In the face of chronic youth unemployment, decision makers in many countries are questioning the role and effectiveness of alternance between school-based vocational training and in-company work experience. This notion applies to three very different realities: training courses offered as an alternative to traditional school-based training for…

The German education system is the responsibility of the 16 federal states. The federal government plays the leading role in regularizing the on-the-job section of occupational training in the dual system. Other forms of occupational training are full-time vocational schools and further full-time vocational training schools. The on-the-job part of…

A study compared 17 European countries' initial and continuing vocational training systems. Two kinds of continuing training (CT)--that which is initiated by the employer and that which is intiated by the individual--provide an indicator for comparing the different situations observed throughout the European Community. The two forms are mutually…