) by Eliasson (inefficient tion and priority accorded to training in labour market matching can render ineffec- centralized collective bargaining. Of course, tive the best education and training systems) economic circumstances differ across Nor- and by Skedinger (the benefits of Sweden’s dic countries. Norway’s oil sheltered its active labour market policies have probably economy from the effects of international been exaggerated). competition in a way not experienced by Finland. Institutional solutions also vary. The characteristics and values of political Whereas the role of apprenticeship is gen- systems influence not only economic per- erally marginal in Nordic countries, Den- formance but also the structure and perform- mark is an exception. It successfully coun- ance of training systems. At 58 per cent in tered the decline of traditional apprentice- 1 European Commission FORCE 1992, Austria’s female labour force partici- ship in the seventies by developing the EFG (1994), ‘Tableau de bord’ on continu- pation rate is nearly identical to that of West (basic vocational training) and integrating ing vocational training, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the Germany. By contrast, Finland at 71 per cent it with the apprenticeship route. By con- European Communities CEDEFOP 1 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

trast, Finland is experimenting with a bu- siveness of training to business and indus- reaucratic devolution of control to munici- try is to be improved (see Kyrö). palities and increased reliance on new multi- Kämäräinen argues that repeated attempts sectoral polytechnics, i.e. a redevelopment by Nordic countries to bridge the gap be- of the vocational school model (see tween academic and vocational tracks and Kämäräinen). improve the linkage between school-based provision of vocational education and train- Nordic authors naturally use other Nordic ing and working life have not yet been very States as benchmarks. Belonging to a dis- successful - partially excepting Denmark. tinctive cultural group is part of being Fin- land and Sweden. Culture is as important Both Finland and Sweden are looking afresh as structure. The founders of the EU knew at the information and incentive functions this. So did the great Danish philosopher, of labour markets. Their highly centralized Grundtvig, when he said ‘first, I feel; then, corporatist structuring of training proved to I think’. The cultural ties which bind Fin- be too insensitive to skill scarcities and to land and Sweden to their Nordic neighbours emerging industrial needs. Now they are outside the union need not loosen as a re- searching for a new relationship between sult of joining an outward-facing Union, the visible hand of government and the in- some of whose older members - for in- visible hand of the market. Systemic failure stance, France, Spain or the United King- has provoked system reform (see Ottersten, dom - retain equally strong cultural links to Kyrö, Kämäräinen and Goetschy). countries outside the Union. For forty years, the Nordic countries devel- For all three countries, joining the EU is part oped along broadly similar lines, with large of their response to intense global pressure public sectors and a strong role for the State to improve competitiveness. By the start of in collaboration with the social partners. this decade, Sweden, for example, had more Training, as a key ingredient of an active or less accepted that simultaneous educa- labour market policy, was supposed to en- tional and labour market reform was over- sure one of the most critical outcomes, bind- due (see Ottersten). The Swedish model had ing everyone together, i.e. full employment. delivered not only extraordinarily low un- When the pact between unions, employers employment, but also a wage premium on and government broke down, notably in learning which was very small by interna- Sweden, the way was open for a re-orien- tional standards, a swollen non-trading sec- tation of training towards the goal of greater tor, massive wage drift at plant level and competitiveness, as it were away from re- growing uncompetitiveness of domestic distribution and towards production. But manufacturing. The on-going reform of this this is not truly an either/or choice. The situ- system has to increase labour market flex- ation of Austria, Finland and Sweden is no ibility and competitiveness, including greater different from that of the other Member incentives for individuals and for employers States : ‘for the level of employment in the to invest in the competences which Sweden’s Community to improve, firms must achieve economy needs. As Ottersten makes clear, global competitiveness on open and com- this unfinished business will be addressed petitive markets, both inside and outside within a European Union which is by no Europe’.2 means free of the very institutional barriers and labour market practices which cause con- Goetschy shows that integration with the cern in Sweden. European Union is a challenge which, for Finland and Sweden, is additional to grap- In Finland, one expression of the drive for pling with the on-going crisis of their model competitiveness is the attempt to revitalize of the Welfare State. The internationaliza- the apprenticeship route to competence, for tion of their economies and crisis in the adults as well as for young people, with public finances challenge their institutions enlarged occupational coverage and com- but not their democratic and social values. petence-based examinations which are in- The re-orientation and reconfiguration of dependent of the ways in which skills are their training systems can only be under- acquired (see Vartiainen). However, since stood as part of the much more wide-rang- this accounts for little more than 5 per cent ing process of re-evaluation and reform in of all vocational education and training, the the new Member States. success of decentralization of budgets to the 2 Growth, Competitiveness, Employ- increasingly market-based vocational ment (1993), Brussels : European Commission, p. 57. schools is much more critical if the respon- Keith Drake CEDEFOP 2 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL The new Member States: Austria, Finland, Sweden

Trends in Nordic social “models”

The difficult metamorphosis of the social “models” of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland) ...... 5 Janine Goetschy The author outlines the main elements of Nordic social systems and their internal dynamism over the last fifteen years.

The education and training systems

The Swedish training system - future expectations on its integration ...... 15 Eugenia Kazamaki Ottersten “This article addresses the Swedish training system, its integration with those of the European Union, as well as future expectations.”

Features of vocational education in Finland ...... 21 Matti Kyrö “The leading principles underlying the current administrative reform in Finland is to do away with normative regulation and delegate decision power.”

Boom in apprenticeship training in Finland ...... 27 Henry Vartiainen “To learn in work has to be seen as an equally good way of acquiring competence and passing examination as learning in public vocational institutions.”

Vocational training in Austria ...... 33 Gerhard Riemer The structure of the Austrian system and expectations placed on Community education and training policy.

Reforms in the vocational education and training systems of the Nordic countries ...... 37 Pekka Kämäräinen “Recent developments indicate that the Nordic countries are in a transition process towards a new kind of constellation between policy-making, educational management and curriculum development.”

The Nordic countries: an integrated labour market

Experiences from the integrated Nordic labour market ...... 46 Per Lundborg “Today, (…) labour mobility is very limited across most member countries, and from this perspective, the experiences gained from the Nordic labour market may very well be of interest.”

CEDEFOP 3 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The new Member States: some data …

Statistical data ...... 52

Bibliographical data ...... 55

Useful addresses ...... 57

Reading

Reading selection ...... 61

Publications received by the editorial office...... 79

CEDEFOP 4 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Janine The difficult metamorpho- Goetschy Research Coordinator at the sis of the social “models” Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of the Nordic countries Labour and Mobility Division University of Nanterre (Sweden, Norway, Finland, France Iceland) With Sweden and Finland now members Given this new situation, one must try to of the European Union and the treaty on answer the following two questions. What The social systems of the Nor- the European Economic Area in effect are the essential characteristics of the Nor- dic countries (Sweden, Nor- way, Finland, Iceland), or since 1 January 1994, it seems an oppor- dic social systems and the internal dynam- more specifically the institu- tune moment to undertake a comparative ics which have earned them the title “so- tions of the welfare state and evaluation of the social “models” of the cial models of northern Europe”? And what industrial relations in those Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Fin- are the changes which, over the past 15 countries, have entered a pe- land, Iceland). Although dearest to the years, have supposedly precipitated these riod of change and a crucial 1 phase in their history. This ar- hearts of the social democratic govern- social systems into a crisis. ticle takes a comparative look ments which established them, these at the essential characteristics models have survived coalitions in which of these countries’ social mod- governments teamed up with parties fur- I. Origins and characteris- els and the new challenges ther right on the political spectrum. Of which these have had to face tics of the Nordic models over the past 15 years or so. In all the conditions which favoured their a strategy designed to guaran- establishment, it seems that political and tee full employment while at institutional factors outweighed economic 1. Historically, the Nordic models with the same time modernize the factors. Nevertheless, analysis shows the their national variants and corresponding economy, key importance has purviews and objectives of the Nordic industrial relations systems were essen- traditionally been attached to active employment policies countries’ social - and particularly indus- tially based on a concept of class com- (particularly the training ele- trial relations - systems to be eminently promise between employers and trade ment thereof) and macroeco- economic in nature. The institutions of unions which was institutionalized in ba- nomic policies (expansion of the social system in fact created new and sic agreements signed in Sweden, Nor- the public sector and succes- original manifestations of synergy be- way and Iceland in the 1930s and in Fin- sive devaluations). The Euro- pean Union is to some extent tween the economic and the social, mainly land after World War II. The compromises questioning the continued va- because they succeeded in reconciling the reached were usually negotiated in criti- lidity of these traditional eco- interests of society as a whole with those cal situations and put an end to embit- nomic mechanisms, and the of subgroups thereof within the frame- tered industrial conflicts involving strikes welfare state is now proving work of a “negotiated economy”. At the and lock-outs. They institutionalized for difficult to manage. But in the author’s opinion the Nordic same time these institutions served as a good a recognition that employers could models are under pressure counterweight to the negative social re- exercise their prerogatives and, in con- first and foremost from a fi- percussions of the market economy. sideration thereof, that trade unions could nancial crisis in their welfare exercise certain rights and engage in col- systems and only to a much During the 1980s, however, the Nordic lective bargaining. lesser extent from a crisis of values or institutions (cf. social countries’ social systems found themselves partners who are representa- mercilessly being put to the test, chal- 2. These historical class compromises tive, powerful and disciplined lenged mainly by the fact that their econo- between capital and labour were made facing governments which are mies were increasingly becoming part of possible and sustainable by favourable concerned to secure national the international economy, by an upsurge political conditions, namely the existence compromises), values and in- stitutions which remain, both of liberalism, by changes taking place in the Nordic countries of political coa- now and in the future, essen- within the social democratic movement, by litions in which, for a lengthy period from tial assets in the process of in- more pronounced diversification within the the 1930s on, the social democrats occu- tegration into the European trade union movements and by the in- pied a strong position. In both Sweden Union. crease in unemployment. More recently, and Norway, the social democrats had the prospect of European integration has a hegemonic hold on political power. The loomed as an additional challenge. political situation was somewhat differ- CEDEFOP 5 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“During the 1980s (...) the ent in Finland and Iceland where divi- Third, the existence of a trade union Nordic countries’ social sions within the political left caused the movement which was united from its early systems found themselves social democratic presence to be less days and enjoyed close relations with the mercilessly being put to massive but for all that no less persis- social democratic party was a major con- the test, (...) More recently, tent. tributory factor in establishing the the prospect of European powerbase of the social democratic move- integration has loomed as One must add, however, that political in- ment, at least in Sweden and Norway. an additional challenge.” terests were traditionally divided not only In Finland and Iceland, however, rela- between the political left and the politi- tions between the trade unions and the cal right but also between rural regions, social democratic movement had suffered coastal fishing regions and remote, iso- from a history of political schisms in their lated regions and the built-up, urban re- respective trade union confederations. But gions. This dichotomy of interests setting from the 1970s on, both countries saw a “Historically, the Nordic apart the urban from the rural is again re- reunification of their trade union move- models with their national emerging quite forcefully in the current ments and stronger cooperation with po- variants and correspond- debate on the internationalization and litical forces, evidence thus of stronger ing industrial relations Europeanization of the Nordic countries’ convergence bringing these countries into systems were essentially economies. closer alignment in this respect with Nor- based on a concept of way and Sweden. class compromise between The advent of a sustainable social demo- employers and trade cratic hegemony in the first half of this Fourth, the essential strength of the so- unions (...)” century was itself the outcome of an over- cial democratic movement in the Nordic lapping of four concurrent political fac- countries resided in its advocacy of and tors. First, the traditional absence of a capacity for reform which gave genuine strong and united political right as an substance to the Scandinavian model in alternative from which the current of capi- its national variants. In exchange for ac- talism could have drawn support. In Nor- quiescing to technological development, “One must add (...) that way, if one disregards the shipowners the rationalization of industry, mobility political interests were there was not even a national capitalist on the labour market and wage modera- (also) traditionally class to speak of, the economy having tion with a view to contributing towards divided (...) between rural been dominated since the beginning of active economic growth and price stabil- regions, coastal fishing the century by foreign investment, notably ity, the reformist programme of the social regions and remote, in the primary sector. In Sweden, al- democratic movement, the fruit of a so- isolated regions and the though the industrialization era saw an cial compromise between trade unions, built-up, urban regions. impressive number of Swedish employ- employers and the state, was proposing This dichotomy of inter- ers taking the helm of industries export- full employment, income solidarity and ests setting apart the ing manufactures, these opted for setting the benefits of a welfare state. urban from the rural is up a powerful, centralized and autono- again re-emerging quite mous confederation of industry rather 3. Apart from these political considera- forcefully in the current than for direct political contacts. The situ- tions, the origins of the Nordic models and debate on the internation- ation in Finland was different again: un- the social contract underlying them can alization and til World War II, management in Finland also be traced back to the existence, since Europeanization of the had been intimately linked with the par- the beginning of the 20th century, of cen- Nordic countries’ econo- ties of the political right - in an economy tralized and powerful organizations of mies.” dominated until 1950 by the forestry in- management and labour. The first trade dustry, it had been the employers in the union confederation appeared in Sweden wood pulp sector whose voice was in 1898 (LO), in Norway in 1899 (LO), in strongest and who, in the 1930s, teamed Finland in 1907 (SAK) and in Iceland in up with governments of the political right 1916 (FTI). The menace of strong trade to repress the trade unions. union movements induced employers to organize themselves at an early stage and Second, in order to strengthen their posi- on a centralized basis similar to that of the tions into and through the 20th century, blue-collar unions set up in Sweden (SAF 1) This article is based mainly on the conclusions of a more extensive com- the social democratic movement in all established in 1902), Norway (NAF estab- parative study on the Nordic coun- these four Nordic countries had sought lished in 1900), Finland (STK established tries which was funded by the Com- and secured valuable alliances with the in 1907) and Iceland (FEI established in mission of the European Communi- ties. Les modèles nordiques à l’épreuve so-called agrarian parties representing the 1934). In Finland though, employers or- de l’Europe, La Documentation interests of the farming and fishing com- ganizations did not become truly central- Française, Paris 1994, 147 p. munities and forestry workers. ized until the 1950s. CEDEFOP 6 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

❏ The trade union and employers con- of unionization are: high membership rates “In exchange for acqui- federations’ option for centralization al- among the female workforce, the fact that escing to technological lowed them to exercise a relatively high at a time when industry is undergoing a development, the rationali- level of internal discipline over their mem- relative decline to the benefit of the ser- zation of industry, mobil- bers. This was an organizational condition vices sector, the latter has become mas- ity on the labour market necessary for the smooth functioning of sively unionized, and finally the quality of and wage moderation (...), the famous Nordic model which they the results obtained by trade union action the reformist programme wanted to see develop. A centralized or- at both corporate and societal level. of the social democratic ganization did not, however, in any way movement (...) was pro- signify an absence of internal democracy. 4. With centrally organized industrial re- posing full employment, On the contrary, one of the characteristic lations on the one hand and a social demo- income solidarity and the features often forgotten in analyses of the cratic political programme calling for dy- benefits of a welfare Nordic trade union movements has been namic, interactive regulation mechanisms state.” their relative success in associating struc- between macroeconomic policies and so- tural centralization with decentralization in cial policies on the other, collective bar- internal decision-making. The internal gaining in the Nordic system has been democracy within the trade union struc- framed with more centralized structures tures is exercised differently from one than elsewhere. If success was to be country to another. If one were to classify achieved in sustaining overall economic “Apart from (...) political the trade union movements by their de- equilibrium and in policies of wage soli- considerations, the ori- gree of centralization, for example by ex- darity, negotiation had to be centralized. gins of the Nordic models amining the procedures for obtaining in- and the social contract ternal endorsement of collective bargain- What were the specifically Nordic objec- underlying them can also ing activities, Sweden would hold the lead- tives of the policy of wage solidarity? Four be traced back to the ing position followed by Norway, Finland types of reason motivated this policy: a) existence, since the begin- and Iceland. Some authors have main- first, to develop a wage structure based ning of the 20th century, tained that the more democratic internal not on the economic performance of in- of centralized and power- functioning of the trade unions in Norway, dividual sectors or companies but on the ful organizations of Finland and Iceland which has allowed a nature and demands of the work per- management and labour.” multitude of viewpoints to be expressed formed with a view to narrowing wage also explains the more frequent need in differentials between high-profit and low- these countries for the state to intervene profit industries, between highly profit- in collective bargaining activities to arrive able and less profitable companies, be- at compromise on central issues and rec- tween skilled and unskilled jobs (this lat- oncile divergent interests by means of me- ter objective was added somewhat later “(...) one of the character- diation or indeed obligatory arbitration. in connection with policies to support istic features often forgot- low-wage groups); b) by calling for the ten in analyses of the In a general way, trade union centraliza- fixing of mean standards, the policy of Nordic trade union move- tion has remained very pronounced, as is solidarity was to be a factor of wage mod- ments has been their evidenced by the renegotiation of the so- eration helping to “contain” wage de- relative success in associ- called basic agreements which lay down mands in the dynamic, profitable, export- ating structural centrali- the rules of the social game on a large oriented sectors which were exposed to zation with decentraliza- number of issues, and also by the power the vicissitudes of international competi- tion in internal decision- exerted both on government in the field tion, sectors which in some cases ac- making.” of economic policy and legislation and counted for an important part of the na- within public or semi-public bodies with tional economy; c) the mean standard a tripartite or bipartite composition. fixed at inter-industry level was to con- tribute towards eliminating inefficient ❏ The Nordic trade union confederations companies which were unable to with- are powerful by virtue of their very high stand the associated financial burden and The “(...) high levels of and constantly increasing membership thereby to encourage companies to ration- unionization are unique rates. Their high levels of unionization are alize production and management at an worldwide: currently over unique worldwide: currently over 85% in early point in time; d) the policy was also 85% in Iceland, 85% in Iceland, 85% in Finland, 81% in Sweden, to facilitate workforce mobility: with a Finland, 81% in Sweden, and 57% in Norway. In contrast to else- wage system allowing for only slight wage and 57% in Norway.” where in Europe, there has been no real differentials between industries and com- crisis in Scandinavian trade union mem- panies, the advantages lost by a change bership over the past 15 years. The most of job would be minimal; it should be important factors explaining the high rate noted that geographical and sectoral mo- CEDEFOP 7 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The specificity of the bility was regarded as one of the corner- the traditionally more interventionist role Nordic models resides in a stones of full employment. of the state in economic, industrial and desire to check, to re- social affairs was the scale and importance strain any wage negotia- It would be inappropriate, however, to of foreign investment during the industri- tion which might take portray collective bargaining in the Nor- alization era, particularly in the export sec- place at lower levels by dic countries in unduly simplistic terms. tors (shipping, forestry, semi-manufactures, providing for centralized, Collective bargaining in fact takes place chemicals). It is Norway and Finland that inter-industry negotiation at four levels: company level, industry have most often and repeatedly adopted which firmly establishes level, inter-industry level by sector (for genuinely proactive income policies. In an overall framework for example private sector, public sector), and Sweden, where the social partners’ wage increases.” inter-industry level nationwide. The autonomy in regulating economic affairs specificity of the Nordic models resides has proved to be greater, government in- in a desire to check, to restrain any wage terference was strongest in the 1980s when negotiation which might take place at the interests of the workforce fragmented lower levels by providing for centralized, and efforts were made to counteract in- inter-industry negotiation which firmly creasing pressure from employers to de- “Although this centralized establishes an overall framework for wage centralize the negotiation process. Swedish system of collective bar- increases. employers believed that the legalistic wave gaining functioned rela- of the 1970s, a result of the exorbitant tively well in the 1960s Although this centralized system of collec- power exercised by the trade unions over and 1970s, the subsequent tive bargaining functioned relatively well the social democratic government, would two decades brought in the 1960s and 1970s, the subsequent bring about the downfall of the conven- numerous system modifi- two decades brought numerous system tion of social partner autonomy and justi- cations in response to a modifications in response to a range of fied a change of strategy on its part. range of different pres- different pressures for decentralization. sures for decentraliza- 6. What was the role played by economic tion.” 5. Paradoxically, industrial relations in the factors in the establishment of the Nordic Nordic countries are characterized simulta- models? One must note that the economic neously by extensive social partner autono- conditions of the time and the pace of my and very strong state intervention. industrial development differed very much from country to country. Whereas Swe- Conventionally, social partners arrange for den had an open economy very early on, “Paradoxically, industrial autonomy specifically to avoid state in- an economy aiming for export business relations in the Nordic terference. However, state interference in which, in order to remain competitive, had countries are character- the system of wage negotiation has proved a vision of a model based on wage mod- ized simultaneously by to be relatively pronounced in the four eration, workforce mobility and accept- extensive social partner Nordic countries, its aim generally being ance of technological progress, the con- autonomy and very strong to make wage austerity policies accept- text was different in the other three Nor- state intervention.” able within the framework of a broader dic countries. In Norway, Finland and political trade-off over which the state Iceland it was predominantly the pro- alone has control (in exchange for social tected sectors of the economy which transfers, a modified fiscal policy, a bet- paved the way for arriving at national ter housing policy, a guarantee of con- compromises. trolled prices, policies to promote employ- It follows that state ment, etc.). The political and economic 7. A glance at the history of the estab- intervention has been foundation of these austerity policies was lishment and functioning of the industrial more frequent in the the twofold concern to safeguard both full relations system of each of the four Nor- countries with less uni- employment and the competitiveness of dic countries up to the 1970s would sug- tarian trade union move- the national economy. gest that Sweden and Norway can be seen ments, for example Nor- as similar but that Finland and Iceland are way (...) or indeed Finland It follows that state intervention has been somewhat different cases. But over the (...)” more frequent in the countries with less years the four systems have shown an unitarian trade union movements, for ex- increasing degree of convergence. ample Norway, where the white-collar trade unions are more fragmented and Finland is a specific case because it was unionization rates lower, or indeed Fin- late to industrialize, its class struggle per- land, where the trade union movement is sisted into the post-war period, its politi- more divided along political lines. In Nor- cal situation was more complex, its so- way, moreover, another factor explaining cial democratic party was disunited, its CEDEFOP 8 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

employers were tardy in becoming organ- competition on the one hand and a size- “A glance at the history of ized and it lagged behind in establishing able public sector and protected sectors on the establishment and collective bargaining practices. It was es- the other (agriculture, housing, transpor- functioning of the indus- sentially the factors associated with the tation, private services and certain indus- trial relations system of class struggle and the political situation tries), the latter traditionally enjoying so- each of the four Nordic which explain why Finland was a spe- cial advantages and much-publicized sala- countries up to the 1970s cific case. Nonetheless, since the post-war ries. The Nordic countries can in fact be would suggest that Swe- period Finland’s system has progressively characterized as having open, export-ori- den and Norway can be moved closer into line with the Swedish ented economies in which raw materials seen as similar but that and Norwegian systems because of a (oil, gas in Norway), the forestry sector Finland and Iceland are change in employer attitudes in favour of (Finland) and fishing (Iceland) continue somewhat different cases. a centralized negotiation system, the to play a crucial role; Sweden is a contrast But over the years the reunification of the trade union movement in this respect because of the greater im- four systems have shown since 1969 and a relaxation of tensions portance of its manufacturing industry for an increasing degree of within the political left. finished goods. In Finland, the expiry in convergence.” 1990 of the clearing agreements with the Turning to Iceland, its system of indus- former USSR dealt a severe blow to its tra- trial relations likewise initially reflected a ditional export industries, metalworking weak social democratic movement and a and textiles. Norway, Finland and Iceland less developed welfare state but the main are thus particularly vulnerable to changes This convergence “(...) factor of influence here was the existence in commodity prices or the vicissitudes of undoubtedly owes much to of rather informal industrial relations the fishing sector. Moreover, since the mid- these countries’ relatively owing to the small size of Finnish com- 1960s the public sector has continued to homogeneous institu- panies. But Iceland, too, has moved closer expand, especially in Sweden and Norway tional, cultural, and into line with the other Nordic countries; but also, at a slower pace, in Finland and political situations and the finishing line in this alignment pro- Iceland. labour market character- cess was reached in 1989 and 1990 with istics, to the close coop- the signing of the famous national social At the end of the 1980s and beginning of eration between govern- agreements which, for the first time, suc- the 1990s, each of the four Nordic coun- ments and political and ceeded in stabilizing an economy which tries underwent a period of severe reces- social protagonists, but is inherently unstable because of the un- sion. The most alarming factor in this new also to the mimicry effects stable nature of the fishing industry. phase in the internationalization of the associated with the Nordic economies is the unprecedented experience of Nordic The increasing convergence evident in the increase in their unemployment rates: cooperation (...) institu- industrial relations systems of the Nordic 19.9% in Finland, 10.4% in Sweden, 5.6% tionalized within the countries undoubtedly owes much to in Norway (1994, statistics of the Nordic framework of the Nordic these countries’ relatively homogeneous Council). In Iceland the unemployment Council since 1952.” institutional, cultural, and political situa- rate is only 3.1% but the trend is an up- tions and labour market characteristics, ward one and it should be borne in mind to the close cooperation between govern- that employment drops very severely there ments and political and social protago- in winter in two key sectors, the fishing nists, but also to the mimicry effects as- and construction industries. Because of “(...) since the mid-1960s sociated with the experience of Nordic their climatic conditions, the size of their the public sector has cooperation which has been institution- territories and their geographical isolation, continued to expand, alized within the framework of the Nor- the Nordic countries are troubled by very especially in Sweden and dic Council since 1952. wide regional disparities in unemploy- Norway but also, at a ment, with record rates being reached in slower pace, in Finland the peripheral regions. and Iceland.” II. Crisis-stricken models? The response to this situation was the 1. The impact of internationalizing adoption of unprecedented austerity pro- economies grammes which centred on income poli- cies and were based on spectacular na- “At the end of the 1980s Compared with the other OECD states, the tional compromises. These compromises and beginning of the characteristics common to the economies drew with renewed strength on the spirit 1990s, each of the four of the Nordic states were found to be the of national solidarity already activated in Nordic countries under- following. First, a strong contrast between the past. At the same time, a range of went a period of severe the situation of the competitive exporting emergency measures were adopted by recession.” sectors which are exposed to international governments to promote employment, in CEDEFOP 9 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“Because of their climatic particular among the long-term unem- take the case of Sweden, for example: conditions, the size of ployed and young people. Swedish corporations produce more their territories and their abroad than the same corporations export geographical isolation, To some extent during the 1980s but mainly abroad. the Nordic countries are at the beginning of the 1990s the four troubled by very wide Nordic countries introduced policies to lib- 2. The end of social democratic he- regional disparities in eralize their markets and financial insti- gemony, political alternance and vari- unemployment, with tutions and, with the exception of Iceland, able-geometry political coalitions record rates being all aligned their national currencies with reached in the peripheral the Ecu. Their financial autonomy was The once dominant position held by the regions.” thereby diminished and the practice of social democrats in the political systems successive devaluations, the safety valves of Sweden and Norway in particular but to which governments of the Nordic coun- also to a lesser extent in Finland and Ice- tries had traditionally had recourse, became land was severely eroded during the 1980s a thing of the past. Nevertheless, the fi- and 1990s. Parties of the political right nancial crises which broke at the end of and centre surfaced in all these countries 1992 caused three of the Nordic countries, and a succession of coalition governments “In all four Nordic states Norway, Finland and Sweden, to devalue of variable-geometry ensued. At present, the cost of the welfare or float their currencies. In a general way, Norway and Sweden have minority so- state has been under close their governments, certainly the conserva- cial democratic governments which took surveillance (...) (since the tive governments but also social demo- office at the end of 1990 and 1994 re- early 1990s) and numer- cratic governments, have adopted eco- spectively. Since 1991, Iceland has been ous measures have been nomic policies with a clearly more liberal governed by a coalition of social demo- introduced” (to reduce its profile over the past ten years with a view crats and the political right, and Finland cost). to reactivating the market forces and speed- by a centre-right coalition. The social ing up their national economies’ integra- democratic parties have themselves tion into the global - and particularly the changed under the pressure of currents European - economy. of liberal thought within their ranks. To this can be added the fact that new po- In all four Nordic states the cost of the litical tendencies have emerged (particu- welfare state has been under close surveil- larly the greens) to dilute the traditional “The once dominant lance over the same period and numerous left-right dichotomy: the political land- position held by the social measures have been introduced to “de- scape is today more varied and more frag- democrats in the political nationalize” some of the social services, mented. systems of Sweden and to raise the competitiveness of the public Norway in particular but sector (at central and municipal level), to 3. The survival chances of centralized also to a lesser extent in cut back the number of civil servants and negotiation? Finland and Iceland was to scale down the level of social benefits severely eroded during the and advantages (for example: reduction in During the 1980s and 1990s, collective 1980s and 1990s.” sickness benefits, in the number of days negotiation was characterized by increas- of paid leave, in unemployment benefits, ing state intervention. State intervention raising of retirement age, etc.). Reforms commenced even prior to the collective operating in the same direction were ap- bargaining process in Finland and Nor- plied to the employment services agencies way. But the end of social partner of both Sweden and Finland. Major budget autonomy and the increase in state inter- cutbacks have been in operation since the vention was felt particularly acutely in “During the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, particularly in the Sweden. 1990s, collective negotia- latter two countries. tion was characterized by What reasons common to all these coun- increasing state interven- In addition to the loss of monetary tries brought about this expansion of gov- tion.” autonomy and the need to be more com- ernment intervention in wage affairs? petitive, the internationalization of the Stronger competition between white-col- Nordic economies has raised a third prob- lar, public-sector and blue-collar trade lem: increasingly wider-ranging interna- unions, uneasy tension between industries tional investments by major Swedish - but exposed to fierce economic competition also Norwegian and Finnish - corporations and those less exposed to such competi- are proving to be a threat to the cohesion tion led to a proliferation of wage in- of national production systems as these creases, fragmentation of the centralized investments operate to their detriment. To system of wage negotiation, wage differ- CEDEFOP 10 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

