The perspective of apprentices in the monitoring of vocational education and training policy

Background and issues

Knowledge of the apprentice perspective is a key factor in the organisation of attractive and up-to-date training provision. For this reason, the demands being made include calls for greater heed to be paid to the evaluation of young people in policy-making processes. One example here is a position paper produced by the Federal Pupils’ Conference, which criticises a representative gap: “[...] the perspective not being heard in this process is that of our country’s almost 9 million learners [...] is no one asking the question what learners, who are affected the most, actually want from these decisions[?].”¹

Regular representative surveys are one way in which the voice of apprentices can be made audible. One of the questions investigated by the BIBB project “Communication and reception of the apprentice perspective in international comparative terms (KuRA)” was the form in which such monitoring exercises take place in Germany, Denmark and Switzerland (cf. Information box). These three countries are suited to such a comparison insofar as their VET systems accord considerable significance to dual learning and because they face similar challenges as a result of the pressure of transformation.

This article draws on partial results from the project and highlights the various monitoring approaches. This type of indirect participation contrasts with direct participation, which is understood to include active involvement and representation of apprentices in bodies at the learning venues or on relevant committees at various state levels. The extent to which educational policy decision-making processes were actually informed by the findings that emerged from the surveys could not be investigated on an individual case basis.

Theoretical background and methodological approach

Previous stakeholder-related governance research had focused almost exclusively on state stakeholders and on employer organisations and the trade unions (cf. Bürgi/Gonon 2021; Emmenegger/Graf/Strebel 2020; Trampusch 2010). Against this background, the question as to how the role of the apprentices is respectively characterised in comparative terms between Germany, Denmark and Switzerland provides a supplementary aspect with regard to gaining a better understanding of why these VET systems differ despite being similarly organised in some respects.

The KuRA project undertook an extensive analysis of literature and studies over the period from 2014 to 2022 to produce a comparative overview of various forms and approaches adopted towards surveys of apprentices, vocational learners, and vocational school pupils. Five categories were inductively developed on this basis to which the monitoring activities were allocated. These categories comprise the following.

1. National regular state-financed surveys
2. National regular non-state financed surveys
3. Regional and sectoral surveys
4. Studies of young people
5. Examples of research projects and one-off studies involving surveys

The differentiation between categories 1 and 2 is relevant to the extent that state-funded or commissioned surveys involve a fixed policy content focus. State financing is also preceded by an extensive consultation process. The assumption is, therefore, that these results are more likely to be taken on board by policy makers and used to inform structural processes.

This article concentrates on the first two types of monitoring activity.

Monitoring approaches in the three countries

The instruments deployed to monitor the apprentice perspective and its reception at the policy governance level differ significantly in the three VET systems forming the object of investigation (cf. Table).

Denmark

A state-financed and obligatory survey of vocational learners is conducted annually in Denmark.² Besides including questions on apprentices’ behaviour, skills and motivation, the survey also covers teaching conditions in the schools and the relationship with work colleagues at the company providing training and with teaching staff (cf. Børne- Og Undervisningsministeriet 2019). The aim of the survey is to record learners’ well-being. This is the consequence of a strategic policy decision which places the focus on the perspective of the vocational learners and accords them the statutory right to a high-quality learning environment. In the wake of the VET reform of 2015, improving the learners’ well-being was one of the four goals expressly stated in the law (cf. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut 2021a, p. 6).

The survey comprises between 35 and 42 questions, with the number of questions depending on the phase of training in which the vocational learners are and on whether a training place exists. The questionnaire is answered during the learning phase at the vocational school. Data can be broken down into regions, schools or groups of learners etc.

The results of the surveys form the basis for relevant policy making initiatives which aim to increase the satisfaction of pupils (including with regard to mental health) and to reduce drop-out numbers. The intention is for them to inform both local quality assurance in the vocational schools and ministerial work.³ Relevant state funding is made available (cf. Børne- Og Undervisningsministeriet 2019). Numerous and regular studies have investigated the impacts of the VET reform of 2015 and of subsequent initiatives.⁴ The results of the surveys show, for example, that there is a clear correlation between well-being and the likelihood of a training drop-out (cf. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut 2021 b, pp. 22 ff.).

Switzerland

The perspectives of young people and apprentices are recorded in Switzerland within the scope of national state-financed surveys. The two instruments used are the Interface Barometer (Nahtstellenbarometer) and the Standardised Final Year Survey (Standardisierte Abschlussklassenbefragung, SAB)⁵.

