European Vocational Education and Training Week 2020

The week 9th-13th of November was dedicated to the potentials and challenges of vocational education and training. Both Stefan Nowatschin, CESI spokesperson on VET, and Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative and founding member of the European Apprentices Alliance, contributed to the discussions and highlighted the role of VET skills in the green and digital transitions.

The international climate targets and digitisation are important drivers for far-reaching changes in the labour market of the future. Stefan Nowatschin expressed his conviction that “digital competence and the ability to use resources in a sustainable manner will shape many job profiles”.

Nowatschin and Fandrejewski called for a reorientation of vocational education and training towards the meta-trends ‘digitization’ and ‘sustainability’.

“The transformation to climate-neutral economies and societies can only succeed if vocational education and training adequately prepares the future working population accordingly”, Nowatschin explained in one of the online conferences of the VET Week. Fandrejewski on his part demanded that “all VET learning venues, VET schools, inter-company VET centres, further education institutions and universities must gear their structures towards digitalization and sustainability”.

In his keynote speech, Fandrejewski presented five central aspects for sustainability-oriented training: its financing via Just Transition Fund, in order to ensure a smooth transition into the futural jobs, the reorientation of training and curricula in light of the so-called Green Mainstreaming strategy, the appointment of young sustainability ambassadors at all learning locations, as well as sufficiently qualified staff and modern technical equipment.

“The EU can and must help achieving this reorientation towards sustainability-oriented vocational training”, Nowatschin underlined, and called for a ‘Pact for Vocational Schools’. He pointed out that the Vocational Training Act and the respective school laws must also foresee concrete instructions for action to be taken by school administrations.

“Digitization and sustainability also need leadership in the classroom and in the company or office for successful implementation”, Fandrejewski concluded, and called upon the stakeholders to be present in the crisis and to do everything possible – to continue their training programs and to offer young people perspectives despite these difficult times!

Forthcoming Osnabrück Declaration: The true value of Vocational Education and Training (VET): CESI and its members have been underlining for years that better quality and a focus on a better