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The precise and complex architecture of the French system of initial training and the various mechanisms which regulate its operation means that it is able in theory to meet a range of economic and social needs. This apparent harmony masks tensions dating back to the past and arising from changing expectations and demands on the part of decision-makers, consumers and users of this system. Simple adaptation is not enough to solve these problems. The identity and function of the various streams of training need to be redefined so that they are in keeping with the operation of the labour market and the ways in which professional identities are constructed. Show less

The genesis of this article is based on the observation by the authors that the French training system has witnessed an evolution since the 1970s that corresponds to the one that was later recommended by the European authorities, i.e.: the creation of a national qualifications framework that integrates general and vocational training and initial and continuing education; and a description of qualifications in terms of occupational standards that corresponds to learning outcomes and includes the concept of competence.

[This article is] in two parts: the first describes the construction process of a national qualifications framework in France. It gives the highlights of the debates that accompanied this construct and stresses the closeness one can find with the present discussions at the European level; and basing itself on this, the second part of the article assesses the results of the implementation of this system in relation to the European goals such as the shift from a system that is steered by supply to one that is steered by demand and the better coherence of qualifications and their transparency for the users.

Excerpt from published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

In just over 20 years, the vocational baccalaureat has gradually become an established part of the range of qualifications available to French youths. However, the modes whereby this diploma has been integrated into the landscape have differed considerably from one occupational sector to another. Those responsible for applying the recent reforms to occupational paths will have to take this diversity into account, since it raises questions about the overall policy of encouraging young people to pursue further studies.

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The European research and development project 'The acquisition of integrated qualifications for professional work and study - an assessment of innovative approaches in seven European countries (INTEQUAL)' examined postcompulsory education schemes combining vocational training and general education. This paper is one of a series of national analyses of dual qualification schemes in these countries. The series is indexed from TD/TNC 62.481 to TD/TNC 62.487.

The vocational baccalaureat was created in response to concerns about the vocational skills of young school leavers and the lack of a program to meet new demands from industry. The program attempts to integrate both academic and vocational subjects, and includes an average of 16 weeks of on-the-job training. The authors briefly examine the national framework of the vocational baccalaureat, its major features and educational concepts, and discuss the educational and systemic implications and effects of the program's organisation on practice.

The volume of papers is indexed at TD/TNC 62.480. Show less

Since the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, it has been generally agreed that harmonising the systems of certification used in the European member countries is liable to facilitate employees’ personal mobility. Various approaches have therefore been launched on these lines and re-activated by the Lisbon summit and the Bruges-Copenhagen process. The French system of vocational training was long regarded as an exception in this context. However, a closer look at how this system has evolved shows that it is in fact quite exemplary, since France has applied lifelong learning objectives and set up tools in line with European recommendations: development of a national qualifications framework, outcome-based definition of qualifications, application of the concept of competence and validation of previously acquired experience.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The European research and development project 'The acquisition of integrated qualifications for professional work and study - an assessment of innovative approaches in seven European countries (INTEQUAL)' examined postcompulsory education schemes combining vocational training and general education. This paper is one of a series of thematic studies undertaken by international sub-teams on various aspects of the schemes and indexed from TD/TNC 62.489 to TD/TNC 62.492.

Qualifications with a dual orientation towards skilled employment and higher education are offered in Germany as a pilot scheme within the dual system of vocational training, in Austria as adult school supplementary training for students working full-time, and in France as full-time vocational education. This chapter examines the vocational and educational career paths of participants from these three schemes to measure the extent to which the pathway affected their vocational career paths and the number of students who chose employment rather than higher education. The authors begin with an overview of the educational models supporting the schemes in the three countries. They then examine and compare survey data from the three countries in relation to person-specific data upon completion of the dual qualification program, data concerning the dual qualification route, and empirical data relating to the success of the route. The final section provides a comparative overview of the outcomes of the dual qualification route in each of the three national contexts.

The volume of papers is indexed at TD/TNC 62.480. Show less

This report looks at various aspects of the role that certification systems, understood in the broad sense, can play in the very different ways in which competences are recognised in enterprise or in the labour market. There is undoubted interest in these certification systems in the European Union. Faced with the ‘maze’ of education systems and the fact that the certificates that they award are felt to be unable to adapt to new qualification needs, the problem of identifying competences is raising increasingly urgent questions as regards certification systems. Being able to identify the learning acquired from occupational experience and providing the best possible match between individuals and production functions, while ensuring that they are still adaptable, and therefore more employable, seem to be the current expectations. The answers that the various systems are providing in this respect are examined below from both an institutional and a methodological point of view: from an institutional point of view, the report looks at the role that the state has played in the past in constructing systems responsible for education and training and certification, and goes on to examine contemporary developments that are tending to make certification more independent from education and training with the result that skill identification is tending to make these skills independent from formal learning routes; this therefore raises new methodological problems. First, defining competences through performance standards raises the question of how and to what extent actual work can be taken into account. Second, the construction of assessment standards, analysed here using the accreditation of prior learning as an example, must include thinking about the nature of the competences that are being validated and the legitimacy of validation bodies. Competences are certified and recognised in different ways, depending on national traditions, but the procedures used in all cases have to address the same kind of problem: they must be precise enough to enable efficient adjustment and socially legitimate enough to pave the way for their general validity.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 66.507. Volumes two and three are indexed at TD/TNC 66.508 and TD/TNC 66.509. Individual chapters from the three volume set are indexed from TD/TNC 66.510 to TD/TNC 66.540.

The first background report, published in two volumes, is indexed at TD/IRD 88.38 and TD/INT 58.286. Show less

This study examines the qualification systems of France and Korea based on the following research questions: (1) Does the country exhibit an ‘education-centralism’ or ‘industry-centralism’ tendency?(2) How does the qualification system reconcile the conflict between labour and management? (3) Which devices/ideas provide for the rights of the individuals brought forth in the qualification systems? (4) To what extent have the two countries incorporated job experience into their qualification systems? (5) Who establishes the qualifications and determines their conditions in each country and how are these accomplished? (6) Is the qualification system more closely connected to the social security system or the family security system? The authors suggest that the differences between the two systems are superficial and can be explained in relation to social and cultural institutions.

The collection of abstracts is indexed at TD/TNC 67.329. Individual reports/abstracts are indexed at TD/TNC 66.307, TD/TNC 66.407 and from TD/TNC 67.330 to TD/TNC 67.361. Show less