Higher education within the USA is increasingly perceived to be in a state of crisis. This crisis exposes the USA and its citizens to risks that spell out disaster whether it is from a loss of national global competitiveness, a reduction in the standard of living and/or deep challenges to social cohesion. The suggested remedy to this condition is…

In 2000, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the programme "Learning Regions--Providing Support for Networks'" in cooperation with the Lander. It was co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). Some 90 regions were selected and financially supported. After one year, 71 regions continued to build-up…

The 1980s saw recession and substantial levels of unemployment in developed countries, followed by increasing globalisation of trade and an intensification of international economic competition. As a result of these pressures, a "restructuring" of industry seemed an imperative in a number of developed countries in the late 1980s. As this economic…

The ninth meeting of CEDEFOP (French acronym for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) is summarized in this report. Attending the forum were representatives of the leading vocational training research and development institutions and ministerial departments from the European Community (EC) Member States and from…

A study was made of the state of apprenticeship in France, using data gathered through telephone interviews with apprentices. Of a targeted group of 6,000 young apprentices, 70% participated in the survey. The study found that, until recently, apprenticeships had generally been used in France to train students in manual trades. During the past 10…

Three major models of vocational education and training provision for the 16- to 19-year-old age group have been identified: schooling model, which emphasizes full-time schooling until age 18; dual model, which involves mainly work-based apprenticeship training with some school-based general education; and mixed model. Germany is an exemplar of…

Discusses the central thesis of Torsten Husen's book, "The School in Question." Husen maintains that the postindustrial society appreciates outstanding abilities above all and relies on the school system to determine these abilities. Negative effects of reduction of inequalities in schooling are also discussed. (KC)

This issue focuses on the various forms that secondary technical and vocational education takes in different European Community Member States. "The Future for Skilled Workers" is an interview with Burkart Lutz, a German researcher. Other articles are as follows: "Contradictions in Technical and Vocational Education: The…

This volume analyzes the literature in the field of education and work and establishes an institutional and intellectual cartography for three countries. It examines the multiple connections between education and work, through an analysis of the literature on the transition from school to work, on vocational training, and on the labor market. It…

The public sector is becoming less concerned with who is providing a given service but more concerned about the quality, reliability, accessibility, and price of the service. In vocational education and training (VET), one consequence of this transformation is that the various public stakeholders involved with funding, purchasing, and providing…

This discussion paper focuses attention on the interrelationship between two issues--the unsatisfactory performance of New Zealand's economic system and slow changes in its education system--by examining the role of education and training in economic performance and development. It analyzes the views of a representative group of leaders across a…

Questions about work and learning have arisen from the growing emphasis on learning throughout life and beyond formal educational settings. Technical and further education and technological universities are seen as being in crisis, partly as a consequence of the emergence of new knowledge discourses that have disturbed traditional ideas about what…

The dual job training system in Germany is an essential market parameter of the country's economy and a part of the country's growth policy. By improving human capital (by providing training in high-tech sectors) it will also help safeguard Germany's future as a major industrial nation. Training primarily takes place in handicraft and industrial…

For the last 15 years, a series of policy initiatives have advocated for development of employability skills by young and unemployed people in the United Kingdom. The call for these employability skills has been championed by these two distinct but related movements: the Key Skills Development Movement (KSDM) and the Enterprising Skills…

Institutional and association administrators from developed and developing countries identify problems in the futures of institutions in their own and other countries, including educational finance, sustaining current progress, developing instructional and research capacities, educational relevance, international scholarly and student exchange,…