Definition
For the purposes of this outline, vocational training comprises the full
range of activities primarily intended to enable the acquisition of the
necessary practical skills and theoretical knowledge to allow someone to take up
a job in any sector of the economy based on the profile of a specific trade or a
group of related trades.
The Swiss System of Vocational Training
After nine years of compulsory schooling, young people move on to upper
secondary education.
- Upper secondary education includes general education and
vocational training.
- General education is offered at grammar schools or
secondary schools as well as at specialised secondary schools.
- Vocational
training includes apprenticeships as well as all-day vocational schooling.
The certificates and diplomas from upper secondary education enable access to
tertiary education which is provided at a university, a Federal Institute of
Technology, a university of applied sciences, or schools preparing students for
higher vocational qualifications.
Reforms are currently being implemented in upper secondary education aimed at
improving movement and harmonisation between the different types of schools.
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.
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