Preface

In Denmark, there is great political attention on vocational education and training (VET) as a key to achieving major political goals. Like in the rest of the EU, VET plays a key role in implementing the strategy for lifelong learning, and is an integral part of promoting the achievement of the Lisbon and Barcelona goals. The Copenhagen process¹ provided an overall framework for European VET development, and contributed significantly to raising awareness of the importance of VET in ensuring the EU a competitive advantage compared to the economies of the US and Asia, by bridging economic development and social cohesion.

The challenges of globalisation are major drivers behind the political concerns on VET. Economic globalisation and technological development increase competition among nations, but also lead to new forms of global specialisation and collaboration. Today, production is split into chain processes. Innovation and design may take place in the Headquarters in Copenhagen, production in China, IT support and development in India, and services in Ireland. In this respect, globalisation may lead to a polarisation of society: many of the unskilled and low-skilled jobs are moving from the West to the East and the developing countries. The number of unskilled jobs in the private sector in Denmark has dropped by 15% since 1980. However, approximately 750,000 people have no skills beyond basic schooling. This poses a major challenge which requires an all-inclusive VET system that is able to ensure an adequate level of education in Denmark, and prevent social exclusion in the longer term.

Compared to other parts of the education system, VET is a grey zone. It is both public and private (2/3 of a VET programme takes place in an enterprise). This means that there are a large number of stakeholders: politicians, public managers, the social partners, enterprises, vocational colleges, teachers' unions and so on, who share responsibility for developing the system. It is a diverse and complex area which is embedded in different policy areas: the economy, employment, education, social integration and business development, so the VET system must meet a number of different objectives:

• it has to be an effective system ensuring the employability of young people, and easing their transition from training to the labour market. They are to have immediately useful and relevant skills when entering the labour market.
  Involving the social partners and other relevant stakeholders is a key to ensuring the adaptability of the VET programmes vis-à-vis the needs of the labour market. In this respect, VET is an important element in employment policies;
• it has to be an attractive and flexible system on a level with the more academically-oriented programmes at upper secondary level. The VET programmes play a vital role in the economy, and it is important that young people do not disregard VET as an attractive possibility. In this respect, VET is an important element of educational and economic policies;
• it has to be an inclusive system, ensuring the integration of immigrants and weak learners, and hereby contributing to social cohesion and coherence. In this respect, VET constitutes an important element in integration and social policies;
• it has to be an adaptable and developing system that meets the challenges of a globalising world. The VET system has to reflect the general societal changes from an industrial society to a knowledge society, and be able to meet the skills needs of a changing labour market. New occupations are arising within sectors such as IT, the services and the entertainment and leisure industry, and these have to be integrated as new training provisions within the VET system.

The aim of this publication is to describe the VET system² in Denmark, and also to offer an insight into how the system is geared to meet the continuous challenges of a globalising world.

Roland Svarrer Østerlund
Director of Education August 2005

1) The Copenhagen Declaration was adopted by 31 European Ministers of Education under the Danish EU Presidency in 2002. The aim was to strengthen European cooperation in the field of VET.

2) The primary focus is on the erhvervsuddannelser (EUD), which are regulated by the Act on Vocational Education and Training. The description does not include the agricultural training programmes, social and health care training, or maritime training programmes.

This page is included in the publication "The Danish Vocational Education and Training System" as Preface
© The Ministry of Education 2005