Preface

The transition from technical and vocational schools to the world of work has long been considered a critical problem area in Member States. Many attempts have been made to smooth this transition and the approaches taken vary considerably from country to country.

One Unesco activity in this field was the international symposium convened by the Organization in Berlin (capital of the German Democratic Republic) from 14 to 18 April 1980.

Seventeen national specialists, nominated by Member States, participated presenting reports on the situation in their countries, while the Unesco Secretariat prepared a working document to serve as a discussion guide.

The present publication, compiled by Dr Daniel B. Dunham, Deputy United States Commissioner for Education, is a summary report based on these materials. It should be of interest to policy-makers and administrators responsible for planning economic and social policy, for labour and employment, and for the various occupational sectors (industry, agriculture, commerce); bodies responsible for out-of-school education and training; representatives of those responsible - both in public education and in state-recognized private education - for implementing policy, including teachers, examining bodies and administrators; and parent, former-pupil, student and youth organizations.

Unesco wishes to express its gratitude to all those who prepared country reports, and to thank in particular Dr Dunham.

The views expressed in this book are those of the individuals concerned and not necessarily those of Unesco. The designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Unesco Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

1. Introduction

This final report of the Unesco Symposium on Problems of Transition from Technical and Vocational Schools to Work relates the discussions of the symposium itself and summarizes the essential information from the country reports provided by participating Member States.

The contents of this report are drawn primarily from the country reports, with supplementary information from the symposium's initial summary (Appendix 3) and certain working papers provided to participants.

The Unesco Revised Recommendation on Technical and Vocational Education (Appendix 1) provided important guidance to the formation of the report in terms of basic principles and elements which are intended to assist Member States as they seek to resolve problems surrounding the topic of technical and vocational education.

Seventeen countries participated in the symposium, representing a cross section of developing nations, industrialized nations and those in the centre of the scale. In size, they ranged from the island nation of Barbados to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Political, social and government make-up was highly diverse, as can be seen from the following listing of participating countries: Algeria, Australia, Barbados, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, France, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United States of America.

The country reports were designed to inform participants of developments in technical and vocational education in the respective country, with a view to facilitating the exchange of information and discussion at the symposium on the subject of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. Guidelines provided by the Unesco Secretariat for the development of the country report requested the following of the country reports:

1. Overall structure of the country's education system and the place of technical and vocational education, including teacher training, within that country. Papers were also to reveal overall policy-making and planning for technical and vocational education; research and curriculum development and methods for the collection and dissemination of information; coordination mechanisms between in- and out-of-school programmes, including linkages with manpower planning and employment in general; and the structure of the vocational and educational guidance programme, whether established within or outside the system of education.

2. Organizational measures taken by the reporting country to facilitate the transition from technical and vocational schools to work, including manpower surveys; co-ordinating mechanisms with industry; work-study arrangements; physical placement of schools in relation to employment demand; and follow-up systems after graduation or the completion of schooling.

3. Methods and their content as utilized in relation to vocational guidance, as well as steps taken to increase the relevancy of curriculum and teaching to employment; and discussion of research undertaken to increase the employment opportunities for graduates of vocational and technical schools.

4. Teaching staff, including identification of whether separate guidance teachers are employed and if so, how they are trained; use of teachers from business and industry on a part-time basis; and the extent of the involvement of teachers in co-ordination and co-operation between schools and employers during the transition period.

5. Conclusions regarding the major achievement of the country on the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work, with indication of drawbacks and difficulties encountered and the actions planned to offset them.

In general, the country reports followed the suggested format. Thus, it was possible to review all available reports in a reasonably consistent manner for the purposes of preparing this report. Where there are significant variances from the suggested format, no attempt is made to speculate as to what the report might have stated. Each report is respected for its individual integrity and is accepted as factual. Where data or information are insufficient to secure findings from a given country report, none are provided in this report. For more specific study, the country reports are available through Unesco, Paris, or from the ERIC Clearinghouse for Vocational, Career and Adult Education at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. The latter are available in microfiche form.

The purpose of this report is to synthesize and summarize essential information from the country reports, the initial summary of symposium discussions, and other documents related to the symposium under three major subheadings, each representing a chapter of the report, as follows: (a) nature and scope of the problem; (b) current efforts and innovative approaches; (c) measures for improving the transition.

In the case of the first two of the above topical subheadings, information is displayed in country-by-country synthesis. Chapter 2, 'Nature and Scope of the Problem', provides, in addition to listing the ten most commonly found problems, a brief country-by-country synthesis of the most important problems faced in dealing with the transition from technical and vocational schools to work. Chapter 3, likewise, provides country-by-country synthesis. In this case, the summaries are more extensive and treat four subtopics in some depth for each reporting country. Chapter 4, 'Measures for Improving the Transition', is a more general treatment, with occasional country references or citations. Seven subtopics are reviewed which represent areas of promise for improving the transition. Finally, a brief chapter of conclusions is offered.

The subject of this report - and of the symposium, the country reports, and other related documents - is among the most critical of those facing educators, researchers, planners, administrators, officials of industry and business, and government officials today: the transition from technical and vocational schools to work. While there is considerable variety among nations as to specific problems and their causes and possible solutions, it can be stated with certainty that the problem of transition from school to work is a pervasive global concern with far-reaching economic and social consequences. Demographics, social values, economics and geography all contribute to the complexity of the issue. These factors vary considerably among nations. Yet there are several common areas of concern and interest, some having the appearance of being completely mutual among otherwise different and diverse nations. It is in these areas of mutuality that there may be promise for multilateral solutions. It is worth while here to strengthen this point by repeating five of the most significant results of the symposium discussions.

As reported in the initial summary of symposium discussions (Appendix 3), there was general consensus on the following:

The general education and training process of a nation has great influence on the importance and role of the technical-vocational education process and system. To be truly effective, technical-vocational education must be conceived of and practised as an integral part of the overall education system of a country.

Lack of qualified teaching and guidance staff and a concomitant problem of inadequate in-service training programmes or facilities for technical teachers exacerbates other structural and organizational problems related to the school to work transition.

The attraction of students to vocational and technical education programmes of schools is clearly a world-wide and transition-related problem. Lack of early exploration of the work site by young students and weak guidance and counselling programmes are important contributing factors.

Special populations of current and potential workers, including women and young girls, migrant workers, the physically and mentally handicapped and those with language limitations represent a visible international problem related both to generic technical-vocational education as well as to transition from schooling to work.

New attention is necessary with respect to the importance of the basic learning skills - reading, writing and communication, and factoring with numbers - as fundamental learning blocks upon which good vocational-technical education should be based. This is often referred to as the 'vocationalization' of general education.

These five statements represent only a few of the issues, sub-problems and related concerns which affect, either directly or indirectly, how educators, governments, parents, students, employers, industry and business and communities - or entire nations - will deal with the problem of transition from school to work over the next ten years or more. It is to be hoped that this report, and the symposium and country reports which it aims to summarize, will offer a few answers - and, perhaps more important, some new and valuable ideas - which will contribute to the progressive resolution of this pervasive, international problem.

2. Nature and scope of the problem

The diversity in social and economic conditions among the various countries, as well as differences in their education and training systems, tends to exacerbate the problem of identifying, with clarity and precision, the nature and scope of the problem of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. Of the several topics considered in this report, none is more eclectic than this. The variables are many, but not endless. Commonality of problems, while rare, may be seen as significant, particularly with respect to multilateral solutions to problems experienced by member states.

In the most basic sense, it is necessary to consider technical and vocational education as an integrated system, comprising all programmes which aim at the development, in appropriate environments, of cognitive and practical skills (Appendix 3). It is within the context and sense of that statement, plus the specific country reports, the Revised Recommendation (Appendix 1) and the initial summary of the symposium (Appendix 3), that the substance of this chapter is provided. No attempt is made to compare one country with another. Each brief summary is intended to highlight what the country had to say about its particular and often unique problems related to the transition from technical and vocational schools to work. Only those countries which chose to outline specific or general problems of the school-to-work transition are reported. The treatment of each is intentionally brief. It is clear that countries are far more concerned with solving problems than with a lengthy listing of them. Still, without this expose, the nature and content of the issue of problems would be left wanting. It is with that in mind-appropriate and realistic context - that the summaries are offered.

While significantly different and unique problems do exist from country to country, it is possible to summarize at least ten problem areas which are common to virtually all the reporting countries. Because this listing represents problems found in a distinct majority of reporting countries, the problem items appear to be strong candidates for broad and multilateral resolution actions.

Lack of sufficient guidance and counselling services for students of technical and vocational education programmes was the most frequently cited weakness.