entiation and an increase in conflict po- tween industry-wide agreements on the “(...) given the constraints tential. By urging for more decentraliza- one hand and the correspondence be- of increasing internation- tion, employers largely encouraged this tween industry-wide agreements and com- alization (...), govern- fragmentation. Given the constraints of pany agreements for each of the sectors ments (...) undertook to increasing internationalization and seek- concerned on the other (how much tol- put a stop to the dismem- ing to transfer more wage resources into erance in the field of wage differentials?). bering of centralized profit-making and to maintain economic Within this scheme, a key strategic role negotiation (...)” equilibrium, governments undertook to put will be played by trends and tendencies a stop to the dismembering of centralized towards cartelization (whereby numerous negotiation by introducing various forms federations of different trade unions of income policies, notably policies of “ne- merge to form negotiation cartels to con- gotiated income”, and of frequent inter- duct the wage bargaining for a given sec- vention by mediators or arbitrators. tor, the public sector for example), trends and tendencies which sometimes signify Caught in the grip of centralizing forces the joining of forces of numerous protago- on the one hand and decentralizing forces nists and thus centralization but can on the other, what is to become of the cen- equally signify the fragmentation of ne- tralized negotiation so typical of the four gotiation because of a proliferation of the Nordic countries? Social agreements on number of cartels. “(...) in Finland and emergency action and national protection Sweden one can detect a (such as those introduced at the end of Collective bargaining in the Nordic coun- desire on their part the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s) tries is today facing the following di- increasingly to dissociate to face up to the increasingly acute eco- lemma. On the one hand, the respective the field of industrial nomic crisis only work if they remain importance of the various levels of nego- relations and, by exten- exceptional measures, and past experi- tiation will depend more and more on the sion, collective bargaining, ence illustrates well that one cannot in- way in which the protagonists of man- from the management of voke the seriousness of a crisis time and agement and labour reorganize them- the welfare state.” again. At the same time, to the extent that selves and form the new negotiation units the state becomes ever less capable of (cartels) which they consider most appro- offering social counterparts to austerity, priate and in their best interests. On the that employers no longer concede the other hand, these readjustments which are advantages of centralized negotiation intended specifically to correct some of (mainly because of the impossibility of the anomalies of the Nordic model (break- avoiding increasing wage differentials and down of the wage hierarchy with inad- their desire for more diversity and flex- equate reward for skills, remuneration ibility in wage policies), that the interests levels for skilled work which are relatively of the workforce are becoming increas- low in comparison to those for unskilled ingly fragmented - all these considerations work, etc.), and which herald more de- seem to suggest that the survival of na- centralization, will have to be imple- “(...) a key strategic role tional compromises under the guidance mented in a way which does not endan- will be played by trends of the state is in jeopardy. The govern- ger overall economic equilibrium. and tendencies towards ments have been aware of these difficul- cartelization (...) which ties and in Finland and Sweden one can 4. Trade unions and employer organi- sometimes signify the detect a desire on their part increasingly zations: changing structures, pro- joining of forces of numer- to dissociate the field of industrial rela- grammes and strategies ous protagonists and thus tions and, by extension, collective bar- centralization but can gaining, from the management of the The 1980s and 1990s have been times of equally signify the frag- welfare state. In Sweden, where the risk internal restructuring, as much for the mentation of negotiation of the Nordic model breaking down is trade unions as for employer organiza- because of a proliferation most acute, the social democrats continue tions. On the trade union side, this re- of the number of cartels.” to defend a centralized system of nego- structuring was a must because of the tiation but one which would give greater need to modify the collective negotiation leeway to market forces and would lessen system and of the increasing tension be- the impact of some of the shortcomings tween the traditional blue-collar confed- of wage solidarity. erations and the white-collar confedera- tions. It should be recalled that trade un- The remodelling of the negotiation sys- ion topography is relatively smooth and tem aims to strike a new balance between largely similar in all the Nordic countries. the degree of coordination desirable be- Generally, there are three types of pro- CEDEFOP 11 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“On the trade union side tagonist: a confederation with blue-collar the lead given by the trade unions, nu- (internal) restructuring origins, a confederation of white-collar merous small employer federations are was a must because of the and middle-management engineering also currently seeking opportunities to need to modify the collec- staff, and a confederation of higher quali- merge. The large federations such as those tive negotiation system fied employees with an academic or representing the metalworking industries and of the increasing equivalent higher education background. are also redefining their internal role al- tension between the As a general rule, each of these confed- locations in order to respond effectively traditional blue-collar erations caters for both the public sector to the progressive decentralization of col- confederations and the and the private sector. lective bargaining: for their memberships white-collar confedera- the federations will increasingly function tions.” Because of their membership growth over as consultants rather than as direct nego- the past 20 years, the white-collar con- tiators. federations (catering for middle and sen- ior management) have increasingly con- In all four countries, the strained rela- “(...) the year 1988 had tested the former predominance of the tions between management and labour in already seen the merger of traditional blue-collar confederations and the 1980s and early 1990s originated five private-sector indus- thereby diminished the importance of the mainly in the well-publicized turnarounds trial federations with a latter. Moreover, within the blue-collar in employer strategies which called for view to counterbalancing confederations the role of the public sec- more decentralized negotiation, more the weight of the public- tor has become influential or even pre- flexible industrial relations, in particular sector and services fed- dominant, a development which has oc- concerning wages, salaries and work or- erations.” casioned numerous internal schisms. It ganization, and less rigid social legisla- was the Norwegian LO, a blue-collar con- tion and which partially questioned the federation, which advanced the furthest- merits of the welfare state. Sweden wit- reaching restructuring proposals in prepa- nessed the most spectacular and also most ration for its 1993 congress. The propos- political employer offensive for more lib- “Employer associations als concerned making a choice between eralism. Launched more than ten years with a more social calling the levels to which the reformed struc- previously, this offensive reached its apo- and those with a stronger ture should give prominence: the indus- gee with the withdrawal of the SAF from emphasis on economic try, the occupation or the sector (public/ the tripartite consultation mechanisms in competence (have) joined private). But the year 1988 had already 1992. forces (...) in some sec- seen the merger of five private-sector in- tors. The aim of these dustrial federations with a view to coun- Some characteristic features of the con- mergers is to make opera- terbalancing the weight of the public-sec- flicts waged in the four Nordic countries tions to defend their tor and services federations. Merger pro- over the past decade: the generalization members’ interests more posals were also suggested on the occa- of centralized negotiation to apply to all efficient and less costly sion of the Swedish LO congress in 1991. trade union confederations resulted in and to mount a joint comparisons being made between the defensive front which is to Despite these tensions, the LO (blue-col- negotiating groups and cartels which in be particularly prominent lar) and TCO in Sweden have set an ex- turn resulted in a proliferation of indi- at European level.” ample for the other Nordic countries by vidual conflicts; the strike propensity and intensifying dialogue and forging alliances militarism of public-sector employees, in within the framework of a “conflictual particular female employees, increased; cooperation” venture. the motives for strikes have mainly been wage and salary issues; there have been “(...) well-publicized On the management side, internal re- an increasing number of brief disputes at turnarounds in employer structuring measures were also intro- company level, mainly as a result of re- strategies which called for duced in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily organization schemes. more decentralized nego- in the private sector. Employer associa- tiation, more flexible tions with a more social calling and those The programmes adopted by the trade industrial relations, in with a stronger emphasis on economic unions in the Nordic countries in the 1980s particular concerning competence joined forces at national level showed no particular innovation or origi- wages, salaries and work in Finland and Sweden and in some sec- nality over what had existed in the 1970s. organization, and less tors at sectoral level in Norway. The aim It should be recalled that it was trade rigid social legislation of these mergers is to make operations to union proposals which, in the 1970s, had and which partially defend their members’ interests more ef- paved the way for spectacular advances questioned the merits of ficient and less costly and to mount a joint in social legislation, mainly in the follow- the welfare state.” defensive front which is to be particularly ing four fields: industrial safety and work- prominent at European level. Following ing conditions, job protection, industrial CEDEFOP 12 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

democracy, and equality of opportunity 1950s, one of the main elements of which “Compared with other and non-discrimination between the was to promote the restructuring of the trade union movements, sexes. During the following decade the production system, was based on an ac- the most striking feature advances made in legislation (or in the tive policy to cushion the negative im- of the Nordic trade un- basic agreements) were much more reti- pacts of rationalization on employment: ions’ programmes today is cent. the setting up of a broad-based system of the increasing importance training/retraining measures intended attached to societal issues Compared with other trade union move- mainly for the unemployed but also for such as environmental ments, the most striking feature of the employees whose jobs were in jeopardy. policy, consumer protec- Nordic trade unions’ programmes today The objective was to enhance the stra- tion or indeed concrete is the increasing importance attached to tegic role of training/retraining, with its proposals for reforming societal issues such as environmental superior benefit to both the economy as the welfare state.” policy, consumer protection or indeed a whole and the individual concerned, concrete proposals for reforming the wel- with a view to scaling down the role of fare state. The international dimension has passive dependence (unemployment ben- also become more important: following efit, etc.) or compensatory dependence the fears expressed with regard to the (community service work). This training consequences of European integration policy is the result of close cooperation came an affirmation in favour of the re- between trade unions and the social spective trade union movements becom- democratic party. The trade unions which ing increasingly European and interna- devised and developed it also assume tional. Nordic cooperation at confedera- major responsibilities in implementing and tion level has seen increasing interest in administrating it, mainly through the na- the issue of workforce information and tional, regional and local agencies of the “Another aspect (...) is the consultation, an interest which has led to Labour Market Office. Nordic trade unions’ the establishment of the so-called constant concern to Scandinavian group committees. 5. Less close relations between politi- support economic policies cal parties and trade unions which aspire to full Another aspect worthy of highlighting is employment.” the Nordic trade unions’ constant concern How have relations between trade unions to support economic policies which as- and social democratic parties developed pire to full employment. With unemploy- over the past few years? They have be- ment rates disturbingly high since the come somewhat more strained in the early 1990s, the question of employment sense that each side has sought to be- has again reached the top of trade union come increasingly autonomous. Firstly, agendas. Although it is clear that trade the social democratic parties have gener- unions acknowledge the need for greater ally sought to delineate more clearly their flexibility in worktime organization, they positions vis-à-vis their trade union coun- are far from convinced that reducing terparts (LO in Sweden and Norway, SAK worktime (or indeed job-sharing) offers in Finland, FTI in Iceland), this for vari- a solution to the unemployment problem. ous reasons: firstly, to gain greater lee- “(...) training has been a Shorter worktime, they concede, is legiti- way for developing alliances with the fundamental demand in mate insofar as it represents an improve- parties of the political centre and with union negotiation policy ment in the quality of life both at the trade union organizations other than LO; since the origins of the workplace and elsewhere but, unlike most and secondly, under pressure from a cur- movement (...) The of the other trade unions in the European rent of liberal thought within its ranks, objective was to enhance Union, the Nordic unions by no means the social democratic movement sought the strategic role of regard it as a panacea for employment to espouse policies which gave a new training/retraining, with problems. Moreover, although conceding priority to the market forces; from that its superior benefit to that an active labour market policy con- time on it had to represent interests far both the economy as a tributes towards maintaining the quality broader than those of the membership of whole and the individual of the workforce, they believe that it is its traditional trade union partner. concerned, with a view to above all economic policy which should scaling down the role of guarantee a high level of employment. On the trade union side, numerous polls passive dependence have shown that an increasingly large (unemployment benefit, In this respect, training has been a fun- percentage of the LO and SAK member- etc.) or compensatory damental demand in union negotiation ship (Sweden, Norway, Finland) have dependence (community policy since the origins of the movement. voted for non-socialist parties and more- service work).” The famous Swedish model set up in the over that the membership wanted the CEDEFOP 13 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(...) whereas active trade union to distance itself more from thought out and effectively implemented employment policies had its natural ally. This distancing of rela- - whether in the form of training or, traditionally been able to tions has been symbolized by the offi- particularly, retraining or community occupy 80% of the other- cial abandonment in Sweden and the service schemes - contributed towards wise unemployed, in 1992 decline in Norway of the principle of preventing unemployment or ensuring a their coverage was at its “collective affiliation” (of the trade un- rapid transition from unemployment to re- lowest figure since 1950: ion to the party). At the same time, trade employment. The aim of the Nordic 50% (Sweden and Nor- union interest in close relations dimin- governments was to allocate more way).” ished where, once in power, a social financial resources to active retraining democratic party was less able to deliver measures than to passive measures to in the fields of economic, fiscal and so- compensate for unemployment. Neverthe- cial policy. Finally, faced with increas- less, whereas active employment policies ing unemployment and more liberal and had traditionally been able to occupy 80% international economic policies which of the otherwise unemployed, in 1992 reduced government scope for manoeu- their coverage was at its lowest figure vre, the trade unions themselves stood since 1950: 50% (Sweden and Norway). to gain from re-establishing a greater measure of autonomy. Finally and most importantly, until the end of the 1980s the macroeconomic policies 6. The end of full employment policies? implemented by the Nordic countries had a greater capacity than their counterparts “(...) until the end of the Although unemployment is still, except elsewhere for absorbing unemployment, 1980s the macroeconomic in Finland, lower in the Nordic countries partly through an expansion of the pub- policies implemented by than the European Union average (11% lic sector which compensated for some the Nordic countries had in 1994), its rapid increase is regarded as of the jobs lost as a result of industrial a greater capacity (...) for alarming, especially since training, retrain- restructuring and partly through succes- absorbing unemployment. ing and job creation schemes, referred to sive currency devaluations which im- (The) traditional eco- as “hidden employment”, are currently proved corporate terms of trade. The nomic mechanisms are occupying between 3% and 4% of the merits of these traditional economic today being questioned by workforce. mechanisms are today being questioned both governments and by both governments and employers who employers who no longer The low level of unemployment so no longer consider them appropriate in consider them appropri- characteristic of the Nordic systems up the new scenario of internationalization ate in the new scenario of until the late 1980s was associated with a and integration into the European Union. internationalization and multitude of different factors. Centralized In Sweden, for example, LO and TCO in integration into the collective bargaining made it possible to 1992 accused the government of deliber- European Union.” coordinate wage increases, to avoid - in ately using unemployment to strangle favour of a global vision - agreeing to price increases and demanded a national increases which would have overstretched job creation programme. It is basically the economy, and to avert an inflation only in a scenario where full employment spiral with all the associated detrimental is no longer the main objective of eco- effects for employment. Moreover, unlike nomic and social policies that one is jus- in other European countries, an “active tified in enquiring as to the survival of the employment policy” which was well “Nordic models”.

Bibliography

Brunn, N., et al (1992), The Nordic Labour Rela- Goetschy, J., (1994), Les modèles nordiques à Kaupinnen, T., (1990), Labour Relations in Fin- tions Model, Aldershot, Dartmouth Editor. l’épreuve de l’Europe, La Documentation française, land, Ministry of Labour, Helsinki. Paris. Dolvick, J.E., Stokland, D., (1992), “The Norwegian Nordic Council of Ministers (1994), Working Life Model in Transition”, in Ferner, A. and Hyman, R., In- Gudmundsson, G., Fridriksson, T., (1990), in Norden: “Labour Market Policy - Is it worth any- dustrial Relations in the New Europe, Oxford, Blackwell. “Klassesamarbejde i Island: underudvikling eller thing at all?, vol. 8, no. 3. egne veje?” in D. Fleming, Industriell Democrati i Ferner, A. and Hyman, R., (1992), Industrial Re- Norden, Lund, Arkiv. OECD, Economic survey on Sweden, Norway, Fin- lations in the New Europe, Oxford, Blackwell. land and Iceland (annual publication). Hernes, G., (1990), “The Dilemmas of Social De- Goetschy, J., (1990), “Le confort suédois” et “Suède: mocracies. The case of Norway and Sweden” in Rehn, G., Vicklung, B., (1990), “Changes in the à la recherche de la négociation perdue”, in Bibes, Schmitter (ed.), Experimenting with Scale. Swedish Model” in Baglioni & Crouch, European G., Mouriaux, R., Les syndicats européens à l’épreuve, Canbridge University Press, Cambridge. Industrial Relations. The Challenge of Flexibility. Paris, Fondation Nationale de Sciences Politiques. London, Sage.

CEDEFOP 14 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Eugenia The Swedish training Kazamaki Ottersten Research Fellow, at system IUI (the Industrial Institute for Economic Future expectations of integra- and Social Research), tion Stockholm

“A solid education is its own reward” (US Department of Labour 1991).

The problem of raising the “skills” of the in the European Union will put further For a long time, and by labour force is common to most mature pressure on the Swedish training system. many other European coun- industrial economies, and paradoxically The question is - is the Swedish training tries Sweden has been seen the problem has appeared at the same system equipped with the right tools and as the example concerning time as an increasing share of young in- is it flexible enough to allow for the labour market systems, a dividuals stay longer at school in most of changes called upon? This article ad- competent labour force and the world. Education even outruns the in- dresses the Swedish training system, its vocational training. The crease in job content in a number of jobs. integration with those of the European consistently low unemploy- Union, as well as future expectations. ment rate has been inter- The human capital problem, however, preted as a success of Swed- goes beyond the raising of the educational ish labour market policy. level and skills. The new labour market Some background Recently, however, the situation in Sweden forces change on the Swedish economy has ex- entire training system. Individuals have perienced problems similar to learn at school to be able to learn on- The Swedish school system includes 9 to those in other European the-job (Kazamaki Ottersten 1994). Thus obligatory years and additional voluntary countries, such as high secondary training becomes increasingly grammar school or high school years, open unemployment, and a important. Individuals also need to adapt where both traditional general education deterioration of the compe- to frequent changes at the workplace. and vocational training is provided for. tence base of the labour Hence, learning, training, and retraining Most industrialized countries have a mini- force. To be more specific will be a lifetime investment and experi- mum formal education requirement, com- the skills provided through ence, that spans over a complete work monly 9 years. Some European countries the educational system as career. Such continued investment needs have longer required education, for ex- well as through vocational strong incentives to be effectively con- ample, 10 years in Belgium, Finland, training programs have not ducted. A significantly wider spread of France and Germany, 11 years in Holland, been sufficient to satisfy wages in favour of the well educated is a and 12 years for some studies in Belgium employer’s requirements. first requirement. Also firms have become and Germany. An international tendency This has partly to do with much more selective than before in re- is for children to begin school earlier and the fact that industrial pro- cruiting in order to identify individuals that more individuals go on studying for duction and the labour mar- able to learn and to constantly retool in- more years than before. ket have been changing dur- tellectually at the work place. In the ing the past decade, but the search for the “ability to learn” a higher About 90 percent of all age groups that educational system has not level of education will be a first quality finish elementary school in Sweden go on adapted. This causes human signal in the labour market. to grammar school. Since the 1980s the capital problems in the number of individuals that choose uni- technological transition of Will Sweden be able to cope with such versity-oriented fields at the grammar Swedish industry. Unless changes on top of the problems associ- school in comparison with those which qualified labour is available ated with the integration in the European choose the skill-oriented fields has dimin- the technological transition Union? Sweden is known for its many la- ished. This development corresponds with will be slow and hard on bour market institutions and in the new the findings in many other countries, with labour. Employability in the European situation such institutions may the exception of US and Japan. In addi- future will require educa- both facilitate and hinder the needed ad- tion, there is training at the firm level, tion and training will be- justments of the training and educational through labour market policies as well as come a lifetime experience. system in the labour market. Integration through public and private institutions. CEDEFOP 15 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The new labour market In an international comparison Sweden “mean that educational and labour mar- situation in Sweden forces on average devotes more resources to ket performance will have to be attended change on the entire education than the OECD-average when to in one context” (Eliasson 1994). Fur- training system.” it comes to public expenditure (OECD, thermore, schools have to prepare peo- 1992). It spends more than France, Ger- ple for the labour market, a task that many and the United Kingdom but less comes before other tasks (Eliasson 1992). than Denmark, Norway and Finland. Most formal education is publicly financed. On- Additional training on-the-job is becom- “About 90 percent of all the-job training is of course private, but ing typical of modern workplaces, and age groups that finish many firms receive large amounts of state only workers with a satisfactory educa- elementary school in financed grants to help initiate and sup- tional background are considered for jobs Sweden go on to grammar port on-the-job training and competence requiring such training. Firms are becom- school.” improving measures. The Working Life ing increasingly selective at recruiting and Fund has provided firms with generous new tougher practices are slowly getting support to undertake training and an on- established. Some empirical results based going evaluation will tell whether this on interviews with a number of firms support has been successful (Lindh, show that advanced manufacturing firms Mellander, Kazamaki Ottersten 1994). search for factory workers with at least a “In an international grammar school diploma (Kazamaki Studies furthermore show that during the comparison Sweden on Ottersten 1994). Furthermore, communi- 1980s Sweden had a quite expensive pub- average devotes more cative skills in Swedish, other languages, lic elementary schooling system. In an resources to education and mathematics are often minimum re- international comparison the total cost per than the OECD-average quirements. Employees with “learning student was between 23 to 28 percent when it comes to public abilities” with a broad problem-solving above the same costs of our Nordic neigh- expenditure (…)” capacity, able to work in teams (social bours. ability) are placed high on employer’s pri- Does this also guarantee good quality? ority lists. This development also means Since Swedish schools are more “teacher that to be considered for a job even at intensive”, with more teachers “per class- the shop-floor at least grammar school size” than in other countries one would level is required. “Employability” in the “Studies (…) show that expect higher performance. There is no future will require education. during the 1980s Sweden consistent research to show whether more had a quite expensive teachers per class-size give higher student In brief, training is becoming a lifetime public elementary school- performance. International comparisons experience. Training and retraining takes ing system.” show Swedish students have good ability place at different stages and places dur- in reading and in foreign languages but ing a lifetime. European integration (in less than satisfactory skills in writing and this respect) adds a new dimension to a little ability in mathematics (Fägerlind, training at school by demanding more in 1993). Swedish students do not exhibit the form of language knowledge and the elite performance. This is not an ideal situ- ability to cooperate in culturally mixed “Additional training on- ation for an economy on the threshold of work teams in the firm, as well as by wid- the-job is becoming typical a significant technological transformation. ening the views and prospects of both of modern workplaces, Meanwhile we note that the younger gen- individuals and the educational system. and only workers with a eration is better educated than the older Workers from countries with a high edu- satisfactory educational generation, which is the case for the cational and skill standard of the labour background are consid- whole European Community. The Nordic force will be more in demand than oth- ered for jobs requiring countries, Germany, Austria, England, and ers. Hence, competition will force an in- such training.” Switzerland have a very high proportion crease in the educational standard of all of individuals with grammar school com- countries. Competence, however, (Elias- petence (diploma) in the labour force. son 1994), is something the labour mar- ket has difficulties with. Highly compe- Training as a lifetime experience tent workers are normally underpaid com- pared to the value of their contribution “(…)advanced manufac- The former “Taylorist” production organi- to the employer, and vice versa for un- turing firms search for zation is gradually being replaced with skilled workers (Eliasson 1992). This has factory workers with at high performance work organizations. effects on the incentives to learn at school least a grammar school New firms and industries lead this devel- and at work. Since competence develop- diploma (…)” opment. Changing labour market perform- ment is cumulative and since school pro- ance and a changing job environment thus vides the platform for individuals to con- CEDEFOP 16 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tinue to learn at the workplace expecta- (Braunerhjelm and Eliasson, 1994). With “In Sweden, (…) the tions of a low long-run pay off at the work advanced labour markets developing premium for learning has place can cause a bad early start in life there will be a higher demand for highly been low by international for the individual. In an integrated Eu- educated people to migrate. In order to standards.” rope this will also affect the individual address the issue of brain-drain, however, negatively when it comes to his or her one has to know how sensitive educa- capacity to work in and flexibility to ad- tion and migration is to income variation just to an international environment. (Lundborg 1991). In this case there could also be country specific differences. Will the sensitivity change in the future partly Is education worth it? be due to integration? Which factors do have an impact on the migration of indi- viduals with higher education? These Conventional wisdom tells that there questions need to be thoroughly investi- should be a premium for learning gated. “The low wage premium (Kazamaki Ottersten, Mellander, Meyer- raises the question of son, Nilsson 1994). In Sweden, however, eventual brain-drain, or the premium for learning has been low Institutional barriers competence reallocation, by international standards. in the wider market context of an integrated Ever since the seminal work of Becker Labour market flexibility depends critically Europe.” (1962), Mincer (1958, 1962, 1974), and on the educational level of individuals and Schultz (1960, 1961) earnings functions labour market institutions. Many of these and human capital estimates have been institutions, notably those associated with discussed intensively. Wage equations are union cartelization of markets have re- by now “classic” in economics and have duced labour market flexibility. Labour frequently been addressed empirically. market laws and union practices in Swe- Lots of work has also been done to as- den can, furthermore, slow the labour sess the shortcomings of the original wage market allocation processes. Interviews equations (Kazamaki Ottersten, Mellander, with firms in fact show that the average “Many of these institu- Meyersson and Nilsson 1994). age of the labour force within Swedish tions, (labour market manufacturing firms is very high. Swed- institutions) notably those The wage premium in Sweden measured ish labour market laws may in part be associated with union as the relative wage increase that follows responsible for this development. Mean- cartelization of markets from an additional year of schooling is while we know that education is higher have reduced labour about 3-4 percent. The premium for edu- among the younger generation, although market flexibility.” cation has been rather constant at this the older generation has an advantage in level during the 1984 to 1991 period. The the form of longer experience in the la- premium should be compared to the bour market. OECD-average which is about 10-12 per- cent. We should add, however, that de- The Employment Act, with its first-in last- spite the relatively low level in an inter- out principle for firing people will affect national comparison, some workers, for the long run productivity of the old firms example engineers, have benefited from negatively, notably firms in declining increases in wage premia. However, those markets that do not grow (Kazamaki increases mean that this group finally is Ottersten 1993). Since the incentives for “(…) the average age of reaching the Swedish average premium employees to learn by moving both within the labour force within level (Mellander 1994)! firms and between firms is also reduced, Swedish manufacturing this negative productivity effect is further firms is very high. (…) The low wage premium raises the ques- increased. As a consequence the firm may Meanwhile we know that tion of eventual brain-drain, or compe- invest less in human capital because it education is higher among tence reallocation, in the wider market has an older work force with a lower pay the younger generation, context of an integrated Europe. Most off to retraining. Although the younger although the older genera- likely, part of this “brain-drain” has al- generation is better informed and better tion has an advantage in ready taken place. Individuals with a high educated in new skills, young people will, the form of longer experi- educational level will of course move first nevertheless, find it difficult to enter the ence in the labour mar- and even small numbers can give rise to labour market. Again, this negative indi- ket.” considerable negative effects on the com- rect effect on youth employment is fur- petitiveness of the Swedish economy ther reinforced if too high introductory CEDEFOP 17 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(…) the firm may invest wages are set in the contracts negotiated A few problems should, however, be men- less in human capital with unions. tioned: because it has an older work force with a lower In an integrated world many of these in- ❏ firms appear to place extra value on pay off to retraining.” stitutional barriers will have to be re- communicative skills, verbal and math- moved. Some may disappear because of ematical in particular. Mathematics as a a more efficient labour market arbitrage. subject is becoming increasingly impor- To some extent, a better and more tant at all levels, not least on the shop deregulated labour market (see Eliasson floor. However, less students than before 1994) can develop in an integrated Eu- are studying mathematics and natural sci- “Although the younger rope. If this is the case better secondary ences at high school. Even though this is generation is better education, and better incentives to “learn” an international tendency among the ma- informed and better may be a consequence. However, there ture industrial countries, it spells serious educated in new skills, are problems with institutional barriers problems for the future. New recruitment young people will, never- and labour market practices in the Euro- practices will also force the educational theless, find it difficult to pean Community today. It is to be hoped, system to reorganize in order to meet enter the labour market.” therefore, that the future will hold a de- these standards if students are to get well regulation drive of European labour mar- paid jobs in the future. kets as a whole to make Europe competi- ❏ a question which also needs thorough tive against new challenges from the West examination and already has attracted and from the East. some attention is whether integration will lead to a brain-drain in some countries while other countries will be provided “(…) there are problems The Swedish training with human capital. Countries with strong with institutional barriers equalitarian policy will witness policy re- and labour market prac- system in a European vision. This question is in part addressed tices in the European perspective in an article by Per Lundborg in this issue. Community today.” How should training be organized? Who ❏ we do have to keep in mind that multi- should pay? These are questions that need lateral agreements are not always easy to to be considered in an European Train- implement in practice, in particular, if the ing System. What will be allowed and agreements are set at a too high level. which will be the barriers? How will a Adding more bureaucracy to the Swedish “(…) Mathematics as a good education system be guaranteed? economy is not ideal. Flexibility in the subject is becoming Who will take the responsibility? How practical implementation as well as in the increasingly important at much education is needed? Do we all way multilateral agreements are made is all levels, not least on the need a highschool diploma just to be con- needed with respect to smooth integra- shop floor. However, less sidered for a job? Will there be a split la- tion. Placing part of the decisions on a students than before are bour market as well as a split Europe of lower decision level would be preferable. studying mathematics and people with very low education and very natural sciences at high high education, participating in independ- With these problems in mind - what school.” ent labour markets? should be expected from integration? In an ideal situation, Rapid changes in industrial technology are 1) We should expect a quicker pace of challenging both the educational systems adaptation in the educational market to and the labour markets of Europe common requirements and goals in edu- (Eliasson and Kazamaki Ottersten 1994). cation as well as a wider variety of Swedish integration has already begun. choices. In addition, we should expect a “(…) multilateral agree- Most likely this is the market where Swed- prospering research environment. ments are not always easy ish integration already is making progress to implement in practice, through the ERASMUS programme as well 2) With more labour market interaction in particular, if the agree- as through interaction of higher educa- and competition at the European level we ments are set at a too high tion and research. There is potential for should expect the educational status to level.” the Swedish training system to be suc- rise. A higher educational status should cessful in European integration since there contribute to an increase in the standards is great interest from Swedish students to of education both at school and at work. study abroad. Integration widens the This effect will be shared by all of Eu- views and opens new training environ- rope. Premia for higher education will ments. probably increase. CEDEFOP 18 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

3) More competition would also put pres- velopment areas. For successful integra- “For successful integra- sure on costs and force a rise in quality - tion the national labour and training mar- tion the national labour this could be specifically important in the ket need to be working and to be flex- and training market need Swedish case with relatively high educa- ible. Integration always starts at the na- to be working and to be tional costs. tional level. And the problem of a suc- flexible. Integration cessful labour market and educational always starts at the The overall effects on the Swedish train- market is not exclusive to Sweden. It is national level.” ing system should be positive given the believed, however, that close integration above drawbacks. with Europe will have many positive ef- fects on the Swedish educational level, for example, by raising its status as well Conclusions as the pay off to education. It should be noted though that there may be some European integration will make the edu- drawbacks as well, for example, problems cational system more exciting, allowing with multilateral agreements at a high for more co-research and interesting de- level may be exacerbated by integration.

References

Becker, G.S., 1962, Investment in Human Capital: sored Training: Evidence from Publicly Supported A Theoretical Analysis, Journal of Political Economy, Training in Sweden 1989-1991, IUI forthcoming Vol. 70 Supplement, Part 2, pp. S9-549. Working Paper.

