The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training has commissioned a report from the Norwegian Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (Nifu Step) describing continuity and change within Norwegian vocational education and training (VET) since the 1990s.
The report deals with issues such as the access to apprenticeship and governance of the VET system. The report is part of the Directorate’s policy reporting to Cedefop, the EU’s institution for development of VET.
According to Nifu Step, the access to apprenticeships continues to be governed by the general economic situation, in spite of policy initiatives aiming to stabilise the access to apprenticeships. The apprenticeship system is presently an important source of recruitment.
VET has since the 1990s been increasingly controlled by state governance. However, the social partners maintain a great deal of influence. Another feature is the increased importance of the training offices (enterprise-based cooperation). They contribute significantly to apprenticeship placement, to the lessening of the administrative burden and to the cooperation within education and training.
State educational authorities have increasingly focused on quality in VET, and Nifu Step calls attention to the contours of a more coherent system of quality assurance. An additional quality assessment of the education and training within training companies is needed. There is a lack of quality indicators, and differing views on what should be trainers’ competences persist.