SFUVET: Dual or not dual? Which model should be favoured in international cooperation projects?

In ICVET, the socio-cultural and economic situations of the countries in which cooperation initiatives take place can be very different, whether in terms of local economic activities, skilled labour needs or the organisation of the players and institutions with which to cooperate.

Given these major differences, ICVET stakeholders must always ask themselves which model to draw on when organising a given cooperation project. Is it better to focus on models that emphasise the transmission of skills in school contexts? Or to encourage forms of practical training in companies? Or a combination of the two, as in the Swiss dual model?

Answering these questions obviously requires an analysis of the context in the partner countries, in order to understand their socio-economic and institutional situation and to choose the most appropriate measures for the local reality. It is also important to ask which criteria or factors should be considered in this analysis, in other words, which socio-economic and institutional characteristics might justify the adoption of one model rather than another.

The question raised here could be broadened by taking into account the fact that many countries around the world are active in ICVET and not all of them are familiar with the dual model and therefore promote forms of VET that are largely inspired by school-based models. How can we assess the competition between different models for organising VET? Which model is more appropriate? And how can we ensure that the model chosen in the end is the one that can actually help to improve local VET?

The one-day seminar is organised by the Master of Science in Vocational Education and Training and the International Relations Department of the Swiss Federal University for Vocation Education and Training, with the collaboration of FoBBIZ (Swiss Forum for Skills Development and International Cooperation).