Editing Vocational education (section)

===Switzerland===
{{See also|Education in Switzerland|Apprenticeship#Switzerland}}

The [[Switzerland|Swiss]] vocational education and training system (VET) is regarded by many international experts as the strongest in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SWISSVETMarch11.pdf |title=Gold Standard: The Swiss Vocational Education and Training System |website=ncee.org |access-date=2018-07-21 |archive-date=2019-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411230936/http://ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SWISSVETMarch11.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the mainstream upper secondary program serving 65-70% of Swiss young people. It results in one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe. Managers and the staff take pride in their young apprentices. Several Swiss CEOs of big multinational companies and government members have started their own careers as VET-apprentices, for example [[Sergio Ermotti]], CEO of [[UBS]]. At this level, vocational education and training is mainly provided through the "dual system". Apprentices rotate between workplace, vocational school and industry training centers where they develop complementary practical skills relating to the occupation. They spend the biggest amount of time at the workplace emphasizing the importance of on-the-job training. Rotation can be organised in different ways – either by switching places during the week or by allocating entire weeks to one place and form of learning. The program can also start with most of the time devoted to in-school education and then gradually increase the share of in-company training.

Besides the three- or four-year VET programme with Federal VET Diploma, there is also the option of two-year vocational education and training VET programme with Federal VET Certificate for adolescents with lower learning performance.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://swisseducation.educa.ch/en/vocational-education-and-training-0 |title=Vocational education and training |website=educa.ch |access-date=2018-07-21 |archive-date=2018-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428193651/http://swisseducation.educa.ch/en/vocational-education-and-training-0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Switzerland draws a distinction between vocational education and training programmes at upper-secondary level, and professional education and training (PET) programmes, which take place at tertiary B level. In 2007, more than half of the population aged 25–64 had a VET or PET qualification as their highest level of education. In addition, universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) offer vocational education at tertiary A level. Pathways enable people to shift from one part of the education system to another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/12/5/42578681.pdf |title=Learning for Jobs OECD review of Switzerland, 2009 |website=Oecd.org|access-date=2016-02-06}}</ref>