Braunerhjelm, P., Eliasson, G., 1994, Finanstid- Lundborg, P., 1991, Determinants of Migration in ningen. the Nordic Labour Market, The Scandinavian Jour- nal of Economics, Vol. 93, No. 3. Eliasson, G., 1992, Arbetet - dess betydelse, dess innehåll, dess kvalitet och dess ersättning, (Work - Mellander, E., 1994, Avkastningen på utbildning i its importance, its content, its quality and its pay Sverige 1984-91: En känslighetsanalys, Mimeo IUI. off), IUI, Stockholm. Mincer, J., 1958, Investment in Human Capital and Eliasson, G., 1994, Educational Efficiency and the Personal Income Distribution, Journal of Political Markets for Competence, Journal of Vocational Economy, Vol. 66, pp. 281-302. Training, No 2/94 Mincer, J., 1962, on the-Job Training: Costs, Re- Eliasson, G., Kazamaki Ottersten, E., 1994, Om turns, and Some Implications, Journal of Political förlängd skolgång, (Extended school time), IUI, Economy, Vol. 70, Part 2, pp. S50-579. Almqvist och Wiksell International, Stockholm. Mincer, J., 1974, Schooling, Experience and Earn- Fagerlind, I. (1993), Utbildningen i Sverige och det ings, New York: Columbia University Press for the mänskliga kapitalet. Nya villkor för ekonomin och National Bureau of Economic Research. politiken. (Education in Sweden and the Human Capital. New conditions for the Economy and Po- OECD, 1992, Education at a Glance, OECD Indica- licy). Rapport till Ekonomikommission. tors.

Kazamaki Ottersten, E., 1993, Produkivitet och OECD, 1993, Industry Training in Australia, Swe- Anställningsskydd, (Productivity and Labour Mar- den and the United States. ket Laws) IUI Working Paper No. 399. Schultz, T.W., 1960, Capital Formation by Educa- Kazamaki Ottersten, E., 1994, Trends in Worker tion, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 68, pp. 571- Recruitment Practices in Swedish Companies, Vo- 583. cational Training, no. 1. Schultz, T.W., 1961, Investment in Human Capital, Kazamaki Ottersten, E., Mellander, E., Meyers- American Economic Review, Vol. 51, pp. 1-17. son, E., Nilsson, J., 1994, Pitfalls in the Measure- ment of the Return to Education: An Assessment US Department of Labor 1991, What Work Re- Using Swedish Data, IUI Working Paper No. 414,. quires of Schools. A SCANS report for America 2000.

Lindh, T., Mellander, E., Kazamaki Ottersten, E., 1994, Productivity and Cost Effects of Firm Spon- CEDEFOP 19 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The vocational training system in Sweden

Addition carreer- related studies Lower basic academic qualification University degree Preliminary diploma Post-secondary further training semi-academic qualifications Qualification courses or evening school/college

Higher basic academic qualification

tertiary level

18 17 secondary level 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 Compulsory education 8 7 primary level 6 5 4 3 nursery school

❏ In pre-school education there are several institutions catering for the 0 to 6/7 year age range; day care centres, part-time groups and open pre-school.

❏ Since 1991 children have a right to start school at the age of six years, if their parents so desire, and if the municipality has the capacity to provide this opportunity. The option should be available in all municipalities by the school year 1997/98.

❏ The compulsory school is attended by children aged 6/7-16 years. It is a comprehensive, co-educational school designed to accomodate all members of the rising generation. Since the introduction of the 9-year compulsory school in 1962 the compulsory school has been divided into 3-year levels: lower, intermediate and upper level. As from the school year 1995/96 a new curriculum, with nationwide validity, will be implemented in school years 1-7, in 1996/97 for year 8 and in 1997/98 year 9.

❏ In the new, comprehensive, upper secondary school system that was introduced in 1992, to be fully implemented in the beginning of the academic year 1995/96, all education is organized in study programmes of three years’ duration. There are 16 nationally determined programmes, 14 of which are primarily vocationally-oriented and two preparing primarily for university studies. All the programmes, however, have the same eight core subjects i.e. Swedish, English, civics, religious studies, mathematics, nature studies, sports and health studies, and aesthetic activities. In addition students take subjects which are specific to their programme.

❏ The professional degrees rewarded at universities and university colleges are obtained upon completion of programmes of varying length (2-2,5 years). The programmes lead to specific profession e.g. University Diploma in Medicine or in Educational for Upper Secondary School.

Graphics: Rudolf J. Schmitt; Technical production: Axel Hunstock, Berlin; Consultation commissioned by CEDEFOP: Pekka Kämäräinen

CEDEFOP 20 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Matti Kyrö Features of vocational is the head of the unit responsible for information and education in Finland coordination of research and quantitative data on Short history of vocational economic competition. They were made education, at the National education priority concerns alongside the key ob- Board of Education (central jectives of the previous decade, i.e. equal- agency for the development ity, a comprehensive general education, and evaluation of In Finland intial vocational education has and assimilation of humanist ideals. education), Finland. been developed under public control and chiefly provided in publicly owned insti- The main objective of this vision is to tutions. In other words, it is mainly fi- establish a common-to-all comprehensive nanced by public means, and it is up to school for the young, where youngsters “Finland now finds herself the authorities to make sure that the gen- may combine general and vocational stud- in a situation in which gen- eral aims of vocational education are re- ies, or choose just one or the other. The eral education and voca- alized all over the country. In the Finnish level of post-secondary vocational edu- tional education and train- school-based system the practical train- cation will be raised by means of a scheme ing are being developed ing has chiefly been confined to schools. of institutions of vocational higher edu- separately according to the cation of the German “Fachhochschule” principles of the “edifying The objective is to guarantee equal edu- type, where an integral part of the work school” and the labour mar- cational opportunities for all, regardless consists of scientific research into the ket school, respectively, but of domicile, economic status or language. work itself. The youngsters will qualify one of the underlying prin- In accordance with Nordic principles of for university either through general edu- ciples is a market-based, democracy, guaranteeing equal educa- cation or an institution of higher voca- service-oriented school. tional opportunities for all was adopted tional education. This projected educa- The provision of labour as the primary objective in the late 1960s tional structure is in a constant state of market training for adults is already. Education is seen as the key to flux. Any experiments that the vision may already built exclusively on international competitiveness and national inspire will be based on the present cur- demand and market- prosperity. riculum. ing (…). There have been two alter- The centralized national planning of the native tendencies in recent late 70s and 80s guaranteed an increase Recent changes years, the expansion of ap- in study places in initial vocational edu- prenticeship training and cation. The number of study places dou- the introduction of compe- bled in 1970-1994. At the same time, the In the changing Europe of the late 1980s, tence-based vocational ex- age-group of 16-18 year-olds decreased Finland came under strong competitive aminations like NVQ’s in from 85 000 to 65 000. In Finland the dif- pressure from outside. In education, the the UK.” ferences between age-groups are quite raising of the general educational level considerable depending on their formal of the whole nation became more relevant examinations. Of the 25-29 year-olds, than ever. This was due above all to the about 80% have passed a vocational ex- process of European integration and the amination or obtained university degree, changes in the economy, the rapid tech- whereas the percentage among the 45-49 nological development and demographic year-olds is under 50%. factors. In this context, the principles of continuing education and a restructuring Internationally speaking, the division be- of the educational system around this tween general and vocational education principle were debated with great inten- on the upper secondary level is average, sity. very much like the division in France. ------figur 1------In Finland, basic vocational education is “ (…) the division between At the end of the 1980s, there was a great designed for young people. Vocational general and vocational deal of discussion on the need for a reas- education for adults other than labour education on the upper sessment of the objectives of education. market training or personell training be- secondary level is aver- Great emphasis was put on the need for gan to expand only towards the end of age, very much like the individuality and optionality as a means the 1980s. As far as education for young division in France.” of ensuring success in a situation of fierce people is concerned, the assumption is CEDEFOP 21 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The level of post-second- that all youngsters start from more or less tory duty to offer a study place for all ary vocational education the same level. On account of this, it has school leavers. will be raised by means of been possible to arrange education along a scheme of institutions of study lines, where individual differences vocational higher educa- are attended to only when difficulties of Contemporary objectives tion of the German learning appear. Options as regards sub- ‘Fachhochschule’ type, jects within each line scarcely exist. The objectives of Finnish educational where an integral part of policy are twofold: on the one hand the the work consists of The supply of labour is expected to de- aim is to solve present problems in the scientific research into crease further. Manpower appears to exit economy and in the world of work and the work itself.” from the labour markets to education and on the other to build an education sys- early retirement. The present slump has tem which will produce a qualified and “Vocational education for stimulated educational demand; in edu- competent workforce not only now but adults other than labour cation of the 16-19 year-olds some fields also at the end of the decade. market training or which previously had recruitment difficul- personell training began ties have begun to attract more students. The situation in educational policy is fur- to expand only towards ther complicated by the fact that the val- the end of the 1980s.” At the end of the eighties the age groups ues prevailing in society are varied and entering post-compulsory education were to some extent unspecified. The target “ (…) in the seventies (…) at their smallest. The present moderate values set in Finnish educational legisla- priority was given to growth will take a downward turn in the tion were defined in the seventies when equality and above all to a mid-nineties. At that time we will prob- priority was given to equality and above desire to help the weakest. ably again face shortages of trained la- all to a desire to help the weakest. Since Since then attention has bour in some central manufacturing and then attention has increasingly shifted to increasingly shifted to services industries. The fluctuations in the individuals, especially talented individu- individuals, especially young age groups influence planning es- als. It is essential to create a debate about talented individuals.” sentially, because authorities have a statu- these values in view of the curricula to be drawn for primary and secondary edu- cation.

Figure 1. Percentage of upper secondary The school reform carried out in the sev- enties was a result of compromises, and students enrolled in general and vocational vocational and general education were education in EU countries (no data on Greece still developed separately. The allocation and Luxembourg) in 1991. and quantification of vocational education were based on an estimated need of Germany trained workforce. Austria As a result of the parallel school forms, Sweden the number of young people opting for Italy the general upper secondary school clearly exceeded intakes in institutions of Netherlands higher education. These people had to Denmark be placed in secondary vocational edu- Belgium cation. This generated pressures for bring- Finland ing vocational and general education closer to each other in the educational France structure. Spain Ireland As a country with relatively few natural United Kingdom resources, Finland has always had to emphasize its human resources. The level Portugal of formal education has always been, and 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% still is, a central criterion in recruitments and wage decisions. It can be seen in an international comparison of the mean Vocational earnings by level of educational attain- Source: Education at a Glance, OECD. General ment. Earnings in Finland are relatively high compared with other EU countries. CEDEFOP 22 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 2. Ratio of mean annual earnings by level of educational attainment at non-university tertiary education (times 100) by age and sex in some EU coun- tries. 160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0 Belgium Denmark Finland Netherlands Portugal Sweden

Women, 25-34 Men, 25-34 Women, 45-64 Men, 45-64

Source: Education at a Glance, OECD

Nevertheless the difference is smaller in and industry does not necessarily play a “The school reform car- younger age-groups, due to the clear in- vital role in initial education and train- ried out in the seventies crease in the general level of education. ing. The fact that authorities have a statu- was a result of compro------figur 2------tory duty to provide a place in further mises, and vocational and In the seventies it was agreed to base the education for all school leavers enlarges general education were quantification of educational provision on the educational opportunities available to still developed separately. the need for trained workforce. This high- young people and creates differences in The allocation and quanti- lighted the role of quantitative planning, the popularity of different fields. fication of vocational which was partly separated from content. education were based on Defined in this way, educational provi- Representatives of business and industry an estimated need of sion entails a high degree of centralized take part in educational development on trained work force.” control. As a result, intakes in different various consultative committees. They fields and their regional distribution were have a large representation on the Advi- defined in great detail by means of a sory Council for Educational Planning, “The level of formal multi-level planning process. The quanti- which mainly focusses on the quantifica- education has always fication plans were ultimately approved tion of educational provision. There are been, and still is, a central by the Government. national field-specific educational commit- criterion in recruitments tees as well as local and institutional com- and wage decisions.” The present demand on Finnish vocational mittees on which both employer and education is to intensify interaction be- employee organizations are represented. tween the school and business and in- dustry and to make vocational education The present rapid rate of technological more attractive. Especially during a pe- progress means great challenges for in- riod of economic boom when labour de- stitutional education and training, espe- mand exceeds supply these needs become cially in Finland where the school net- topical. In the Finnish system, business work is extensive. There are some 500 CEDEFOP 23 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The present demand on vocational institutions catering to 200 000 have actively promoted apprenticeship Finnish vocational educa- students annually. It is not possible for a training. In the 1990s, the number of ap- tion is to intensify interac- vocational institution to renew its teach- prenticeships has increased by almost tion between the school ing facilities at the rate the most progres- 40%, from 7 200 to 10 000. This is still and business and industry sive employers acquire new equipment only 5% of all vocational education and and to make vocational and machinery. This makes it indispen- training. Apprenticeships are not easy to education more attrac- sable to transfer essential parts of practi- establish in new fields, because of the tra- tive.” cal training to progressive enterprises. dition of school-based education. There is a lack of curricula of apprenticeships Especially in the nineties there has been in many fields and a lack of trained train- a strong trend towards a conception of ers and instructors in firms. education as a customer service. The cli- ent decides the type and quality of edu- The new Act on competence-based ex- “Especially in the nineties cation he/she wants, and as a result of aminations was enforced this year, and there has been a strong this, educational demand steers educa- so far only very few examinations have trend towards a concep- tional development and supply. In Fin- been passed. The first experiences are that tion of education as a land the Government has already defined very few people can pass the new exami- customer service. The this as one of the criteria to be used in nations without formal training or educa- client decides the type and quantification. tion. The skills they learn in the job are quality of education he/ too narrow for them to meet the require- she wants, and as a result Finland now finds herself in a situation ments of these examinations. of this, educational in which general education and vocational demand steers educa- education and training are being devel- One feature of Finnish education today tional development and oped separately according to the princi- is that vocational education for the young supply.” ples of the “edifying school” and the la- and adult education have developed along bour market school, respectively, but one separate lines. The diversity of training of the underlying principles is a market- and education is increasing, but at the based, service-oriented school. The pro- same time equal attainments in different vision of labour market training for adults schools and different parts of the country is already built exclusively on demand and are decreasing. “In 1990s, the number of marketing. apprenticeships has increased by almost 40%, Administrative reforms from 7 200 to 10 000. This School and working life is still only 5% of all Recent developments have generated vocational education and The problem of school-based vocational pressures for dismantling the present cen- training.” education is related to the contacts with tralized administration. This is due to two working life and to the changing demands factors in particular: current neo-liberal of working life. The educational policy social thinking, which stresses the respon- lays great emphasis on bringing educa- sibility of the provider of services, and tion closer to practical work. The propor- economic developments. As a result of tion of work practice in the theoretical the slump in industrial production, the “The new Act on compe- education has increased greatly in the last relative share of the public sector will tence-based examinations few years. An optimal balance and inte- grow in gross national product. was enforced this year, gration between education and work is and so far only very few the crucial question at the moment. The leading principles underlying the examinations has been current administrative reform in Finland passed. The first experi- The change in educational policy towards is to do away with normative regulation ences are that very few greater individuality, flexibility, optionality and delegate decision power. As a result people can pass the new and local responsibility has strenghtened of the deteriorating economic situation, examinations without the training alternatives. There have been personnel has to be reduced, and relevant formal training or educa- two alternative tendencies in recent years, decisions, also as concerns educational tion. The skills they learn the expansion of apprenticeship training administration, have already been made. in the job are too narrow and the introduction of competence-based for them to meet the vocational examinations like NVQ’s in the In the Finnish administration there are requirements of these UK. three different levels of state authorities examinations.” to steer local activities. Nearly all minis- During the last few years, both the em- tries have a national central agency and a ployer and the employee organizations regional (provincial) administration sub- CEDEFOP 24 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ordinate to them. This multiple-level struc- ities of an institution more closely than “Recent developments ture in decision-making and planning has before. have generated pressures proved unduly heavy. Decisions and plan- for dismantling the ning responsibilities will be delegated to In terms of administration, the present present centralised admin- the local level. As regards education, the development stage is somewhat vague. At istration.” aim is to create national frameworks some quarters it is feared that the delega- within which educational institutions are tion of governmental powers and regula- fairly free to provide education accord- tion to the local level will shift real deci- ing to local needs. sion-making power to social partners. There is a risk that development frame- The growth of local autonomy is an es- works will be defined by the Teacher sential part of the reform of educational Union through their influence on the na- administration. Curricula include discre- tional division of classroom-hours and by “As regards education, the tionary elements to be decided locally employer organizations through their in- aim is to create national within loose target frameworks. This cre- fluence on national end-of-programme frameworks within which ates conditions for flexible educational examinations. educational institutions provision. It is also hoped that growing are fairly free to provide local autonomy will improve the effec- There is still the possibility that decen- education according to tiveness and efficiency of education. Vari- tralization means only a localization of local needs.” ous interest groups will follow the activ- bureaucracy. The infrastructure of the

The regular education system in Finland

University Academic colleges Technical school Licenciate

Trade colleges Trade schools Advanced trade schools Apprenticeship Evening school/college 2nd + 3rd educational paths e.g. apprenticeship contract Akademic Qualification Grad. engineer Grade in education

University entrance examination 18 Higher secondary level 17 16 secondary level II 15 14 13 secondary level I 12 11 10 9 Compulsory education 8 7 primary level 6 5 4 3 nursery education

Graphics: Rudolf J. Schmitt; Technical production: Axel Hunstock, Berlin; Consultation commissioned by CEDEFOP: Pekka Kämäräinen

CEDEFOP 25 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“In Finland the duty to educational system is not as flexible as it costs which entitle to state support and provide vocational educa- should be in a real customer-driven sys- those which do not. tion will be gradually tem. The network of educational institu- transferred to municipali- tions is built up to support the regional It is hoped that the new system will raise ties (…) policy in a country with the fifth largest the standard of educational services and They receive state grants area in Europe and a population of five enable the institutions to cater to special based on their expendi- million inhabitants. local needs better than under the present ture and on the financial system. At the same time municipalities status of the municipality are encouraged to provide cost-effective in question.” Trends in financing services and to prune their administration.

Parliament noted in its communication on In Finland the duty to provide vocational the Government’s educational policy re- education will be gradually transferred to port that the state grants reform must not municipalities. At present half of voca- change the distribution of educational tional institutions are run by municipal- costs between the state and municipal- ities. They receive state grants based on ities. When new tasks and responsibilities their expenditure and on the financial sta- are transferred to municipalities, they must tus of the municipality in question. also receive the resources they need to execute them. Parliament also noted that In the near future, as a result of the adop- during recession no cuts should be made tion of management by objectives in the in education, on the contrary, it should “Parliament (…) noted whole state administration and the cur- be given more support. that during recession no rent rationalization and decentralization, cuts should be made in state grants will be allocated according Education and training have always been education, on the con- to a new system. An institution will re- regarded a privilege of citizenship. For trary, it should be given ceive a lump sum calculated on the basis this reason the financing of education and more support.” of three factors - its classroom hour quota, training very largely rely on public funds. number of students and its size. The in- No change in the financial responsibility stitution can use the sum at its discretion. is expected in the near future because of Expenditure will no longer be divided into this traditional attitude.

References:

Ekola, J. (ed.): Ammatillisen keskiasteen koulu- Kivinen, O., Rinne, R. & Ahola, S.: Koulutuksen nuudistus. Arviointeja koulunuudistuksen toimeen- rajat ja rakenteet (Limits and structure of educa- panon toteutuksesta. (The reform of post-second- tion). Hanki ja jää, Helsinki, 1989. ary vocational education. Assessment of implemen- tation of the educational reform.) Institute of edu- Kyrö, M., Vasiljeff, M. & Virtanen, K.: Amma- cational research, Jyväskylä, Publication series B, tillisen koulutuksen kehitys vuosina 1960-1987 (The Theory and praxis, 56/1991. development of vocational education in 1960-1987). National Board of Vocational Education, Department Ekola, J., Kämäräinen, P. & Vuorinen, P.: of Planning and Development, Reports 16/1988. Ammatillisen koulutuksen uudistaminen 1980- luvulla (Reform of vocational education in 1980s). OECD: Education at a Glance. OECD Indicators. National Board of Vocational Education, Reports 30/ Paris, 1993. 1991. Volanen, M.V.: Open social structures and the Helakorpi, S., Aarnio, H., Kuisma, R., Mäkinen, school/-labour network. In Kyrö, Matti (ed.): A. & Torttila, P.: Työ ja ammattitaito (Work and Kvalifikationsforskning - som bas för utbildning? occupational skill). College for Teachers for Voca- Research in qualifications as a basis for education? tional Education in Hämeenlinna, Research reports Stockholm, 1989. 5/1988. Volanen, M.V. & Jalkanen, H. (ed.): Koulutuksen Kivinen, O.: Koulutuksen järjestelmäkehitys - kuninkaat ja kulkurit (The kings and ramps of edu- Peruskoulutus ja valtiollinen kouludoktriini Suo- cation). Institute of educational research, Jyväskylä, messa 1800- ja 1900-luvuilla (The development of Publication series B, Theory and practice, 24/1988. the educational system - Basic education and gov- ernmental doctrine of education in Finland in the 19th and 20th centuries). University of Turku, Pub- lications C67, 1988.

CEDEFOP 26 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Henry J. Boom in apprentice- Vartiainen works at the University of ship training in Finland Helsinki, Finland. Prior to this, he was Rediscovered avenue into In Finland, this means late realization of employed at the an obvious but fundamental fact: it is the Bank of Finland Institute for working life companies, the providers of goods and Economic Research, the services, which are par excellence a OECD Secretariat in Paris Whatever the level of unemployment and training resource inferior to none and and Conference Board in the scope of structural changes, the need underutilized so far. A company, in order Brussels, the Association of for trained and skilled manpower remains. to be successful, needs to keep abreast Finnish Employers and Without exception, past development and of technological and organizational de- Industry, and the Finnish forecasts in the industrialized countries velopment, markets, and customers’ Institute of Management suggest a rise in highly skilled but a needs. In this respect, on-the-job training (LIFIM). shrinking in the unskilled labour force. means an efficient learning method and Many a routine job will be replaced by early accommodation to company culture automized processes. As trades, crafts, and working life. It is a suitable place of After industrialization producation lines and entire industrial learning for those needing professional started in Finland in the lat- sectors disappear, key skills for an indi- basic training and for those in need of ter half of the 19th century, vidual and for schools will include fle- further training or retraining. public schooling dominated xibility, receptiveness for training and re- the field of vocational edu- training, willingness to change career, cation. customer orientation. Job assignments Rapid transition to indus- change so rapidly that it is virtually im- Since 1980s, there has been possible to anticipate future requirements trial society a new emphasis on indi- through manpower planning. vidual achievements and Finland’s transformation from a predomi- the importance of options. A qualified labour force, well-trained and nantly agricultural autarchy into an open The new law in force since capable of independent and innovative market economy with flourishing indus- 1993 enlarged the coverage thinking and action, is an indispensable try started and gathered momentum in the of apprenticeship training factor of competitiveness in free and latter half of the 19th century. Forest re- to all professions and also growing enlarged markets. It is a chal- sources, so far used rather passively to supplementary educa- lenge to the society to achieve a good mainly for households, entered the inter- tion. The schools have more match between the demand for and pro- national markets by virtue of develop- freedom and responsibility vision of skills, given constraints on the ments in wood processing technology and in setting up courses and public purse and high expectations of modes of transport. Liberal legislation re- modules. Examinations are people as to the advantages of education. placed earlier restrictions on trade and competence-based and in- production (Guilds were suppressed in dependent of the way skills With high or rising unemployment, inter- 1897). Growing markets of Imperial Rus- are acquired (school, ap- est in education has grown. Thus, labour sia were available for the Finnish produc- prenticeship, practical ex- market policies also contain more educa- ers. Skilled and ingenious industrialists perience). Responsibility tion and training initiatives than previ- arrived in Finland from the West to launch for the examinations lies ously. With more diversified and service- important initiatives in pulp and paper, with the Examination oriented labour markets, we can no longer textiles and engineering1. Boards, where the labour secure high employment by straightfor- market partners, schools ward methods of increasing demand Taking the incipient production of pulp and local authorites cooper- through the public purse. In a country and paper as the starting point, a virtu- ate. The most important where incomes policy agreements tradi- ous circle of growth soon emerged: sym- challenge now is to make tionally play a large role, it is politically biosis of the production, research and the employers interested difficult to let market mechanism reduce manufacturing of the requisite machinery and commited. unemployment through lower wage lev- and equipment. Every seventh paper ma- els; a more sophisticated approach is to chine in the world is of Finnish origin. upgrade the skills of people and try to match better the firms and training insti- The scale of the engineering industry was tutions with a view to students acquiring modest in the 1930s. After World War II, relevant skills. the obligatory payment of war indemnities CEDEFOP 27 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(…) it is the companies, to the Soviet Union was in all its harsh- vocational training belongs to the public the providers of goods ness a blessing in disguise, giving rise to domain, as elsewhere in Scandinavia, and services, which are a modern engineering industry produc- went uncontested. Since independence, par excellence a training ing inter alia paper & pulp-making ma- vocational education has thus been de- resource inferior to none chinery, motors, ships, etc. veloped mainly in public institutions and and underutilized so far.” under public aegis. Since World War II, there have been “(…) vocational education marked structural changes in society. The has (…) been developed share of people engaged in primary pro- Volume of in-company mainly in public institu- duction (agriculture and forestry) fell from training tions and under public 36% in 1960 to 5% in 1994. The age com- aegis.” position of the population is changing; Apprenticeship training was rather mod- the share of those under 15 years which est in volume for decades. In the 1970s “Many factors were was 30% in 1960, was down to 19% in there were only some 4 000 apprentices responsible for keeping 1994, and the share in the 15 to 64 year- annually. In the following decade their the numbers (of appren- bracket rose from 62 to 67%. Demographic number rose to about 8 000, and passed tices) down. It was not development thus underlines the impor- the 10 000 mark in 1993. The number of only the fact that appren- tance of adult education. new contracts tripled in that year to reach ticeship training did not 8 830, as contracts could be made in the rank very high on the same subjects as in other school types. social scale; the trade Public schooling domi- The target estimate for 1995 is 17 000 unions also viewed on-the- nates places, of which adults and supplemen- job training with suspi- tary training account for about a half. cion.” The requisite vocational training was first — figure — given by the companies themselves. At Still, these numbers are only a fraction of 1) The influx of foreign immigrants an early stage, Government assumed the the 200 000-strong enrollment in all vo- was triggered off much earlier by Na- poleon’s decrees forbidding continen- responsibility for schooling. In the 1840s cational institutions. In-company training tal countries to trade with Great Brit- it set up Sunday schools for apprentices is found mostly in such trades (graphic ain or her colonies. Goods could, but in the handicrafts, and technical colleges arts, hairdressing, baker, confectioner etc.) people could not be prevented from moving. Thus, the early consequences in main cities. They offered curricula of 4 where the tradition, and the efficiency of of Finland’s internationalization were years for students of at least 12 years of learning, call for this form of schooling. positive in Finland. age, consisting of general subjects and Commerce and administation, but also technical training in those sciences which electrical engineering and social services were considered relevant for manufactur- have also been favourite choices. ing industry and handicrafts. The view that Many factors were responsible for keep- ing the numbers down. It was not only Enrolment in apprenticeship training in Finland the fact that apprenticeship training did in 1970-1994 not rank very high on the social scale; 10 the trade unions also viewed on-the-job training with suspicion. Learning contracts were defined primarly as work contracts, 8 with rigorous application of all labour legislation including minimum wages. Plentiful red tape dampened any enthu- 6 siasm the employers might have felt. Many a tailor shop simply vanished for this rea- son.

