ABSTRACT

Policy frameworkImprovement of the connections within vocational education (prevocational-secondary vocational-higher vocational) to improve the career of students is one of the central policy issues for VET in the Netherlands. Strengthening the VET-route is seen as one of the means to help realize the targets agreed by the European countries at Lisbon 2000. Schools receive an amount of money of the central government for the improvement of the connections within VET. This is called the Impulse VET arrangement 2002-2005. The main aim of the arrangement is to achieve so-called qualification profit, so to say the output and efficiency of VET.In the arrangement four covering themes are mentioned:

• improvement of the programmatic connection by developing continuous learning pathways
• the development of an identifiable pedagogic and didactics for VET
• the improvement of career orientation and guidance
• the strengthening of the knowledge infrastructure by more cooperation between schools and trade and industry.

These themes are not prescribed. The development of the Impulse arrangement is monitored. There are two monitors: a quantitative (directed at mapping the qualification profit, executed by a colleague policy research institute) and a qualitative. This paper regards the qualitative monitor. This monitor aims at monitoring the efforts of schools to realize the goals of the Impulse arrangement. The lead bodies also get money to strengthen work-based learning, the development of the competence-based qualification structure and the solution of connection problems.

Monitor questions

The central questions of the qualitative monitor are:

1. in what measure do schools invest with own budget in the strengthening of the VET-connection and the career of students?
2. how do schools steer the policy concerning the strengthening of the VET-connection and the career of students?
3. how important is this innovation for the school?
4. what do schools do to strengthen the VET-connection and the career of students?
5. at what qualification level are the activities directed?
6. how broad are these activities? Activities can be school-broad or can be directed at one training
7. what is the stage in the development of the activities? This can vary from 'in preparation' to 'incorporated'
8. how is the cooperation (with other schools, trade and industry) arranged regarding the realisation of the activities?
9. how do the persons concerned judge the Impulse VET arrangement?

Methods of data collection

The data of the schools have been gathered by means of a WEB-based questionnaire. Recently the data collection has been closed. At this moment questionnaires have been processed of about 60 prevocational schools, 45 secondary vocational schools and 30 higher vocational schools. All lead bodies have been interviewed and documents have been studied.

Preliminary results and conclusions

All Vet-schools pay attention to the first three themes, but there are clear differences between the school types. Higher vocational schools accent the programmatic connection, secondary vocational schools accent the career orientation and guidance and prevocational school pay relatively more attention to programmatic connection as well as pedagogic and didactics. The strengthening of the knowledge infrastructure gets little attention.It seems that secondary vocational school are directed to prevocational schools and less to higher vocational schools. Secondary vocational schools expect that higher vocational schools take the initiative as regards to the connection between secondary and higher vocational education.It is judged that the development of the VET-connection and the career of students has grown. The activities with the highest innovation potential, the construction of continuing learning pathways, though are difficult to realize. Cooperation between schools - an important condition for realizing the Impulse arrangement - is omnipresent. In general persons concerned judge that the Impulse VET arrangement has accelerated the development of the VET-connection and the career of students. The aim of the schools link up with the aims of the central government, namely the realisation of qualification profit. It is unclear though what qualification profit they want to gain. Most of the schools don't have clear targets. They are not very content with the results that have been obtained so far. The lead bodies pay most attention to the development of the competence-based qualification structure and the connection between prevocational and secondary vocational schools.

Monitor Impulse Vet arrangement

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Powerpoint slides from the preseentation "Monitor Impulse Vet arrangement" by Dr. Wil van Esch CINOP Policy Research, s-Hertogenbosch/The Netherlands

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PDF file version of slides from the presentation "Monitor Impulse Vet arrangement" by Dr. Wil van Esch CINOP Policy Research, s-Hertogenbosch/The Netherlands