The Apprenticeship Barometer (Lehrstellenbarometer) was introduced as long ago as 1997. In 2018, it was replaced for the first time by the “Interface Barometer – education and training decisions after mandatory schooling”. Since this time, the situation at the “first threshold” has been recorded jointly both for the vocational and general education pathways. This survey is conducted on behalf of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). There are two cut-off points each year, on 15 April and 31 August. The first survey in April provides initial indications of the education and training preferences and notions of the young people and of the situation on the apprenticeship market and illustrates the tendencies for development up until the summer. The focus in August is on the current training situation and its assessment, on transitional solutions and on the number of applications. Secondly, the Standardised Final Year Survey (SAB) is conducted right across Switzerland on a three-year cycle. This includes a survey of all pupils in their final year at vocational schools. Data relating to quality aspects encompassing the three dimensions of input, process and output/outcome quality is collected within the framework of the SAB. Question topics include the acquisition of various competencies, school equipment and lessons, and expertise of teaching staff. Interaction between teachers and learners is addressed in a separate module on social relationships. There are also questions on motivation, on experiences with support services and on individual funding. A further module looks at the satisfaction of vocational learners. The “Value for the future” module includes questions about future plans (cf. ZEM CES 2021). This data survey is possible because the cantons, which are responsible for the quality of schools, have entered into a commitment as part of an agreement reached with the Swiss Federal Government. The advantage of this is that the transitional data obtained can be evaluated individually per school or canton. The data also serves as a basis for further research. The investigation at the interfaces or at the two sensitive cross-over points is transitional research which forms one of the main emphases of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation’s 2021–2024 Research Funding Programme (cf. Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation 2020, p. 39).

However, in its capacity as a privately financed stakeholder, yousty.ch, Switzerland’s largest online apprenticeship portal, regularly conducts non-representative apprentice surveys. The questionnaire was developed in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland and differentiates in accordance with the sectors and size of the companies providing training. It also includes aspects such as satisfaction with the school and plans for the time after completion of the VET qualification (Lernendenbarometer yousty.ch). Regionally, however, the focus is on German-speaking Switzerland.

Germany

In Germany, there are representative national surveys of young people which focus on education and training histories. Some of these also relate to the VET system. However, there is no nationwide, continuing state-financed data survey aimed at the group of apprentices during training.

The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) collects longitudinal data on competence developments, education and training processes, education and training decisions, and education and training returns in formal, non-formal and informal contexts over the entire span of life and thus resembles the multi-cohort study (TREE) in Switzerland. The panel study “School and training – education of pupils after Year 9 (NEPS-SC4)” includes questions on how young people perceive the shift from general school to the VET system, on what influences access to VET and on which experiences are gathered in vocational preparation measures or in VET itself. Apprentices are not, however, surveyed regularly and continuously.

The Applicant Survey conducted by the Federal Employment Agency and BIBB also focuses on the transition to training. Unlike in the Interface Barometer in Switzerland, no new survey takes place at a second point in time following commencement of training. The survey of apprentices by the Youth Branch of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) has been carried out since 2006 and is not state financed. Its main thematic focus changes each year. The focus in 2023 was on the topic of digitalisation, whereas the 2022 survey centred on access to training and to vocational orientation. The surveys take place as part of “vocational school tours” by the Youth Branch of the DGB, during which apprentices are informed about aspects such as general conditions and their rights with a view to bolstering them in overall terms. Publication of the report is always accompanied by a separate VET policy assessment by the trade unions and is linked with relevant demands. The 2022 Training Report, for example, called for a training guarantee financed by a levy.

Synthesis and conclusions

In evidence-based policy making, regular surveying of the satisfaction of apprentices/vocational learners offers a possible way of adding their perspective to the policy decision-making levels and of allowing their assessments to inform adjustments in the VET system. Approaches towards systematic monitoring exhibit significant differences with regard to the way in which they are embedded into educational policy.

In Denmark, the annual surveying of vocational learners has ensued as the result of a VET reform. Improving well-being is an express educational policy goal which is also reflected in legislation. The underlying motives particularly include reducing training dropouts and achieving an improvement in quality. Regular state-commissioned surveys of the experiences of vocational learners during training are also conducted in Switzerland, albeit without a comparable explicit legal enshrinement of the aim of increasing well-being. The focus here is on quality improvement.

This means that Denmark and Switzerland have data available on a continuous basis which makes it possible for the perspective of the apprentices to inform educational policy decision-making processes in a systematic manner. A systematic linking with relevant analysis and research activities at least gives rise to the assumption that the results are taken into account in educational policy decision-making processes in both Switzerland and Denmark. In Denmark, this indication is additionally reinforced by the legally enshrined objective of improving the well-being of vocational learners.

This is not so clear in the case of Germany, where there is no comparable state-financed survey. The role played by the trade unions in structuring VET is a significant one, and this suggests a corresponding reception by both the other stakeholders and publicly. However, the study conducted by the Youth Branch of the DGB lacks any broad interlinking with an educational policy strategy and with the research and analysis activities associated with this. 

Especially against the background of the debates on education for democratic citizenship and the relevant opportunities for learner participation, such a co-determining stakeholder role for vocational learners, at least of an indirect nature, may be an approach and chance which will enable their experiences to be taken on board. In addition to this, however, it would also be advisable to think about expanding direct participation by learners and developing relevant models. Participation and self-determined education and training experiences are essential elements of education for democratic citizenship (cf. Kenner 2021).
 

Ute Hippach-Schneider
Senior researcher at BIBB 

Janine Grobe-Rath
Staff member at BIBB
 

Translation from the German original (published in BWP 4/2024): Martin Kelsey, GlobalSprachTeam, Berlin