Session Information
09 SES 01 A, Findings from International Large-Scale Assessments: Trend Perspectives on Achievement and Inequalities
Paper Session
Contribution
In its communications related to the strategy Education & Training 2020 (European Commission 2009) the European Commission stresses combating low educational achievement in basic competences such as literacy, numeracy, and science and the need to provide young people with the right mix of skills. On the other hand, the Commission endorses vocational education and has called for the number of young people enrolled in apprenticeship training to be increased (European Commission 2010b).
Educational systems that track students into academic and vocational tracks with different curricula have been shown to improve the allocation of school leavers in the labour market and to smooth the school-to-work transition (Shavit, Müller 2000; Müller, Gangl 2003; Müller 2005). Numerous studies, however, point to more controversial outcomes of highly differentiated educational systems. In highly tracked educational systems, which assign students to different schools or classes with different curricula according to their academic abilities, the effect of social origin on educational performance tends to be stronger (Brunello, Checchi 2007; van de Werfhorst, Mijs 2010).
The appeal from the European Commission to increase the focus on vocational education and apprenticeship training (European Commission 2009) is based on the belief that higher vocational specificity increases the employability of young people. Systems of vocational education, however, function in very different ways in different countries, provide students with varied sets of skills, and facilitate the transition to the labour market to very different extents. Education policy recommendations should always take into account the specific situation in the particular country. This paper focuses on the functioning of vocational and particularly apprenticeship education (category ISCED3C) in the Czech education system, which has a strong vocational tradition, and its development in time.
TheCzechRepublichas a highly stratified education system with tracking starting at the age of 11. Upper secondary education consists of three main tracks that provide students with a very different education: the academic track attended by 25% of upper secondary students; the technical track attended by 45% of students; and the apprenticeship track attended by 30% of students. TheCzechRepublichas the highest vocational enrolment among OECD countries (OECD 2014). Apprenticeship education, however, does not facilitate the transition to the labour market. ISCED3Cschool leavers have the highest short term and long term unemployment rate compared to leavers of other upper secondary tracks. It is important to learn more about the outcomes of the educational outcomes of vocational education.
In international comparative studies of student achievement, the Czech education system exhibits a relatively strong relationship between students’ achievement and their socio-economic background, major differences between schools with respect to student achievement, and one of the strongest relationships between socio-economic background and student achievement at the school level (e.g. OECD 2013b).
The paper seeks answers to the following questions:
1. What are the knowledge and skills of apprenticeship school leavers? Is apprenticeship education in theCzechRepublicsuccessful in equipping students with solid basic skills compared to other upper secondary tracks and internationally?
2. How does the high vocational specificity of the Czech education system contribute to educational inequalities? How socially selective is the apprenticeship track? What are the trends with respect to its selectivity?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Benavot, A. 1983. “The Rise and Decline of Vocational Education.” Sociology of Education 56: 63-76. Bol, T., Van de Werfhorst, H. G. 2013. Educational Systems and the Trade-Off between Labor Market Allocation and Equality of Educational Opportunity. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/669122. Brunello, G., Checchi, D. 2007. “Does School Tracking Affect Equality of Opportunity? New International Evidence.” Economic Policy 22: 781-861. EQAVET. 2014. Updating the EQAVET Work Programme 2013-2015. Priorities and Activities for 2014. Accessed December 6, 2014. http://www.eqavet.eu/Libraries/Annual_Forum_2014/Work_programme_2014.sflb.ashx ETUC. 2014. ETUC Resolution Improving quality of Apprenticeship and Work-based learning. Accessed December 6, 2014. http://www.etuc.org/sites/www.etuc.org/files/document/files/en-resolution_improving_quality_of_apprenticeship_and_work-based_learning.pdf European Commission. 2009. Education and Training 2020. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/general_framework/ef0016_en.htm European Commission. 2010a. An agenda for new skills and jobs: A European contribution towards full employment. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/;ELX_SESSIONID=vkSBJfkX6N04vyKPGljvLNGv0pLSyDGJphRySCB9y7jGlCkrL3dq!1506552797?uri=CELEX:52010DC0682 European Commission. 2010b. Youth on the Move. Accessed November 6, 2014. http://europa.eu/youthonthemove/docs/communication/youth-on-the-move_EN.pdf European Union. 2009. Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009. Accessed December 6, 2014. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:155:0001:0010:EN:PDF Hanushek E.A, Woessmann, L., Zhang, L. 2011. General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Life-Cycle. Working Paper 17504. Accessed December 6, 2014. http://www.nber.org/papers/w17504 Kerckhoff, A. C. 1995. “Institutional Arrangements and Stratification Processes in Industrial Societies.” Annual Review of Sociology 21: 323-47. Müller, W. 2005. “Education and Youth Integration into European Labor Markets.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 46: 461-85. Müller, W., Gangl, M. 2003. Transitions from Education to Work in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OECD 2014. Education at a Glance 2014. Paris: OECD. Shavit, Y., Müller, W. 2000. “Vocational Secondary Education: Where Diversion and Where Safety Net?” European Societies 2: 29-50. Van de Werfhorst, H. G., Mijs, J. J. B. 2010. “Achievement Inequality and the Institutional Structure of Educational Systems: A Comparative Perspective.” Annual Review of Sociology 36: 407-28.
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