Few countries had full-time and/or properly trained guidance counsellors or guidance teachers. Compounding factors include: lack of training facilities for these staff; strong competition from industry for their services; unrealistic caseloads of students; and inadequate substitution for unavailable counsellors by regular teachers - or even other students - who have had no formal instruction in counselling.

All countries agree that increasing levels of technology at the work-place have led to greater demand for technically trained workers - today's students. There are, however, different needs in terms of numbers of workers and particular occupational skills required, depending upon the level of technology within the given country.

There remains a certain negative stigma attached to vocational-technical education; academic orientation usually carries more prestige and status as far as students, parents and others are concerned. Several countries note progress in this area, however.

Many countries harbour a concern that excessive emphasis on vocational and technical development will leave students weak and lacking in general studies and theoretical capabilities.

Apprenticeship programmes, often cited as a strength area, still suffer in many countries from lack of appropriate work-places and qualified supervision.

While several countries report recent positive efforts in the area of development and implementation of manpower surveys, the reliability of such undertakings continues to leave most nations without accurate and useful data/information for predicting future economic trends, future job markets and the skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow.

Nearly all countries agree that better integration of education and skill training with the business and industrial sectors is needed.

Job placement services are generally and uniformly lacking, and their rate of success is rarely high. While there are a few bright spots in a few countries, there are no indications of functioning, nation-wide systems of job placement.

Location of vocational education and training centres is uneven (not enough in urban areas or isolated rural locations, for example) even though recent efforts by some countries to locate facilities near both jobs and population centres seem to be working.

There is a stated and universal need for more effective teacher and counsellor training and retraining, especially at the industrial site. A companion problem, with respect to improvement of programmes and systems, is the general lack of sufficient emphasis on research and curriculum development.

Problems specific to each country are summarized following.

Algeria

This country is currently experiencing a significant imbalance between labour supply - especially technically trained workers - and demand. Severe under-qualification of the employable population is noted. Some 90 per cent do not achieve a high-school diploma. There is also a general shortage of teachers for all subjects, not only vocational and technical. As to manpower planning, there is not sufficient consideration at the central planning level, and current surveys on the capacity of the education and training system to receive and train students are noted as superficial and imprecise. A new philosophy of the relationship between education, training and jobs is reported to be emerging and is suggested as an important step in resolving these and other problems.

Australia

Four principal problems inhibiting the transition are noted: a high ratio of students to teachers; clarification of the meaning of 'transition' and further exploration of the stages, problems and elements of transition from school to work; improvement of student motivation, both in terms of attracting students to technical-vocational programmes and maintaining their enrolment therein; and distance from school centres and the wide dispersal of the population. This country also needs additional resources for research, curriculum development and the improvement of career information systems for students, teachers and counsellors. Little if any vocational or occupational study is introduced before the upper secondary level, although options for student choice exist in many educational settings. Australia also reports a problem of linking the various levels of schooling internally - from primary through secondary to post-secondary.

Barbados

Among the problems cited is the fact that there are no institutions for technical and vocational education other than secondary schools, and the expense of providing technical-vocational education is a serious and limiting factor. The country is experiencing high unemployment. Linkages between schools and the business-industrial sector are difficult even though the establishment of an 'employment service' has helped somewhat. Insufficient co-ordination of out-of-school programmes with work-sites is noted, as is the general lack of good co-ordination between in-school programmes and the world of work. More available and more accurate information on vocational-technical occupational opportunities is needed. Work programmes are limited in availability at the secondary schooling level, but are more accessible at the tertiary level. New procedures for follow-up systems of graduates are being established, although at present this system is considered a weakness.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

In 1945, this country had a national illiteracy rate of 80 per cent. The nation found itself with virtually no technicians, little industrial equipment and few workers to operate it, and other problems of language, availability of training institutes and the concomitant problems of recruiting and training effective technical and vocational teachers. Illiteracy was wiped out very quickly and the country is committed to maintaining a strong programme of general education so as not to allow technical education to dominate to the point of narrowing the desired broad educational and cultural base. As it continues to gain industrial and economic strength, this country will rely increasingly upon a highly skilled and trained work-force, and is currently planning for the most effective possible systems which will help to solve problems before they become more severe.

Ethiopia

While there has been a recent significant increase in the availability of technical and vocational programmes, the country has experienced important problems in initiating and implementing this movement. The problems of developing new and different curricula, establishing an apprenticeship system and recruiting and training teachers and counsellors are among several cited. The country sees a great need to establish a centre to provide comprehensive information on technical and vocational education, and is at present studying the viability of establishing a national commission for technical and vocational education. Competition between education and industry for available and qualified personnel as teachers and counsellors poses a major problem.

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic currently faces a serious undersupply of skilled workers and reports a very low level of unemployment, bordering on nearly total employment, in its current population available for work. The country is committed to raising the level of vocational training and employs the apprenticeship scheme extensively to this end. One important problem reported is that many work-places do not fully utilize their workers' capabilities and qualifications, thus contributing to considerable job changing among some groups of skilled workers. The country is continuing its efforts to raise the image of technical and vocational education in the esteem of the public, with some reported success in recent years.

Federal Republic of Germany

With its 'dual system' of education and training and the requirement that all students attend vocational school part-time and in parallel with on-the-job training, the Federal Republic of Germany still faces some important problems in solving difficulties experienced by students in making the transition from school to work. The present and lengthy system of evaluation could be made more efficient, it is reported, if specially trained teachers at vocational schools worked with vocational counsellors, rather than the counsellors visiting the schools over extended periods. Many students (a reported majority) who complete training courses do not find jobs which offer them further training opportunities and thus tend to settle for unskilled work. Moreover, those who drop out from the schooling system do not avail themselves of the training that is available for them. Many prospective new workers (trainees) do not currently give financial considerations a high priority in their choice of an occupation; for example there is an excess of unoccupied training places in the building trades sector despite the high level of trainee allowance (payment). There are also particularly problems in dealing with the handicapped population. A useful definition of 'handicapped' is thought to be needed and greater parental support (both financial and moral) is sought.

India

Unlike general education, there has not yet evolved a rational organizational structure for technical and vocational education in India. The country is dealing with the problem of reducing the undesirable effects of uncontrolled admissions to universities in the face of rising graduate unemployment. Polytechnic institutions are reported to 'have become autonomous of their partnerships with industries,' whilst at the same time they provide inadequate programmes to update workers through refresher courses. The integration of technical and vocational education with general education curricula is reported as a special problem. Also, India reports a lack of facilities to train technical-vocational teachers, an absence of guidance clinics, career courses and employment information, and essentially no long-term market predictions for particular jobs. The latter problem tends to result in students choosing occupations on the basis of current job status and not of trends in the overall labour market. While there is no lack of academic teachers for the schools, the system is forced to engage part-time instructors and teachers from industry for vocational instruction.

Iraq

The rapid economic development now taking place in Iraq (due in part to the nationalization of the oil industry) has major ramifications for technical and vocational education and for the transition from school to work. Effective guidance and counselling is a continuing problem in that there are no separate guidance teachers and no quantitative indicators of effectiveness of the guidance counsellors who do exist. There is a reported loss of teaching specialists from the technical-vocational system to the industries, which is partly solved by hiring part-time teachers from industry and by increasing the practical training of students at industrial sites. The increasing demand for more workers with higher levels of technical skills is seen as a continuing challenge, and one which will carry with it certain transitional problems.

Nigeria

This developing nation cites a severe shortage of technical teaching staff at all levels of technical education. Part-time teachers from industries are utilized, especially for teaching of evening programmes. Placement is not seen as a particular problem at this time owing to the low supply level of technically trained manpower and the high demand. Many technically trained workers tend to choose so-called 'white-collar' work where pay is higher and working conditions generally more attractive, thus widening the gap between availability of and demand for trained technical workers. In one effort to correct this situation, administrators plan to expand on-the-job training for students so that they can have an earlier introduction to the work-place and thus secure better and more realistic information and experiences upon which to base their decision of an occupation. Follow-up activities on graduates of technical and vocational programmes are reported as insufficient, although corrective steps are underway.

Senegal

The predominant problem area reported by Senegal concerns co-ordinating vocational-technical programmes under one overall policy. At present there is a high level of diversity of both purpose and administrative approach among several sectors, both public and private, which offer or want to offer and control technical training. The desire to unite training measures within a common national policy and under one administrative-governance organism is evident in the country report. Attention was also given to the particular problems of training young girls and women for specialized employment.

