Send Print Tweet

09/01/2013 - Switzerland should reform its funding arrangements for professional education and training system by implementing a new intercantonal funding agreement, and piloting additional funding measures, according to a new OECD report.

Skills beyond School: Switzerland says that stronger postsecondary programmes will help to meet the rising demand for higher level technical and professional skills.

Switzerland’s widely admired professional education and training system can build on its many strengths: a strong apprenticeship system provides a robust foundation for postsecondary training; employers are very fully engaged in the system; and the qualifications provided are very well recognized and rewarded by industry.

Among the OECD’s recommendations on professional education and training are that Switzerland should:

• Collect and disseminate better information from training providers on course quality and costs. Encourage industry self-regulation of preparatory courses for professional exams.
• Further improve permeability between professional education and training and academic tertiary education; and strengthen international network building.
• Encourage a stronger emphasis on numeracy and literacy in professional colleges.
  
  

Switzerland is one of around 20 OECD countries to undergo a review of its postsecondary vocational training system.

For further information, journalists are invited to contact Simon Field (tel. +33 6 11 32 90 11).

For more information: www.oecd.org/education/VET.