4 New thinking

2 In the 1980s there was much discussion total (1994: 10 000) on the objectives of education. Individual new contracts (1993: 8 830) needs, and the existence of options, were 0 now emphasized as a reaction to previ- 71 75 80 85 90 93 ous trends, which stressed equality, uni- Source: Vartiainen Henry J., Apprenticeship training, (in Finnish), in: Taloustieto, August 1994 formity and standardized norms gauged to the society’s needs. The needs of the CEDEFOP 28 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

economy were acknowledged but rather ing in regard to other education. The pos- “The authorities are on a theoretical level. To learn in work sibility of training by contract was ex- aiming at improving has to be seen as an equally good way of tended to all subjects and examinations compatibility of work acquiring competence and passing exami- available in educational institutions. Vo- experience and the formal nation as learning in public vocational cational institutions acquired large free- examination.” institutions. dom in introducing new courses along these lines and in assuming the respon- Flexibility was to be the key word. The sibilities for individual curricula. Under authorities are aiming at improving com- the new circumstances, cooperation be- patibility of work experience and the for- tween local administration and the school mal examination. The distinction between is enhanced. In the new law, an appren- theoretical and practical work is also be- ticeship training contract is a special ar- coming more and more blurred. On the rangement between an employer, agree- other hand, statistical progress helps: vari- ing to give the training defined in the ous target groups in need of training are contract, and a student pledging to work now identified more clearly because of a in exchange for the training. Calling it a better statistical basis in the Ministry of training contract emphasizes its educa- “A new law on Apprentice- Labour. Groups in need of retraining are tional character. ship Training came into early school leavers with no vocational force in 1993, aiming at training, those in early retirement or un- Reforms were not so radical as to change improving the competitive- employed young people. the main responsibilities. However, some ness of this training in decentralization took place. More inde- regard to other educa- Industry is a strong advocate of appren- pendence is to be given to the schools in tion.” ticeship training, considering it the mod- devising the study programmes of the ern response to the diversified labour pupils. While grading continues to be market. It has many advantages. Profes- done by the authorities, they do it on the sions to be trained for are real, the em- basis of the employers’ assessment. ployment situation is taken into account, training can start any time, it is more up- Responsibility for the examinations and to-date than top technology (as an over- accreditations lies with the local or na- all criterion, however, some reasonable tional Examination Board, which consist average standard will have to suffice for of representatives of labour market, examination, and not top technology). In schools and local administration. Organ- sparsely inhabited areas, this may be the izing the examination, within the broad “Reforms were not so only way of organizing training. framework set by the National Board of radical as to change the Education, is usually entrusted to a school main responsibilities. and local firms. However, some decentrali- Organizational reform zation took place.” Planning the curricula and responsibility New thinking was reflected in new legis- for the costs is now in the same hands. In lation. Until recent years, responsibility organizing theoretical courses, the local for training was entirely vested in the administrator buys the services concerned vocational institutions. This was and still from a vocational institution or other study is the most marked difference compared centre, or from a firm. Choice of courses to the German-type training. The institu- has increased substantially. Vocational tions arranged work practice for students institutions have now cartes blanches in in companies either during school hours setting up courses and modules. Given or as guided extracurricular work train- the rather centralized system having been ing. Employers are remunerated from in force up to now, this is quite a chal- public funds for contracted training. The lenge to schools. Active innovators stand “Vocational institutions contract was an agreement between a to gain. have now cartes blanches vocational institution and an employer on in setting up courses and a student’s work practice. The curricula modules.” followed strictly the guidelines defined by Wider fields of application the National Board of Education. Starting in 1993, apprenticeship can be A new law on Apprenticeship Training resorted to, when the student has no pre- came into force in 1993, aiming at im- vious vocational training; when he wants proving the competitiveness of this train- to develop his skills and needs a certified CEDEFOP 29 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The new law on compe- diploma for this; when his job expands to cational supplementary training. These are tence-based examinations new fields; when he assumes a new work graded according to scales used in state came into force in May assignment; when formal qualifications are aid to local governments. 1994. Examinations, wanted; when a company’s personnel is which consist of a variety retrained for new or more specialized tasks; New methods of financing mean a shift of clearly identifiable when a suitable qualified person is not of control from central to local adminis- modules, are now inde- available on the labour market. tration. Many a central norm applied pre- pendent of the way the viously will simply be disregarded. Local requisite skills and The new law on competence-based exami- administration is empowered to allocate knowhow have been nations came into force in May 1994. Ex- central government funds according to its acquired.” aminations, which consist of a variety of own needs. clearly identifiable modules, are now in- dependent of the way the requisite skills There are no changes in the overall prin- and knowhow have been acquired. In ciples of financing apprenticeship train- maintaining the level of examinations, ing: apart from some limited and time- quality, good reputation and effectiveness bound exemptions, apprentices’ wages “Starting in 1993, appren- are among the main criteria. Also place- are determined in national wage agree- ticeship training can be ment and relative status in the labour mar- ments and comply with labour legislation. used either as full educa- ket will be studied as useful indicators. The cost of training is too high at the pre- tion of 1 to 4 years, or as vailing wage rates, so companies are com- supplementary education pensated by the Government. At present, lasting 4 to 12 months.” Also for adults these reimbursements vary between FIM 1 400 and 2 100 during the first year, and Starting in 1993, apprenticeship training about half of this in the following years can be used either as full education of 1 or for supplementary training. Govern- to 4 years, or as supplementary educa- ment support is on a per capita basis with tion lasting 4 to 12 months. Apprentice- no incentives tied to performance. Local “In the long run, the ship training will not mean a dead end, governments can pay incentive premiums combination of adult but will be a step in the logical sequence to companies undertaking new training. education with appren- of education. This is done by the City of Helsinki, for ticeship training will mean example. economies of scale and Basic vocational education was originally better possibilities of designed to accomodate young people. The disadvantages are that budgetary con- building up training Adult training began to expand towards straints may set limits to the volume of modules.” the end of the 1980s. About 35 000 adults available financing; and public frugality annually are estimated to be in need of in fixing the rates of reimbursement may supplementary education and retraining. lessen the motivation of employers to It can thus be used for the individual make training places available. needs of the trainees or as a personnel training tool of a company. Over half of So far, there are no plans to introduce a “New methods of financ- new contracts cover trainees who already levy on all firms as in Denmark, distrib- ing mean a shift of control have basic vocational training behind uting the cost of training over all compa- from central to local them. Partial examinations also can be nies, trainers or not. The French method administration.” taken this way. of imposing on firms the obligation to provide training has not found support In the long run, the combination of adult in Finland. education with apprenticeship training will mean economies of scale and better possibilities of building up training mod- Training the trainers “(…) there are no plans to ules. More flexibility will be required from introduce a levy on all the trainees, too: they must take the ini- There has been a gap in Finnish legisla- firms as in Denmark (…) tiative and be willing to move after a de- tion, as there has not been any formal The French method of sired education. legislation on the qualifications of a imposing on firms the trainer. Things have always worked out, obligation to provide however. There is discussion now training has not found Costs underway on a need for a training pro- support in Finland.” gramme for professional trainers, which Government decides on the compensa- companies could resort to if their own tion per student in vocational and in vo- training capacity is insufficient. CEDEFOP 30 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Labour market policies vailing arrangements and give their views “Youth unemployment, on developments. They found bottlenecks (…) is rather high in such Unprecedented depression and structural in availability of training places, particu- countries where appren- changes brought about by rapid techno- larly in health and social services and in ticeship does not play an logical developments, led to surprisingly some rare trades such as that of goldsmith. important role (…)” high unemployment: in 3 years from 1990 Other problems were urgent production to 1993, total production fell by 15%, gross schedules, leaving little time for instruc- investments were halved and unemploy- tion, unawareness of the importance of ment finally rose to almost 500 000 per- training, and inexperienced teachers. sons or 20 per cent of the labour force. There was blame on both sides: insuffi- Education as a labour market measure cient appreciation and excessive absences gained in importance. The unemployed on the part of the student. In many schools themselves found time for continuing preference was given to instruction at education. school, to the detriment of young ap- prentices. Well-intentioned advice on job creation abounds. Youth unemployment, which, Some obstacles were reported to stem incidentally, is rather high in such coun- from financial constraints limiting the tries where apprenticeship does not play possibilities to make requisite courses “(…) the labour market an important role, is a problem of great available. No clear-cut answer was avail- authorities and the school concern to the authorities. Thus, on top able as to the need to ensure the exist- authorities cooperate of other labour market measures, the Min- ence of the routine courses or allot funds quite well in matters of istry of Labour gives support to an em- to more risky new ones. In developing apprenticeship training.” ployer who is willing to make a contract. apprenticeship training, inspectors con- Criticism is voiced that such support sidered changing attitudes of primary should not be too generous compared to importance: to bring this form of training reimbursement for training expenses. on to an equal footing with other school- ing. A reasonable trade-off is discussed be- tween youngsters who are looking for There is also a vicious circle of informa- their first education and adults being of- tion: the less training you have, the fered retraining by the Ministry of Labour, scantier the information reaching you. if both come out of the public purse. In Those with little or no training are also general, the labour market authorities and least interested in training. In some sec- the school authorities cooperate quite well tors apprenticeship training is not suitable: in matters of apprenticeship training. La- small entrepreneurs hardly have time to bour people know the companies, school give training, let alone fill out the neces- The inspectors “(…) found people know what the vocational institu- sary documentation. Part-time work also bottlenecks in availability tions can offer. may pose problems. Ideally, theory classes of training places (…)” could be taken in free time, but often it may be difficult to achieve this. Inspectors’ views and Those interviewed regarded the first year other comments of schooling as very decisive for the final results. They agreed that in limited cases A group of officials in a rather central lack of in-service training can be com- position is the corps of inspectors, about pensated for by classroom teaching or by 50 in number. They take part in the work company visits, as in Denmark or Nor- of local advisory councils, ensure that the way; in other words, apprenticeship train- decisions are carried out, draw up the ing should be the flexible component. contracts, and negotiate between the trainee and the trainer. They decide on In another inquiry (Järvenpää & Nuppola the allocation of funds: compensation to 1992), the attitude of the employer was “In many schools prefer- employer, purchase of theoretical courses, found to be decisive for success or fail- ence was given to instruc- reimbursements to students for some liv- ure. Priority to production, insufficient tion at school, to the ing expenses, and costs of administration. appreciation, indifference, unclear re- detriment of young ap- sponsibilities were sieved out as major prentices.” In a recent inquiry (Lapiolahti 1992), the difficulties to be overcome. On the other inspectors were requested to assess pre- hand, employers considered it important CEDEFOP 31 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(…) the attitude of the to broaden the professional horizon of the placed on implementation and evolution. employer was found to be trainee. Reforms are not very radical, as the main decisive for success or features of organization and financing failure. Priority to pro- An inquiry among headmasters of voca- have been retained, but they go some way duction, insufficient tional institutions (1994) showed that most towards decentralization of powers and appreciation, indifference, of the headmasters saw no problems in responsibilities. In particular, gates will unclear responsibilities cooperation, while the inspectors consid- be opened for: were sieved out as major ered this an obstacle. Some threshold difficulties to be over- problems were cited: uncoordinated syl- ❏ expanding the volume of appren- come.” labus, lack of premises, available teach- ticeship training, ing resources, traditions, jealousy about ❏ putting this avenue on a par with domains, isolation from working life, others in the educational structure. compartmentalized teaching according to One step in this direction is the independ- disciplines. ence of examination of the ways skills have been acquired. Small business would like to see the for- mation of training circles encouraged, and ❏ making the schools realize and ap- “Small business would like complains about the lacking willingness preciate their new role as elements of to see the formation of of the vocational schools to coordinate an active and continuing system of training circles encour- their courses with the needs of the em- education, with functioning contacts aged, and complains ployer. They also point out that appren- with the business sector. This will ben- about the lacking willing- ticeship training can be quite incom- efit schools and educators with innova- ness of the vocational petitive vis-à-vis other labour market tive ideas and readiness to enter into co- schools to coordinate measures: an employer may get more sup- operation with institutes elsewhere in their courses with the port for the creation of a job than for Europe. needs of the employer.” making a training place available. There is now strong political pressure for ex- An urgent task is, however, to make em- empting the employers from the social ployers interested and committed. There charges, but nothing will be done before is much underutilized capacity in this sec- autumn 1995, given the parliamentary tor. This is what Mr. Vilho Hirvi, the Gen- elections in spring. eral Director of the National Board of … Education, had in mind when he recently “An urgent task is (…) to suggested that “a successful campaign for make employers inter- Legislative reforms have now been intro- increasing training places should be a ested and committed.” duced and emphasis will henceforth be matter of national effort”.

Bibliography

Juhani Lapiolahti, Apprenticeship training in Prac- Henri J. Vartiainen, Apprenticeship training in tice (in Finnish), National Board of Education, 1992. selected countries (in Finnish), National Board of Education, 1994. Järvenpää & Nuppola, Training methods in the refrigerating equipment sector (in Finnish), Univer- sity of Tampere, Institute of Education, 1992. CEDEFOP 32 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Gerhard Vocational training Riemer Head of the Education and in Austria Social Policy Department, A clear yes to Europe Austrian education system. Three of four Industrialists’ “education paths” open opportunities for Association, Vienna When in 1987 the Board of the Industri- vocational training, in itself a testimony alists’ Association (I.V.) - the largest vol- to the high status of vocational training The author broadly untary employers’ organization in Austria in Austria and which accounts to a large sketches the contours of the - took the decision that “Austria must be- extent for the economic success of the Austrian vocational training come a member of the EC”, it was uncer- past decades. system, stressing that three tain if and when this vision would be- of a total of four “education come reality but an initial course was set The following educational paths may be paths” following compul- towards Europe. The prime consideration selected following compulsory education: sory schooling provide vo- was not confined to solely economic is- cational training. He goes sues (2/3 of Austria’s trade is conducted ❏ the four-year advanced level at the on to state the most impor- with Community Member States) but also General Higher School which leads to uni- tant expectations which to the growing together of a “Europe of versity entrance (grammar schools), Austrian industry places citizens”. upon European integration, ❏ the five-year full-time vocational train- stressing that “(...) no vi- It was clear from the very outset that an ing at Higher School which opens the sion, no single event (...) in efficient economic area could not be pre- opportunity for both university entrance preceding decades caused scribed through provisions, laws and regu- and vocational training (e.g. technical and more movement towards lations and that human beings primarily commercial schools), discussion and reform in must mould and bolster it. The thoughts the Austrian education sys- of Jean Monnet were the guiding light for ❏ the three - four year full-time voca- tem than European integra- the I.V. and incentive enough to look in tional training Intermediate School (e.g. tion”. depth at the consequences of EU acces- technical and economic specialized col- sion for education, qualifications, science leges) which do not provide access to uni- and teaching. No vision, no single event versity, has in preceding decades caused more movement towards discussion and reform ❏ the three to three and a half year train- in the Austrian education system than ing in enterprises and part-time vocational European integration. schools as part of the dual vocational training system. The 12 June 1994 - an historical date - and the tremendous and surprising Yes 16% of young people (as a % of this age to Europe voiced by 66.6% of Austrians group in the population, see Table 1) was an almost untypically clear expres- complete the five-year vocational train- sion of intention to pursue the path to- ing Higher School, 13% the four-year wards an uncertain future, it was a clear General Higher School, 8% the three-four renunciation of slogans designed to instil year vocational Intermediate School, 41% fear - of foreigners, or leaving a position of young people complete dual vocational of neutrality - and an expression of trust training. in the policies of this country. It was also of significance for Europe as no country Although - and this is regarded as a had shown such unanimity in advocating strength of the Austrian system - only the EU since Maastricht. some 2% of young people do not pursue education and training after compulsory education, 21% of young people do not The vocational education acquire a certificate following three years system in Austria of further education or training, a prob- lem still searching for a solution. The multiplicity of opportunities follow- ing compulsory education (9 years) is The most important path for ensuring a doubtless an uncontested strength of the supply of skilled workers is the dual path CEDEFOP 33 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Table 1: the attained education of young people 1991 as a percentage of the comparable age group in the population*

5-year vocational training higher school 16 4-year general higher school 13 3- 4-year vocational training intermediate school1) 8 dual vocational training1) 41 general compulsory school2) 21

total 99

* average of 17- 19 year-olds (n=104 920) 1) including agriculture and forestry trainees 2) or specialized school of less than three years duration Source: BMUK; ÖSTAT; ibw estimates

“Although (...) only some of vocational training which is taken by being formulated for an “Austrian White 2% of young people do not some 46% of this age group. Paper”. pursue education and training after compulsory At the end of 1993 in Austria there were 3. In a “larger entity” like the EU the aims education, 21% of young 131 359 apprentices undergoing training of the individual partners have particular people do not acquire a (see table 2). The decrease in the number chance of success when they are identi- certificate following three of apprentices is attributable primarily to cal to the concerns of other countries. On years of further education demographic trends and is accentuated this account it is important for vocational or training (...)” by increasing competition between prac- policy in Austria to seek and implement tical training in companies and the school jointly with colleagues and friends in other following compulsory schooling and Member States the paths to pursue. through a still somewhat cautious rethink- ing in industry. The autonomy of States in education and “The most important path cultural policy is as important as the offi- for ensuring a supply of cial competence borne by the European skilled workers is the dual Expectations placed on vo- Union for educational issues as part of path of vocational train- cational training policy in the Maastricht Treaty. ing which is taken by some 46% of this age the EU In the view of the I.V. there are a number group.” of focal points in European vocational In formulating Austrian expectations of a training policy: European vocational training policy - from the perspective of the I.V. - three points 1. Multiplicity means a richness of come to the fore: experience and thus the exchange of experience and information among 1. Since 1.1.95 when Austria entered the European countries in vocational training Community the EU is no longer giving is of decisive importance. We would like priority to information and publicity work to discuss and know more about the ideas, but to involvement in organization, in measures and procedures in other coun- decision making and in bearing respon- tries in order to make a better assessment sibilities. The experience gathered in this of our own problems, to build upon our will demarcate the opportunities and limi- strengths and to eliminate weaknesses. tations of implementing political aims. We must all know more about others, and 2. The broader and stronger national con- others more about us. sensus is in political issues, the greater will be the chances of implementing these. This means: Intensifying the exchange of experience between educational prac- Austrian policy is still involved in formu- titioners, experts, trainers in companies lating joint priorities as regards to con- in order to examine the specificities of tent; industry has stated its expectations the Austrian vocational training system in and significant approaches are currently the combination which has proved its CEDEFOP 34 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

worth to us for 14 - 19 year-olds and con- 4. The “new European dimension” in “Multiplicity means a sisting of general education, vocational the education system must have a greater richness of experience training and practical training. impact on vocational training. This signi- and thus the exchange of fies improving knowledge of foreign lan- experience and informa- 2. When in the year 2000 some 80 % of guages among young people in the dual tion among European technologies are outmoded and will be system, targeted promotion of interna- countries in vocational replaced by others and at the same time tional mobility (transnational exchange training is of decisive 80 % of those in active employment to- programmes for young people in voca- importance.” day are still in employment a European tional training and not only primarily for vocational training policy must also fo- advanced school pupils and students) in cus on continuing training. 50 % of addition to extending their knowledge of learning in our society will take place sub- other European cultures. sequent to school and/or university. “(...) a European voca- 5. In Austria as in Germany and Switzer- tional training policy must This means: Focusing on continuing land there is in our view no alternative to also focus on continuing training (CVT) in European educational vocational training in a dual system. training.” policy which calls for a detailed analysis This vocational training path can only of continuing training activities in the in- maintain its significance if its attractiveness dividual countries (CVT at school, univer- and its capacity to grant access to more sities, in the enterprise ...) and in a Euro- advanced levels of education are improved. pean comparison in order to build politi- This view must be examined critically in a “ (...) there is in our view cal measures upon this; for example, in- dialogue with other Member States. no alternative to voca- creased tax incentives for companies in- tional training in a dual vesting in training. 6. Finally we expect a realistic discussion system.” of education utopias such as, for exam- 3. If cerebral skills in modern occupations ple, promoting training leave. are increasing in importance to the detri- ment of manual skills, trainers must be In view of the structural change, interna- able to adapt more quickly to new chal- tional pressure on costs and high train- “In view of (...) high lenges, and vocational training policy ing investment by the economy in Aus- training investment by the must adapt more quickly. European vo- tria (1 % of GNP) firms are not in a posi- economy in Austria (...) cational training policy is thus increasingly tion to accept greater burdens. On the firms are not in a position dependent on international training and other hand better qualified staff are one to accept greater bur- qualification research - this is the ex- of the most important prerequisites for dens.” For this reason tax perience gathered by Austria. Particular companies to remain competitive. This incentives for training importance is attached to a targeted pro- tension which can only be resolved expenditure should be motion and support of training and edu- through a step-by-step policy must take improved (for the indi- cation innovation particularly in coop- into account the varying national situa- vidual and the company). eration with companies. tions.

Table 2: Apprentices by economic sector and demographic training potential

Sector 1980 1993 total % total % Diff. %

Trade and handicrafts 102,051 53 72,449 55 + 2 Industry 28,668 15 18,076 14 - 1 Commerce 40,536 21 22,251 17 - 4 Tourism and leisure 16,232 8 11,562 9 + 1 Transport 3,001 2 2,565 2 0 Banking and insurance 524 0 728 1 + 1 Areas not covered by Chambers 3,077 2 3,728 3 + 1

Total 194,089 101 131,359 101

Source: Austrian Chamber of Commerce

CEDEFOP 35 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Responsible involvement This means: greater motivation for work- gramme will play an important role. Aus- in organizing vocational ers to undergo continuing training and use tria is well prepared, the Austrian Office training policy within the their leisure time for training purposes, has already commenced work and will European Union (...) greater investment on the part of the com- initiate, support and accompany pro- demands (...) a realistic panies in training, improving tax incen- grammes in close cooperation with indus- self-critical analysis of the tives for training investments (for the in- trial associations and companies. situation and problems, dividual and the company). an unprejudiced openness Responsible involvement in organizing in analysing alternative vocational training policy within the Eu- perhaps new solutions Conclusions ropean Union places three demands on and the courage and Austria and our experts: stamina, if necessary, to pursue new paths in a On the basis of the aims formulated con- A realistic self-critical analysis of the situ- common Europe.” cerning a Community policy of vocational ation and problems, an unprejudiced training in the Treaty on European Union openness in analysing alternative perhaps Austria expects a great deal of support new solutions and the courage and and assistance in its policies. The oppor- stamina, if necessary, to pursue new paths tunities afforded by the LEONARDO pro- in a common Europe.

Organization and structure of the Austrian education system

key: AHS-lang: general higher school, longer duration Universities, colleges AHS-kurz: general higher school, higher class Short study courses BHS: the vocational higher school*) including the ad- Vocational training academies vanced training institutes Special courses Colleges 1. kindergarten training Supplementary courses etc. BMS: the vocational training (Craft)schools intermediate school PTL: the polytechnical course SS: special school

Tertiary level

18 17 16 15 AHS Apprenticeship Secondary level II 14 kurz BHS* BMS PTL 13 12 11 AHS Secondary level I 10 lang 9

8 Compulsory education 7 6 Primary level SS 5 4 3 Nursery education

Source: ibw, Institut für Bildungsforschung der Wirtschaft, Das berufliche Bildungswesen in der Republik Österreich, Report for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, (CEDEFOP), Vienna, December 1991; Grafics: Rudolf J. Schmitt, Berlin; Technical production: Axel Hunstock, Berlin

CEDEFOP 36 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Pekka Reforms in the voca- Kämäräinen has carried out research at the tional education and University of Tampere (Work Research Centre), training systems of the Finland. In June 1994 he joined CEDEFOP as an expert on a temporary basis (on Nordic countries secondment from the Finnish Development of reform scenes government). and modifications to reform ideas

