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…

No strong tradition of establishing worker skill standards exists in the United States. The private and public sectors are still struggling with the language used to describe skills necessary for success in the workplace and with the emphasis that should be placed on job-specific and general skills. Information for this paper was obtained…

This issue focuses on the National Alliance of Business's work with employers to sort out how certificates can most effectively indicate workplace skills and requirements and confirm that certified individuals possess them. "Skills Certificates Signal Competencies in a Demand-Driven Economy" discusses the needs to which certificates respond; how…

In both France and Germany, the government, employers' organizations, and unions all participate in defining vocational diplomas based on a national framework of procedures of elaborating and standardizing titles. Important differences between the diploma definition processes in France and Germany may be identified. In Germany, the issue is…

This framework was developed using results of a 1995 business partnership survey, a survey of over 9,000 Albertans (800 responses), and discussion of recommendations by a forum of approximately 140 Albertans. The surveys and discussion focused on ways in which business and schools could work together to provide the best possible education for…

The problem of determining whether to award credit for training offered through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program and what credentials to offer is addressed as part of the American Council on Education's Higher Education/CETA Project, which was supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. In…

U.S. business, labor, and public policy representatives visited Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland to study the roles of their counterparts in school-to-work systems. They identified these common strengths: education viewed as an economic investment tool by all partners; strong partnerships of business, labor, and government; voluntary national,…

From preservation of historical monuments to repair of existing buildings, architectural heritage seems to be a market with a future for France's building industry. The public's enthusiasm, along with greater appreciation of the "value" of cultural goods and their integration into a framework of economic development offer a favorable…

Among the many changes occurring in European society, three "factors of upheaval" are particularly important: the information society, internationalization, and the scientific and technical fields. Education and training can provide two possible solutions to eliminate their pernicious effects. The first involves reintroducing the merits…

An intrinsic part of the transition to a modern market economy in Hungary has been the restructuring of the vocational education and training (VET) system. A positive side effect of the socioeconomic transition is the emergence of human resources development (HRD). The transition process has been successful in the school-based education system,…

This report presents final proposals of five transition groups that gave shape to the recommendations of the Australian National Training Authority Ministerial Council relating to bringing training providers and their clients more closely together. Section 2 discusses simplifying processes and structures, through national structures, closer…

These 43 conference papers on vocational education and training (VET) markets are grouped under three broad themes describing them. Sixteen papers deal with the VET product and providers: "The VET Market" (Kemp); "Market Frameworks in VET" (FitzGerald); "The New Zealand Market Approach" (Barker); "An Economic…

This book provides a policy update on the school-to-work (STW) transition in a wide range of countries. Fourteen chapters give a comprehensive overview of the main issues in policy formulation and a detailed consideration of how policies have been considered and implemented in those countries. The chapters are: "Introduction: STW Policies in…

The foundations of Iceland's vocational education and training (VET) system were laid in the last quarter of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century. Many components of Iceland's VET system are based on Danish models. Most development of VET in Iceland occurred in 1966-1990. Iceland's Act of Vocational Education was passed in 1966,…

Developments in vocational education and training (VET) in Tanzania and Zimbabwe since the 1980s were examined in the context of economic reform. Formal VET provision in each country's public and private sectors was reviewed, and case studies of one firm in each country's manufacturing and tourism industries were conducted. The research identified…