A strong VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good…

To meet the requirements of an increasingly innovative and competitive environment, workers need to continuously develop and maintain competence. Consequently, initial vocational education and training should prepare (future) workers by providing a basis for lifelong learning in developing both routine and flexible competence. The question is…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to help schools for vocational education determine teachers' continuing professional development needs associated with implementing competence-based education programs, so that these schools can develop better attuned HR policies. It investigates which elements from the cognitive apprenticeship model and…

This paper examines the relationship between a firm's training motives and the quality of apprenticeship training. Data on training quality and training motives are obtained by interviewing former apprentices. The paper employs a novel measure for training quality based on subjective survey data on the firm's training effort. It is found that…

Discusses outcomes of two small scale sets of interviews carried out in the Netherlands and England. Outlines views about and interpretation of work-based education routes for adolescents. Examines the Netherland's highly respected vocational route. Compares it to England's apprenticeship model, which is not held in high esteem. (CAJ)