Two preliminary remarks employment policy. An infrastructure for The article examines an era public employment training provisions of reform processes in the was developed in most Nordic countries vocational education and On Nordic concepts of vocational edu- in the 1960s or 1970s. Gradually the em- training (VET) systems of cation and training ployment training schemes and the re- the Nordic countries (since spective training centres were consoli- 1970 to the present day). In most of the Nordic countries the emer- dated as public training centres for all Two main kinds of ap- gence and expansion of VET systems is kinds of CVT provision. The original con- proaches can be identified related to the late industrialization proc- cepts for these provisions emphasize in VET reforms: ess. Public provision for VET (i.e. voca- employment promotion as their main tional schools and technical colleges) was function (SWE: arbetsmarknadsutbildning, 1) attempts to bridge the established and extended to bolster the NOR: arbeidsmarkedsopplaering, DA: gap between “academic” initial development of emerging indus- arbeidsmarkedsuddannelse, FIN: työllisy- and “vocational” tracks in tries. The role of apprentice training has yskoulutus). the educational systems and remained marginal or complementary. The major exception to this rule is Denmark, On reform scenes related to initial VET 2) attempts to re-vitalize co- where traditional apprentice training and systems and to CVT provision operation between public a specific “alternance training” model have (school-based) VET provi- been the basic means of providing initial In the following sections the notion of sions and working life. VET. “reform scene” is used as a compound concept to characterize conceptual conti- The article explores the im- The prime institutions delivering initial nuity in original reform ideas or concep- pact these approaches have vocational education have been full-time tual changes and reorientations within had on the national con- schools (for basic vocational education) reform processes. The main criteria for cepts of vocational educa- or colleges (for higher level vocational distinguishing between different kinds of tion (and the extent to qualifications). These institutions form an reform scenes are the following: which they have been actu- integral part of the public education sys- ally implemented). In this tems (under the responsibility of the Min- 1) The systemic context: context the article goes on istry of Education). In national terminol- to describe national differ- ogy the general concepts for VET refer A distinction is made between ences in curriculum devel- clearly to an educational policy context a) reforms in educational systems that opment strategies. The (SE: yrkesutbildning, NO: yrkesutdanning, redefine the role of VET provision and main focus is placed on ini- DA: erhvervsuddannelse or FI: ammatil- b) detached CVT reforms which redefine tial VET systems but an ad- linen koulutus) and primarily to the the role of CVT provision within employ- ditional section explores above-mentioned institutions. ment promotion measures or as a corol- reform tendencies in con- lary to labour market policy. tinuing vocational training The provisions for continuing vocational (CVT) systems. training (CVT) have been developed ei- 2) Institutional and conceptual implica- ther on a market basis or as a part of tions: CEDEFOP 37 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The role of apprentice A distinction is made between (yrkesskola) and technical colleges training has remained a) structural unification reforms which (fackskola) into one integrated school form marginal or complemen- integrate initial VET provision into com- for the whole upper secondary level tary. The major exception prehensive institutions (or development (gymnasieskola). The reform was accom- to this rule is Denmark, frameworks) of upper secondary educa- panied by new terminology that empha- (…) ” tion and sized the integral frameworks and equal b) sub-structural convergence reforms status of the curricular options (consistent between different kinds of VET provision. use of the attribute “gymnasial” referring to all curricular options). At the same time 3) The role of curriculum development: expressions that referred to the specific “vocational” character of VET provision A distinction is made between (`yrkes-`) were avoided or minimized. a) curricular “paradigm shifts” which re- “The prime institutions quire thoroughgoing reorientation in the The core idea behind this was that the delivering initial voca- development of teaching/learning con- educational system should be developed tional education have been texts and into a unified system consisting of com- full-time schools (for b) limited curriculum revision or prag- prehensive institutions at each educational basic vocational educa- matic transitions to new curricular formats. level (comprehensive school, unified up- tion) or colleges (for per secondary, comprehensive higher higher level vocational In the dynamics of the national reform education). Thus, the reform intended to qualifications).” processes one can distinguish between 1) reduce the number of qualification levels programming or introductory phases and and to transform status distinctions into 2) revision or modification phases. Due to horizontal differences between equal op- national circumstances interim phases in tions (at the same level). the reform processes can also be identi- fied. These are characterized by contradic- The main thrust of the reform was not in tions between policy premises and be- the first phase to launch radical integra- tween the actual implementation contexts. tion of academic, vocational and techni- “The original reform cal curricula. Therefore, the curricular model (implemented in change was merely a pragmatic transition 1970) for upper second- The original reform mod- to a linear structure that converted previ- ary education in Sweden els and the development ous separate provisions into linear options was the forerunner of of the reform scenes in within a common framework. structural unification reforms in the Nordic the 1970s In the late 1970s an attempt was made to countries.” develop a thoroughgoing curriculum re- The following section describes the origi- form model that would take further steps nal reform models that were designed for towards bridging the gap between “aca- initial VET and partially implemented in demic” and “vocational” learning and to the 1970s (or at the latest in 1980). The develop a broad macro-sectoral structure order of the national cases corresponds for the foundation year of vocational op- to the chronological order of the respec- tions. However, when the committee had tive reform debates. It is worth noting that completed preparations for such a cur- “The core idea (…) was some national reforms have served as pi- riculum reform, the political and the eco- that the educational lot reforms for neighbouring countries. nomic contexts had changed. Neither the system should be devel- This has led both to “family resemblances” political willingness nor the economic oped into a unified system and to pattern variation between differ- possibility existed to implement such a consisting of comprehen- ent national reform models. reform. sive institutions at each educational level (…) ” Sweden: Unification of (upper) secon- Finland: Compromised two-track dary education as the basic model model with unified frameworks for the initial VET system The original reform model (implemented in 1970) for upper secondary education in In Finland a similar model for institutional Sweden was the forerunner of structural unification was prepared in the early sev- unification reforms in the Nordic countries. enties. The original model also included The reform integrated the previous aca- a curriculum reform concept for a broad demic school track (gymnasium) and the foundation period (based on occupational former full-time vocational schools fields) and for successive specialization. CEDEFOP 38 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Due to political and educational contro- mulated in the mid-60s. The legislation was “In Finland (…) the main versies the model was revised to a com- passed in 1974 and implemented in the thrust of the reform was promise based on a two-track system latter part of the 1970s. In principle the then to integrate the (Government decision 1974, framework reform model was similar to that of Swe- vocational and technical legislation 1978). The main thrust of the den. Thus, the previous school form for education provisions into reform was then to integrate the voca- academic track and the full-time school for a coherent sub-system tional and technical education provisions vocational education were integrated into which could compete with into a coherent sub-system which could the unified school form for upper second- the academic track and compete with the academic track and pro- ary education (videregående skole). provide alternative pro- vide alternative progression routes to gression routes to higher higher education. On account of a lengthy preparatory education.” phase accompanied by some experimen- The curriculum reform concept was based tation, integration was more in the form on three premises: of organizational rearrangement than a major political measure. This integration 1) aggregation of hitherto separate voca- was not linked to a cultural redefinition tional and technical curricula into 25 ba- of the relationship between academic sic lines; (almenn utdanning) and vocational 2) introduction of a joint foundation phase (yrkesutdanning) options. Nor was the to be followed by successive differentia- Norwegian reform linked to a parallel tion in different qualification levels trend to render post-secondary education (skilled worker/technician/ engineer) and comprehensive (as was the case in Swe- respective specializations; den) or to integrate vocational and tech- “In Norway a unification 3) reduction of the specialization options nical education (as in Finland). reform model for upper to a limited number of broad occupational secondary education was profiles. The curricular format implemented in being formulated in the Norway differed clearly from the neigh- mid-60s.” The reform concept was implemented bouring countries. Whereas the Swedish towards the end of the 1970s and in the and Finnish reforms were implemented early 1980s but with several gradual modi- with “whole curriculum” approaches, the fications. The joint foundation year was Norwegian unification reform was accom- not implemented in the areas in which panied by a cyclic structure based on three vocational schools and technical colleges cycles: the foundation cycle (grunnkurs) existed as separate institutions. Moreover, and two successive continuation cycles the idea of postponed differentiation or (videregående kurs I, II). Thus, individual specialization only after the foundation schools could limit their provisions to the year was soon abandoned (after a short first cycle (or to the first two cycles). experimental period). Moreover, the students or trainees were able to reconsider their choice of study Yet, the curriculum reform concept had options after each cycle. three essential consequences. The aggre- gation of VET provision into a limited During preparation of the Norwegian re- number of basic lines made opting for vo- form model it was assumed that appren- cational and technical education more trans- tice training would gradually be replaced parent. A larger number of general subjects by school-based vocational education. was introduced into the foundation phase Yet, in rural areas and in certain sectors in order to boost vocational progression apprentice training had a necessary com- routes towards higher qualifications (or to plementary function. An additional argu- higher education). The major consequence ment for preservation and for re-vitaliza- was that the occupational profiles after the tion of apprentice training was the tradi- foundation phase were converted into tion of a separate final examination broad aggregate specializations. (svennepröv, fagpröv), recognized by the labour market. Apprentice training proved Norway: Unification of upper second- to be the most effective way to guarantee ary education and a complementary the required post-school work experience. reform in apprentice training The new law on apprentice training of In Norway a unification reform model for 1980 (lov om fagopplaering) provided upper secondary education was being for- curricular harmonization between school- CEDEFOP 39 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(…) the harmonization based vocational education and appren- This decision led to several years’ stag- of school-based vocational tice training. In addition it facilitated flex- nation in reform that would cover the education and apprentice ible transition from school-based voca- whole range of initial VET. training became a sys- tional education to apprentice training. temic feature in the Thus, the harmonization of school-based Parallel to the introduction of the EFG- Norwegian reform scene.” vocational education and apprentice train- model there was a long-term policy de- ing became a systemic feature in the Nor- bate as to whether Denmark should fol- wegian reform scene. low a course similar to the other Nordic countries towards unification of upper Denmark: The search for a policy secondary education. The most important choice between apprentice training document in this debate was prepared by reform and a unification perspective a government commission (U90) which was asked to prepare guidelines for na- In Denmark a tradition of apprentice train- tional educational policy with a 15-year ing (mesterlaere) had prevailed as the domi- perspective. nant means of providing initial VET. The two central principles have been that of The U90 (1978) report policy perspective “In Denmark a tradition trade’s self-management (faglige selvstyre - for youth education that should be im- of apprentice training the co-management role of social partners), plemented by several institutions through (mesterlaere) had pre- and that of alternance training (veksel- cooperation between complementary pro- vailed as the dominant suddannelse - a rotation between school- visions and curricula. In this respect the means of providing initial based and workplace-based sequences). commission presented further develop- VET.” However, the supply of apprentice training ment of the EFG-model as a possibility to opportunities was far more limited than that bridge the gap between hitherto separate of school-based provisions in the neigh- teaching/learning cultures. bouring countries. Moreover, the curricula were based on highly traditional and rather Due to the rejection of the EFG-based re- narrow occupational profiles. After the com- form proposal in the parliament the prehensive school reform there was a clear broader reform scene was affected even risk of marginalization. more severely than the particular VET-re- lated scene. Whereas the EFG-based Against such a background an experimen- schemes continued to be developed, long- tal curriculum for a vocational foundation term policy planning lost one of its es- phase (erhvervsfaglige grunduddannelse sential cornerstones and entered a period - EFG) was designed. The EFG-model was of stagnation. launched as a pilot scheme and formal- ized by an experimental law in 1972. In Iceland: In search of a national reform contrast to the traditional apprentice train- model through small-scale experi- ing it introduced broader occupational ments clusters and within the school-based parts encouraged experimentation in integrated In the 1970s in Iceland there was little teaching/learning provision. The EFG- movement towards national reform in ini- model was used both as an entrance tial VET. Due to the scarcity of national “ (…) the Danish govern- phase within the apprentice training and resources interest focused on observing ment proposed in 1978 a as an access programme to full-time tech- certain pilot models in other Nordic coun- reform of initial VET that nical (or semi-professional) education tries and on adapting these to the national was primarily based on provision (HTX, HHX). context. The modest dimensions of na- the EFG-model (…) the tional VET provision and the national la- proposal was rejected by On account of the widespread nature and bour markets meant that the need for sys- the Danish parliament polyvalent character of the EFG-model the temic framework solutions or national whereas the EFG-model Danish government proposed in 1978 a policy choices was not as evident as in was maintained as an reform of initial VET that was primarily other Nordic countries. experiment to be contin- based on the EFG-model. It was supported ued.” by the social partners (which were also Due to direct contacts the vocational represented in the commissions supervis- schools made some attempts to implement ing the EFG-experiments). Yet, the pro- the Danish EFG-model through school- posal was rejected by the Danish parlia- specific curriculum development. In the ment whereas the EFG-model was main- Reykjavik area the local education policy tained as an experiment to be continued. brought about organizational restructur- CEDEFOP 40 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ing directed towards unified upper sec- national experimental programme on 3- In Iceland “(…) Due to ondary education. year VET with a workplace-based com- direct contacts the voca- pletion year was implemented (1988- tional schools made some 1992). Parallel to this experiment a reform attempts to implement the Changes to the original of framework legislation and a new cur- Danish EFG-model national reform scene ricular structure was prepared. through school-specific curriculum development.” The following section deals with the re- The new legislation was passed in 1991 vision and modification of original reform and it ushered in a new phase in curricu- models and with attempts to introduce lum revision. The core philosophy of cur- new reform models after a period of stag- riculum revision is the implementation of nation in reform debates. national model programmes (based on the sectoral approach of the ÖGY report) and “The Swedish unification Sweden: New emphasis on workplace- increased autonomy for regional, local or reform model was essen- based learning within initial VET individual modifications. Moreover, the tially a reform of school new framework introduces a core of gen- structures and the role of The Swedish unification reform model eral subjects (the main precondition for working life remained was essentially a reform of school struc- progression to higher education). The marginal.” tures and the role of working life re- workplace-based completion phase is mained marginal. This was partially justi- defined as an integral part of the voca- fied by the argument that school-based tional curricula. School-based completion vocational education should be followed schemes are also introduced (to prepare by a completion phase (färdigutbildning) trainees in vocational education for higher after the transition to working life. The education). educational policy-makers expected that “In the mid-80s a govern- the social partners would provide the Finland: Dissolution of the basic re- ment commission reviewed frameworks for the completion phase form model and emergence of new the vocational options training through general agreements. fields of experimentation within the unified upper secondary level (…) The On account of these underlying premises In Finland the partial unification of voca- report concluded by and cost factors, the vocational curricular tional and technical education did not making two major propos- options were limited to 2 years’ duration produce a balance between the academic als: whereas the academic options were of 3 and vocational tracks. The academic track a) an aggregation of the years duration (and the technical option continued to expand and the demand for vocational curricula 4 years). However, the social partners did higher education increased constantly. based on labour market not reach such general agreements, but Due to the “overproduction” of graduates sectors and instead the upper secondary schools from the academic track (with an entrance b) a reshaping of voca- started to develop particular schemes for qualification to higher education), parts tional curricula into 3- the completion phase (påbyggnads- of vocational and technical education year programmes includ- kurser). These schemes were developed started to provide curricular options for ing an integral workplace- primarily for local or regional purposes this clientele (with the baccalaureate as based completion phase.” but gradually they provided most sectors the entrance requirement). Thus, parts of with a non-transparent supply structure. vocational and technical education were converted into post-secondary provisions In the mid-80s a government commission while other parts were used as an addi- reviewed the vocational options within tional prelude to higher education. the unified upper secondary level (Översyn över gymnasial yrkesutbildning In 1990 the Finnish Ministry of Education “In Finland the partial - ÖGY). The report concluded by making launched a public debate on the outcome unification of vocational two major proposals: of prior reforms and on the need to re- and technical education vise the structural and curricular frame- did not produce a balance a) an aggregation of the vocational cur- works in post-compulsory education. The between the academic and ricula based on labour market sectors and debate focused on a draft version of a vocational tracks. The b) a reshaping of vocational curricula into new reform concept (the “vision” docu- academic track continued 3-year programmes including an integral ment). to expand and the demand workplace-based completion phase. for higher education The structural and curricular implication increased constantly.” The proposals of the ÖGY were further of this proposal was a dissolution of the developed in two parallel processes. A “basic line” framework of the previous CEDEFOP 41 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“The reform of upper reform model. Proposals were made to The commission discussed the possibility secondary provisions has upgrade the “technical education” level of introducing new legislation covering turned into cooperation colleges or curricula to the non-univer- all VET provisions. Instead of proposing (and mutual exchange) sity sector of higher education. The aca- major revision of the legal frameworks the between academic and demic and vocational provisions of the commission favoured policy measures that vocational curricula. upper secondary level were to be inte- would guarantee initial full-length voca- Students and trainees at grated into unified institutional or curricu- tional training. Thus, the commission pro- the respective school lar frameworks (similar to the Swedish posed that regional authorities should be forms are provided with a “Gymnasieskola” or to the Norwegian given the responsibility of guaranteeing coordinated set of locally “Videregående skole”). at least 3-year initial training. This should matching modules that take the form either of full-length school- cover the curricula of the After a short period of debate and further based provisions or of a combination of respective options. The preparation a new reform cycle was school-based provisions and apprentice- aim is to facilitate com- launched on the basis of an experimental ship. The most favoured model in policy bined study profiles that law - the upgrading of “technical educa- debates has been a combination of two integrate an entrance tion” colleges proceeding with 22 local years’ school-based vocational education qualification to higher experiments leading to multi-sectoral and two years’ apprenticeship (the Nor- education (or to “poly- `polytechnics`. Some of the experimental wegian version of dualization). technics”) with initial “polytechnics” expect to be granted regu- vocational education. This lar status in 1995. In their formulation the implementation experiment continues in of these proposals has been combined the form of local coopera- The reform of upper secondary provisions with a curriculum reform in the unified tion till the end of 1996.” has turned into cooperation (and mutual upper secondary school. The reform pro- exchange) between academic and voca- cess (Reform 94) is scheduled for the pe- tional curricula. Students and trainees at riod 1994-96. During this time the new the respective school forms are provided curricular frameworks (which consist of with a coordinated set of locally match- programme structures similar to those in ing modules that cover the curricula of Sweden) will be implemented. Parallel to the respective options. The aim is to fa- the school-internal curriculum revision In Norway “(…) in the cilitate combined study profiles that inte- there is a mobilization of training poten- 1980s it was apparent grate an entrance qualification to higher tial to guarantee full-length initial VET that there was a perma- education (or to “polytechnics”) with ini- provision. nent lack of apprentice tial vocational education. This experiment training opportunities not continues in the form of local coopera- In the implementation process the social compensated for by tion till the end of 1996. partners are becoming active cooperation school-based provisions.” partners for the public education system. Norway: The emergence of the Norwe- In addition to this the social partners have gian version of “dualization” as a ma- also emphasized that the present VET jor reform scene provisions should be accompanied by measures to open a work-related progres- In Norway the unification reform model was sion route for vocational learning concluded with apprentice training reform. “The gap between the two Due to a flexible transition regulation these Denmark: Emergence of a new reform VET sub-systems was two forms of initial VET were expected to scene for initial VET discussed by a govern- provide sufficient training opportunities and ment commission (…) in continuity of vocational learning processes. In Denmark the reform debates recom- 1989-91. Yet, in the 1980s it was apparent that there menced in the latter part of the 1980s af- (…) the commission was a permanent lack of apprentice train- ter a period of stagnation. A government favoured policy measures ing opportunities not compensated for by commission (Nielsen-Nordskov udvalg) that would guarantee school-based provisions. prepared a new model to integrate the initial full-length voca- parallel provisions in initial VET (mester- tional training.(…) The gap between the two VET sub-sys- laere; EFG). The proposals of the com- This should take the form tems was discussed by a government com- mission provided the basis for the new either of full-length mission (Blegen-utvalg) in 1989-91. The legislation passed in 1989 and which came school-based provisions work of the commission was accompa- into force in 1991. or of a combination of nied by several empirical studies on the school-based provisions transition of youth from initial VET (and The new reform model (Erhvervsuddan- and apprenticeship.” on the utilization of optional choices nelsereform - EUR) combined the two within the unified upper secondary level). existing models into two entries to an in- CEDEFOP 42 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tegrated curricular structure. The founda- timal use of scarce teacher resources in In Denmark “the new tion year curriculum of the EFG model rural areas (concentration on foundation reform model was divided into two school periods (of modules in vocational options and coop- (Erhvervsuddannelse- which the first one was not obligatory to eration between academic and vocational reform - EUR) combined those who have an apprentice contract). provisions). the two existing models Following the first school period the stu- into two entries to an dents or trainees have similar curricula Parallel to the curricular unification the integrated curricular (irrespective of whether they have entered guidelines for final examinations for vo- structure.” as vocational school students or as ap- cational qualifications (similar to the Nor- prentice trainees). During the workplace- wegian ‘svennepröv‘) were standardized. based training periods the apprentices returned to the enterprises with which However, the most recent tendencies in- they had a contract, whereas the voca- dicate a willingness to find new sector- tional schools were responsible for arrang- specific training models (formally within “Major changes were ing a training opportunity for those with- the integrated frameworks but practically made to the management out a contract. as spin-offs from the general patterns). of education. The regula- The two most essential initiatives are the tions concerning recruit- Major changes were made to the manage- attempts to introduce a dual model of ment areas were abol- ment of education. The regulations con- apprentice training as the main model for ished and the vocational cerning recruitment areas were abolished the graphics industry and the initiative to schools became competi- and the vocational schools became com- set up a separate training centre for the tors on the national petitors on the national training market. transport sector. training market.” The financing of the vocational schools was also made dependent upon their ac- counted success in attracting trainees (the On reform in the continu- transition to the so-called taximeter-prin- ciple). ing vocational training systems During the implementation phase it be- In Iceland “in 1988 a new came evident that the proportion of ap- The reform processes that have been dis- law on the unification of prentice contracts was not growing and cussed above have contributed to new upper secondary educa- that the vocational schools had difficul- conceptual definitions of the role of ini- tion (framhaldsskola) ties in providing the necessary opportu- tial VET in the educational systems. The was passed. The curricu- nities for workplace-based practical peri- reforms to the employment training lar format of the Icelandic ods. This led to the emergence of com- schemes have been initiated as specific reform model was one of pensatory simulation-based practical train- measures within employment promotion complete modularisation ing arrangements. These have been gradu- policies. Gradually the schemes have of the curricula.“ ally accepted as alternative means of or- gained greater relevance as continuing ganizing the practical training periods. vocational training provisions. Conse- quently, reform models for these provi- Another problem has been vocational pro- sions are being transformed into general gression. Whereas the EFG-model pro- frameworks for curriculum development vided also access to “technical education” or for certification of CVT provisions. curricula, the foundation phases of the new model were not designed to have a Moreover, in some countries the employ- similar “polyvalent” function. ment training schemes have served as In the Nordic Countries pilot schemes for curriculum innovation “(…) reform models Iceland: Transition to a unified frame- or for bridging experiments. In different for (…)” continuing work with modular curricula countries the pilot experiments have been vocational training provi- related to bridging public training provi- sions “(…) are being In Iceland new structures for upper sec- sions and company-specific training and transformed into general ondary education were gradually devel- development measures or school curricula frameworks for curricu- oped on the basis of local decisions in and respective provisions for adult learn- lum development or for the Reykjavik area. In 1988 a new law on ers or for bridging training schemes and certification of CVT the unification of upper secondary edu- competence-based assessment. provisions.” cation (framhaldsskola) was passed. The curricular format of the Icelandic reform In Denmark the employment training model was one of complete modulari- (AMU) provisions have special status as zation of the curricula. This enabled op- the training provision for a traditional CEDEFOP 43 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“All Nordic countries category of the semi-skilled workforce An additional dimension of change is continue to develop their (Specialarbeider). The employment train- greater involvement of the Nordic coun- national VET systems as ing provisions have also had essentially tries in European cooperation. Already integral parts of the an ice-breaking function in the develop- this aspect is manifested by national in- educational system.” ment of pedagogic cooperation arrange- terest in the comparability of the national ments that combine public training pro- VET provisions and in quality control (or visions (with a more general perspective) quality management) of VET systems. and company-specific needs for ad- equately specialized training. Moreover, From the perspective of such changes the the employment training measures have following conclusions (which refer to an also served as pilot schemes for develop- era of national reforms) must be viewed ing appropriate training strategies for as interim conclusions. Nevertheless, these adult learners who are not used to aca- can at least feature in the broader Euro- The unification reform demic forms of teaching and learning (the pean discussion as lessons from the Nor- models “(…) have not led reverse EFG approach). dic reforms: to a conceptual integra- tion or to a cultural In Sweden the bridging functions of the 1. All Nordic countries continue to de- convergence between AMU provisions have applied more to an velop their national VET systems as inte- “academic” and “voca- integrative approach to develop modular gral parts of the educational system. How- tional” options.” forms of general and vocational learning ever, the role of systemic planning at na- provisions for adult learners. In the re- tional level is changing due to decentrali- cent curriculum reform of unified upper zation of educational management. Thus, secondary education particular emphasis local institutions have an essential role to was placed on the need to develop opti- play in decisions concerning the adapta- mal harmonization between the initial VET tion of model curricula (and with regard provisions and the respective provisions to cooperation with other educational in- in adult education (KomVux and AMU). stitutions or with working life).

“Partial VET reform In Norway legislation on apprentice train- 2. The unification reform models have models (which have been ing provided also the essential frame- encountered resistance or they have been based on a combination of works for retraining adults changing from reduced to organizational reforms. As school-based and work- one occupational field to another. How- such they have not led to a conceptual related learning) (…) ever, in recent years the Norwegian AMO integration or to a cultural convergence have encountered prob- has played more than an auxiliary role as between “academic” and “vocational” lems in guaranteeing a an alternative provider of initial VET. options. Moreover, it has become neces- sufficient amount of sary to supplement (or to modify) such workplace-based training In Finland the employment training reform models with curricular sub-struc- opportunities or flexible schemes have been redefined as CVT pro- tures that are based on cooperation with continuity of learning visions that are available also for self-or- working life. processes (…)” ganized learning and for contracted learn- ing. Moreover, these training provisions 3. Partial VET reform models (which have have served as a pilot field for the intro- been based on a combination of school- duction of the Finnish version of compe- based and work-related learning) have led tence-based assessment. to other kinds of implementation prob- lems. These models have encountered problems in guaranteeing a sufficient Concluding remarks amount of workplace-based training op- portunities or flexible continuity of learn- “In the most recent phases ing processes (also in practice). Moreover, curricula have been The reform scenes cited above in the these models have been accompanied by transformed into pro- Nordic VET systems have been recon- a further need to open attractive progres- gramme frameworks structed with emphasis on national reform sion routes for vocational learning to which enable flexible models and on national reform manage- higher education (or to an equivalent adaptations or curricular ment. However, recent developments in- level). cooperation between dicate that the Nordic countries are in a different educational transition process towards a new kind of 4. The role of curriculum development institutions.” constellation between policy-making, within different reform phases has educational management and curriculum changed. In the original reform models development. the curricular structures provided a stand- CEDEFOP 44 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ard format (either linear or cyclic or semi- tem has also served as the pilot field for “The public CVT provi- modular). In the most recent phases cur- cooperation between public training pro- sions (based on employ- ricula have been transformed into pro- visions and company-specific develop- ment training schemes) gramme frameworks which enable flex- ment projects. Moreover, this sub-system have developed from ible adaptations or curricular cooperation has also been the main experimental field sporadic measures to an between different educational institutions. for modularization and for the Nordic essential sub-system of versions of competence-based assess- VET.” 5. The public CVT provisions (based on ment. However, in most cases there is a employment training schemes) have de- need to improve curricular correspond- veloped from sporadic measures to an ence between initial VET programmes and essential sub-system of VET. This sub-sys- CVT schemes.

Bibliography

(The following bibliography consists of country- Ministry of education 1990: Developments in “National responses to changing needs for voca- specific sections and of some references to Nordic Education 1988-90. Finland. Reference Publications tional skills”). Dansk Teknologisk Institut. Höje comparisons.) 15. Helsinki. Taastrup.

Sweden Statsrådets utbildningspolitiska redogörelse till Sörensen, John Houman & Jensen, Grete 1988: riksdagen 22.5.1990. Utbildningssystemet i Finland, The role of the social partners in youth and adult Helgeson, Bo & Johansson, Jan 1992: Arbete och Utbildningens nivå och utveckling. Helsinki/ vocational training in Denmark. CEDEFOP Docu- yrkesutbildning. En studie över verkstadsindustrins Helsingfors (The Swedish version). ment. Berlin. behov av kvalificerd arbetskraft. In Halvorsen, Tor & Olsen, Ole Johnny 1992 (red.): Det kvalifiserte Norway Sörensen, John Houman & Clematide, Bruno samfunn? Oslo. 1992: Offentlig og virksomhedsintern efteruddan- Halvorsen, Helge 1993: The changing role of vo- nelse i lyset af de nye produktionskoncepter. in Ministry of education and science 1993: The cational and technical education and training in Halvorsen, Tor & Olsen, Ole Johnny 1992 (red.): Swedish way towards a learning society. A review. Norway. A report to OECD. (Unpublished) Oslo. Det kvalifiserte samfunn? Oslo. Stockholm. Kirke-, utdannings- og forskningsdeparte- U 90. Bind 1-2. 1978: Samlet uddannelsesplan- Myrberg, Mats 1987: The organization and con- mentet 1992: Stortingsmelding nr. 33 (1991-92). lägning frem til 90’erne. Undervisningsministeriet. tent of studies at the post-compulsory level. Coun- Kunskap og kyndighet. Om visse sider ved Copenhagen. try study: Sweden. OECD. Paris. videregående oppläring. Oslo.

Öhmann-Nilsson, Birgitta 1992: Industriförlagd NOU 1991:4 (Norges offentlige utredninger): Veien Comparative studies utbildning i den svenska gymnasieskolan. In videre til studie- og yrkeskompetanse for alle. Halvorsen, Tor & Olsen, Ole Johnny 1992 (red.): Oslo.Olsen, Ole Johnny 1989: Utvikklingstrekk ved Koefoed, Else & Linde, Göran 1989: Erhvervs- Det kvalifiserte samfunn? Oslo. yrkesutdanning og fagoppläring i Norge. AHS Serie laereruddannelse i Norden. NORD 1989: 62. Copen- B 1989-3. Universitetet i Bergen. hagen. Opper, Susan 1989: Sweden: the “integrated” up- per secondary school as main provider of vocational Olsen, Ole Johnny 1990: Neue Produktions- Kämäräinen, Pekka 1991: Ammatillisen koulutuk- education. European Journal of Education, Vol. 24, konzepte auf norwegisch? AHS Series B 1990-2. sen näköaloista eurooppalaisessa koulutuspolitii- No 2, 1989. Universitetet i Bergen. kassa - kaksi tarkastelua. In Ekola, Jorma et. al. 1991: Ammatillisen koulutuksen uudistaminen 1980- Regeringens proposition 1990/91:85. Växa med Iceland luvulla. Selvitys uudistuksen toteutumisesta ja kunskaper - om gymnasieskolan och vuxenut- toteutusympäristöstä. Helsinki. bildningen. Stockholm. Gudmundsson, Gestur 1993: The changing role of vocational and technical education and training Lindbekk, Tore 1992: Systemforskjeller i yrkes- SOU 1989:90 (Statens offentliga utredningar): in Iceland. A report to OECD. (Unpublished) Rey- utdanning og utdanningspolitikk. Vesteuropeiske Utvärdering av försöksverksamhet med treårig kjavik. kontraster. In Halvorsen, Tor & Olsen, Ole Johnny yrkesinriktad utbildning i gymnasieskolan. Första 1992 (red.): Det kvalifiserte samfunn? (“The quali- året. UGY Rapport 1. Stockholm. OECD 1987: Reviews of National Policies for Edu- fied society?”) Oslo. cation. Iceland. OECD. Paris. Finland Kämäräinen, Pekka 1994: Identification of coop- Denmark eration potentials in vocational education and train- Ekola, Jorma 1991: Miten onnistui ammatillisen ing research in the Nordic countries. A report to keskiasteen koulunuudistuksen toimeenpano. In Nielsen, Sören P. & Lausch, Bente 1993: A report CEDEFOP (Unpublished). Berlin. Ekola, Jorma et. al. 1991: Ammatillisen koulutuksen on continuing vocational training in Denmark. Part uudistaminen 1980-luvulla. Selvitys uudistuksen I (in English); Part II (in Danish). FORCE Article Myrberg, Mats 1986: Gymnasial yrkesutbildning i toteutumisesta ja toteutusympäristöstä. Helsinki. 11.2. SEL, Copenhagen. Norden - Utvecklingslinjer och problembilder. Rap- port; Nordisk konferens om yrkesutbildning för Kyrö, Matti 1993: The changing role of vocational Statens Erhvervspaedagogiske Laereruddan- ungdomar (ÖGY-eksamination). Lidingö 20.- and technical education and training in Finland. A nelse (SEL) 1993:Erhvervsuddannelsesreformens 21.5.1986 report to OECD. (Unpublished) Helsinki. dokumentationsprojekt. Copenhagen.

Ministry of education 1992: Developments in Sörensen, John Houman 1990: Fornyelsen af Education 1990-92. Finland. Reference Publications erhvervsuddannelserne i Danmark. (The Danish 16. Helsinki. contribution to PETRA research strand, theme 1: CEDEFOP 45 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Per Lundborg Research Fellow at Experiences from IUI (the Industrial Institute for Econom- ic and Social the integrated Nordic Research); Associate Professor in Economics. labour market Theoretical and empirical research on issues related to international migration, particularly in the Nordic Introduction dic countries it was no surprise that Swe- labour market. den became the main country of immi- gration. Given that Sweden has been a Labour mobility in the European Union net receiver of immigrants from all the The experiences gained is receiving increasing interest, one rea- other Nordic countries for almost every from the Nordic labour son being the proposed monetary union. year since 1954, it is natural to focus par- market are presented in the For the monetary union to constitute an ticularly on immigration into Sweden. light of European labour efficient exchange rate regime it is cru- market integration. Major cial that labour mobility is high and wages When the agreement came into operation flows of migrants across and prices are flexible. Today, however, it did not trigger a major influx of labour country borders are only labour mobility is very limited across most into Sweden.The reason is that Sweden obtained when real income member countries, and from this perspec- already by 1954 pursued a liberal immi- differences are large and tive, the experiences gained from the gration policy which partly was a con- job vacancies available in Nordic labour market may very well be tinuation of the Swedish commitments to the high-income country. of interest. The purpose of this article is receive war refugees from the other Nor- Nordic real income equali- to summarize the major experiences and dic countries. The major migrations into zation, and, more recently, to present some basic facts about the Sweden instead took place in the 1960s. lack of job openings in the Nordic labour market. Gradually, a community of Finnish immi- Swedish labour market, grants was established in Sweden and with have caused mobility be- The Nordic countries have a long-stand- a substantial real wage difference between tween the Nordic countries ing experience of labour market integra- Sweden and Finland and job growth in to fall quite drastically. To tion. The Nordic labour market was for- Sweden it became increasingly common the extent that income dif- mally established in 1954 when Sweden, for Finnish citizens to work in Sweden. ferentials between South- Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland During the years of the business peak in ern European countries and signed an agreement that removed all for- 1969 and 1970, Finnish gross immigration other EU Member States fall, mal barriers for workers to migrate across into Sweden reached record levels of one should also expect Eu- the Nordic countries. No permit was then around 40 000 people per year. Since then, ropean migration rates to needed for a Nordic citizen to work and immigration tapered off and the 1980s fall. reside in any other Nordic country. More- gross immigration figures were consider- over, the local authorities in all countries ably lower. Sweden is the dominating were committed to actively inform em- country of destination for the Finnish citi- ployment agencies in the other Nordic zens and very small numbers of Finns countries about local job openings and have chosen to work and reside in Den- working conditions. Far reaching commit- mark or Norway. ments to equal treatment of native and immigrant workers were also made. It is difficult to single out labour migra- tion from migration for other reasons like “The Nordic labour mar- studying, family reunion, etc. Figure 1 ket was formally estab- Migration in the Nordic shows immigration flows to Sweden from lished in 1954 when Finland, Norway and Denmark, exclud- Sweden, Denmark, Nor- countries. ing children below 16 and elderly above way, Finland and Iceland 65 and of citizens from these three coun- signed an agreement that By the time the Nordic labour market was tries respectively. This underestimates the removed all formal barri- established Sweden was the Nordic coun- gross migration figures but compared to ers for workers to migrate try with the highest per capita income. overall gross migration a more correct across the Nordic coun- Moreover, the Swedish labour market situ- picture of labour migration among the tries.” ation was very favourable and being geo- citizens of these three countries is pro- graphically surrounded by the other Nor- vided. CEDEFOP ------Figure 1------46 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Figure 1: Immigration to Sweden from Norway, Denmark and Finland Includes only citizens of the home countries 35000 Age groups 16-65, 1968-1993

30000

25000 Finland

20000

15000 Number of Immigrants

10000 Norway

Denmark 5000

0 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 Year

Immigration to Sweden from the other rate reached 17.7%. Still, no increase in “Given that Sweden has Nordic countries has generally been at emigration to Sweden occurred, which been a net receiver of much lower levels than immigration from primarily reflects the lack of job open- immigrants from all the Finland.With the exception of 1974 and ings in the Swedish market. Indeed, the other Nordic countries for 1975 when unemployment rose drastically rates of migration to Sweden are low and almost every year since in Denmark, and in the late 1980s, Dan- immigration from Finland is at similar lev- 1954, it is natural to focus ish migration to Sweden has been at a els as those from Denmark and Norway. particularly on immigra- low level, approximately 1 000 persons tion into Sweden.” per year. Determinants of Nordic Norwegian migration to Sweden also has been remarkably stable and at about the migration “in the 1960s (…) it became same level as Danish migration. However, increasingly common for with the rise in unemployment in Nor- Clearly, many factors contribute to the Finnish citizens to work in way in 1989 and 1990 there also followed migration flows. In explaining Finnish- Sweden.” a rather drastic increase in immigration Swedish migration one cannot overlook to Sweden, where labour demand by this the fact that real per capita income dif- time was at a high level. Thus, to both ferentials between Finland and Sweden the Danish workers in the mid-1970s and have been high (Lundborg (1991)). An “ (…) to both the Danish Norwegian workers in the late 1980s ac- employed potential migrant then com- workers in the mid-1970s cess to the Swedish labour market reduced pares his present wage to the expected and Norwegian workers in the unemployment problem. wage at the destination. But income dif- the late 1980s access to ferentials are not only important when it the Swedish labour mar- The Finnish economy entered a period comes to wages but also to unemploy- ket reduced the unemploy- of mass unemployment in the early 1990s. ment benefits. As the unemployed have ment problem.” In 1993, for instance, the unemployment incentives to move to other jobs, it is evi- CEDEFOP 47 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Today as a consequence of dent that the potential unemployed mi- cal conditions to the other Nordic coun- the lack of job openings in grant compares the expected wage at tries. the Swedish market, “ (…) destination to the benefit level at the ori- the rates of migration to gin. The inhibiting effects of distance on mi- Sweden are low and gration is often counteracted by the ex- immigration from Finland Another set of explanatory variables can istence of previous immigrants from the is at similar levels as be derived from the labour market. It is country of origin. It is a well known fact those from Denmark and quite natural that countries of full employ- that immigrants tend to concentrate in a Norway.” ment are more attractive to migrants than certain country or certain places in a cer- countries of high unemployment. But this tain country. There are several explana- is largely a consequence of the fact that tions for this behaviour. The most obvi- low unemployment countries in general ous may be that concentration lowers have more vacancies than high unemploy- certain migration costs. In particular, con- ment countries. Empirical research has centration lowers the psychological costs shown that vacancies or labour market of living away from home. Moreover, pre- turnover (hiring and firing) has a higher vious immigrants may facilitate assimila- explanatory value than the unemployment tion and help the recent immigrant in the rate. The Nordic countries which have had contacts with the authorities. The stocks “ (…) income differentials a rise in the number of vacancies have of previous immigrants does play a very are not only important thereby been able to attract workers from important role in the Nordic labour mar- when it comes to wages the other countries. For many years, va- ket. Lundborg (1991) showed that previ- but also to unemployment cancies in the Swedish labour market at- ous immigration to Sweden from Den- benefits.” tracted Finnish workers. But during the mark, Norway and Finland is an impor- 1980s many Finns returned to Finland tant determinant of the labour flows from despite a higher unemployment rate there. all three countries. The reason was then that the number of vacancies grew at high rates in Finland. Other factors that may affect migration are countries’ cultural and language similar- Still, emigration more often takes place ities. From this point of view one should from areas of high unemployment than expect more immigration to Sweden from from low unemployment areas. But this Norway and Denmark than from Finland. does not mean that only the unemployed Person-specific factors like age, gender and “Empirical research has move. Employees also have a higher pro- education also play a role. Like most mi- shown that vacancies or pensity to move in a situation of rising or gration, Nordic labour migration rates are labour market turnover high unemployment since the unemploy- higher among the young than among the (hiring and firing) has a ment risk is high. But irrespective of em- old. Generally, men have a higher migra- higher explanatory value ployment status, emigration lowers the tion propensity than women due to a than the unemployment unemployment problem at the place of higher labour market participation rate. rate.” origin. The extent to which the Nordic Finally, better educated people tend to labour market has decreased the unem- migrate more than the poorly educated. ployment problem, has, however, not An explanation often put forward is that been given much attention in research. the better educated are more homog- eneous across nationalities and therefore Another set of explanatory variables has find it more easy to adjust to new envi- to do with distance and represents differ- ronments. ent costs of moving. It is quite natural that the Danish immigrants to Sweden are The question of migration of the well concentrated in Southern Sweden. Geo- educated has other welfare implications “Other factors that may graphical distance not only represents than that of the low educated. In particu- affect migration are transportation costs but also the psycho- lar, often the government finances a large countries’ cultural and logical costs of living far away from share of higher education and with mi- language similarities. (…) friends and relatives.The further away a gration another country reaps the benefits Person-specific factors person moves, the higher are the costs of of the investment in education (so called like age, gender and return migration to the place of origin. «brain drain»). Migration in the Nordic la- education also play a role. Of importance is also that uncertainty bour market among the higher educated (…) better educated about the conditions at the place of des- is analyzed in Pedersen (1994). The mi- people tend to migrate tination rises in proportion to the distance. gration propensity in the Nordic market more than the poorly As noted, the Nordic authorities are most is, though, higher for the low educated educated.” active at spreading information about lo- than for the well educated. Instead, peo- CEDEFOP 48 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ple with a high level of education have a Clearly, the free Nordic labour market pro- “The migration propensity higher propensity to migrate to non-Nor- vided Sweden with a larger workforce than in the Nordic market is, dic countries than do those with a lower it otherwise would have had. As the bulk (…) higher for the low level. This is in line with several other of Nordic immigrants were blue collar educated than for the well studies that show that distance has less workers a possible effect of this increase educated.” of a deterring effect for the well educated. in the supply of unskilled workers is that their wages are somewhat lower than oth- erwise had been the case. With the same The welfare consequences reasoning, the emigration of workers from Finland should be expected to raise the of the Nordic labour mar- wage level there and hence the integrated ket labour market should contribute to equal- izing wages across the participating coun- “As the bulk of Nordic A standard textbook argument is that a tries. However, these issues have not been immigrants were blue free labour market raises total production examined empirically. But it is well known collar workers a possible in the integrated area which is a major that during the period when the free Nor- effect of this increase in argument in favour of liberalization. dic labour market has been in existence, the supply of unskilled Though no study has analyzed this issue we have experienced a major equalization workers is that their in detail, there are no good arguments to of real wages in the Nordic countries, and wages are somewhat question this theoretical prediction. This in particular between Sweden and Finland. lower than otherwise had does not, however, imply that both the The wage changes are therefore much in been the case.” emigration and immigration country ben- line with what we should expect from a efit and even less that all types of work- theoretical model of the consequences of ers benefit. migration.