Sudan

This developing nation is currently experiencing a shortage of trained manpower. No technical or vocational exploration, preparation or training is offered at the primary or intermediate levels of schooling, even though few students proceed beyond those levels to any form of higher education. The majority of students completing intermediate levels of education either enter the workforce directly or find themselves unemployed - or worse, unemployable. Technical education begins at the secondary level, and is populated primarily by students who fail to find opportunity in the academic schools. Currently, theoretical subjects are emphasized at the rate of nearly 70 per cent of the curriculum, and where the vocational shops do exist, they are often found to be poorly equipped, with inadequately trained teachers. Relationships between technical secondary education and the socio-economic needs of the country fall at present far short of those needed for a strong delivery system. Only modest integration exists between and among the various training activities. Responsibility for planning and implementation of training centres is scattered among different government agencies and private establishments.

Sweden

This country, which reports few critical problems regarding the transition from technical and vocational schools to work, is currently emphasizing the improvement of contacts with industry and trade unions. This effort is intended to make education, particularly technical and vocational education, more relevant to employment. The fact that this country reports few changes in the technical and vocational education and training system in recent years is seen as an indication of limited problems with regard to the transition topic.

Thailand

The lack of any official linkages at the national level between technical and vocational education and industry is noted as an important problem. However, this country is extending efforts to create such linkages at the local level, which is seen as a method for causing more relevance to be brought to the instructional curriculum. At the moment, no true work-study or co-operative work-education programme exists on a significant scale. Teacher quality and improved in-service training for teachers are seen as important needs. As with almost all reporting countries, guidance and counselling is singled out as a problem of significance, although full-time guidance teachers are the norm. Where there is a shortage in this area, another teacher with some background in the guidance and counselling area may be recruited for part-time service.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

While the country report of the Soviet Union details few, if any, specific problems, the emphasis in certain areas of vocational-technical programme development can be seen as a continuing effort to deal with the specialized problem of transition from technical and vocational schools to work.

The emphasis on basic and applied research in the vocational-technical field has produced important results for dealing with the transition issue. The one-year, five-year and long-term planning processes also take into acocunt the special requirements of students and enterprises regarding the school-to-work transition. The content of training programmes, work-study arrangements and strong emphasis on instructor training are signal efforts to deal with and solve problems before they become too difficult and surface as obstacles to a smooth transition from technical training to the work-place.

United States of America

While considered by many in the United States to be the most effective mechanism for accommodating a smooth transition from school to work, the co-operative work experience programme continues to suffer from certain problems. There is difficulty in finding enough suitable work-places, competent supervision both from the school and at the work-place is not always available and coordination between education and employers in general is not at a desirable level. Accessibility to vocational education in large, urban centres and in isolated rural areas is a problem of critical national significance. There is a notable imbalance of available facilities for technical and vocational education between the suburban areas/medium-sized cities and the central city/very rural locations. Equal education opportunity through vocational education for women, minorities, the poor and the handicapped continue to exist as critical and visible problems, although progress is being made in each of these areas. Greater involvement of private business and industry persons is also needed for guidance and counselling programmes and as well as in the field of advising on appropriate and up-to-date instructional curriculum content.

3. Current efforts and innovative approaches

Countries undertaking the enormous task of reorienting, restructuring and expanding their education systems to meet the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work are devoting more in-depth attention to the role of technical and vocational education within their broader education system.

From the country reports under study, the symposium discussion summary, the draft basic working document and the Revised Recommendation, it is evident that the participating countries recognize the problem of transition from school to work and have, in fact, generated some productive, responsive current efforts and innovative approaches to address this problem.

Several recurring approaches to solving the problem were stated; some consensus of opinion by countries was reached. The following were indicative of these areas of interest:

The necessity for a comprehensive and continuing educational and vocational guidance system was highlighted.

Visits to two guidance centres in the host country provided interesting and useful field experiences.

The importance of preparation of guidance counsellors and development of information systems about occupations and job opportunities (as well as placement services) was noted as critical.

The organization of different types of technical and vocational education and training was discussed.

Apprenticeship programmes and co-operative work experience programmes were focal points of discussion. The importance of research in developing new methods of training (such as the modular approach) was referred to by several participants.

The organization of polytechnical education and subsequent vocational training was reviewed.

Participants agreed that the two visits to organizational structures (one group visited an industrial enterprise in Hemmingsdorf and the second group visited an agricultural co-operative in Malchin) were beneficial.

The importance of co-ordination between education and training and production and employment at all levels of policy, planning and execution (implementation) was underlined.

Furthermore, a consensus exists as to the objectives of technical and vocational education in relation to the total educational process, which may be summarized as follows; it is in accordance with the Revised Recommendations:¹

6. Given the necessity for new relationships between education, working life, and the community as a whole, technical and vocational education should exist as a part of a system of lifelong education adapted to the needs of each particular country. This system should be directed to:

(a) abolishing barriers between levels and areas of education, between education and employment and between school and society;...

(b) improving the quality of life by permitting the individual to expand his intellectual horizons and to acquire and to constantly improve professional skills and knowledge while allowing society to utilize the fruits of economic and technological change for the general welfare.

7. Technical and vocational education should begin with a broad basic vocational education, thus facilitating horizontal and vertical articulation within the education system and between school and employment thus contributing to the elimination of all forms of discrimination.

¹ See Section II, 'Technical and Vocational Education in Relation to the Educational Process: Objectives', of the Revised Recommendation concerning technical and vocational education, pp. 78-8.

This chapter will serve to review, synthesize and analyse each country's current efforts and innovative approaches to the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. To facilitate that end, the organizational structure for each country summary will identify four topic areas (current organizational structure, current content and methods efforts, teaching staff and innovative approaches) and present related sub-topics in each topic area that will better focus each country's efforts to address the problem. This structure will be:

Current organizational efforts: manpower surveys; industrial co-ordination; work-study arrangements, apprenticeships, co-operative programmes, placement, educational employment; physical placement of schools; follow-up system of graduates; new administrative arrangements, industrial training boards, technical and vocational councils, sponsoring systems, evaluation systems.

Current content and methods efforts: new methods; vocational guidance; curriculum development; integrating theory and practice; research.

Teaching staff: separate guidance teachers; part-time industry teachers; coordination of teachers - transition.

Innovative approaches: new approaches.

Thus, this structure will summarize both the results of the symposium itself and related relevant methodologies employed by the participating member countries.

Algeria

Current organizational efforts

Algeria is committed to solving the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. National planning and manpower surveys are conducted to facilitate the productive utilization of human resources in conjunction with direct economic needs. The manpower survey carried out by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning (Board of Statistics) concerns the number of persons in training at the end of each year and establishes statistics according to the ministry responsible for training, type of institution and level. Industrial co-ordination and placement in the world of work is effected, by employment services under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. Algeria's philosophy of work-study arrangements concentrates on the adaptation of education/training to jobs.

Current content and methods efforts

Educational and vocational guidance is important when solving the transitional problems from school to work in Algeria. At present, information and guidance for youth is essentially effected in educational and vocational guidance centres (centres d'orientation scolaire et professionnelle (CSOP)) falling under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. Annual guidance-updating surveys are carried out on the education training systems' capacity to receive and educate students both by educational and vocational guidance centres of the Ministry of Education and by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning. The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has given the employment services responsibility in this information and guidance role.

Curricula are being expanded to meet the economic requirements of the country. Polytechnical education is committed to the conveyance of the values of technological aspects of humanism and the realization of an education integrating theory and practice.

Teaching staff

Algeria recognizes the need for and is seeking to facilitate the enhancement of linkages between teachers/trainers and employers of skilled manpower.

Innovative approaches

Algeria has identified and implemented several innovative approaches to solve the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. Educational organization reform has given rise to a new type of school in Algeria: the nine-year school. This reform combined the three years of lower-secondary education with the six years of primary education preceding it to result in a nine-year basic education with a technical orientation.

Algeria is bringing the employment services and CSOP closer together. This move is intended to facilitate complete and precise information on training and employment openings.

Other innovative approaches foreseen in the present system include the launching of exceptional and massive activities in the field of out-of-school training, notably correspondence courses, scholastic recovery courses and apprenticeship.

Finally, Algeria is anticipating better linkages between technical and vocational institutes and industry. This would facilitate the articulation of industrial human resource needs and required skills and the offerings of vocational education programmes. Building fundamental polytechnic schools constitutes one of the measures to achieve this end.

