14 Nov. 2024 – EfVET participated in the 17th Cedefop Brussels seminar organised in cooperation with the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The seminar, titled “VET and higher education partnerships: towards excellence and inclusive growth”, addressed issues relevant to the EU debates on education, training and employment within the VET systems. The key questions to address in analysing future VET trends: 

• How have workplaces changed and will change in the future, and which new skills will be needed? 

• How can “higher VET” be competitive nowadays? Why is it such a powerful measure for academia and the labour market? 

• How to identify and measure emerging VET trends at EU/local level?  

• Why is it so important to focus on policy documents with a data-driven approach? 

• How to build and improve partnerships for the development of higher education, critical to the future growth of VET? 

• How to map and keep track of how EU countries have addressed VET locally? 

• Searching for a definition: what exactly means “vocational excellence” and how can it be improved and implemented? 

• How to make VET more visible, more attractive, how to prepare citizens to enter/choose this pathway with intention? 

During the presentation, evidence-based and data-driven analysis collected using advanced methodology were provided, combining the overall picture of EU developments in VET but also in the Hungarian context.  

The event opened with the welcoming of the moderator, Loukas Zahilas, Head of Department, Cedefop, followed by Dr Gergely Pálmai, Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation, and Jürgen Siebel, Executive Director, Cedefop. 

Chiara Riondino, Head of Unit at the European Commission’s DG Employment, started the discussion by emphasizing how education and VET have a key role to play in this political context. Furthermore:

• Expanding opportunities for students would help the growing VET process by providing a clear pathway for learners.
• The demands of the labour market are very high, and we need to stay ahead of the pace in the field of education, digitalization, green, and health. 

Anastasia Pouliou, Expert in Qualifications and credentials, covered these points: 

• How is VET perceived and where is the VET ecosystem heading? The “positive story”: VET is expanding, skills are essential for growth and innovation; VET as a system to include students at risk of exclusion from the labour market (e.g. immigrants, women). The “negative story”: VET is declining/losing ground to general academic education; digitization makes VET skills less relevant. 
• “Excellence” and “Inclusion”, two key principles. Are they contradictory or complementary? Are they two sides of the same coin? Or are they similar to “communicating vessels”? Is it instead a scale with 2 (un)equal weights? Which metaphor to choose, and how to readjust it to a specific context? Different approaches do not contradict each other? 

Veronika Leiner, Expert, Cedefop, covered: 

• European VET in the future: balancing excellence/inclusion/learning opportunities. 
• EU VET priorities 2021-2025: agile VET / flexible VET / quality VET. 
• How to gather and elaborate data? Cedefop’s ReferNet network as a key reference point.

Katalin Zoltan, Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of Culture and Innovation on European & Hungarian National VET policies:

• VET 4.0 strategy. Key aspects: economic expectation; students and adults education; different training stages, from basic education to specialized professional education.
• The 4 PILLARS of the “VET Strategy 4.0”:  
• Attractive environment (e.g. digital education environment, modern workshops).
• Career opportunity (e.g. 5-year technical school) .
• Teachers with up-to-date skills.
• Compensation of disadvantages (the last pillar). 
• Mega trends in the EU (past 25 years) in shaping VET: AI, Greening, Internationalization, Demographic challenges, Tech intense professions, “skills first” necessity. 
• The “Certified Technician Programme”: how to improve and expand this model?

Dr Gergely Pálmai, Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation: 

• Building and maintaining Strategic Partnerships is the key for success in the VET system. 
• The “certified technician training”: how to make them more attractive? 
• How to avoid dropout from schools? 

Zsombor Báthy, Policy officer for VET, Ministry of Culture and Innovation: 

• The “Workshop School Programme”. 
• Flexible learning pathways to avoid dropout from schools.
• How to develop a learning methodology based on teamwork but also individual development?

Loukas Zahilas closed the session by defining VET as a “slow train coming”: in fact, the VET system needs time to get results, but there’s a clear acceleration in the radically changed landscape. EU Member States have a key role in this process (local perspective); the EU still has a strong leadership; and the VET system is steadily improving. 

During the coffee break and final lunch provided by the Hungarian Delegation, there were informal moments for networking and exchange of ideas. 

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More info: www.cedefop.europa.eu  – #CedefopBrusselsSeminar

 

Report & Pics (CCL): Michele Pasquale, Communications Manager at EfVET Brussels.

The full photo album is available under CC License at this link.

Cover image (Copyright): Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 on Flickr.

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