Figure 2: Finnish Immigration and Job Vacancies in Sweden. 1965 to 1990. Index 1965 = 100

200

Finnish Immigration 180

160

140

120

Job Vacancies 100

80

60

40

20

0 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 Year

CEDEFOP 49 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

“(…) during the period Vacancies at the destination and real in- in EU countries the benefit level is so high when the free Nordic come differentials in the two countries are that mobility inside the country and even labour market has been in the major forces behind international mi- more so across countries is inhibited.1) existence, we have experi- gration. This can be illustrated in Figure 2 For labour market integration to be an enced a major equaliza- showing immigration from Finland into efficient means of lowering unemploy- tion of real wages in the Sweden from 1965 to 1990. The line indi- ment and the number of vacancies, the Nordic countries, and in cating vacancies in the Swedish labour benefit level can hardly be overlooked. particular between Swe- market reflects the Swedish business cycle. den and Finland. ” Other effects of immigration concern tax We see, that for a long period, up to the payments and provision of transfers. From “ (…) in the early 1980s early 1980s, immigration to Sweden from the host country´s point of view, the ideal (…) the real income Finland largely matches the vacancies. immigrant is one who pays high taxes but differences between However, the correlation between immi- receives little transfers such as the young Sweden and Finland had gration and vacancies is broken in the early and able. The labour market participation narrowed to such an 1980s and the major reason is that by this rate among the immigrants largely deter- extent that it no longer time the real income differences between mines whether or not net transfers are pro- paid to move to Sweden to Sweden and Finland had narrowed to such vided to the citizens of the host country. fill these vacancies.” an extent that it no longer paid to move to An early study, Ekberg (1983) indicated Sweden to fill these vacancies. that Sweden in 1970 received a net sur------Figure 2------plus from overall immigration. By that “In the Nordic labour However, the correlation of labour immi- time labour participation among immi- market, real wages have gration and vacancies until 1982 was of a grants, including the Nordic immigrants, equalized to such an considerable importance to the Swedish was high compared to the native Swedish extent that no country economy. In the peak years of 1969 and population. Today, a similar calculation that experiences an 1970, a total of 80 000 immigrants arrived might be negative also for Nordic immi- increase in vacancies can who filled a very large number of the job grants as the labour market participation expect immigrants to fill vacancies. Had these immigrants not been rate is higher among the natives than these.” allowed entry to the Swedish labour mar- among the immigrants. ket, the excess demand for labour had undoubtedly spilled over into higher “With sustained income wages and hence inflation. In the peak Some lessons for the EU narrowing across EU of the business cycle in the late 1980s, no Member States Member States migration such labour immigration occurred and the in the Union will undoubt- excess demand for labour contribute to Real income differences between South- edly fall in the future.” inflation. Thus, a free labour market not ern EU Member States and the rich coun- only benefits the efficiency of the econo- tries have been reduced at impressive mies of participating countries, but also rates. As real wages equalize, a conse- “Should labour demand has important macroeconomic effects and quence is that labour migration falls, as rise in some of the better can contribute to restrict both inflation at the case of Finnish migration to Sweden off union countries, the destination and unemployment at the shows. With sustained income narrowing migration rates might origin. across EU Member States migration in the again go up. This requires Union will undoubtedly fall in the future. though a more active Income differences across countries are, Language barriers as well as cultural and policy to stimulate em- though, of great importance. In the Nor- religious differences are also likely mi- ployment than the one dic labour market, real wages have equal- gration obstacles though research has pursued by the EU Mem- ized to such an extent that no country largely neglected these effects. Only in ber States and that unem- that experiences an increase in vacancies the long run will these obstacles be over- ployment compensation can expect immigrants to fill these. If an- come. does not prevent job other country suffers from unemployment search.” the likelihood is higher that immigrants However, labour demand also plays a arrive. But this, in turn, requires that un- role. Should labour demand rise in some employment benefits in the country of of the better off union countries, migra- origin are not high enough to prevent the tion rates might again go up. This requires unemployed from migrating. though a more active policy to stimulate 1) For the effects of unemployment benefits on Nordic migration, see employment than the one pursued by the Lundborg (1991). Matching the unemployed in one coun- EU Member States and that unemployment try with vacancies in other countries is a compensation does not prevent job 2) Editorial note: cf. The EEC Regula- 2) tion on freedom of movement for crucial aspect of labour market integra- search. The 1992 programme involved workers within the Community tion. It is a fact that in some Nordic and deregulation measures that would stimu- CEDEFOP 50 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

late migration. Still, the crucial aspects in High migration rates per se are not an in- determining the prospects of migration, dicator of a well functioning economy. be it in the EU or elsewhere, are the nar- Only to the extent that the rate of match- rowing of income differences and the ing of unemployed and suitable job open- existence of job vacancies. One can hardly ings across countries is low does there foresee an increase in migration rates in exist an economic problem. Low migra- the Union without an increase in job va- tion rates may simple reflect that econo- cancies. mies develop at similar rates.

References

Ekberg, J. (1983):»Inkomsteffekter av invandring», Pedersen, P. (ed.)(1994):»Scandinavian Skill Migra- Acta Wexionensia, serie 2. tion in Perspective of the European Integration pro- cess,» North-Holland Elsevier (Forthcoming). Lundborg, P. (1991):»Determinants of Migration in the Nordic Labor Market», Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Vol 93, no. 3, 363-375. CEDEFOP 51 The newVOCATIONAL TRAINING Member NO. 4 EUROPEANStates JOURNAL : some data …

Statistical data

Data from OECD in Figures, supp. to the OECD Observer No. 188, June/July 1994

Demography

Population Age Structure of Population; % of total population Total area thousands per Growth Rate under 15 15-64 65 and over thousand sq.km % sq. km 1992 1982 1992 1992/91 1975/74 1992 1960 1992 1960 1992 1960

Austria 83,9 7,884 7,571 94,0 0,8 -0,3 17,5 22,0 67,3 65,8 15,2 12,2 Austria Belgium 30,5 10,045 9,856 329,3 0,4 0,3 18,2e 23,5 66,5 64,5 15,3 12,0 Belgium Denmark 43,1 5,170 5,119 120,0 0,3 0,3 17,0e 25,2 67,5e 64,2 15,5 10,6 Denmark Finland 338,0 5,042 4,827 14,9 0,3 0,4 19,2 30,4 67,1 62,3 13,7 7,3 Finland France 549,0 57,372 54,480 104,5 0,6 0,5 20,0 26,4 65,6 62,0 14,4 11,6 France Germany 248,6a 64,846b 61,638 260,8 1,2 -0,4 15,5 21,3 69,2 67,8 15,3 10,9 Germany Greece 132,0 10,300 9,790 78,0 0,3 0,9 19,4f 26,1 66,8f 65,8 13,8f 8,1 Greece Ireland 70,3 3,547 3,480 50,5 0,7 1,7 26,8e 30,5 61,8e 58,6 11,4e 10,9 Ireland Italy 301,2 56,859 56,639 188,8 0,2 0,6 15,7 23,4 68,9 67,6 15,4 9,0 Italy Luxembourg 2,6 390 366 150,0 2,1c 1,1 17,7e 21,4 68,8e 67,8 13,5e 10,8 Luxembourg Netherlands 40,8 15,184 14,313 372,2 0,8 0,9 18,3 30,0 68,7 61,0 13,0 9,0 Netherlands Portugal 92,4 9,858 9,877 106,7 0,0 1,0d 19,1 29,0 66,9 62,9 14,0 8,1 Portugal Spain 504,8 39,085 37,961 77,4 0,2 1,0 18,4 27,3 67,6 64,5 14,0 8,2 Spain Sweden 450,0 8,674 8,327 19,3 0,7 0,4 19,0 22,4 62,9 65,9 18,1 11,7 Sweden United Kingdom 244,8 57,848 56,335 236,3 0,3 0,0 19,2e 23,3 65,1e 65,0 15,7e 11,7 United Kingdom

Notes: a. 356,9 for unified Germany d. 1976/75 Sources: Labour Force Statistics: 1972-1992, OECD, b. 80,569 for unified Germany e. 1991 Paris, 1994; Employment Outlook, OECD, Paris, c. 1991/90 f. 1989 September 1992.

Employment I

Total Labour Force Total Civilian Employment

Female 1 Agriculture Change Participation Rate Change Thousands % Thousands Forestry and Industry 2 Services 2 since 1982 since 1982 Fishing 2 1992 % 1992 % % % 1992 1982 %

Austria 3,679 11,4 58,0 50,2 3,546 11,2 7,1 35,6 57,4 Austria Belgium 4,237 2,8 54,1 48,3 3,724 5,3 2,6 27,7 69,7 Belgium Denmark 2,912a 8,9b 78,9a 72,6 2,612a 10,3b 5,7a 27,7a 66,6a Denmark Finland 2,527 -0,6 70,7 72,4 2,163 -8,6 8,6 27,9 63,5 Finland France 25,109 5,8 58,7 54,7 22,032 3,7 5,2 28,9 65,9 France Germany 30,949 8,4 58,6 52,9 28,708 9,6 3,1 38,3 58,6 Germany Greece 3,934a 6,9b 40,8a 36,4 3,634 2,9b 22,2a 27,5a 50,3a Greece Ireland 1,384a 4,9 39,9a 37,6 1,113a -1,6b 13,8a 28,9a 57,3a Ireland Italy 24,612 8,0 45,8a 39,8 21,271 7,0 8,2 32,2 59,6 Italy Luxembourg 165a 3,1b 44,7a 41,3 162a 2,5b 3,3c 30,5c 66,2c Luxembourg Netherlands 7,133 .. 55,5 39,0 6,576 .. 4,0 24,6 71,4 Netherlands Portugal 4,764 10,0 61,9 54,4 4,498 .. 11,6 33,2 55,2 Portugal Spain 15,432 12,8 42,0 32,5 12,359 11,4 10,1 32,4 57,5 Spain Sweden 4,429 1,7 79,1 75,9 4,195 -0,6 3,3 26,5 70,2 Sweden United Kingdom 28,149 5,5 65,0a 57,1 25,181 6,8 2,2 26,5 71,3 United Kingdom

Notes: .. not available; 2. See also pp. 26-27; Sources: Labour Force Statistics: 1972-1992, 1. Defined as female labour force of all a. 1991; OECD, Paris, 1994. ages divided by female population b. 1991/81; aged 15-64; c. 1990

CEDEFOP 52 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Employment II

Part-Time Employment Female Part-Time as % of total employment Employment Self-Employment % of total part-time % of total employment Both Sexes Women Men employment

1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982

Austria 9,1 8,0 20,5 18,9 1,6 1,5 89,1 87,8 10,2 16,0 Austria Belgium 11,8a 6,4b 27,4a 16,3b 2,1a 1,3b 89,3a 86,2b 14,1a 13,7 Belgium Denmark 23,1a 23,7b 37,8a 46,5b 10,5a 5,6b 75,5a 86,9b 9,1a 11,8b Denmark Finland 7,9 7,7 10,4 11,6 5,5 4,1 64,3 72,0 14,2 12,7 Finland France 12,7 9,2 24,5 18,9 3,6 2,5 83,7 83,9 12,6 16,4 France Germany 15,5a 12,0b 34,3a 28,9b 2,7a 1,6b 89,6a 91,9b 9,0 8,7 Germany Greece 3,9a 3,3b 7,2a 6,6b 2,2a 1,8b 62,9a 62,4b 34,8f 38,9 Greece Ireland 8,4a 6,6c 17,8a 15,5c 3,6a 2,7c 71,6a 71,6c 21,7a 20,8 Ireland Italy 5,4 5,1b 10,5 10,1b 2,7 2,9b 67,9 61,4b 24,4a 23,6 Italy Luxembourg 7,5a 6,3c 17,9a 17,0c 1,9a 1,0c 83,3a 88,9c 10,6a 12,4 Luxembourg Netherlands 1 32,8 18,7b 62,9 44,6b 13,4 6,9b 75,0 74,6b 9,6a 12,4 Netherlands 1 Portugal 7,2 7,3d 11,0 14,7d 4,2 2,6d 67,4 77,9d 24,5 30,4 Portugal Spain 5,9 5,8e 13,7 13,9e 2,0 2,4e 76,8 71,5e 21,4 22,1 Spain Sweden 2 24,3 25,0 41,3 46,5 8,4 6,4 82,3 86,4 9,5 7,7 Sweden 2 United Kingdom 23,2 17,9b 44,6 40,0b 6,1 3,1b 85,4 89,6b 12,2 9,2 United Kingdom

Notes: .. not available; c. 1983; Sources: Employment Outlook, OECD, Paris, July 1. Break in series 1985; d. 1980; 1993; Economic Outlook, OECD, Paris, December 2. Break in series 1986; e. 1987; 1993; Labour Force Statistics: 1972-1992, OECD, Pa- a. 1991; f. 1990 ris, 1994 b. 1981;

Employment III

1 Unemployment Rates Long-term Youth Unemployment Rates Unemployment (under 25) Both sexes Women Men (12 months or more) % of youth labour force % of total % of total % of total % of total labour force female labour force male labour force unemployment Women Men

1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982 1992 1982

Austria 3,6 3,5 3,8 4,8 3,5 2,8 ...... Austria Belgium 9,3a 11,9 13,2a 17,0 6,5a 8,7 61,6a 66,3c ...... Belgium Denmark 9,1a 11,0 10,0a 11,2 8,3a 10,7 31,2a 33,0c ...... Denmark Finland 13,0 5,3 10,5 5,2 15,1 5,4 9,1a 22,3c 21,4 10,2 25,1 9,6 Finland France 10,2 8,1 12,7 11,2 8,2 6,0 36,1a 42,1 26,1 25,3 16,6 13,8 France Germany 5,8 6,4 6,4 7,3 5,4 5,9 45,5a 39,3c 6,0b 9,6 5,4b 9,0 Germany Greece 7,0b 5,8 11,7b 8,0 4,3b 4,7 47,0a 35,0c ...... Greece Ireland 15,7a 11,4 12,1a 9,7 17,3a 12,1 60,3a 36,9c 21,1a 16,6 25,0a 22,9 Ireland Italy 11,4 8,4 17,2 13,9 7,9 5,6 67,1a 57,7c 38,1 33,3 28,1 23,8 Italy Luxembourg 1,2a 1,2 2,0a 1,7 1,1a 1,0 ...... Luxembourg Netherlands 7,0a 11,3 9,5a 11,3 5,3a 11,4 43,0a 50,5 9,5 17,0 10,8 20,2 Netherlands Portugal 4,1 7,3 4,9 12,1 3,5 4,0 38,3a 56,0d 11,5 23,8 7,8 8,0 Portugal Spain 18,1 15,6 25,3 18,5 14,0 14,4 47,4 48,5 40,5 39,5 29,6 31,8 Spain Sweden 5,3 3,1 4,1 3,4 6,3 2,9 8,1a 8,4 9,2 7,8 13,7 7,4 Sweden United Kingdom 9,5 10,4 5,1 7,0 12,9 12,6 28,1a 47,0 9,9 19,7 19,7 25,9 United Kingdom

Notes: .. not available; b. 1990; Sources: Labour Force Statistics: 1971-1991, 1. National definitions; c. 1983; OECD, Paris, 1993; Employment Outlook, OECD, a. 1991; d. 1986 Paris, July 1993

CEDEFOP 53 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Education I1

Public Expenditure on Education Full-time Pupils/Students % of GDP per thousand of population

Total2 Pre- Primary Secondary Tertiary Total3 Pre- Primary Secondary Tertiary primary primary

Austria 5,4 0,3 1,0 2,6 1,1 198 25 47 95 31 Austria Belgium 5,4 0,5 0,9 2,4 0,9 217 38 75 80 25 Belgium Denmark 6,1 ...... 1,3 195 10 66 90 29 Denmark Finland 6,7 ...... 209 7 78 89 35 Finland France 5,4 ...... 252 45 72 101 30 France Germany 4,0 0,2 0,5 1,8 0,9 189 28 40 93 28 Germany Greece ...... Greece Ireland 5,5 0,5 1,6 2,2 1,2 278 36 119 101 20 Ireland Italy ...... 200 27 54 94 25 Italy Luxembourg ...... Luxembourg Netherlands 5,6 0,3 1,3 2,2 1,7 208 24a 77 82 25 Netherlands Portugal 5,5 0,1 2,2 2,0 0,9 215 17 104 75 18 Portugal Spain 4,5 0,3 1,0 2,4 0,8 247 25 72 117 31 Spain Sweden 6,5 0,2 2,3 2,8 1,2 170 11 68 69 22 Sweden United Kingdom 5,3 0,2 1,4 2,3 1,0 182 14b 79 76 13 United Kingdom

Notes: .. not available; 1. 1990-91; 2. Expenditure undistributed by school level is included in total; 3. Total includes pre-primary pupils enrolled at part-time; a. All pre-primary pupils are enrolled at part-time; b. Some pre-primary pupils are enrolled at part-time Source: Education at a Glance, OECD, Paris, 1993.

Education II1

Number of full-time equivalent teachers Full-time Enrolment Rates Proportion of Age-group per thousand of population % of age-group concerned Concerned per thousand of age-group

Obtaining Entering Total Pre- Primary Secondary Tertiary 3-6 15-19 20-24 Secondary tertiary primary Qualifica- Education tions2

Austria 17,2 1,2 4,1 10,1 1,9 ...... 866 277 Austria Belgium 21,3 x 7,7a 10,7 1,9 .. 81,6 21,8 .. 484 Belgium Denmark 16,1 0,7 5,9 8,4 1,0 23,7 77,0 29,0 1.004 380 Denmark Finland 14,2 ...... 14,9 .. .. 1.235 649 Finland France .. 1,6 3,1 7,2 .. 100,5 83,7 23,6 758 444 France Germany 11,4 1,2 2,0 5,7 2,6 75,4 82,9 27,8 1.173 445 Germany Greece ...... Greece Ireland 13,4 1,3 4,5 5,9 1,6 65,0 67,9 .. 783 338 Ireland Italy .. .. 4,8 10,1 0,8 ...... 507 .. Italy Luxembourg ...... Luxembourg Netherlands 12,9 1,1 3,9 5,8 2,0 73,8 75,2 23,9 822 357 Netherlands Portugal 17,7 0,8 7,8 7,5 1,5 58,0 53,8 13,2 506 352 Portugal Spain 12,8 1,0 3,3 7,0 1,3 82,6 64,2 25,5 637 .. Spain Sweden .. .. 6,5 6,5 .. 23,1 68,5 14,0 802 492 Sweden United Kingdom 11,9 0,5 3,7 6,1 1,3 81,9b 48,6 8,4 .. 277 United Kingdom

Notes: .. not available; x included in another category; 1. 1990-91; 2. Two or more qualifications can be obtained at secondary level; a. Includes pre-primary; b. Some pupils aged 3-6 are enrolled at part-time Source: Education at a Glance, OECD, Paris, 1993

CEDEFOP 54 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Bibliographical data

Austria Education in Finland Ministry for Foreign Affairs Unemployment and Labour market Helsinki, booklet, 5 p., 1991 flexibility: Austria Walterskichen E. Educational strategies in Finland in ILO (International Labour Office) the 1990s Geneva, ILO, 1991, 134 p. Kivinen O.; Rinne R. ISBN 92-2-107290-8 Turku, University of Turku, 1992, 134 p.

Das berufliche Bildungswesen in der The Changing role of vocational and Republik Österreich technical education and training in CEDEFOP (Europäisches Zentrum für die Finland Förderung der Berufsbildung) Kyrö M. (ed.) Berlin, 1994 (en cours d’édition) National Board of Education unpublished (OECD-project: The chang- The School Psychology-Educational ing role of vocational and technical educ- Counselling Service informs about ation and training), 1993, 76 p. + annexes Education in Austria Wien, Bundesministerium für Unterricht Further education and training of the und Kunst, feuillet d’information, 1994 Labour Force. Country report-Finland DE, EN, FR OECD (Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development) Berufliche Bildung in Österreichs Paris, OECD, 1990, 40 p. Unternehmen Wien, Bundeswirschaftskammer, 31 p., Continuing vocational education and 1988 training in Finland Ministry of Education Betriebliche Weiterbildung in Öster- Helsinki, 1990, 27 p. reich. Strukturen und Entwicklungen des überbetrieblichen Weiterbildungs- Weiterbildung in Finnland. Weniger marktes (Band II) Staat mehr Markt Kailer N. Wolbeck M. Wien, IBW (Institut für Bildungsforschung in: Grundlagen der Weiterbildung, 3(2), der Wirtschaft), 1989, 240 p. 1992, Neuwied, p. 96-99 ISSN: 0937-2172 Higher education and employment: the changing relationship. Recent Higher Education Policy in Finland developments in continuing profes- Ministry for Education sional education. Country report - Helsinki, 1994, 161 p. Austria ISBN 951-47-8305-0 OECD (Organization for Economic co- operation and Develpment) Higher education and employment: Paris, OECD, 1991, 20 p. The changing relationship. Recent developments in continuing profes- sional education: Country report Finland Finland Parjanen M. Organization for Economic Co-operation Developments in education 1992- and Development (OECD) 1994. Finland Paris, OECD, 1991, 20 p. Ministry of Education Helsinki, 1994, 98 p. An Introduction to Higher Education in Finland. A Brief Guide for Foreign Vocational Education in Finland Students National Board of Education Ministry of Education, Department for Helsinki, 1991, 45 p. Higher Education and Research CEDEFOP 55 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Helsinki, Ministry of Education, Swedish Ministry of Education and Science 1990, 52 p. Document prepared for the European ISBN 951-47-33-64-9 Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) Study in Finland. International Pro- Stockholm, 1994, 48 p. grammes in Finnish Universities 1992- Available at CEDEFOP 1993 Finnish Centre for International Mobility Adult education in the 1990s: consid- and Exchange Programmes erations and proposals Helsinki, Ministry of Education, Swedish National Board of Education 1992, 148 p. Stockholm, 1991, 50 p. ISSN 0788-5695 Industry training in Australia, Sweden Higher Education and Research in and the United States Finland Organization for Economic Co-operation Ministry of Education and Development (OECD) Helsinki, Ministry of Education, Paris, OECD, 1993, 104 p. 1988, 89 p. ISBN 92-64-13905-2 ISBN 951-47-2071-7 The effectiveness of training boards in Unemployment and labour market Sweden flexibility: Finland Granander S. Lilja R., Santamäki-Vuori T., Standing G. ILO (International Labour Office) International Labour Office (ILO) Geneva, ILO, Discussion paper, n°108, Geneva, ILO, 1990, 222 p. 1993 ISBN 92-2-107273-8 The expanding learning enterprise in Finnish Polytechnics. Sweden An Experimental Reform Abrahamsson K.; Hultinger E.S.; Ministry of Education Svenningsson L. (eds) Helsinki, 1993, 16 p. Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs; National Board of Education Stockholm, NBE reports-planning. Follow Sweden up and Evaluation 90/10, 1990, 101 p.; bibl. p. 98-101 Education in Sweden 1994 Statistics Sweden The Swedish Way. Towards a Learning Örebro, 1994, 80 p. Society Swedish Ministry of Education and Science The Swedish schoolsystem Stockholm, 1993, 169 p. Skolverket ISBN 91-38-1375-0 Stockholm, 1994, inormation sheets Higher education and employment: Berufliche Bildung in Deutschland the changing relationship. Recent und Sweden im Vergleich developments in Continuing Profes- Paland M. sional Education. Country study: CDG (Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft) Sweden Köln, 1992 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) La formation en Suède: de l’éducation Paris, OECD, 1991, p. 25 populaire à la formation en entreprise Centre Inffo Unemployment and labour market Paris-la-Défense, in: Inffo Flash (Le Dos- flexibility: Sweden sier), n° 402, 23.02.1994, 4 p. Standing G. International Labour Office (ILO) Coherence between compulsory edu- Geneva, ILO, 1988, 150 p. cation, initial and continuing training ISBN 92-2-106265-1 and adult education in Sweden Hjorth S. CEDEFOP 56 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Useful addresses

Austria Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte z. H. Frau Mag. Brigitte Stierl Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 20-22 ❏ Public bodies A-1040 Wien Tel. 431+50165/3132 Bundesministerium für Unterricht Fax 431+50165/2230 und Kunst (BMUK) Fax 431+50165/3186 Abt. II/7 z.H. Herrn Ministerialrat Mag. Peter Kreiml Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund z.H. Herrn Rat Mag. Schlick z.H. Herrn Sekretär Gerhard Prager Minoritenplatz 5 Hohenstaufengasse 10-12 A-1014 Wien A-1010 Wien Tel. 431++53120/4339 Tel. 431+53444/466 Tel. 431+53120/4491 Fax 431+53444204 Fax 431+53120/4130

Bundesministerium für ❏ Research institutes wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten Stubenring 1 Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft A-1010 Wien und Forschung Tel. 431+71100/5223 (Mag. Jost) z.H. Herrn Ministerialrat Dr. Heinz Fax 431+7142718 Kasparovsky Fax 431+7137995 Rosengasse 2-6 A-1014 Wien Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft Tel. 431+53120/5920 und Forschung Fax 431+53120/6205 Rosengasse 2-6 A-1014 Wien Institut für Berufs- und Erwachsen- Tel. 431+53120/5920 enbildungsforschung an der Fax 431+53120/6205 Universität Linz (IBE) z.H. Univ. Doz. Mag. Dr. W. Blumberger Bundeskammer der gewerblichen Raimundstrasse 17 Wirtschaft A-4020 Linz z.H. Herrn Dr. Georg Piskaty Tel. 4370+6511083 Wiedner Hauptstrasse 63 Fax 4370+609313/12 A-1045 Wien Tel. 431+50105/4072 Institut für Bildungsforschung der Tel. 431+50105/4073 Wirtschaft (IBW) Fax 431+50206/261 z.H. Herrn Dr. Klaus Schedler Rainergrasse 38 Vereinigung österreichischer A-1050 Wien Industrieller Tel. 431+5451671/27 z.H. Frau Mag. Gerlinde Pammer Fax. 431+5451671/22 Scharzenbergplatz 4 A-1030 Wien Österreichisches Institut für Tel. 431+71135/2365 Berufsbildungsforschung (ÖIBF) Fax 431+71135/2922 z.H. Frau Maria Hofstätter Kolingasse 15 Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte A-1090 Wien z.H. Herrn Mag. Ernst Löwe Tel. 431+31033340 Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 20-22 Tel. 431+3197772 A-1040 Wien Fax 431+3197772 Tel. 431+50165/2473 Fax 431+50165/2230