Australia

Current organizational efforts

One organizational effort utilized in Australia to facilitate transition is manpower surveys. Although manpower surveys do not dominate planning for technical and vocational education, they represent an area that Australia recognizes for development. The basic institution-industry co-ordination mechanism is the college council. The powers of these councils provide them with a major role in linking the local community with the college. Most colleges also engage in industrial liaison through the release of some teachers for short periods and by involving people from industry in short course development. At state and territory levels, the co-ordinating mechanisms involve advisory committees and state councils. These include appropriate people from all professions, including the employment sector. The functions of these councils include curriculum review and development, facility construction and publicity. The criterion normally directing the placement of schools is the presence of a population large enough to make an institution viable, not necessarily an area with local employment possibilities. Since most technical and further education students enrol in part-time programmes, work-study arrangements are not an integral part of the course. However, it is usually expected that students will be employed in the areas in which they are trained. Apprenticeships are a good example. Apprenticeship training is normally co-ordinated by bodies such as industrial training commission apprenticeship boards. These promote the concept of apprenticeship, arrange contracts of employment (after the would-be apprentice has found an employer) and oversee in a general way the apprentice's training and progress. Limited follow-up studies have been conducted on graduates across the educational spectrum. However, individual colleges often follow up graduates on a minor scale and use the information to modify programmes, promote these programmes in other institutions, and promote programmes in the employment sector.

Current content and methods efforts

Vocational guidance is an integral part of individual training programmes at the upper secondary level and in transition programmes. Most vocational guidance is given on an informal basis by the teachers. Some systems have a central guidance resource, such as Victoria's Vocational Orientation Centre. The major change leading to more relevant curricula is the introduction and implementation of increasingly sophisticated curriculum models and curriculum planning. Although complex in nature, planning is essentially becoming more systematic and consistent. Certain states have adopted particular models similar to those used in the armed services in both Australia and overseas, adapting them to their needs.

Teaching staff

Many secondary schools through Australia have careers guidance teachers appointed on a full-time basis; most others nominate a teacher to act as a careers guidance officer on a part-time basis. These people are invariably teachers with considerable experience and have often worked outside the teaching service. Normally they do not have formal guidance qualifications although most have attended in-service training programmes designed to increase their competence in this area.

One of the major aims of technical and vocational education is to provide relevant training by people who know their job. To this end, large numbers of teachers from industry are appointed on short-term contracts as part-time teachers. Teacher training is carried out in tertiary institutions, either universities or colleges of advanced education.

Innovative approaches

Two initiatives begun in 1980 are designed to reduce the inefficiency of the independent efforts of the country's research and development efforts. First, a National Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Centre for Research and Development was established to analyse the skills required for various occupations and to review and evaluate TAFE curricula. The second initiative is the development of a National Research Clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of information on research and related activities in TAFE.

Australia has initiated a variety of transition programmes. Since 1977, these programmes have burgeoned so that now there are link programmes, pre-vocational programmes, foundation courses, transition classes and educational programmes for unemployed youth. These are often developed locally, or at least modified locally, so that the curriculum is more relevant to the needs of the participants and to the local employment context. Teaching and learning strategies for these programmes have generally moved some distance from traditional methods, with far greater attention being placed on the needs of the individual, which means smaller groups, semi-structured as well as structured programmes and physical separation from regular school or college premises. Studies so far completed show that such strategies are very promising, although the management and general administration of the effort is undergoing improvement.

Barbados

Current organizational efforts

Barbados is working to solve the problems of transition it has encountered between the technical and vocational schools and the work environment of students/graduates. Manpower surveys are one organizational effort that assists in this endeavor. The government has commissioned the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity (BIMAP) to secure objective data on which to base decisions relating to manpower requirements and, hence, educational plans and provisions. BIMAP is contracted to: (a) conduct an ongoing analysis of trends in technical manpower demands at all levels; (b) provide estimates and projections in such detail as to enable direct relationships with formal and non-formal training and educational outputs; (c) provide assistance in the design and analysis of longitudinal-type tracer surveys for relevant cohorts; and (d) assist with institutionalization of systems and procedures for the ongoing performance of the aforementioned three provisions.

Surveys of a more limited nature are also conducted on a periodic basis by the Ministry of Labour, the Statistical Services and the Chamber of Commerce and the results are fed into technical and vocational education programmes. Coordinating mechanisms between technical and vocational institutions and industry exist in Barbados. The Ministry of Education plays a key role in co-ordination, in the context of the formal education system. Representatives from commerce and industry sit on boards and committees of technical and vocational institutions. These advisory committees also assist in the co-ordination efforts. The National Training Board also plays a key role in the co-ordinating mechanism. Specific functions of the Board are to: (a) ensure an adequate supply of trained manpower in occupations in Barbados; (b) improve the quality and efficiency of occupational training for apprentices and trainees; (c) regulate trade test administration and certification of trade efficiency to competent candidates; (d) protect and promote the welfare of apprentices and trainees; (e) ensure that the operating costs of apprenticeship and other occupational training are distributed equally among employers; (f) arbitrate if and when differences arise between apprentices or trainees and employers; (g) perform such other functions relating to apprenticeship and other training as may be prescribed.

Work-study arrangements in Barbados include apprenticeships and other co-operative programmes for students in the vocational and technical training programmes. Due to the compact size of Barbados (430 square kilometres), no technical or vocational institution is more than 45 minutes away by bus for students. However, most of the technical and vocational institutes are located where most of the employment opportunities exist. Although actual follow-up systems after graduation are not routinely utilized in Barbados, the need is recognized and steps are being taken to implement such a system. Guidance teachers in some polytechnic and community colleges are establishing such follow-up systems.

Current content and methods efforts

Vocational guidance has been traditionally offered in most institutions offering technical and vocational education and training in an ad hoc and informal manner. In some secondary schools, fairly comprehensive guidance programmes have been established which involve the use of materials, resource persons outside the school, visits and tours to places outside the school and discussions and formalized sessions directed at guiding and counselling students.

To facilitate proper co-ordination of curriculum reform, the National Curriculum Development Council was inaugurated. It was charged with the total evaluation of existing syllabus and study programmes in the system, determining whether such contents were adequate or in need of revision and determining new areas of study and orientations to be introduced. New curricula in almost every subject area have been produced and field tested. Current research activities in the area of making graduates of technical and vocational schools more employable have been of limited scope but are being expanded and made more systematic.

Teaching staff

Concerning guidance teachers, Barbados is in the process of setting up comprehensive and systematic guidance services and guidance teacher education. Qualified skilled and experienced craftsmen are often employed part time to instruct students in schools and other institutions providing technical and vocational education.

Innovative approaches

Innovation concerning guidance is being undertaken. A vocational guidance officer was appointed by the government and based at the Ministry of Education. His duties include assisting guidance teachers and formulating programmes in guidance. The government is also working to provide a teacher of guidance in each government school. Within the last ten years, the Ministry of Labour and Community Service has established services in the area of youth guidance and counselling.

A second innovative approach to facilitate the transition from technical and vocational schools to work is the Skills Training Programme. The Skills Training Programme is organized through the Ministry of Labour and Community Services and is intended for young persons (between the ages of 16 and 25 years) who are unemployed. Proceeding through modular training, the programme provides the trainee with the basic tools for self-employment. Each training module lasts approximately three months - five eight-hour days per week for twelve weeks. Relevant elements of the community are involved at every stage (industry, manufacturers, youth groups, etc.).

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Current organizational efforts

This country's education system has made significant strides in technical education since national liberation in 1945; prior to then, not a single college and only a few vocational technical schools existed. Since that time, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has addressed its educational concerns and attempted to solve the problems of transition from school to work. In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the state directs planning that concerns balance of trades, scale of training skilled workers and manpower surveys. Coordination of education and industry is facilitated through correspondence and evening courses taught at factory colleges and through highly specialized institutes at large factories and enterprises. (In 1972, the factory higher-technical school developed into the factory high-specialized institute.) The work-study arrangement involves the studying-while-working-education system, parallel to the full-time educational system and expanding the number of daytime colleges. Vocational schools are not set up in every factory and enterprise, but rather in the factories and enterprises with extensive experience in training skilled workers and in those with a comparatively large reserve of new workers. These factories and enterprises also train workers of the same trades from neighbouring factories and enterprises. The creation of a comprehensive cadre-training centre in every province is of significance in overcoming the dependency on the central institutions for national cadres. These local institutions help to meet the local demand for technicians and specialists, both in quality and quantity, to promote local economy and culture.

Current content and methods efforts

The People's Democratic Republic of Korea has also made significant strides concerning current content and methods to facilitate the transition from technical and vocational schools to work. A five-year plan of curriculum updating and economic analysis is utilized to closely co-ordinate technical education and the development requirements of the national economy. One national philosophy concerning current efforts sees a need for all of the country's youth to acquire more than one kind of technical skill and to master the techniques and knowledge necessary for carrying out tasks assigned to them. Furthermore, the policy of closely combining class practice with productive practice during the whole period of technical education is maintained at the stage of common education.

