Training agencies as intermediary organizations in apprentice training in Norway and Switzerland : General purpose or niche production tools?

In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in appren- tice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have developed dif- ferently in the two countries. In Norway TAs have evolved as general-purpose tools in the governance of apprentice train- ing while in Switzerland they are restricted to small niches. The article investigates these different outcomes using the- ories of intermediary organisations in the governance of collective skill formation systems at the local level

Training agencies as intermediary organisations in apprentice training in Norway and Switzerland: general purpose or niche production tools?

In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in apprentice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have developed differently in the two countries. In Norway TAs have evolved as general-purpose tools in the governance of apprentice training while in Switzerland they are restricted to small niches. The article investigates these different outcomes using theories of intermediary organisations in the governance of collective skill formation systems at the local level.publishedVersio

Evaluating Reform94, 1998

The purpose of the project was to establish an overview of the training offices in Norway. It revolves around offices, mainly organized corporations or foundations, which were established with government funding. These offices have experienced significant growth over the past 2- 3 years, and they play a major role in the distribution of apprentices to apprenticeships and the generation of new apprenticeships. The project has been concerned with how education offices have developed in the interface between vocational education offices in the counties and some key institutional characteristics of the Norwegian working life

The Norwegian vocational college: heterogenous aggregate of intermediate educations, or a parallel pillar to higher academic education?

For long the Norwegian vocational college[1] was placed in the periphery of general system formation policies in education and remained a residual in technical education, based on praxis values and local support from industry. In 2003 the vocational college was extended to cover a wide range of institutions and programs and defined as a separate level in the educational structure. Recently, through the turn towards labour market relevance in education, the vocational colleges have experienced considerable political attention as well as increased public financing. Under their new name, higher vocational education, the colleges are now intended to provide employees without higher, academic education, with a stronger foothold in the labour market. Previous policy decisions on limiting the vocational college to level 5 in the national qualification framework are now being reconsidered. Organizational rationalization processes have furthermore strengthened the capabilities of the schools to engage in higher education programs. These developments may provide a new basis for the development of a practical higher educational pillar parallel to academic higher educational.). [1] In Norwegian the name is Fagskole

The Norwegian vocational college: heterogenous aggregate of intermediate educations, or a parallel pillar to higher academic education?

For long the Norwegian vocational college was placed in the periphery of general system formation policies in education and remained a residual in technical education, based on praxis values and local support from industry. In 2003 the vocational college was extended to cover a wide range of institutions and programs and defined as a separate level in the educational structure. Recently, through the turn towards labour market relevance in education, the vocational colleges have experienced considerable political attention as well as increased public financing. Under their new name, higher vocational education, the colleges are now intended to provide employees without higher, academic education, with a stronger foothold in the labour market. Previous policy decisions on limiting the vocational college to level 5 in the national qualification framework are now being reconsidered. Organizational rationalization processes have furthermore strengthened the capabilities of the schools to engage in higher education programs. These developments may provide a new basis for the development of a practical higher educational pillar parallel to academic higher educational

Evaluering av Kvalitetsreformen. Delrapport 1: Kvalitetsreformen møter virkeligheten

Da Kvalitetsreformen ble iverksatt, ble det samtidig vedtatt å gjennomføre en evaluering av den. Norges forskningsråd ga oppdraget med evalueringen til Rokkansenteret ved Universitetet i Bergen og NIFU STEP som et samarbeidsprosjekt. Evalueringen har pågått siden 2003 og ble ferdigstilt ved årsskiftet 2006-07

Training agencies as intermediary organisations in apprentice training in Norway and Switzerland: general purpose or niche production tools?

In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in apprentice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have developed differently in the two countries. In Norway TAs have evolved as general-purpose tools in the governance of apprentice training while in Switzerland they are restricted to small niches. The article investigates these different outcomes using theories of intermediary organisations in the governance of collective skill formation systems at the local level

Training agencies as intermediary organisations in apprentice training in Norway and Switzerland: general purpose or niche production tools?

In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in apprentice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have developed differently in the two countries. In Norway TAs have evolved as general-purpose tools in the governance of apprentice training while in Switzerland they are restricted to small niches. The article investigates these different outcomes using theories of intermediary organisations in the governance of collective skill formation systems at the local level

Policy processes shaping the Norwegian Structural Reform

In April 2015 the Norwegian government launched a large-scale re-organisation of the Norwegian higher education landscape. A key characteristic of the 2015 Structural Reform is not the basic policy solution per se, but rather how this solution was put forward and the extent to which the higher education institutions involved were included in shaping the specificities of the merger processes in which they were involved