In the framework of European countries' cooperation on VET and lifelong learning, Cedefop monitors, analyses and reports on countries' priorities and activities. Cedefop's role in the process is pivotal: it gathers the necessary national information through its network of expertise spanning all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, ReferNet, and…

This report presents the results of the 2023 data collection on the structural indicators for monitoring education and training systems in the area of digital competence. The report contains six indicators on key policies in the following areas: 1. curriculum, 2. teachers, 3. assessment, 4. the digital education ecosystem. The paper contains…

The article addresses the actual and perceived roles of national organisations and bodies, such as language "academies" or "councils", in recent history. In particular, the article seeks to shed light on the question what may prompt national governments in modernity and late modernity to establish and fund such bodies to…

This presentation describes the development of an Icelandic school for students in grades 1-10. The school is based on the needs of students, their families, their communities, and their country. The process for making decisions about the new schools is called "design down," which refers to starting with the biggest issues and moving…

Judging by their literacy proficiency scores, Nordic countries stand out from others. Their consistently high scores are intriguing and make their populations interesting benchmarks for other countries that participated in the International Adult Literacy Survey. This article addresses the question of whether there are any specific…

"On the day we heard that there was agreement to establish an upper secondary school in the region, every house in Snaefellsnes flew the Icelandic flag," explained one parent in the first workshop to develop the Snaefellsnes Upper Secondary School. The new school in this rural Icelandic region will be a "meeting place to learn"…

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,…