Teaching staff

Teaching is one of the highly regarded professions in this culture and thus has received considerable attention. Every province has its own agricultural, medical, normal and teachers' colleges. In the higher technical schools, technical personnel are trained to assume the role both of technician and of skilled worker with the completion of secondary education. All teachers of technical education at the secondary level are educated at technical colleges. These colleges have special technical departments for teacher training. The guidance for skill training during the productive practice period is provided mainly by technical teachers and competent high-ranking skilled workers.

Innovative approaches

Two specific innovative approaches are apparent. Since 1972, universal compulsory education was instituted. It consists of a one-year compulsory preschool education and a ten-year school education. This universal eleven-year free compulsory education extends through secondary education until students reach the working age. Students in the colleges and higher specialized institutes receive scholarships and their living expenses are paid, including clothing and text books at low prices. The eleven-year compulsory education does not provide vocational training before the end of secondary education nor does it divide secondary education into two courses, humanity and natural science. Much emphasis has also been placed on adult educational opportunities. The People's Democratic Republic of Korea is now endeavoring to provide adults with the knowledge corresponding to the senior middle school course and, as mentioned earlier, more than one technical skill.

A second innovative effort is the concept of establishing practice shop and practice work-team systems for the experience of the students. Factories and enterprises near schools provide students with these model working-condition environments and equipment. At these shops, students practise production techniques under the guidance of technicians and able skilled workers. These products of student efforts are utilized within the education system. For example, in the practice workshops of electro-technical schools, students design and produce simple experimental apparatus such as ampere meters and volt meters or such complex machines as an oscillograph and an electric computer. Through the course of inventing, designing and producing educational equipment necessary for the schools, students make practical use of acquired knowledge and skills.

Ethiopia

Current organizational efforts

Ethiopia has recognized the problems of transition from school to work and is taking steps to solving some of those problems. Manpower surveys are conducted at the national level by the Planning Department. This department's main function is planning and programming material facilities for the smooth execution of the education programmes. It has full responsibility for exploiting the internal as well as the external means and possibilities in line with national planning and programming. Industrial co-ordination with education is one of the responsibilities of the National Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. The council is entrusted with the powers to co-ordinate and issue directives, and promote guidelines governing technical and vocational education and training in the country. The council is not only responsible for the co-ordination of in-school and out-of-school (in-plant) training programmes, but also for ensuring that linkages are made between training and industry and the necessary skills and performances needed in the world of work. Members of the council include individuals from industrial and business communities, government ministries, agencies and service organizations, and independent training institutions. The council's main activities include:

To ensure that the training programmes are designed to serve the requirements of rural development.

To reduce and eventually eliminate wasted trained manpower and unnecessary duplication of training programmes among training institutions.

To ensure the quality and standard of training programmes and curriculum geared to meet the needs of the country.

To set standards of training for all levels of training programmes and institutions.

To determine standards and procedures of certification and accreditation.

Regarding general manpower training, the country has at present numerous educational institutions at all educational levels geared to the training of skilled manpower for the country's economy. The major training institutions are Agricultural Colleges, Business Colleges, Commercial Schools, Polytechnics, Technical Teachers Education Institutions, Schools of Medicine, Engineering Colleges, etc. All of the above institutions train to meet the need of high-level manpower. The middle-level manpower is trained in technical and vocational schools run by the Ministry of Education.

Basic training programmes are also conducted by organizations such as Ethiopian Airlines, Electric Light and Power Authority, Telecommunications, Ethiopia Roads Authority, Commercial Bank, etc. These companies prefer to conduct their own training because they cannot afford to hire people who have already had the necessary training.

To facilitate the transition from technical and vocational schools to work, goals have been established by the National Revolutionary Development Campaign (NRDC) to implement production targets in industry, agriculture and other economic branches. Ethiopia has determined that the implementation of these targets strongly depends on the different levels of skilled manpower, the level of training and the needs of the country.

Apprenticeship is another concept that is receiving wide acceptance in the education system. Although apprenticeship is in its infant stage in industrial plants, it appears to be the most efficient method of developing specific skills.

Ethiopia has implemented several new organizational efforts to address educational needs. They are:

Continuing Education. The programme is provided for school leavers and for skilled and semi-skilled workers who joined the labour force and wish to acquire further practical knowledge for upgrading skills and improving their performance.

Community skill training centres (for rural adults). The programme is involved in the developmental work of the locality in question.

Work-place education (production, distribution and services). The programme is offered by the concerned agencies for employees in out-of-work hours to upgrade job skills and productivity for particular industrial jobs.

Correspondence education. The programme envisages upgrading courses for all levels in urban and rural areas wherever the communications means exists.

Current content and methods efforts

Curriculum has been updated in technical and vocational education to be current with industry and business requirements for employment. The curriculum is being geared to integrate class work with field work so that students after graduation can handle their assignments with minimum guidance from their employers. This curriculum updating is being reflected in the technical and vocational schools as well as the comprehensive high schools.

Sample schools have been established to implement instructional materials and determine whether they represent or reflect the concrete condition of Ethiopia and meet the comprehension levels of students. Research and experimentation are also conducted in the sample schools.

Regarding contents and methods, Ethiopia has four major fields of specialization in vocational education. They are: (a) production technology; (b) agriculture; (c) home economics; (d) commerce and economics.

The integration of theory and practice is given serious consideration in Ethiopia. From 50 to 60 per cent of the school schedule is allotted to practical work and the remaining 40 to 50 per cent to theory.

Teaching staff

Prospective teachers are trained in the teacher education departments at the various institutions. Among these institutions, some offer methodology in addition to the pure subject matter and some, depending on the nature of their specific responsibility, teach only the technical and vocational subjects. Industrial representatives or individuals from other related enterprises are utilized in instructional programmes for teachers.

To meet teachers' needs for professional guidance and/or educational information related to their specific discipline, the Awraja Pedagogical Centres develop training materials that serve as models for teacher-developed instructional materials and also serve as feed-back centres for both the national and local curriculum by collecting evaluation data from the schools in the awraja.

Innovative approaches

Labour education is one newly introduced innovative concept in Ethiopia. It is one of the mechanisms to be employed in facilitating the transition of technical and vocational schools to work. In labour education, students will work up to six hours a week, without interfering with the normal class schedule. The programme contains services, agriculture, road and building construction, maintenance and participation in the literacy campaign. Governmental organizations co-operate and participate in the programme. Thus, the national level in Ethiopia is involved in solving the transitional problems from school to work.

France

Current organizational efforts

France is taking steps to facilitate solving the problems of transition from school to work. Current organizational efforts include manpower surveys conducted by the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications (CEREQ). This public institute analyses and makes specialized forecasts on occupational qualifications and their evolution and searches for linkages between the functioning of the education system and the evolution of the employment situation. Co-ordination mechanisms between technical and vocational institutions and industry exist at various organizational levels. These arrangements facilitate dialogue between the state, employers' organizations, workers, consular offices, chambers of commerce, chambers of agriculture, family organizations and educational representatives. At the national level, dialogue is ensured by occupational consultative commissions. These are made up of three equal groups of representatives of public powers, of employers and of workers (having occupations under the competency of the commission), to which are joined experts (technological education advisers), representatives of educational personnel, students' parents, chambers of commerce and of occupations, etc. It is up to these commissions to define training, to specify its content and methods of control and to formulate an opinion on the consequences of forecasted needs. At the local level, regional and departmental committees for vocational training, for social upgrading and for employment have the task of measuring as accurately as possible the employment situation and perspectives and diverse systems of training, of adjusting the balance between these and of assuring the full use of proper methods and of becoming familiar with - and re-orienting if necessary - planning equipment, these local advisory committees, as advisers of technical education, participate in the examination juries, in diverse surveys (on the value of introducing a new type of training, on the functioning of private institutions, etc.), in the preparation of the scholastic plan, in assisting inspectors of technical education, in providing orientation information to first cycle students, and for certain advisers, in the inspection of apprenticeship. An interoccupational agreement provides for work-study arrangements to include educational institutions and workers in the industrial, commercial, craft and agricultural sectors. In addition, pre-vocational classes and classes preparing for apprenticeship exist that permit students of the required age - notably, those in the observation cycle who at the end of schooling, want to train for a particular occupation - to prepare themselves for the choice of a profession. At the conclusion of these courses, the students may either enter the world of employment or acquire vocational training by becoming apprentices either under an apprenticeship instructor or in an apprenticeship training centre, or enrol in a lyc閑 for vocational education to prepare for a vocational-skill certificate. The physical placement of schools is determined by the scholastic plan of public secondary education which takes into account geographic, demographic and economic data of the population. France's national graduation follow-up system is an exhaustive and permanent system which observes the entry into the world of work and follows the occupational itineraries taken by youth at the end of their initial education.

