The impact of lifelong learning on vocational education & training in Sweden

Introduction

One of the main goals in Swedish education policy since the late 1960s has been to unify vocational and general education into a single integrated education system. There were three major reasons for these developments. The first was to make vocational education more general thus enabling students to develop the flexibility they would require in a rapidly changing labour market. The second was to adjust social biases by attracting prospective students from upper social groups. The third was to ensure access to upper secondary schooling for all youngsters regardless of sex, social and economic background and locality of residence (Abrahamsson et al. 1988).

The first step in implementing the new policy was taken in 1971 when vocational and trade schools were formally integrated into what became a new upper secondary school, so merging the gymnasium school tradition with the ideas and cultures from the vocational ones. The integration process was completed with the introduction of the 1990 reform (Lindell & Johansson 2001).

In comparison with other vocational education and training (VET) systems in Europe, especially those emphasising 'dual model systems', the Swedish VET system has, since 1971, no separate schools for vocational training. In accordance with the general integration philosophy, the idea is rather to narrow the gap between vocational and general education as much as possible. The implication is a comprehensive school system with a common core curriculum, which does not separate pupils attending different programs before upper secondary level. In addition, the curricula for compulsory and upper secondary education have nationwide validity (National Agency for Education 1999a).

Another important difference is that the Swedish education system does not have, like England and Germany, a tradition of apprenticeship schemes working in close cooperation with industry and commerce. Although there are apprenticeship-like programs at the upper secondary level in Sweden, these are on a very small scale (Lindell 2000).

The idea of narrowing the gap between various forms of education by combining them into one public education system was also to be applied to the various streams of adult education and continuing training.

To sum up, Swedish vocational education and training has, since the late 1960s, gone from being a system which was primarily industry-based to being a school-based system which was integrated with general education. Today the Swedish education system comprises a structurally uniform system ranging from elementary schooling to upper secondary schooling and adult education. The move to integrate vocational and general education is a reflection of how the state has perceived its role in relation to upgrading qualifications of the work force and increasing the supply of skilled labour (Abrahamsson 1999).