The six essential points to strengthen vocational education and training:
1. Vocational education and training: an efficient high-grade system.
1. The position of vocational education and training in the context of the whole educational system of a nation must be clearly defined and its strategic importance reaffirmed. 2. The educational system must guarantee on the one hand the transition of young people from the system of general education into the professional life by providing them with professional competences, and on the other hand the continuation of the holistic educational process of the individual. The task of the national vocational education and training system is not therefore confined to guarantee the training of qualified workers: it must also equip these workers with a minimum measure of professional autonomy and ensure that they are able to assume their full role as contributing members of the community. 3. Furthermore, it has to offer the chance to carry out studies in higher education.
2. Appreciation of the teachers.
1. The social appreciation of the teachers within a national vocational education and training system must correspond to the complex qualification job of the vocational education and training system. The teachers of the national vocational education and training system make a decisive contribution to the power of the economic system and to the overall level of education. This high responsibility of the teachers must be taken into account in the form of adequate payment, working time and working conditions. 2. The teacher profession on the whole must be arranged so attractively, that this is desirable for the coming generations. The initial teacher training must be of equal quality in general education and vocational education and training, and must do justice according to the up to date claims of a nation concerning the educational system.
3. Free choice of occupation.
1. A modern system of vocational education and training accepts the right of young people to a free choice of vocational education and training. It must therefore provide an adequate number of training places within the educational system of a country, within the economy and teachers within the school system. 2. The public group responsibility for the training places can be shared with the economical system, but can't be the responsibility of this sole system. The right to quality, transferable vocational education and training must be undertaken and guaranteed by the state.
4. Accreditation of qualifications and degrees.
1. It is crucial in an increasingly global business world that the vocational qualifications and degrees are approved without any restrictions on the labour market of an economical area like EU, for example. 2. Vocational qualifications and degrees must also offer the chance to young people to complete their studies in higher and further education, and must be nationally and internationally approved.
5. Vocational education and training: a holistic educational system.
1. Vocational education is an important element in the personal development of every individual. It must therefore include the acquisition of sufficiently general job related competences to ensure a minimum measure of autonomy in a constantly changing world of work, as well as the acquisition and further development of a sound general education. It is therefore totally different from "training-on-the-job" which only aims at mechanistic contents and skills that are instantly usable in the workplace. 2. One of the aims of vocational education and training is to provide a job to the individual, another is to enable them to take an active part in social life. 3. For today's students to be successful, they must master core academic subjects, along with the 21st century skills of the Internet and related technologies (computers, personal data assistants, mobile phones, etc.). In the broader academic sense, they must become critical thinkers, problem solvers, effective communicators, innovators, and collaborators. Career and technical education engages students and ensures a skilled workforce equipped to compete in a global economy. Career based programs increase content relevance and help students understand abstract academic concepts and how to apply them to real-world problems. Career technical education also provides students with connections to higher education, business, and industry.
6. Educational footbridges and the possibility of carrying out studies.
1. Vocational education and training must offer the possibility of getting certified qualifying degrees of different levels. It must also create educational footbridges between these levels and offer the possibility to young people to carry out their studies within the occupation system and to get higher education degrees. Higher education and university provision must be sufficiently responsive to enable young vocational education leavers to achieve academic success