Current content and methods effects

France, too, is concerned with current contents and methods involved in transition. The guidance system is closely linked to the education system. Recent changes have been made to programmes and curricula to make them more relevant to employment. This renovation manifests itself in three directions: (a) creation of a pedagogy by objectives and of a continuous control of skills; (b) integration of training in industry with education; and (c) reform of the preparation for training skilled workers (Certificate of Vocational Skill).

Teaching staff

France has also utilized its guidance teachers as part of its teaching staff. Although there are no separate bodies of guidance teachers in France, all teachers contribute through their teaching, evaluation of student achievements and participation in student councils for the guidance of students. Licensed counsellors have completed two years of specialized training consisting of, on one hand, demography, economic sciences, sociology and social psychology, technology of professional activities (technology, knowledge of jobs, of professions and of training) and knowledge of institutions and legislation and, on the other hand, training-periods in industry (of one month's duration between the two years of training) and regular visits to enterprises.

Innovative approaches

Two innovative approaches should be cited in France. The first was the creation in 1970 of the Office National d'Information sur les Enseignements et les Professions (ONISEP). In conjunction with the concerned universities, administrations, professions and organizations, ONISEP's duty is to develop and put at users' disposal documentation necessary for information and guidance, to contribute to studies and research permitting the development of this documentation, to facilitate the process of information and guidance and to carry out studies and research improving knowledge of occupational activities and their evolution. Within this office, there is a centre for analysing jobs and professions, evaluating changes in qualifications due to the evolution of techniques and studying the adaptation of educational forms and methods to ascertained needs. This centre is at present proceeding with the setting-up of a French directory of available jobs and of a national organism to observe the paths young people take when passing out of the education system into the world of work.

A second and related innovation is the follow-up system for students after graduation or departure from the school system. To this end, the centre pilots the national organism which observes the transition from school to work, known as the 'National Observatory'. The observatory aims at being a device which: (a) provides a complete view of the entry into the world of work of trained youth (articulation between levels and general education and technical education, and inter-regional balances); and (b) describes, in a sufficiently refined and homogenous way, types of vocational education and occupational situations (specialty of training and of work, inter-regional comparisons).

The observatory, being a national organism, cannot systematically carry out analyses corresponding to limited geographical zones, but rather demonstrates the diversity of underlying local situations and their place in the official overall view of the national situation. This dimension, therefore, constitutes an important element of France's education-employment relationship.

German Democratic Republic

Current organizational efforts

The German Democratic Republic is attempting to solve the transitional problem from technical and vocational schools to work through vocational education. Vocational education comprises the vocational training of young people (vocational training of apprentices) and the training and further education of skilled workers and foremen (adult education). Manpower planning or central planning is conducted by the state. The planning of vocational training distinguishes between long-term planning (for a period often to fifteen years), five-year planning and annual planning. The various levels of planning include central planning by the state, regional planning and enterprise or manpower planning. The Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic is responsible for central planning by the state. It decides on basic issues of the development of vocational training, and regulates responsibilities. The planning bodies of the regional authorities (county and district councils) use economic information and decisions as a basis for analysing the number of school leavers for vocational education and other related issues. Enterprise planning is concerned with the development of the economic community and training facilities. Manpower surveys are conducted. These analyses of vocational conditions direct student occupational choices. The lists of apprenticeships which are annually issued by the district councils for the subsequent year of training serve as a direct orientation for the forthcoming choice of a vocation. Apprenticeships are utilized as work-study arrangements; they enable an apprentice to practise an occupation in at least one complex sphere of work. Apprenticeship training is supervised jointly by skilled workers and skilled worker-instructors. Enterprise vocational schools - state-controlled educational establishments attached to the industrial concerns and enterprises - train about 75 per cent of all apprentices. In addition there are factory-run vocational schools. The vocational school of the nationally owned district factory for agricultural technology is responsible for training young people from the country's fourteen districts as technicians for agricultural machinery.

For all vocations in which training opportunities are offered, there are special social bodies called vocational expert committees, or advisory committees. The members of these committees are professionals, vocational educators, economists, scientists, technicians, trade-union representatives and youth association members. The activities of the vocational expert committees are centred on vocational analyses and the elaboration of job descriptions and curricula on the basis of these analyses.

Current content and methods efforts

In the German Democratic Republic, the system of careers guidance is extensive. Careers guidance familiarizes both pupils and parents with the given social conditions under which individual professional objectives can be realized. The 217 careers guidance centres in the country disseminate this information. Over 90 per cent of the pedagogical staff of these centres are university, college or technical school graduates. Building upon this solid qualification base is further education in the form of a two-year post-graduate course on careers guidance and cyclical advanced education provided for all careers advisors.

Vocational and technical education is intended to give a well-balanced theoretical and practical vocational training experience. The schools - which comprise a vocational school for theoretical instruction, the apprentice workshop or other facilities for practical vocational training, and an apprentices' hostel - are intended to guarantee the unity of vocational and ideological education throughout both the classroom and workshop periods.

Teaching staff

Teachers in the education system undergo further training and updating of skills. Every year 10 per cent are delegated to attend advanced courses. All are engaged in further training courses (methodical commissions).

Innovative approaches

A major innovative approach is that of youth projects. These youth projects consist of concrete, assessable tasks in economic areas of prime importance - be it on an enterprise level or on a national level - which are contained in the long-term and annual plans. Such youth projects are taken over by youth teams under the leadership of the Free German Youth. The majority of members of such a youth team are young workers who are assisted by a few experienced skilled workers. Irrespective of their work tasks, the young skilled workers increasingly develop a sense of responsibility towards work and society. More than half of them are prepared to co-operate as representatives of their work teams in committees and bodies which have been set up in the enterprises themselves, or in popular representative bodies.

Federal Republic of Germany

Current organizational efforts

Educational planning in the Federal Republic of Germany is based on the social demand approach and not on the manpower requirements approach. One organizational measure undertaken by the Federal Republic of Germany is that of co-operative work experience education or the dual system. Young people in the Federal Republic of Germany obtain their occupational training according to the dual system, called thus since occupational training proceeds parallel on the job and at school. Occupational training programmes and apprenticeships are used in the country's work-study arrangements. As a rule the training period of a youth will last three years. The trainee receives a monthly trainee's salary which increases over time as skills increase. The training salary is governed by trade-union agreements. In fields where the production programme is highly specialized, it is sometimes not possible to cover the entire scope of the training content. In these cases, training shops maintained by several employers supplement the occupational training programme. The training phase terminates with a final examination which is held by the specific chambers (chambers of industry and commerce, chambers of agriculture, etc.). This examination determines the success of the training programme, and, at the same time, certifies the occupational qualifications of a skilled technician, a clerk or a journeyman (craftsman).

The Federal Institute for Vocational Training was established to promote the number of vocational training locations. The main institutions of vocational training and education are those responsible for training and education in the 'dual system', the companies and the vocational schools. The procedure is as follows: the companies decide on the number of training places to offer; the unions have rights of co-determination in the planning and practice of vocational training in companies and in training administration; legislation for company training is at the federal level and the federal government is responsible for rulings on the contents of training courses, public recognition of occupations and other matters related to vocational training. The Federal Republic of Germany also promotes in-plant training and grants vocational training subsidies or allowances to student participants, based on financial need. Retraining displaced workers is a consideration, although the percentage of displaced workers is small.

Current content and methods efforts

Vocational guidance and counselling is a focal point in the Federal Republic of Germany. Vocational counselling has the purpose and function of helping people to help themselves. The vocational counselling service also has a legal basis for the provision of an all-comprehensive information and counselling system for vocational training institutions and facilities. While practical occupational training takes place predominately on the job, theoretical occupational training and general education are centred in vocational schools which all young people must attend until they are 18 years of age. The Federal Institute for Vocational Training is involved in considerable research for vocational and technical education.

Teaching staff

All members of the Federal Employment Institute staff are regularly required to attend courses and seminars of further training which are held in the Institute's own administrative schools. They are also required to participate in various series of lectures given on an on-duty basis, and to occasionally spend terms of practical on-the-job training in the industry. Even the executives, such as department and section chiefs, are regularly called upon to attend further presentations for study and training.

Innovative approaches

A major innovation is the effective utilization of the country's vocational guidance and counselling services. The practical work of vocational counselling is incumbent upon and performed by the local employment offices. For this purpose each employment area has a separate department for vocational counselling. To some extent these specialized vocational counsellors are organized in a so-called base network system, which means that they are responsible and work for several local employment offices. The eventual placement in vocational training or apprenticeships is handled by training placement officers in most of the local employment offices.

