Vocational education and training (VET) in transition

Annex B. Background questionnaire

Background

The information collected through this questionnaire will contribute to the OECD project on Vocational Education and Training (VET) and the green transition. The project aims to assist countries in adapting VET design and delivery to the skill needs for the green transition and enabling VET to be a catalyst for the green transition.

The project was launched following discussions in the Group of National Experts (GNE) on VET, where the topic was identified as a priority for VET-related future work of the OECD. The project was also presented at and received an endorsement by the Education Policy Committee in November last year, demonstrating the significance of the issue on policy agendas of many governments.

The project’s primary goal is to gather evidence on the implications of the green transition for VET, employing cross-country data analysis and collecting relevant policy examples. This questionnaire is a tool for gathering information on countries’ approaches to VET within the context of the green transition. This includes information on challenges countries face in preparing VET for the green transition and solutions developed to address them.

The questionnaire is distributed to all countries participating in the GNE on VET to ensure a comprehensive representation of diverse perspectives and countries’ practices, facilitating cross-country comparison and peer learning.

We thank you in advance for your collaboration

Instructions

VET systems typically feature more than one vocational programme. In providing your answers, please indicate to which programme/s the answer applies. Please provide the name of the programme (in the national language and English) and the corresponding International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level. Please provide information on VET programmes that are situated at ISCED level 3-5.

The questionnaire includes a range of questions requiring a short answer or a longer description of relevant policies. In the case of the latter, a link to relevant material, including in the national language, may suffice. Supporting documents may also be sent together with your response to this questionnaire.

As the responsibility for VET often sits with various departments, this questionnaire may need to be shared with various colleagues to gather the necessary information. We appreciate your efforts to gather the information from various sources. If possible, we would like to receive one completed questionnaire that brings together all the inputs.

Please send back this questionnaire to Malgorzata Kuczera, Analyst - VET and Adult Learning, OECD Centre for Skills, [e-mail] before 10 May 2024. Any questions regarding the questionnaire can also be addressed to Malgorzata.

Please provide your contact details below, so that we can ask for clarifications if needed:

Name:

Country:

Institution:

Function:

Email:

Terms used in the questionnaire

• Green transition: according to the United Nations, the green transition, or a green/greening economy, is the process of reconfiguring businesses and infrastructure to deliver better returns on investment or natural, human and economic capital, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions, extracting and using fewer natural resources, creating less waste and reducing social disparities.1

• Green economy: economic activity related to reducing the use of fossil fuels, decreasing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the efficiency of energy usage, recycling materials, and developing and adopting renewable sources of energy.2

• Skills for the green transition: include skills and competences but also knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live, work and act in resource-efficient and sustainable economies and societies. These include technical skills required to adapt or implement standards, processes, services, products and technologies to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, and to reduce energy, materials and water consumption. Such technical skills can be occupation-specific or cross-sectoral. Skills for the green transition also include transversal sustainability skills.3

• Sustainability skills: linked to sustainable thinking and acting, relevant to work (in all economic sectors and occupations) and life.4 For instance, individuals, recognising the need to reduce energy consumption, may adjust their lifestyle to diminish their energy usage while favouring renewable sources of energy. These skills find applicability in every aspect of life.

Questionnaire

Identifying skill needs related to the green transition

Are there any exercises in place in your country to assess current and future skill needs related to the green transition (at the national, regional and/or sectoral level)?

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Do not know

If yes:

• Who is involved in those exercises, what data and methods are used?

• How does the VET system use the information coming from such exercises?

Updating VET qualifications and content of VET programmes

Are VET qualifications for jobs contributing to the green economy developed / updated in a similar way as other VET qualifications?

☐ Yes

☐ No (please specify how they differ)

☐ Do not know

Do you consider that VET programmes/qualifications are updated or created frequently enough to address the demand for skills for the green transition?

☐ Yes

☐ To some extent (please specify ...)

☐ No

☐ Do not know

How long does it currently take to develop a full or partial vocational qualification?

(if you replied ‘yes’ to the previous question, please focus on VET qualifications preparing for the green transition)

What (approx.) share of existing VET programmes has been updated in recent years to reflect the use of green technologies and/or work practices? In which fields/sectors has this been most common?

How much of the curriculum is defined locally? And how do VET providers decide on the locally defined content? (if you replied ‘yes’ to the previous question, please focus on VET qualifications preparing for the green transition)

What are the obstacles to a timely update of VET qualifications?

Modularisation and microcrocredentials as a tool for providing skills for the green transition

Are microcredentials/units of VET qualifications (as compared to full qualifications) being used to facilitate acquisition of skills for the green transition?

☐ Yes

☐ No

☐ Do not know

☐ Does not apply (no microcredentials/modularisation in the country)

If yes:

• When was this opportunity introduced?

• What are the challenges in providing units of qualifications versus full qualifications?

• What has been the take up of units/microcredentials over time?

• Where are they the most commonly used?

  • In which sector, e.g. construction, health:

  • At what level, e.g. upper secondary, post-secondary VET:

  • By whom, e.g. young, adult learners:

Guidance and information on education and training opportunities

Are there dedicated guidance services and information available to adults who need retraining as a result of the green transition (e.g. a car mechanic who envisages to work with electric cars, a mining worker who wishes to change career and become an electric car mechanic)?

☐ Yes, there are specific services focusing on career changes/retraining for the green transition

☐ Yes, they are part of more general guidance and information

☐ No

☐ Do not know

Who is responsible for providing information and guidance on upskilling and reskilling to adults and how is it provided?

Provision of VET programmes:

What challenges does the green transition pose to the provision of VET programmes?

☐ VET teachers’ skills and knowledge not up to date

☐ Workshop equipment not aligned with greener technologies/working methods

☐ Limited collaboration between VET institutions and employers that are leading the way in the green transition

☐ Training content/design not suited for the upskilling and reskilling needs of adults

☐ Other, please specify:

What measures have been introduced to address the challenges identified above?

Sustainability skills in VET programmes:

How are the sustainability skills included in VET programmes?

☐ Mandatory, in all VET programmes

☐ On a voluntary basis: their inclusion differs across institutions, programmes

☐ Are not included

☐ Do not know

If they are included on a mandatory/voluntary basis, how are they provided?

☐ Provided as a separate subject

☐ Integrated in other subjects (e.g. students learn about global warming and its consequences in science classes, and about recycling technologies and methods during their VET courses)

☐ Do not know

What are the opportunities for VET students to develop sustainability skills in different settings: school, workshop, employer providing training?

Final comments

Do you have any final comments or information to share with us?

Notes

← 1.  UNEP; ILO; IOE; ITUC (2008), Green Jobs: Towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/documents/publication/wcms_158727.pdf

← 2.  US Occupational Information Network (O*NET).

← 3.  Based on the definitions of the members of the IAG-TVET working group on WBL, as agreed in 2022. Inter-Agency Working Group on Work-Based Learning (nd), WBL and the green transition, www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/2232_en_0.pdf.

← 4.  Based on the definitions of the members of the IAG-TVET working group on WBL, as agreed in 2022. Inter-Agency Working Group on Work-Based Learning (nd), WBL and the green transition, www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/2232_en_0.pdf.