VET in Flanders and modularisation

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VET in Flanders and modularisation
Katleen De Rick Project Manager
Copenhagen March 2006
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1. VET in the Flemish education system

• Compulsory education
• Until the age of 16 full-time education is
  compulsory
• Until the age of 18 part-time education is
  compulsory
• ? part-time education is always vocational
  education

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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• 3 possibilities for VET
• Full-time vocational education
• 6 years ? certificate
• 7 years ? diploma
• Part-time vocational education
• Certificate of study
• Certificate of qualification
• Apprenticeship training (Flemish Institute for
  Entrepreneurship)
• Certificate

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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2. Modular systems in VET

• Introduced as experiment in 2000-2001
• In full-time and in part-time vocational
  education
• Initiative taken by the government (department of
  education)
• Evaluation quantitative and qualitative
• 2007 decision to prolongate or not

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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3. Young people in part-time vocational education

• 6 400 students
• ( 1.5 of the students in secondary education)
• Target group
• all youngsters who want an alternative for
  full-time education
• In practice
• youngsters at risk (psychological problems,
  social problems, ...)

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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4. Structure of part-time vocational education

• Compulsory
• 15 hours of study per week ( 2 days) in the
  centre for part-time vocational education
• General, technical and vocational training
• Not compulsory but recommended
• Situated learning

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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5. Major problems

• Non-attendance in the study programme
• Only half of the pupils in work
• Causes
• Characteristics of the students
• Employers not interested
• Legal difficulties

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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• Characteristics of the students
• Not mature enough to work
• Not making choices no plan for the future
• Difficult profile (migrant, underprivileged, )
• Unwillingness, lack of motivation
• Employers
• Not willing to recruit youngsters from part-time
  voc. education
• Unsufficient guidance on the shop floor
• Legal obstacles
• Differents systems with different financial
  implications
• Centres for part-time education are not obliged
  to help young people to find a job

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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6. Solutions

• Pre-vocational programmes
• Pre-paths ? motivation, basic attitudes, basic
  skills
• Bridging projects ? basic work skills, social
  skills
• Modularisation
• To diminish unqualified school-leaving
• Collaboration between education and labour market
• Experience of succes well-being
• Preparation for lifelong learning

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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7. Points of interest

• Recognition of credits by employers
• Involvement of employers in the development of
  modules
• The ultimate aim is a full qualification
• Transitions between different educational and
  training systems

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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8. Employers experiences with modules(first
impressions)

• Little awareness of the experiment with modules
• Tasks for the student are determined by the
  school programme (unless it is dealt with in a
  flexible way)
• (on the other hand this can lead to a higher
  quality of the training from the students point
  of view)
• Variety of tasks within a module becomes limited
  (but in practice centres often try to be
  flexible)
• Competences as determined by the module are not
  often used as a guiding principle during work
• Modules have less significance then the
  discipline
• Instant returns often come first, no matter what
  the module includes
• Little or no value is attached to the credits

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)
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9. Some preliminary conclusions

• Flexibility of the modularised school programme
  recommended
• Understanding and insight required from the
  employer
• Employers as trainers an underdeveloped topic
• Mentors in the centre are important for
  saveguarding the quality of the training on the
  shop floor, but find it difficult to make demands
  on the employers commitment

Katleen De Rick HIVA (K.ULeuven)