A second innovative approach of the Federal Republic of Germany is the establishment of the Federal Employment Institute. This institute promotes institutions or establishments that provide vocational training facilities or programmes. This promotion also includes the granting of loans for the erection of dormitories or homes for the accommodation of the trainees or apprentices, as well as the granting of subsidies and loans for the construction of general vocational training centres. These investments by the private or public organizations for the practical implementation of basic occupational training courses are designed to improve the chances of integration for young people who could not or cannot find a place for vocational training or apprenticeship.

India

Current organizational efforts

A large-scale attempt to reconstruct education to solve the transitional problems from school to work has been undertaken in India. The Planning Commission handles macro-level manpower planning with a view to proposing measures for the optimum utilization of human resources for development. Manpower surveys are also conducted to identify employment trends and to estimate the need for facilities in relation to projected industry requirements. To facilitate transition to work, integration with development planning is needed. A smooth transition from education to work is sought by establishing durable links between the educational policy and the employment policy, on the one hand, and between educational development with employment objectives in the development plan particularly as articulated in the proposed investment patterns for the different economic and industrial growth sectors. One type of work-study arrangement employed in India is the concept of apprenticeship. Employers are obliged in specified industries to engage apprentices in accordance with prescribed ratios in the trades designated for that purpose. Apprenticeships vary in length from six months to four years and entry qualifications range from five to eleven years of schooling, depending upon the trade involved. Apprenticeship consists of basic training followed by on-the-job or shop-floor training with related instruction throughout the period of training. In addition, technical representatives are encouraged to participate in the boards of management/advisory councils of technical institutes.

Current content and methods efforts

Curriculum development centres are established in selected institutions such as the technical teacher-training institutes for polytechnic education and the National/State Council of Educational Research and Training. Curriculum research follows a systems approach to curriculum design, development, implementation and evaluation; these are distinct stages and elements of a feedback loop of the process. Research has determined the need for managerial/entrepreneurial skills for small industries and self-employment; elements of relevant management education are now included in technical education. The National Council for Training in Vocational Trades is responsible for facilitating the integration of theory and practice. This council was established in the Ministry of Labour and Employment to arrange trade tests and to award national trade certificates to those who successfully complete the course.

Teaching staff

To accommodate regional needs for teacher education, four technical teacher-training institutes and six central training institutes for training instructors have been established. These institutes attempt to develop subject matter competence, teaching ability and orientation towards industry among potential teachers for polytechnics. They also hold short-term in-service courses and seminar/workshops for senior faculty members and institutional administrators in curriculum development, on the management of human resources, industry-institutional co-operation in technical education and local resource generation. In-service guidance training and regular courses are organized for training college teachers to acquaint them with information collection procedures and cumulative record sheet maintenance. Norms and designs of tests of intelligence, aptitude and personality are also developed.

Innovative approaches

India has identified several innovative approaches to solving the transitional problems from school to work. The first is to be found in the development of the Draft Five-Year Plan, 1978-83. This plan, the foundation of educational policy and its articulation through developmental programmes, is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education at the national level and the state departments of education. All these agencies are represented in the Central Advisory Board of Education and the All-India Council for Technical Education, the highest level policy advisory bodies in the field of education. The Draft Five-Year Plan 1978-83 called for radical changes in the education system, particularly for greater vocationalization, through co-ordinated action and quality improvement rather than proliferation of secondary and university education facilities.

A second innovative approach involves vocational education in higher secondary schools. The Ministry of Education is playing a leading role by financing district vocational surveys to identify course outlines and, through the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), to prepare suitable guidelines for curricular patterns and designs.

A third approach deals with the guidance aspect of vocational and technical education, a development of the University Employment Information and Guidance Bureau which is functioning in sixty-six universities. This organization collects, compiles and disseminates occupational information for the use of students, teachers, parents and jobseekers, both individually and in groups. Career talks, group discussions, career exhibitions and film shows are arranged. Assistance is also rendered in securing apprenticeship training opportunities and in placement, particularly during vacations and on a part-time basis.

Another approach is the development of sandwich courses. Attempts have been made to organize technician education on a sandwich pattern, alternating the students between institutions and work places according to a well-designed plan. This effort seeks to integrate classroom work with practical experience in a real world environment, thus moulding the attitudes of students towards the rhythm and rigor of working in industry. It is intended to enhance students' self-realization and direction, their appreciation of the conditions of work in the enterprise where they are placed and, at the same time, provide the employing organization with an opportunity to identify its potential employee manpower and train it in the most appropriate manner, given operational requirements.

Another innovative approach is the emergence of industrial training institutes. The main objective of this type of training is to ensure a steady supply of skilled workers for industry. In order to enhance acceptance by employers, training is confined to one specific trade in which necessary manipulative skills of prescribed grades are sought. Generally, practical work accounts for over 50 per cent of total student time. This is, in essence, a parallel development (extensive training programmes of craftsmen) to that of the vocational system. Initially established during the Second World War, it was recently reintroduced.

Iraq

Current organizational efforts

Since the nationalization of the oil industry in Iraq in 1972, there has been an increased demand for technical skills at all levels. Thus Iraq is interested in solving the school-to-work transition problems. Detailed manpower surveys are conducted. Industry and education are being co-ordinated. Representatives from industry sit on the advisory councils of each technical institute and, in some cases, instructional department. All students train in industry for various periods during their course of study, under joint school, institute and industry supervision. Work-study arrangements include employees from various industrial establishments attending evening classes, taking the same certifying examinations as vocational school students. Students must complete a minimum of twelve weeks of summer training in industry or related establishments before graduation in order to fulfil the co-operative educational employment criteria.

The distribution of vocational schools and technical institutes throughout the country was made on the basis of population density, type of economy in the area, industries established or planned for the region and student population and growth. A fair geographic distribution of schools and technical institutes has been maintained and the proximity of industrial establishments was considered in the physical placement of such schools. This facilitates easy out-of-school training.

To obtain good feedback on the external efficiency of technical education, the Foundation of Technical Institutes introduced in 1978 a 'tracer' system of follow-up for graduates. The quality and relevance of the curriculum are measured by the questionnaire as well as the type of employment graduates are obtaining.

Current content and methods efforts

Vocational guidance is entrusted to the teaching staff of vocational schools and technical institutes. The students are divided into small groups and assigned to a teacher who meets with them regularly to monitor their academic and educational progress. During the summer, all students are required to spend six weeks in supervised training in industry where they familiarize themselves with the type of employment they will be offered after graduation. Visits are also organized during the year to a number of related establishments. In some cases, students spend two or three days a week training in nearby establishments as part of their course work.

Curriculum is constantly being updated to meet economic requirements for employment. The curriculum for vocational education emphasizes practical training and applied subjects, representing a total of 60 per cent of the curriculum. Summer training for all students in related establishments is an integral part of the curriculum.

Teaching staff

A guidance committee is set up in each institute to direct guidance activities. Although there are no separate guidance teachers in schools at the present time, vocational teachers do direct the guidance programmes.

Many lecturers from industrial and other establishments are employed by the vocational schools and technical institutes. These instructors maintain links between schools and industries and jointly supervise the practical training of students in industry.

Teachers are encouraged to keep up to date with technological advances. The staff of the institutes are obliged to spend a minimum of-six months in industry every five years in order to gain academic promotion.

Innovative approaches

Several innovative approaches are being employed by Iraq. One is the extensive utilization of manpower planning. Clear, effective economic planning for all sectors of the national economy is being facilitated by the manpower planning. Educational planning, as an integral part of manpower planning, has been developed to meet the changing needs of a society with a rapidly developing economy. Manpower plans concurrent with the five-year national economic plans identify the needs of each type of specialization at different levels of skill. First priority is given to vocational and technical education in particular, and manpower development in general. Major plans for building schools and technical institutes have been formulated and implemented.

A second development is the introduction of industrial arts into the intermediate secondary-school curriculum. Also, some experimental secondary comprehensive schools have been started.

Other innovations undertaken by Iraq are the: (a) proposed expansion of technical institutes; (b) increased staff recruitment and training; (c) qualitative development of technical education; (d) expansion of parallel technical education (secondary-school graduates working in industry or other sectors are trained through courses organized in co-operation between the Foundation of Technical Institute and the relevant establishment to become technicians in their field of specialization).