CEDEFOP 57 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Institut für höhere Studien National Board of Education z.H. Herrn Dr. Lorenz Lassnig (Opetushallitus): Stumpergasse 56 Areas of expertise: evaluation, A-1060 Wien EURYDICE, CEDEFOP, INES, compari- Tel. 431+599910 son of certifications, lines of educa- tional policy, general administration of Industriewissenschaftliches Institut education z.H. Mag. Alexander Kohler P.O. Box 380 Reisnerstrasse 40 FIN-00531 Helsinki A-1030 Wien Tel. 3580+774775 Tel. 431+7153790 Ministry of Education/Planning Unit Secretariat (Opetusministeriö/ ❏ Social Partners suunnittelusihteeristö) Areas of expertise: strategies for future Employers’ Organization planning of education P.O. Box 293 Vereinigung Österreichischer FIN-00171 Helsinki Industrieller (VÖI) Tel. 3580+134171 Haus der Industrie Scharzenbergplatz, 4 A-1031 Wien III Tel. 431+711350 ❏ Research institutes Fax 431+711352507 The Research Institute (FISS) Trade Union Swedish School of Social Science PB 16 (Topeliusgatan 16) ÖGB FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Hohenstaufengasse 10-12 Postfach 155 University of Tampere: Work Re- A-1011 Wien search Centre (Tampereen yliopisto: Tel. 431+2253444 Työelämän tutkimuskeskus) Fax 431+225344/4204 The links between work and education, specialized research concerning work and chances in work Finland P.O. Box 607 FIN-33101 Tampere Tel. 35831+156111 ❏ Public bodies Fax 35831+157265

Ministry of Labour University of Lappland Eteläesplanadi 4 Faculty of Social Science Box 524 Unit for Social Work FIN-00101 Helsinki P.B. 122 Tel. 3580+18561 FIN-96101 Rovaniemi Fax 3580+1856427 Tel. 35860+3241 Fax 35860+32420 National Board of Education Hakaniemenkatu 2 University of Jyväskylä: Institute for FIN-00530 Helsinki Educational Research (Jyväskylän Tel. 3580+7061 yliopisto: kasvatustieteiden Fax 3580+7062865 tutkimuslaitos) Areas of expertise: learning results Further education centre for the vo- IEAE, Votec, specialized research for cational institutes and administration education Lapinniemenranta 12 P.O. Box 35 FIN-33180 Tampere FIN-40351 Jyväskylä Tel. 35831+534400 Tel. 35841+601211 Fax 35831+534434

CEDEFOP 58 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

University of Turku: Research Unit for Employers’ Organizations the Sociology of Education (Turun yliopisto, koulutussosiologian tutki- Confederation of Finnish Industry muskeskus) and Employers (TT) Sociologically oriented research of education Eteläranta 10; P.B. 30 Hämeenkatu 1 FIN-00131 Helsinki FIN-20500 Turku Tel. 3580+68681 Tel. 35821+6335878 Fax 3580+68682316

Government Institute for Economic Employers’ Confederation of Service Research (Valtion taloudellinen Industries in Finland (LTK) tutkimuskeskus) Eteläranta 10 Economic research of education FIN-00130 Helsinki Hämeentie 3 Tel. 3580+179831 FIN-00530 Helsinki Fax 3580+655588 Tel. 3580+70371 Commission for Local Authority The Research Institute of the Finnish Employers (Kunnallinen Työmark- Economy (ETLA) (Elinkeinoelämän kinalaitos) Tutkimuslaitos) 2 linja 14, Kuntatalo Lönnrothinkatu 4 B FIN-00530 Helsinki FIN-00120 Helsinki Tel. 3580+7711 Tel. 3580+609900 Fax 3580-7012239 Fax 3580+601753

National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) Sweden Sosiaali- ja terveysalan tutkimus- ja kehittämiskeskus P.O. Box 220 ❏ Public bodies FIN-00531 Helsinki Tel. 3580+39671 National Employment-Training Fax 3580+761307 Board (AMU-Gruppen) Box 1264; S-11119 Stockholm ❏ Social Partners Tel. 468+7016500

Trade Unions Utbildningsdepartementet Ministry of Education and Science Central Organization of Finnish Drottninggatan 16 Trade Unions (SAK) S-10333 Stockholm Siltasaarenkatu 3 A Tel. 468+7631000 FIN-00530 Helsinki Fax468+7231734 Tel. 3580+77211 Fax 3580+7721447 Skolverket-National Agency for edu- cation Finnish Confederation of Salaried Kungsgatan 53 Employees (STTK) S-10620 Stockolm Ponjoisranta 4 A Tel. 468+7233200 P.B. 248 Fax 468+244420 FIN-00171 Helsinki Tel. 3580+131521 Arbetsdepartementet Fax 3580+652367 Ministry of Labour Drottninggatan 21 Confederation of Unions for Academic S-10333 Stocholm Professionnals in Finland (AKAVA) Tel. 468+7631000 Rautatieläisenkatu 6 Fax 468+210842 FIN-00520 Helsinki Tel. 3580+141822 Fax 3580+142595 CEDEFOP 59 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen Swedish ❏ Social Partners National Labour Market Board S-17199 Solna Employers’ Organizations Tel. 468+7306000 Fax 468+278368 Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen (SAF) Swedish Employers’ Confederation Statistics Sweden (SAF) Department of Labour and Educational S-10330 Stockholm Statistics Tel. 468+7626000 S-70189 Örebro Fax 468+7626290 Tel. 4619+176000 Swedish engineering employers’assocation (VF) ❏ Research Institutes Box 5510 Storgatan 5 The Industrial Institute for Eco- S-11485 Stockholm nomic and Social Research Tel. 468+7820800 (Industrins utrednings institut) Box 5501 Trade Unions S-11485 Stockholm Tel. 468+7838000 The Swedish Trade Union Confedera- Fax 468+6617969 tion (LO) Bainhusgatan 1 Stockholm Institute of Education S-10553 Stockholm Lärarhögskolan i Stockholm Tel. 468+7962500 Box 34103 Fax 468+7962800 S-10026 Stockholm The Swedish Confederation of The Council for Research into Uni- Professional Employees (TCO) versities and University Colleges S-11494 Stockholm Rädet för forskning om universitet Tel. 468+7829100 och högskolor Fax 468+7829108 Box 45501 S-10430 Stockholm Tel. 468+7283802

Stockholms Universitet/Institutioner för internationell pedagogik Stockholm University/Institute of In- ternational Education S-10691 Stockholm Tel. 468+162000 Fax 468+153133

CEDEFOP 60 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEANReading JOURNAL

This section has been Europe - International prepared by Maryse Peschel and the Documentation This second edition has been written on Information material, Service with the help of the basis of information supplied to the members of the national studies and comparative EURYDICE European Unit by the documentation network research EURYDICE National Units, and has been (cf. last page) validated by the competent national Vocational education and training in authorities. All countries are dealt with in ❏ Belgium (FR, IT, NL) a similar way in order to facilitate com- ❏ Denmark (DA, EN, ES, FR) parison between them, if desired. Chap- ❏ Germany (DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, NL, ters cover: responsibilities for and admin- Reading selection This section lists the most PT) istration of the education system as a important and recent ❏ Spain (ES) whole, plus a description of pre-school, publications on developments ❏ France (DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, PT) primary and secondary education pro- in training and qualifica- ❏ Greece (DE, EN, GR) vision up to the end of compulsory tions at an international and ❏ Italy (DE, FR, IT) schooling. Both the public and the pri- European level. Giving ❏ Ireland (EN, ES) vate sectors are taken into account. preference to comparative ❏ Luxembourg (EN, ES, FR, PT) works, it also lists national ❏ the Netherlands (DE, EN, FR, PT) studies carried out as part of ❏ Portugal (PT) The determinants of transitions in international and European ❏ the United Kingdom (DE, EN, ES, IT, youth. Papers from the conference or- programmes, analyses of the PT) ganized by the ESF network on Tran- impact of Community action European Centre for the Development of sitions in Youth, CEDEFOP and GRET on the Member States and Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) (Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona). national studies seen from Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- Barcelona 20-21 September 1993 an external perspective. The tions of the European Communities, European Centre for the Development of Section, “From the Member 1993, 1994 Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) States”, lists a selection of Berlin, CEDEFOP Panorama, no. 43, 1994, important national publica- After describing the administrative, demo- 338 pages tions. graphic and economic context and giv- EN ing a brief synopsis of the history of train- Available free of charge from CEDEFOP ing systems, these national monographs look at the operation of initial and con- This was the first international meeting tinuing vocational training, the organiza- of the “European Science Foundation Net- tions in charge of training, the role of the work on Transitions in Youth”, which has social partners, and the financing of train- the long-term goal of advancing theoreti- ing. The monographs also include a de- cal understanding of transitions in youth, scription of trends and current develop- and especially, of the relationships be- ments. tween education/training and the labour market, through the comparative analy- sis of regular and longitudinal surveys of Structures of the education and initial transitions. The conference had five work- training systems in the Member States shops: perspectives on systems, institu- P panorama of the European Union and in the tions and changes; labour market itiner- O FOP F

EFTA/EEA countries aries of secondary school-leavers; social E DE Prepared in cooperation by the Education and household dimensions of youth tran- D E The Determinants of CE Information Network in the European sitions; the process and consequences of C Transitions in Youth Community (EURYDICE) and the Euro- educational differentiation; labour market Papers from the conference pean Centre for the Development of Vo- itineraries of higher education graduates. organized by the ESF Network on cational Training (CEDEFOP) The ensuing papers reproduced here al- Transitions in Youth, CEDEFOP and European Commission: Task Force Human low comparison of approaches and pre- GRET (Universitat Autònoma de Resources, Education, Training and Youth occupations between countries and iden- Barcelona) Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- tify complex and multi-dimensional fea- Barcelona 20-21 September 1993 tions of the European Communities, tures of the integration process which currently being published involves numerous economic, social and DE, EN, FR personal factors. Conference papers CEDEFOP 61 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Occupations in the tourist sector. A ried out in Germany, France, Italy, the comparative analysis in nine Commu- Netherlands, Portugal and the United nity States Kingdom, the study compares the evolu- Guerra D.; Peroni G tion of qualifications for occupations in- European Centre for the Development of volving the installation, management and Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) maintenance of local or long-distance Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- networks. Jobs relating to computer net- tions of the European Communities, works involve new and highly specific 1994, 576 pages qualifications, which involve the follow- ISBN 92-826-8367-2 (en) ing functions: research and planning, in- EN, FR, IT stallation, management, user assistance (desk help), control and maintenance. On This study on occupations in the hotel the basis of the national conclusions and tourist sector is part of the “Com- drawn, it would seem that companies seek munity directory of occupational profiles” persons with a high degree of adaptabil- project. This project, which was launched ity, who are able to establish interpersonal in 1990, is intended as an experiment for relations of high quality for the success- a method of international comparison of ful execution of the functions listed above. occupations in the hotel and tourist sec- A summary of this study has been pub- tor, in the electronics industry and in the lished in the CEDEFOP Flash series, 3/94 audio-visual sector. On the basis of the (DE, EN, FR). national reports for nine countries (Bel- gium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Greece, France, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom), Higher education in the European the study presents the methodology fol- Union. Facts and figures over a dec- lowed, an analysis of the tourist sector in ade the various countries and a card index of European Commission the 27 vocational profiles selected. For Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- each of the profiles selected, this index tions of the European Communities, consists of a comparative file followed by 1994, 116 pages nine national files comprising: a de- ISBN 92-826-6830-4 (en) scription of the reference function, a chart DE, EN, FR of the vocational tasks, the skills required, the typical training route, its duration and This report begins with a description of certification. the methodological aspects of the study A first report, published in 1992 by and continues with a proposal for the sta- CEDEFOP, is offered for sale at the Office tistical analysis of higher education in the for Official Publications of the European European Union from 1980 to 1990. The Communities: “Community directory of following aspects are covered for each occupational profiles. Occupations in country: the higher education system, stu- the Hotel Tourist Sector within the dent numbers, diplomas offered, teach- European Community - A Comparative ing staff, duration of courses, unemploy- Analysis” ISBN 92-826-2986-4 (en). ment among graduates and financing. A comparative analysis rounds off the re- port. Trends in the structure of qualifica- tions for occupations relating to com- puter networks Employment in Europe 1994 Haji C. European Commission European Centre for the Development of COM (94) 381 final, 14.09.94, 190 pages Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- Berlin, CEDEFOP Panorama, no. 47, 1994, tions of the European Communities, 38 pages ISBN 92-77-80666-4 (en) EN, FR ISSN 0254-1475 (en) Available free of charge from CEDEFOP DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, IT, NL, PT

This report is a first attempt at a com- This is the sixth report in an annual se- parative study of the structures of quali- ries aimed at providing business, trade fications in various national contexts. Car- unions, governments and interest groups CEDEFOP 62 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

with an up-to-date overview of many as- As unemployment rises in most parts of pects of employment in the European Europe, increasing recognition is being Community. The information is divided given to the role which counselling, ad- under two main headings: Part 1 - em- vice, information and guidance services ployment prospects - looks at the trends can play as tools to prevent and solve in the Community with regard to employ- unemployment. This report summarizes ment. Part 2 examines the progress made the results of the second phase of the in the Member States concerning the ac- Foundation’s programme, Eurocounsel, tions foreseen by the White Paper on the aim of which is to improve the qual- employment, growth, competitiveness. A ity and effectiveness of counselling ser- series of graphics completes the report. vices for the unemployed and those at risk of becoming so. The focus in this second phase has been to build on trans- The European report on science and national work, through a pilot programme technology indicators 1994 of exchange visits for practitioners. In ad- European Commission dition, a portfolio of case studies of in- Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- teresting and innovative experience from tions of the European Communities, 1994, the seven participating countries has been 338 pages + annex (Studies 1) compiled. The results of this second phase ISBN 92-826-9004-0 of the programme highlight the problems ISSN 1018-5593 associated with the rise in unemployment, EN including the pressure this places on re- sources and the difficulties for counsel- This first European report of science and ling providers in areas with low demand technology indicators focuses on the sci- for labour. The report concludes by mak- ence and technology performance of the ing recommendations as to the ways in 12 EU Member States, but also includes which counselling services can be im- detailed information on the EFTA coun- proved. tries and some Central and Eastern Euro- pean economies, as well as international comparisons with the other major science • A guide to good practice in labour and technology performing countries in market counselling the world. The indicators are divided into European Foundation for Improvement of six parts covering: the level and trend in Living and Working Conditions the aggregate resources devoted to sci- Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- ence and technology; industrial R&D and tions of the European Communities, 1994, competitiveness; the specificities of the 20 pages various national S&T systems in Europe; ISBN 92-826-8851-8 intra-European cooperation in this area; EN cooperation agreements of the EU with other countries / regions of the world; This booklet outlines key elements of and the differences between European good practice in labour market coun- countries in their attitudes to S&T. selling which have emerged from the work of the Foundation’s Eurocounsel programme to date and from the knowl- • Eurocounsel synthesis final report, edge and experience of researchers, phase 2. Counselling - a tool for the policy makers and practitioners in this prevention and solution of unemploy- field. The aim of this booklet is to pro- ment. Case study portfolio. vide a summary of good practice drawn Examples of innovative practice in from European experience which can labour market counselling serve as an aide-mémoire to those con- European Foundation for the Improve- cerned with improving counselling ser- ment of Living and Working Conditions vices in relation to the prevention and so- Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- lution of long-term unemployment. tions of the European Communities, 1994, 116 pages ISBN 92-826-7868-7 (en) ISBN 92-826-6906-8 (en, case study) DE, EN, FR CEDEFOP 63 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The changing role of VOTEC (Voca- ❏ Vocational training in the Nether- tional and technical education and lands: Reform and innovation training): Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ❏ Vocational education and training Paris, OECD, 1994, 220 pages for youth: towards coherent policy ISBN 92-64-14298-3 and practice EN, FR Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) In the Netherlands, there has recently Paris, OECD, 1994, 180 pages been growing emphasis to bridge the gap ISBN 92-64-14285-1 between general and vocational educa- EN, FR tion: the vocational element in university programmes is being strengthened and the This volume explores four themes in an vocational sector is increasingly recog- effort to identify and explain the link that nized as providing programmes and quali- produces effective VOTEC. The themes fications equivalent to those of univer- studied are: educational pathways, learn- sities. Following a general overview of ing strategies integrating theory with prac- these policy reforms and innovations, this tice, the role of social partners, and policy publication focuses on developments in coordination. four areas of economic activity which have affected the needs and demands for ❏ Vocational training in Germany: knowledge and skills: tourism, the print- Modernization and responsiveness ing industry, installation technology, and Organization for Economic Co-operation CNC machining and flexible production and Development (OECD) automation. These sectoral case studies Paris, OECD, 1994, 134 pages reveal that shifts in vocational education ISBN 92-64-14301-7 and training run parallel to changes in EN, FR industry structures. The national and sectoral qualification structure presently This publication looks at the historical in elaboration will reinforce the integra- context of Germany’s dual system of vo- tion of school- and firm-based pathways, cational training and the challenges it has and thereby better harmonize training faced since the introduction of the Voca- with industry needs. tional Training Act in 1969. It examines the capacity of two sectors, the metal- working industry and the building trade, The OECD jobs study - Evidence and to respond to social and economic explanations. Part I: Labour market changes and the subsequent demands for trends and underlying forces of new and higher skills. The study reveals change. Part II: The adjustment poten- the importance of negotiation and coop- tial of the labour market eration between government (at federal Organization for Economic Co-operation and state levels), the social partners and and Development (OECD) research institutes in all aspects of the Paris, OECD, 1994, 170 pages (Part I), decision-making process from the elabo- 300 pages (Part II) ration of vocational training policy to the ISBN 92-64-14241-X (en) regulation of training capacity and qual- EN, FR ity. This complex method of cooperation, based on a historical tradition of co-de- This book follows an initial overview re- termination, allowed vocational training port, The OECD Jobs Study: Facts, Analy- to modernize its structures and processes sis, Strategies, which sets out the facts that to meet the challenges of the 1970s and depict today’s unemployment, analyzes 1980s. The future of the dual system will the fundamental factors that produced it depend on its continued attractiveness for and recommends strategies to foster job able and ambitious young people and its creation and prepare people for the new ongoing capacity to adapt to changing jobs. This companion report provides the conditions in the workplace. detailed empirical and analytical under- pinning to that overview. It looks at la- bour markets and analyzes how unem- ployment has been affected by factors CEDEFOP 64 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

such as macro-economic management, catalyst for individual and local develop- competition from low-wage countries, ment. faster technological change and slow ad- justment to new jobs and skills. The OECD Jobs Study: Evidence and Explanation Financement et régulation de la for- (volume I) pursues the finding that much mation professionnelle: une analyse unemployment is the unfortunate result comparée of societies’ failure to adapt to a world of Study realized within the scope of the IIPE rapid change and intensified global com- (Institut international de planification de petition. Rules and regulations, practices l’éducation) research and study pro- and policies, and institutions designed for gramme: Développement des resources an earlier era have resulted in labour humaines - Nouvelles tendances dans markets that are too inflexible for today’s l’enseignement technique et professionnel world. It explores how policy can better Atchoarena D. address wage formation; active rather than Paris, UNESCO: IIPE, 1994, 105 pages passive approaches to getting people back FR into jobs; improving skills and compe- IIPE, 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, tences; design and management of unem- F-75116 Paris ployment benefit systems; and taxation. Evidence and Explanations (volume II) Financing for both initial and continuing describes varying patterns of performance vocational training is one aspect of the and policy needs in different OECD coun- global financial crisis in education. Faced tries. Future volumes in this series will with this situation, planners currently tend examine individual country experiences. to promote a re-distribution in which re- sponsibilities and tasks are shared be- tween the various protagonists of train- New directions in labour market ing (state, companies, families, em- policy: a territorial approach in the ployees). This book attempts to analyze Nordic countries the principles and mechanisms involved Paris, OECD, 1994, 12 pages (Innovation in the financing of vocational training. A & Emploi, no. 16) second dimension attempts to show how EN, FR financing policies, beyond simple fund- OECD - Leed Programme, Paul Paradis, collecting, aim at mobilizing protagonists, 2 rue André Pascal, through constraints or incitements, to F-75775 Paris Cedex 16 improve the functioning of vocational training systems. The comparative ap- The Nordic model symbolizes an active proach, in addition to describing indi- strategy on the part of public authorities vidual systems, sheds light on significant to promote employment and avoid un- common tendencies. The book ends with employment and poverty. As societies a reflection on the links between financ- evolve, the content and significance of the ing and quality of training. The question “Nordic” model change. This issue of financing inevitably leads to a discus- analyzes some of the main modifications sion on the role of the state in planning to the Nordic labour market policies and and regulation, and underscores the scope their connection with local and regional and diversity of the forms of involvement development. It sheds light on the devel- of the other protagonists of development, opment of partnerships between various in particular the social partners. protagonists in the public and private sec- tors. The key word “active measure” still reflects an essential objective of public Unevoc INFO authorities, but it has taken on a new di- United Nations Educational, Scientific and mension as the issues involved have Cultural Organization (UNESCO) changed. What is needed is a new, more Paris, UNESCO, September 1994, 8 pages direct participation model which would (Unevoc Info no. 1) leave more responsibility in the hands of ISSN 120-2544 (fr) the individual. This re-orientation also EN, FR presupposes an adaptation of services on a local level, which should ensure more UNESCO is publishing this first issue of contracts and counselling and serve as a UNEVOC’s quarterly information bulletin CEDEFOP 65 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

within the framework of the international Decentralization of vocational train- project for technical and vocational edu- ing in Italy cation (UNEVOC). UNEVOC is an inter- Bulgarelli A.; Giovine M. national project aiming at developing and International Labour Office (ILO): Train- improving technical and vocational edu- ing Policy and Programme Development cation in countries belonging to UNESCO. Branch It is based on exchange of information, Geneva, ILO, 1994, 16 pages (Training establishment of networks and a number Policy Studies, 10) of other methods of international coop- ISBN 92-2-109347-6 eration. This bulletin will contain infor- EN mation on UNEVOC’s activities (techni- cal meetings of working groups, training Following a brief introduction describing seminars, case studies, comparative stud- the organization and the functioning of ies and cooperation projects), but also vocational training in Italy, this report information from other sources on inno- analyzes how the Regions have reacted vations in technical and vocational edu- to vocational training needs in fulfilment cation. The first issue includes an exposé of the role entrusted to them by the Ital- outlining the initial phase of the UNEVOC ian constitution. The conclusions drawn project, presenting the history, the me- by the study show that it is necessary to chanisms, the structure and the sectors of reform the organization and the institu- the programme as well as a description tions involved, as each Region has cre- of 1992-1993 activities and future actions. ated its own system. Although this is ac- tually a positive aspect, it is nevertheless necessary to develop a policy of coordi- Des politiques publiques d’incitation nation so that vocational training activ- à la formation professionnelle conti- ities are more effective. nue. Propositions pour une démarche d’analyse Zygmunt C.; Rose J. Adult training: International Labour Office (ILO): Train- ing Policy and Programme Development ❏ Retraining adults in Germany Branch Johanson R. Geneva, ILO, 1994, 55 pages (Training International Labour Office (ILO): Train- Policy Studies, 14) ing Policy and Programme Development ISBN 92-2-209307-0 Branch FR Geneva, ILO, 1994, 29 pages (Training Policy Studies, 4) The aim of the first part of this study is to ISBN 92-2-109310-7 identify and describe government policies EN of incitement to continuing vocational training in OECD countries. Why have ❏ Ireland: adult training and retraining they been set up? What is their theoreti- Johanson R. cal justification? The second part describes International Labour Office (ILO): Train- these policies in an attempt to draw up ing Policy and Programme Development typologies on the basis of the components Branch of these policies. How are incitement Geneva, ILO, 1994, 33 pages (Training policies set up? What is their target group? Policy Studies, 2) How is this group to be reached? And fi- ISBN 92-2-109317-4 nally, the third part of the study looks at EN evaluation modalities, an essential issue in practice: setting up measures of this ❏ Retraining adult workers in Sweden sort, in view of the magnitude of the ex- Alfthan T.; Jonzon B. penditure and the political consequences International Labour Office (ILO): Train- involved, must be followed by an evalua- ing Policy and Programme Development tion phase. A bibliography, synoptic charts Branch and examples of measures of incitement Geneva, ILO, 1994, 25 pages (Training to continuing vocational training round Policy Studies, 3) off the report. ISBN 92-2-109308-5 EN CEDEFOP 66 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

This set of reports gives an overview of workers in the state sector. The impor- the system of adult training and retraining tance of re-structuring should therefore in Ireland, Sweden and Germany, focus- not be measured against employment lev- ing on the retraining of adults for new els, but rather on the basis of changes in occupations due to restructuring of the the sectoral make-up of production. Hav- national economies. Their underlying ing investigated the various possible so- purpose is to draw conclusions and les- lutions involving salary determination, the sons that may be relevant to other coun- author recommends gradually rationaliz- tries which are faced with similar restruc- ing over-staffed state enterprises, promot- turing problems and establishing new ing private sector recruiting and business national adult training and retraining sys- start-ups, and adopting a policy favour- tems. Each report is complemented by a ing mobility so as to promote re-employ- short bibliography and statistics. ment.

Introduction to public employment Europahandbuch Weiterbildung / Eu- services ropean Manual of Continuing Educa- Ricca S. tion / Manuel Européen de la Forma- International Labour Office (ILO) tion Continue Geneva, ILO, 1994, 150 pages Kaiser A: Feuchthofen J.E.; Güttler R. ISBN 92-2-107106-5 (en) Neuwied; Kriftel; Berlin, Luchterhand, EN, FR 1994, multiple pages ISBN 3-472-00569-6 The various topics covered concern: the DE different stages in the development of employment services by reference to the The idea of this handbook is to facilitate international labour conventions adopted the development of contacts and co- since 1919; the numerous traditional or operation in continuing vocational train- new technical functions which these ser- ing, which have been taking place paral- vices carry out today; the statutes and lel to the European integration process. structures of employment services; the Its loose-leaf presentation allows it to be role of workers’ organizations and the updated regularly. It provides information problems posed by their participation; on the continuing training situation and their internal management. the latest developments in all European countries. It presents organizations al- ready working in this area in a trans-na- Employment policy and employment tional context and serves as a useful in the transition economies of Central source of addresses for those interested and Eastern Europe: What have we in collaboration with organizations in con- learned? tinuing training sectors. Jackman R. International Labour Office (ILO) Geneva, in: International Labour Review Vers l’harmonisation ou le maintien 3(133), 1994, p. 361-382 des spécificités. Enseignement supé- ISSN 0020-7780 (en) rieur hors université en Belgique et EN, FR formations supérieures équivalentes en Europe Examining the macro-economic evolution Fédération Nationale de l’Enseignement and re-structuring of the economy and the Supérieur Catholique (FNESUC); Comité labour market after several years of tran- Européen pour l’Enseignement Catholique sition, the author postulates that the col- (CEEC) lapse of production can be explained by Brussels, FNESUC, 1993, 145 pages + an- supply-side shocks rather than by defla- nexes tionist policies or by re-structuring. Un- FR employment - especially long-term job- FNESUC, rue Guimard 1, B-1040 Brussels lessness - has increased dramatically in several countries, and private companies The records of this colloquium on the are not recruiting their staff from the mass European dimension of higher education of unemployed, preferring to look for include the main contributions aiming at CEDEFOP 67 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

extracting from the diversity of teaching work rhythms, a certain degree of job- situations a European content of this type sharing. The current crisis has been trans- of teaching in terms of the expectations forming the ways in which work is man- and needs of enterprises and also on the aged: new models are being designed, a basis of quality criteria. The annexes pro- new distribution of work and employment vide the reader with a description of the is emerging in Germany, in Italy, in France structures of higher education in Europe and in Great Britain, or in Spain and the and the priorities for action. Netherlands. This book proposes a new analysis of employment in Europe; in one set of chapters it presents the situation Training for work, funding pilot and public discussion on employment in study: International comparisons each of the countries concerned; it also Green A.; Mace J.; Steedman H. includes twelve case studies. London, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), 1994, unpaged Productivité, qualité et compétences, EN une comparaison européenne NIESR, 2 Dean Trench Street, Smith Mason G.; ARK, B.V.; Wagner K. Square, UK-London SW1P 3HE Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications (CEREQ) This report looks at five countries: USA, Paris, in: Formation emploi, 47, La Docu- United Kingdom, France, pre-unification mentation française, 1994, p. 3-21 Germany and Sweden. Areas considered ISSN 0759-6340 in detail are the organization and fund- FR ing of state-provided training, work ex- perience and job-searching activities; the This article is a comparative study of per- extent to which and the methods by which formances in the biscuit industry in four the state contracts with the providers of European countries; it reveals strong in- these activities; how funding is related to ternational differences. These differences outputs; the structure of any differential do not seem to involve modernness or funding system; evidence of the success utilization rate of equipment, but rather of output and differential funding in meet- levels of skills with regard to strategic prod- ing objectives. uct choices. The authors conclude by em- phasizing the need for further development of intermediate skills in Great Britain. L’Europe de l’emploi ou comment font les autres Bernhard Brunhes Consultants Europe’s next step: Organizational Paris, Les Editions d’Organisation, 1994, innovation, competition and employ- 296 pages ment ISBN 2-7081-1681-9 Andreasen L.E.; Coriat B.; Den Hertog F.; FR et al. Essex, Frank Cass and Company Limited, This book is the result of a broad survey 1995, 332 pages of some sixty companies, trade union / ISBN 0-7146-4151-0 (paperback) employer organizations and study organi- ISBN 0-7146-4630-X (hardback) zations carried out in six countries of the EN European Union. What are the prospects of major companies? Are they still recruit- The European economy faces a crisis of ing? How do they decide where to con- competitiveness. On the one hand the centrate their activities? How do they competitive pressures are intense: Europe manage the skills at their disposal, the is squeezed between the low-wage econo- careers of their personnel? Faced with mies of Asia, high rates of innovation and changes in international competition, productivity in Japan and the USA, and technological change, changes in con- the rising power of the Asian Newly In- sumer structures, some companies and dustrializing Economies. On the other some countries have been seeking new hand, rising unemployment and unmet solutions: they have been looking at flex- needs set an important domestic agenda ibility, polyvalence of employees, new for productivity growth. Although the new CEDEFOP 68 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

information and communication technol- ISSN 0378-6986 (en) ogies have an important role to play in DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, IT, NL, PT promoting this competitiveness, interna- tional experience shows that these tech- This proposal is a follow-up of the “White nologies require new forms of organiza- Paper on growth, competitiveness and tion if they are to be utilized effectively. employment”, and foresees actions which This has important implications for the should: a) increase the awareness of life- organization of production, R&D and hu- long learning as a key factor for employ- man resource development, not just in ment growth; b) improve the cooperation manufacturing, but also in services. It also between education and training structures affects the relationships between firms, and companies, particularly SMEs; c) in- and between the productive sector and troduce a European dimension in educa- the science, technology and educational tion and training; d) confirm the impor- systems. Everywhere the emphasis is on tance of education and training in reach- integration. This book looks at the experi- ing real equality of opportunities between ence of 13 leading-edge European com- men and women. panies drawn from the manufacturing, services and health sectors. It shows how organization has been the key to their Communication from the Commission productivity growth. It also shows that to the Council and the European Par- whilst Europe has much to learn from liament on coordination between the Japan and the USA, there is a distinctive Community and the Member States on European approach to organizational ex- education and training schemes in pertise. This has important implications developing countries for strategic policy, in these institutions European Commission themselves, but also in government at Luxembourg, in: Official Journal of the both the national and local levels. Here European Communities too, as the case studies show, Europe has ISSN 0254-1475 (en) considerable expertise on which the pro- DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, IT, NL, PT duction sector can grow. This communication gives a qualitative overview of education and training sys- Vocational and technical education in tems in the developing world. It highlights Switzerland the role of education in human develop- Wettstein E. ment. It stresses the top priority to be Deutschschweizerische Berufsbildungs- accorded to basic schooling, the value of ämter-Konferenz(DBK) long-term backing for education in the Lucerne, DBK, 1994, 53 pages relevant countries and the need to sup- ISBN 3-905406-07-1 (en) port educational planning, administration DE, EN, FR, ES, IT and reform. Moreover, it places special emphasis on the following: information This information brochure describes Swiss exchanges between the countries; regu- educational and vocational training sys- lar experts’ meetings; an annual progress tems, including continuing training. It in- report; and greater consultation with other cludes a list of useful addresses. major donors in education and training.

