This paper discusses the issue of attrition in apprenticeship programs, a topic that has attracted growing attention by VET researchers and policy-makers in many developed countries. It commences with a brief overview of the key issues challenging initial vocational education in Switzerland, and links these issues to similar concerns in Australia.…

There has been a discernable focus within many Australian industries on improving the rates of completion amongst their apprentices and trainees. This paper outlines the results of a study which involved a multivariate analysis of data relating to apprenticeship and traineeship completion, derived from a database developed by the Victorian…

In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), one of the German states, catchment areas for part-time vocational schools were abolished in 2008. With the intention to foster competition between schools in order to improve school quality, training companies now may freely choose the school of their choice. NRW is the first German state to take this step. In the…

Skills shortages have reinvigorated ongoing debate and concern about high attrition rates among Australian apprentices and trainees. Low apprentice and trainee wages have often been cited to explain this ongoing problem. This paper discusses the factors contributing to non-completion among apprentices and trainees in regional Victoria, and how the…

In this era of global competition, human resources will play a decisive role in the battle for efficiency and competitive advantage, where nations and organisations with superior and quality-oriented human capital will soon outperform those with inefficient and quantity-oriented labour force. Rate of human capital formation will be more important…

Competency-based training (CBT) is inherent in Anglophone vocational education and training (VET) systems. Respective attributes such as outcome-orientation, flexible delivery as well as an individualised and modular culture of learning are characteristic especially of the Australian VET system. Opposed to that, the German VET system is marked by…

This paper highlights on-going concern in Australia about the contested terrain of skills shortages, particularly as they apply to traditional trades. The paper reports on a school-based study of student career choice that was undertaken for the federal government to inform its deliberations. Drawing on the study, the paper examines key issues…

This paper reports findings from a survey of former students from six Australian rural school clusters. It compares the experiences and outcomes of students who had participated in a school vocational education and training (VET) program with those who had not. School VET courses intended to provide a pathway to local employment appear to be…

The German education system has recently come under fire with the publication of various international studies on student performance (OECD 2000; 2003). And in the first national "Education Report" (Bildungsbericht) published in October 2003 (Avenarius et al. 2003), the German ministers of education point out serious deficiencies in the country's…

What is the object of activity for teachers in vocational education, i.e. what is the content that vocational teachers want their students to learn? What can the answer indicate about vocational education as a social practice, compared to the social practice of apprenticeship? The article is based on sequential interviews with twelve teachers from…