With 70 percent of young people participating, Switzerland’s vocational education and training (VET) system is a world leader in preparing young people for the high-skill, in-demand jobs now powering the strong Swiss economy. The Center on International Education Benchmarking’s recent report—Gold Standard: The Swiss Vocational Education and Training System—was among the subjects discussed at a recent Askwith Forum at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) entitled “Schooling in the Workplace: The Swiss Model”.
Featuring Gold Standard co-author and HGSE Professor Emeritus Robert Schwartz as moderator, panelists included:
- Betsy Brown Ruzzi, CIEB Director
- Nancy Hoffman, Vice President, Jobs for the Future and Gold Standard co-author
- Ursula Renold, Former General Director Federal Office for Professional Education and Training, Swizerland
- Noel Ginsburg, CEO, Intertech Plastics Chair of the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance.
The discussion centered on what makes the Swiss VET system such a success and the lessons the U.S. and other systems can learn from it. Watch the full discussion below.