Nigeria

Current organizational efforts

Nigeria is interested in solving problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. The Ministry of National Planning and Development is conducting manpower surveys and determining their impact on technical and vocational education. The purpose of these manpower surveys to collate data on manpower requirements for national development and educational projections. Nigeria employs the apprenticeship scheme which is a form of work-study arrangements. One type of work-study involves company-sponsored training schools for company purposes. Another scheme of co-operative programmes/apprenticeship is the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) which provides the opportunity for some students in selected fields to be given industrial work experience for a three-month period each year. Regarding the physical placement of schools, with the exception of a few experimental institutions, most technical institutions are located in areas of higher employment possibilities. Nigeria recognizes the need for a follow-up system for graduates and is currently revamping early attempts to fill this need.

The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) involves industries and institutions by setting up subject panels of experts or advisory councils. In addition, NBTE is responsible for restructuring courses from time to time for purposes of certification and accreditation.

Current content and methods efforts

Educational guidance is still in its infancy in Nigeria but it has been tapped for expansion. Career guidance counsellors attend seminars to upgrade skills. A programme exists for progressive in-service training to fully qualify as education officers or school teachers as guidance professionals at federal and state levels. Many institutions are now preparing brochures for prospective students on career possibilities in various fields, outlining the basic requirements for entry to those courses. A few experimental institutions test technical and vocational methodologies and curriculum. Curriculum development for all levels of technical education comes under the aegis of NBTE. Industry, since it is an element of the education system and must be convinced that products of educational institutions will meet its needs, is directly involved in curriculum development.

Teaching staff

Due to the general shortage of teaching staff at all levels of technical education, Nigeria secures personnel from industry as part-time teachers or lecturers in institutions. Industrial teachers generally instruct in the evening courses only, as industry has not as yet allowed daytime release of its personnel for teaching purposes. In all areas where there are planned industrial linkages, technical teachers participate fully in the supervision of students in industrial settings. This affords direct contact with employers and facilitates institution/industry co-operation. Nigeria is concerned with technical teacher training and has provided for teacher education. Teachers can prepare either to teach technical subjects in junior secondary schools as part of a general course or teach at technical colleges, colleges of technology and polytechnics with advanced pedagogical training. In addition, some of the polytechnics and colleges of education run an advanced three-year programme for technical teachers where the admission is based on successful completion of secondary education in appropriate subjects.

Innovative approaches

Nigeria's primary innovative approach to solving the problems of school to work transition is found in the Industrial Training Fund. For a long time the private sector tended to place low premium on skill training and manpower development, despite the fact that recruitment difficulties and deficiencies among existing personnel could be considerably reduced by a well-programmed training effort. A comprehensive and well-articulated skilled manpower training scheme related to the needs of the economy is important. Thus, the Industrial Training Fund was established to promote and encourage the acquisition of skills in industry or commerce with a view to generating a pool of indigenously-trained manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the economy. Financed jointly by subsidies from the government and contributions from employers, the fund's training activities include: (a) compilation of directories - providing information on a national level regarding training programmes, facilities, training institutions and training requirements: (b) training evaluations - determining effectiveness of training programmes against predetermined requirements and the fund's policy; (c) company survey programme - providing spot-training advisory services to member establishments, particularly those not engaged in training programmes; and (d) seminars for contributing establishments - generally two-day seminars acquainting contributors of services and activities of the fund.

The fund is interested also in vocational improvement centres and technicians, and financially supports evening courses at technical colleges and polytechnics. It also supports the Student Industrial Work-Experience Scheme (SIWES), a programme whereby students in institutions of higher learning receive training in industry or commerce compatible with their area of study. Finally, the fund conducts train-the-trainer workshops designed for foremen, chargemen, supervisors and instructors in industries, to sharpen their awareness as trainers.

Senegal

Current organizational efforts

Among other necessary actions, evaluations of manpower requirements are undertaken by Senegal to assist in educational planning. Expansion of the manpower survey process to include the whole of Senegal, region by region, is now being implemented. Industrial co-ordination is facilitated by representatives from the world of work who serve on a permanent basis as counsellors between education and the main sectors of the country's economy. Apprenticeship programmes are one means Senegal is using to implement work-study arrangements. Co-operative programmes constitute another action utilized to interspace full-time training with actual world of work experiences. Regarding the physical placement of schools and training, while Senegal's past practice involved saturating localities with schools and training, at present education expansion is restricted to those areas whose need is greatest. Although public funds are allocated to follow-up studies for students, expansion is needed for verifying training effectiveness and actual student placement.

Senegal has implemented some new administrative arrangements to facilitate technical and vocational education. New educational structuring concerning technical colleges and vocational education institutions is underway, focusing on integrating vocational training on a full-time basis and expanding sandwich training (apprenticeship) and continuing education. This reorganization is intended to enhance student possibilities for passing from one level to another through the integration of all types of continuing education, on either a full- or part-time basis.

Current content and methods efforts

Vocational and education guidance for students and curriculum development are important vocational education programme elements. The curricula used in technical colleges are continually updated. In math-related disciplines in particular, content requirements are being updated and standards raised. Technical and vocational curriculum is updated in conjunction with industry advances and needs. Co-ordination with education and industry is evident. Integration of theory and practice is accomplished in Senegal via sandwich training which provides the student with an apprenticeship contract. Terms of a contract for private work (three-year apprenticeship contract) state that the main body of the practical training is given within the firm itself. The rest of the theoretical and general training is handled via the vocational training institutions. Research is another current method being utilized. The Directorate of Research and Planning co-ordinates efforts to promote a better balance between technical and vocational training and employment needs.

Teaching staff

Senegal has concentrated its efforts on the training and development of technical and vocational teachers. A teacher-training college for technical and vocational education has been created. Training periods involve teachers for short-term vocational education, technical and secondary-education teachers, advisers and psychologists (vocational and educational guidance staff) and supervisory personnel. A department was also created for each professional sector to conduct research and provide pedagogical support. Current training programmes are carried out in consultation with higher education authorities and, more especially, in collaboration with the higher institute of technology.

Innovative approaches

Senegal has identified and implemented several innovative approaches to solve the problems of transition from technical and vocational schools to work. One of the more important is the continuing education programme, which provides students with optional full- or part-time study, training during working hours or through evening classes. This allows students to obtain vocational qualifications or to pass from one level of qualification to another. Further, provisions have been made for special institution 'open days' when workers, technicians, employers and craftsmen can bring to the students updated knowledge and information related to the development of techniques in their occupations. Furthermore, the National Vocational Training Centre is being restructured, in association with various institutes, to provide all regions in Senegal with facilities affording an opportunity to prepare professional qualifying examinations.

Another innovative measure recently implemented by Senegal is the creation of six permanent subcommittees responsible for adapting curricula and diplomas to meet new organizational restructuring demands. These subcommittees will study the following components for each type and level of training: adaptation of contents to employment needs; corresponding levels of training; recruitment levels; time-tables and curricula; continuous supervision of knowledge; and sandwich training and apprenticeships.

Sudan

Current organizational efforts

Sudan is, like other countries, concerned with solving the problems of transition from the technical and vocational schools to work. Records concerning the number of students involved with technical education is reflected in Sudan's six-year educational plan. Work-study arrangements in vocational training are supervised by the Department of Labour. Vocational training has two aspects: apprenticeship and skill upgrading.

Current content and methods efforts

A major focus of the current approach is the co-ordination of the responsibility of planning and implementation of training centres and courses. Sudan has also recognized the importance of integrating theory and practice and has implemented this philosophy. The training received by students in the mechanical, electrical and building trades is about 80 per cent practical, hands-on and about 20 per cent theoretical. It is believed that this qualifies students better to go directly to work.

Teaching staff

A significant effort is being exerted in the field of teacher training in Sudan. A large number of those who join the teaching profession depend on acquiring experience in teaching and developing that experience by practice and training under the guidance and direction of the Ministry of Education through its training institutes. However, at present, most teachers are trained abroad.

Innovative approaches

In that Sudan is a developing country, several innovative approaches to solving school-to-work transitional problems are being employed. Since at present there is no common system for regulating and keeping track of vocational preparation and training centres and courses, efforts are being made in that direction. Attempts are also being made to establish a national system of vocational training and apprenticeship. At present there are three main types of vocational preparation and training:

1. The youth centres established by the Youth Administration which accept students who complete their primary education. Students in these centres receive a general craft preparation without any limit to specific trades.

2. The national handicraft centres under the supervision of the Ministry of Education which accept students who complete intermediate schools. They offer their students some training in national handicrafts relevant to the community environment where the centres are located.

3. The vocational training centres run by the Department of Labour which used to accept students who completed intermediate schools; they now accept only students who pass the intermediate certificate. This new criterion was the direct result of the Apprenticeship and Vocational Training Act of 1974.