Workshop to the International Expert Monitor to survey dualised forms of initial vocational education and training

As part of the International Expert Monitor (IEM) project, the second online workshop titled "IEM Results, round 3 and the way forward" took place on the 19th of October 2023. At the invitation of work area 3.1 VET in international comparison, research and monitoring, the participating international experts from the IEM network exchanged information on the results of the second round of the survey and actively discussed the design of the next round of the survey.

The IEM is a development project that aims to survey how dualised forms of initial vocational education and training develop within Europe and in selected non-European countries. For this purpose, a network of experts is surveyed once a year. The second survey took place between January and June 2023 on 26 countries/regions, of which 18 are EU-27 countries. The experts exchanged about the results in the workshop and from there discussed common and different challenges and trends in the countries surveyed.

The IEM is seen as a living development project - in the sense that the participants contribute in the work and design of the project. Consequently, in the workshop, the implementation of the first two monitoring rounds was evaluated and it was considered what the future design of the next survey round should look like and how to achieve a stronger and deeper network.

The discussion showed that the experts appreciate the results of the survey round and partly use them as a source of information. At the same time, however, possible weaknesses of such a survey based on subjective assessments were critically discussed.

In the last workshop, the experts advocated covering areas where there is not yet much comparative information on dual forms of vocational education and training. For example, one focus of the second round was the topic of financing dualised forms of initial training. However, the exchange in the second round showed that a focus on fewer and less complex topics could be more effective.

These findings will be incorporated into the development of the next round of surveys.