European Union: policies, Competitiveness, growth and job crea- tion - what contribution can education programmes, participants and training make? Reports from the 1993 Cumberland Lodge Conference Proposal for a European Parliament European Commission: Directorate-Gen- and Council Decision establishing eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth 1996 as the European Year of Lifelong (DG XXII) Learning Brussels, European Commission: DG XXII, European Commission 1994, 89 pages Luxembourg, in: Official Journal of the EN/FR (mixed version) European Communities, C 287, 7.09.1994, European Commission, DG XXII, p. 18-20 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels CEDEFOP 69 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

This conference has become an annual How to improve the possibilities of event within the framework of the Euro- involving all young people in work- pean Skills Needs Project Monitoring, ing and social life. EU Conference 17- which was set up in 1990 in response to 19 November 1993, Snekkersten, Den- the European Parliament’s request for a mark Europe-wide exchange of information on Copenhagen, The Danish Ministry of Edu- skill shortages and future skill require- cation, 1994, Volume 1: Conference Re- ments. The contributions deal with: the port, 54 pages, Volume 2: Country Papers, challenge of providing human resources 51 pages for the 1990s; creating skills the EU needs; ISBN 87-603-0440-5 (Volume 1) training and retraining policy and its ef- ISBN 87-603-0442-1 (Volume 2) fects on skill acquisition; skill needs cre- EN ated by industrial re-structuring; skills and qualifications for combating unemploy- From 17-19 November 1993, an EU Con- ment, social and economic exclusion; ference on “How to improve the pos- transparency in labour market forecast- sibilities of involving all young people in ing to facilitate training decisions. The working and social life” took place in Den- 1993 conference pointed to the need for mark. The background of the conference anticipation in a world of fast change and is the fact that out of 20 million unem- showed ways to organize it. The 1994 ployed in the EU, every third unemployed conference discussed the role human re- person is under 25 years of age. The aim sources may have to play in a European of the conference - besides mutual ex- model of development, a model which change of experience between Member would be appropriate to European cul- States - was to draw up specific proposals ture, tradition and principles and at the as to what education in itself and in inter- same time contribute to the well-being of action with other sectors could do to chan- its people and to economic and social nel all young people into working and cohesion. social life. Experts in this field coming from the Member States, the OECD, the Coun- cil of Europe and the European Commis- Cooperation in education in the sion participated in the conference. In a European Union. 1976 - 1994 separate volume, short reports (Country European Commission: Directorate-Gen- Reports) written by experts from the vari- eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth ous Member States about young peoples’ (DG XXII) situation in the different countries are pre- Luxembourg, Studies no. 5, Office for sented. Official Publications of the European Communities, 1994, 84 pages Towards a European curriculum ISBN 92-826-6005-2 (en) Employment Department EN, FR Sheffield, Employment Department, 1994, European Commission, DG XXII, unpaged 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels EN Available: Accrington and Rosendale Col- The objective of this report is to examine lege, Sandy Lane, nearly two decades of cooperation be- UK-Accrington BB5 2AW tween the Member States and Community institutions in the field of education. It Considers the issues surrounding the de- gives historical landmarks and summarizes velopment of a more Europeanized cur- the current state of cooperation after sev- riculum on the basis of the fact that the eral years of intense activity. The annexes labour market needs to be increasingly present the main legal texts and the docu- mobile and therefore requires knowledge ments which, since 1976, have formed the of other cultures. basis of community activities and pro- grammes in the field of education, train- ing and youth. A curriculum for Europe Further Education Unit (FEU) London, FEU, 1994, unpaged ISBN 1-85338-355-4 EN CEDEFOP 70 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

This report explores how current and This guide presents a brief description of anticipated changes within the EU should the three Community programmes pro- influence curriculum content. It examines posed by the European Commission for some key issues affecting qualifications, 1995-1999: “Socrates”, “Youth for Europe guidance, exchanges and international III”, and “Leonardo”. The first continues study, language learning and equal op- in the tradition of the ERASMUS and portunities. The main outcome of the re- LINGUA programmes, but with Commu- port is to define entitlement for the Euro- nity actions taking place at all teaching pean learner, offering an answer to the levels for the first time. The “Youth for question “What exactly does a European Europe III” proposal integrates into one learner need from the curriculum and how single programme all actions carried out should this be delivered? for young people until now: Youth for Europe II, the Youth Initiative projects sponsored within the framework of the The UK approach. Competitiveness PETRA programme, the youth activities of and employment the TEMPUS programme and the various Employment Department Group priority actions within the youth pro- Sheffield, Employment Department gramme. And finally, the “Leonardo” pro- Group, 1994, 16 pages posal aims at rationalizing and develop- EN, FR ing the impact of Community action in Employment Department, Moorfoot, the area of vocational training by ensur- UK-Sheffield S1 4PQ ing follow-up of Community action cur- rently based on the four programmes At the G 7 economic summit in Tokyo in PETRA, FORCE, EUROTECNET and 1993, the heads of government expressed COMETT. the wish for an “Employment” conference to explore various ways of facing high unemployment rates. This paper presents New Community initiatives: the ideas of the United Kingdom with re- gard to this conference as well as the fol- ❏ Adapt and Emploi - two Commu- low-up work of the European Commis- nity initiatives for the development of sion’s White Paper on growth, competi- human resources tiveness and employment. European Commission: Directorate-Gen- eral for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs (DG V) Council decision of 6 December 1994 Brussels, European Commission: DG V, establishing an action programme for 1994, 15 pages (Initiatives no. 1) the implementation of a European DE, EN, FR Community vocational training policy European Commission, DG V, Unit V/B/4 Luxembourg, in: Official Journal of the of the European Social Fund, Community European Communities, L 340, 29.12.1994, initiatives, 200 rue de la Loi, Office for Official Publications of the Eu- B-1049 Brussels ropean Communities, p. 8-24 This guide presents the two new initia- ISSN 0378-7060 (fr) tives adopted by the European Commis- DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, IT, NL, PT sion within the scope of the Structural Funds.

Proposals 1995 - 1999. Socrates, • ADAPT is a new Community initiative Leonardo, Youth for Europe III specially conceived to help workers adapt European Commission: Directorate-Gen- to changes in the needs of the employ- eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth ment market. ADAPT’s four interrelated (DG XXII) aims are: (1) to speed up the adaptation Brussels, European Commission: DG XXII, of work to industrial change; (2) to in- 1994, 13 pages crease competitiveness in industry, serv- DE, EN, FR ices and trade; (3) to prevent unemploy- European Commission, DG XXII, ment by improving the qualifications of 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels workers and reinforcing their flexibility and mobility; (4) to anticipate and accel- CEDEFOP 71 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

erate the creation of new jobs and activ- Quality in educational training ities, particularly in SMEs. Van den Berghe W. Ministry of the Flemish Community: De- • EMPLOI (employment and human re- partment of Education sources development) is a new Commu- Wetteren, Tilkon, 1994, 50 pages nity initiative for groups experiencing EN special difficulties on the employment Tilkon Consultancy, Kerkwegel 12a, market. The initiative has three interre- B-9230 Wetteren lated parts: Emploi-NOW and Emploi- HORIZON, which were two separate ini- The objective pursued by the author of tiatives during the preceding structural this report is to give an overview of funding period (1991-1994), and a new international experience gathered in terms part: Emploi-YOUTHSTART: of the adaptation of quality concepts in • Emploi-NOW aims at promoting equa- the fields of education and teaching. This lity of opportunities for women in em- overview covers both continuing and ini- ployment by means of innovative pilot tial training. It describes infrastructures activities likely to be transferable on a and quality standards for the various train- trans-national basis. ing systems. Furthermore, the report • Emploi-HORIZON, which also extends serves as a backdrop for activities within an initiative launched in the preceding the context of the COMETT European programme period, aims at expanding the action programme. stable employment prospects of the handi- capped and other employable disadvan- taged groups. Jahresbericht 1993 - Deutsche Koordi- • YOUTHSTART has been conceived to nierungsstelle EUROTECNET promote the integration of young people National Coordinating Office (NADU) under 20 on the employment market, par- EUROTECNET in the Bundesinstitut für ticularly those lacking qualifications or Berufsbildung (BIBB) basic skills. Bonn; Berlin, BIBB, 1994, 202 pages DE ❏ ADAPT Community Initiative. Prac- BIBB, Fehrbelliner Platz 3, tical Application Guide for Project D-10707 Berlin Managers European Commission: Directorate-Gen- The aim of the EUROTECNET programme eral for Employment, Industrial Relations is to promote innovation in initial and and Social Affairs (DG V) continuing vocational training so as to Brussels, European Commission: DG V, meet the challenge of technological 1994, 16 pages change and its effects on employment, DE, EN, ES, FR, PT work and the innovations needed. This European Commission, DG V, Unit V/B/4 annual report describes the extent of Ger- of the European Social Fund, Community many’s participation in this programme. initiatives, 200 rue de la Loi, The volume presents the 34 official B-1049 Brussels projects and gives information about other activities carried out in Germany with the ❏ EMPLOYMENT Community Initia- participation of the National Coordinat- tive. Practical Application Guide for ing Office in the 1993/94 reporting pe- Project Managers riod. European Commission: Directorate-Gen- eral for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs (DG V) Interim Report on the Force Pro- Brussels, European Commission: DG V, gramme - Action Programme for the 1994, 24 pages Development of Continuing Voca- DE, EN, ES, FR, PT tional Training in the European Com- European Commission, DG V, Unit V/B/4 munity of the European Social Fund, Community European Commission initiatives, 200 rue de la Loi, COM (94) 418 final, 13.10.1994, 23 pages B-1049 Brussels Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- tions of the European Communities, ISBN 92-77-80866-7 (en) CEDEFOP 72 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

ISSN 0254-1475 (en) pany employees. The report ends with the DA, DE, EN, ES, FR, GR, IT, NL, PT need to improve current data systems, to establish a homogeneous reading method This report is divided into two parts: a) for the various international data, to im- reports the progress made in imple- prove complementariness among national menting the activities provided for in the information systems and finally to create decision setting up the FORCE pro- a joint structure for data collection and gramme; b) contains the principal con- analysis so as to better promote coopera- clusions and recommendations of the in- tion among Member States. terim external evaluation of the FORCE programme. It should be noted that the terms of reference for this evaluation ex- The role of the social partners in con- cluded the third FORCE call for propo- tinuing vocational training of work- sals and the implementation of the Statis- ers. Brussels, 29th - 30th November tical Survey, and reports on the imple- 1993 mentation of the common framework of Flemish Government, Administration of guidelines. external relations of the Flemish Commu- nity; Ministry of the Flemish Community, Administration of Employment; FORCE. Catalogue des produits / Flemish Employment and Vocational Catalog of products / Produktkatalog. Training Service (VDAB), FORCE NCU 1991 - 1994 Brussels, VDAB, 1994, 53 pages European Commission: Directorate-Gen- DE, EN, FR, NL eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth VDAB, Keizerslaan 11, (DG XXII) B-100 Brussels Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- tions of the European Communities, no This conference report emphasizes the pagination role of the social partners in the con- ISBN 92-826-8051-7 tinuing vocational training of workers, multilingual version: DE/EN/FR both on a national and Community level, within the framework of the FORCE Eu- This catalogue lists the results of pilot ropean action programme. On the one projects and qualification projects under- hand, this role is described by means of taken in 1991 and carried out within the an evaluation of a certain number of framework of the FORCE programme’s projects relating to vocational training and trans-national partnerships. The various involving the social partners, and, on the products are presented in files; they deal other hand, activities are described in with training tools and courses, project several Member States. reports as well as study and research materials. FORCE: De voortgezette heropsop- leiding in België FORCE. Tableau de bord de la forma- van de Poele L.; Oosterlinck L. tion professionnelle continue Flemish Employment and Vocational European Commission: Directorate-Gen- Training Service (VDAB); FORCE agency; eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth Rijks Universiteit Gent (RUG) (DG XXII) Brussels, VDAB, 1993, 151 pages Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- NL tions of the European Communities, 176 VDAB, Keizerslaan 11, pages B-1000 Brussels ISBN 92-826-8713-9 FR This report on continuing vocational train- ing in Flanders, written for the European This “instrument panel”, an analysis and Community, is divided into two sections: synthesis realized within the framework the first comprises an overall description of the FORCE programme, is the result of of continuing vocational training in Flan- the Community-wide collection of data ders, including legal and financial frame- available in the early 1990s in the field of works, the training offer and trainers. The continuing vocational training for com- second section reviews measures to be CEDEFOP 73 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

taken in Flanders pursuant to the priority the aim of gaining an initial idea regard- objectives of the FORCE European action ing the type and extent of continuing programme. training activities in German companies. The results published here are based on the replies of approximately 9,300 com- Berufliche Weiterbildung in Deutsch- panies with ten or more employees in the land. Strukturen und Entwicklungen areas of manufacturing, trade, hotel and Alt C.; Sauter E.; Tilmann H. catering as well as banks and insurance Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB) companies. Berlin; Bonn, BIBB, 1994, 222 pages ISBN 3-7639-0513-8 DE HORIZON. A Community Initiative for the Vocational Integration of the Dis- This first European report on the current abled, the Disadvantaged and Migrants state and prospects of continuing train- HORIZON National Coordinating Office ing systems is being presented as a con- Bonn, 1994, no pagination sequence of the EC Council resolution on multilingual version: DE/EN/FR the FORCE action programme. In addi- Nationale Koordinierungsstelle HORIZON tion to reports from the EU Member States im Europabüro des paritätischen Wohl- prepared along common guidelines, a fahrtsverbandes, Endenicher Str. 125, European synthesis report is also planned. D-53115 Bonn This volume is the German contribution to future regular reports on continuing This record summarizes the contributions vocational training in Europe. The Fed- of the various protagonists to the Hori- eral Republic can contribute to this work zon session - a Community initiative for by virtue of its 16 years of experience at the vocational integration of the disabled, publishing a national report on vocational the disadvantaged and migrants. Debates training, which has proven its usefulness mainly dealt with trans-national coopera- as a common basis for planning by gov- tion as well as vocational and social inte- ernment agencies and the social partners. gration policies.

Berufliche Weiterbildung in Unterneh- IRIS annual report 1993 men European Commission Bechthold S.; Grünewald U. Brussels, CREW, 1994, 32 pages Bonn; Berlin, Bundesinstitut für Berufs- EN, FR bildung (BIBB), 1994, 8 pages IRIS Unit, CREW, 21 rue de la Tourelle, DE B-1040 Brussels BIBB, Fehrbelliner Platz 3, D-10707 Berlin The report reviews developments in 1993, which marked the end of the first phase With its FORCE (Formation Continue en and preparation for the second phase of Europe) action programme, the European IRIS - a European network of training Commission aims at supporting the efforts projects for women - (1994-1998). The of companies to provide more and im- main activities of the year were: the adop- proved continuing training. Efficient sup- tion by the European Parliament of a reso- port measures require reliable informa- lution on IRIS; a seminar for the social tion about the behaviour of companies in partners; an awareness-raising debate on the area of continuing training. Because women’s training for top European offi- this information is not yet available, sur- cials; a partnership seminar; and exchange veys of companies are being conducted visits among IRIS members. in all twelve Member States of the Euro- pean Union; in Germany, this survey is being conducted by the Federal Bureau PETRA. Training for Europe 2002 of Statistics in cooperation with the Fed- Conference reader, Biehler-Baudisch (ed.) eral Institute for Vocational Training Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB) (BIBB). The brochure gives information Berlin, BIBB, 1994, 86 pages on the results of the written preliminary ISBN 3-88555-569-7 (de) survey, which was held in late 1993 with DE, EN CEDEFOP 74 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

The PETRA programme includes coopera- source Centres are classified according to tion projects from Denmark, Germany, countries; the information given for each Great Britain and Luxembourg in the field includes: structure, information topics of vocational training for environmental dealt with at the Centre and means of jobs. In March 1994, the protagonists of diffusion; existing trans-national coopera- these projects met at a conference held tion; 1993/94 programme of activities. at the European Environmental Academy in Borken to discuss aspects and pros- pects of vocational training for environ- Durchführung von EC-Bildungspro- mental jobs. The brochure reports on the grammen in Deutschland experience gathered in these projects at German Federal Ministry for Education the time of transition from development and Science (BMBW) to dissemination phase. It presents indi- Bad Honnef, K.H. Bock Verlag, 1994, 166 vidual projects, reprints conference lec- pages + Annex (Studien Bildung Wissen- tures and reports on results of working schaft, volume 120) group discussions. An annex presents ISBN 3-87066-731-1 details of the module on “Electro- DE technicians and the environment”. This study examines the various pro- grammes and organizational forms initi- Handbook for Guidance Counsellors ated and promoted by the European Un- European Commission: Directorate-Gen- ion. The Federal Republic of Germany has eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth an efficient structure to implement pro- (DG XXII) - PETRA grammes in the fields of general educa- Luxembourg, Office for Official Publica- tion and vocational training, with both the tions of the European Communities, 1994, federal and state governments endeavour- 409 pages ing to ensure the participation of German ISBN 92-826-7990-X (en) institutions in common measures and to EN (currently being published for other derive the greatest possible advantage EU languages) from such activity. This study and the day- to-day cooperation in the implementation This handbook has been prepared for and preparation of European Union meas- youth counsellors. It presents a short de- ures have developed new partnerships scription of initial education systems between the German states, the federal (school and vocational training) and a government and the European Union, but description of the world of work for each also between educational institutions and Member State. It lists sources of informa- implementing agencies on national and tion and data banks on a Community European levels. level, counselling institutions and agen- cies, and the main guidebooks listing the various training streams. Evaluation of the Euroqualification Programme Homs O. Catalogue of national guidance re- Centre d’Iniciatives i Recerques Europees source centres a la Meditarrania (CIREM) European Commission: Directorate-Gen- Barcelona, CIREM, 1993, 31 pages eral XXII - Education, Training and Youth EN (DG XXII) CIREM, c/Bruc, 114, Ir, 2a, Brussels, European Commission: DG XXII, E-08009 Barcelona 1994, 101 pages DE, EN, FR This report examines the management and European Commission, DG XXII, the external cohesion of the EURO- 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels QUALIFICATION Programme, a joint ini- tiative of 13 national organizations for This report reports on the establishment adult vocational training and qualifications of National Resource Centres within the in the EU Member States. It gives an in- framework of Action III of the PETRA pro- depth evaluation of the progress of ac- gramme, an activity aimed specifically at tivities and development of the pro- vocational guidance. The National Re- gramme in Spain and Portugal. The re- CEDEFOP 75 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

port is based on analysis of the documents aspect of cooperation are also examined. produced to date and on interviews with Results are presented as the capitalization experts responsible for the programme of synergetical effects. and other associated organizations.

European Meeting on Education in Les entreprises face à l’Europe. Euro- Business Organizations. Charleville techniciens Mézières, 5th-6th May 1994 Dupeyron A. Stages EuropéenS en Alternance dans les Réseau d’Appui et de Capitalisation des Métiers (SESAM) Innovations Européennes (RACINE) Paris, SESAM, 1994, 18 pages + Annex Paris, Racine éditions, La documentation DE, EN, FR française, 1994, 124 pages SESAM, 6 rue de Braque, F-75003 Paris FR RACINE, 18 rue Friant, This European colloquium was organized F-75014 Paris by SESAM (Stages Européens en Alter- nance dans les Métiers), an initiative of Structured as an international holding, the French Ministry of Commerce and EUROCOPTER offers alternance training Crafts established in 1989 to promote the for Eurotechnicians who will then be able vocational integration of young European to exercise their skills in Germany, France crafts people by preparing them to face and Portugal. After presenting the com- the changes which will result from the pany and its industrial strategy, this book single domestic market. The report describes its policy and training plan, presents a summary of the main discus- analyzing in particular the Eurotechnician sion points on the promotion of appren- project, its dimension of European mo- ticeship and vocational mobility in the bility, its pedagogical organization, follow- craft trades and in European SMEs as well up mechanisms and certification as on dialogue among the partners from modalities. The support offered to Euro- education systems and professional cir- pean programmes and the trans-national cles in the European Union.

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From the Member States

Institutionen-Handbuch ternal organization of the institution, of D Arbeitsmarkt und Beruf developing novel collaborative structures Gaworek-Behringer M. and, not least, the need to change the Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufs- pedagogical organization of courses to forschung der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit meet the specific requirements of learn- (InstDokAB) ing supported by technology. Nuremberg, InstDokAB, 1994, multiple pages DE Regional policy and innovation: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufs- F A French-style dual system? forschung der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit Bertrand O.; Durand Drouhin M.; (IAB), Regensburger Strasse 104, Romani C. D-90327 Nuremberg Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur l’Emploi et les Qualifications (CEREQ) All the German institutions included in Marseille, in: Training and Employment, this handbook are associated with labour 17, 1994, p. 1-4 market or occupational research issues. ISSN 1156-2366 they include political, scientific and re- EN search, administrative and professional institutions, ministries and trade unions, For some, the dual system is a model, for etc. Each entry includes information on others, a structure specific to German the type of organization, its activities, part- society; whatever the case, its example nerships, staff, foundation year, name of has brought alternating school-company director(s), as well as the address, tele- training to the fore of the French debate phone and telefax numbers. on the training-employment relationship. In 1988, in the context of the recent de- centralization, the Rhône-Alpes region Technology-supported chose to promote an original policy for DK Learning (Distance the development of alternating training Learning). Report No. 1252 based on close cooperation between the Copenhagen, The Danish Ministry of Edu- occupational branches and the national cation, 1994, 156 pages educational system. Although its quanti- ISBN 87-603-0415-4 tative impact still remains limited, this EN “cooperative apprenticeship” nonetheless Undervisningsministeries forlag, demonstrates the feasibility of innovative Frederiksholms Kanal 25F, approaches to the training-employment DK-1220 København K relationship. However, the establishment of clear rules for the different partners In 1992, the Danish Ministry of Education remains an obstacle to its continued ex- set up an expert committee with the aim pansion. of studying the impact of new technolo- gies on the education system and the or- ganization of courses. The main report of New directions for vocational educa- the White Paper from July 1993 has been tion in France? translated into English. The White Paper Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur describes a number of models for the l’Emploi et les Qualifications (CEREQ) planning and delivery of education with Marseille, in: Training and Employment, the support of technology. It deals with 15, 1994, p. 1-4 the economic issues of both traditional ISSN 1156-2366 and technology-supported learning pro- EN visions at present, and projections for a ten-year period. Finally the report empha- Seen from abroad, the French system of sizes the importance of adapting the in- vocational training generally raises a cer- CEDEFOP 77 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

tain number of questions, notably con- De la compétence: essai sur un cerning the confused and inconsistent use attracteur étrange of the terms “technical”, “technological” Le Boterf G. and “vocational”; the importance attached Paris, Editions d’Organisation, 1994, 176 to diplomas even though these do not lead pages to well-established recognition in the oc- ISBN 2-7081-1753-X cupational fields concerned; and, because FR of the crisis in youth employment, the proliferation of organisms involved and Competence is a strange concept: the dif- measures proposed. These different issues ficulty in defining it grows with the need emerge as part of the same system when to use it. This book is an essay on the examined in the context of the educa- notion of competence, a concept currently tional policy choices of recent decades. taking shape and gradually becoming omnipresent in the corporate world. The author theorizes on several aspects: what Les métiers de la formation, contribu- is competence? As a skill, is it different tion de la recherche, état des pratiques from the know-how which constitutes it? et étude bibliographique Is there a cognitive dynamic element which Centre pour le développement de is particular to competence? What is col- l’INFormation sur la FOrmation perma- lective competence? Is there an ergonomic nente (Centre INFFO); element in the implementation of compe- Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers tence? Who should recognize it, and how? (CNAM); Université Lille III Charles de Gaulle Paris, La Documentation française, 1994, Vocational qualification 319 pages UK in England, Wales and ISBN 2-11-003096-8 Northern Ireland FR National Council for Vocational Qualifi- cation (NCVQ) This book reviews discussions and prac- London, NCVQ, 1994, 13 pages tices in training professions since 1971 and DE, EN, FR proposes a commented reading of the NCVQ Communications Division, main bibliographical references. The 222 Euston Road, UK-London NW1 2B many contributions it includes are divided into five parts: the first establishes the The NCVQ (National Council for Voca- context of the emergence of training pro- tional Qualification) publishes this infor- fessions; the next analyzes their develop- mation brochure on the reform of the ment and evolution; the third sheds light qualification system in England, Wales and on steps, methods and tools used by train- Northern Ireland. The recent reforms pre- ers; the fourth proposes a categorial and sented here are related to NVQs (national institutional approach; and the last part vocational qualifications) and GNVQs presents a few training paths for trainers (general national vocational qualifica- within the European context. tions).

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Bilan de Compétences: efficacité Développer et intégrer la formation personnelle. 20 tests d’auto-évaluation en entreprise et conseils personnalisés Sonntag M. Couchaere M.-J. Rueil-Malmaison, Editions Liaisions (EL), fice Editions Liaison (EL), Collection 1994, 224 pages EXOTHEQUE ISBN 2-87880-106-7 Rueil-Malmaison, Editions Liaisions (EL), ISSN 1158-470X Collection EXOTHEQUE, 1994, 176 pages FR ISBN 2-87880-107-5 ISSN 1159-6910 FR

Strategic alliances and process rede- L’enseignement professionnel. Quel sign. Effective management and re- avenir pour les jeunes? structuring of cooperative projects Agulhon C. and networks Paris, Les Editions de l’Atelier / Les Edi- Gerybadze A. tions Ouvrières, 1994, 272 pages Berlin; New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1995, ISBN 2-7082-3113-8 314 pages FR ISBN 3-11-013989-8 EN eceived by the editorial of Publications r

CEDEFOP 79 VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO. 4 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Members of CEDEFOP’s documentary network

B F CENTRE INFFO L

VDAB (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeids- Centre INFFO (Centre pour le dévelop- Chambre des Métiers du G.-D. de bemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding pement de l’information sur la Luxembourg ICODOC (Intercommunautair Documen- formation permanente) 2, Circuit de la Foire internationale tatiecentrum voor Beroepsopleiding Christine Merllié Ted Mathgen Frédéric Geers Tour Europe Cedex 07 B.P. 1604 (Kirchberg) FOREM (Office communautaire et F-92049 Paris la Défense L-1016 Luxembourg régional de la formation professionnelle Tel. 331+41252222 Tel. 352+4267671 et de l’emploi) Fax 331+47737420 Fax 352+426787 CIDOC (Centre intercommunautaire de documentation pour la formation professionnelle) Jean-Pierre Grandjean Bd. de l’Empereur 11, B-1000 Bruxelles Tel. 322+502 50 01; Fax 322+502 54 74 D GR NL

BIBB (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung) OEEK (Organization for Vocational C.I.B.B. (Centrum Innovatie Beroeps- Referat K4 Education and Training onderwijs Bedrijfsleven) Bernd Christopher Catherine Georgopoulou Gerry Spronk Klaus-Detlef R. Breuer 1, Ilioupoleos Street Postbus 1585 Fehrbelliner Platz 3, D-10702 Berlin 17236 Ymittos NL-5200 BP ‘s-Hertogenbosch Tel. 4930+864 32 230 (B. Christopher) GR-Athens Tel. 3173+124011 4930+864 32 445 (K.-D. Breuer) Tel. 301+925 05 93 Fax 3173+123425 Fax 4930+864 32 607 Fax 301+925 44 84

DK I S P

SEL (Statens Erhvervspædagogiske ISFOL (Istituto per lo sviluppo della SICT (Servico de Informação Cientifica e Læreruddannelse) formazione professionale dei lavoratori) Técnica) Søren Nielsen Alfredo Tamborlini Maria Odete Lopes dos Santos Merete Heins Colombo Conti Fatima Hora Rigensgade 13, DK-1316 København K Via Morgagni 33, I-00161 Roma Praça de Londres, 2-1° Andar Tel. 4533+144114 ext. 317/301 Tel. 396+445901 P-1091 Lisboa Codex Fax 4533+144214 Fax 396+8845883 Tel. 3511+8496628, Fax 3511+806171 E IRL UK

INEM (Instituto Nacional de Empleo) FAS - The Training and Employment IPD (Institute of Personnel and Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social Authority Development) Isaias Largo Margaret Carey Simon Rex María Luz de las Cuevas P.O. Box 456 IPD House, Camp Road Condesa de Venadito, 9 27-33, Upper Baggot Street UK-London SW19 4UX E-28027 Madrid IRL-Dublin 4 Tel. 44181+946 91 00 Tel. 341+585 95 80; Fax 341+377 58 87 Tel. 3531+6685777; Fax 3531+6609093 Fax 44181+947 25 70

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