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The World Bank argues that vocational education and training in developing countries is best left to individuals, enterprises and private sector training institutions with government interventions kept to a minimum. This article argues that this policy prescription is seriously flawed both conceptually and in relation to the current VET policies adopted by governments in the advanced industrial economies as well as the high performing Asian economies.

The substantial redefinition of youth and education policy in Australia over the past decade has been associated with an increased emphasis on university entrance and the adoption of a sequential model of pathways between the two worlds of study and work. Because these new policy settings have been in operation for sufficient time now to warrant examination of their effectiveness in terms of participant outcomes, this article examines them in the light of research findings from a major longitudinal study of young Australians who left school in 1991. Definite signs of incompatibility between policy and outcomes are identified with regard to non‐university study pathways, uncertain career prospects, and the assumed linear sequence between study and work. The analysis articulates a theoretical concern about the inappropriateness of the policy settings and leads into a re‐examination of the data with reference to a typology of ‘life patterns’ more compatible with young people's experience than the prevailing imagery of pathways. This shift of focus also opens up the possibility of combining research findings from the two ‐‐ often separate ‐‐ fields of education and youth studies in a way that would do justice to the increasing complexity of the educational and life choices confronting the post‐1970 generation. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Ltd.

The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a major accrediting body for business programs in many U.S. colleges and universities, is demanding measurable business program outcome from its client business schools. The AACSB is interested, among other things, in seeing evidence of continuing improvement in the program offered, through program assessment. The foundation of program assessment lies in the development of an assessment-oriented syllabus model for the courses offered in the program. This article presents a syllabus model for an effective business program assessment, with a brief version of a sample syllabus included in the Appendix. © 1998, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

‘Modern’ apprenticeships have been in place in Britain since 1994. However, the social characteristics of 'modern' apprentices appear remarkably similar to those of traditional apprentices: 89% of the first wave of modern apprentices were male; and only 3% from ethnic minorities. As will be shown subsequently, such exclusivity is deep-set within the British apprenticeship system. It is interesting to note that most previous analyses of modern apprenticeships have described this situation in a variety of ways but failed to grasp its significance. The lack of commitment by the Conservative Government, headed by John Major, to issues of social exclusion has been well documented. This is seen clearly in the Department of Education and Employment's report into the early stages of modern apprenticeships. Their discussion of social exclusion and modern apprenticeships is perfunctory and their recommendations merely boil down to exhortations to various institutions to increase the proportion of apprenticeships from ethnic minority backgrounds and who are female. In this they reproduce the timidity of the Commission for Racial Equality. The main purpose of this article is to situate the continuation of patterns of ethnic and gender exclusivity in British apprenticeships within a broad historical and comparative perspective. It will be shown that ethnic and gender exclusion is central to apprenticeship structures historically in both Britain and America. Further, it will be shown that these structures are breaking down to a considerable degree in the United States, more for women than for ethnic minorities, and that the catalysts and institutional changes that have helped precipitate these developments in the United States hold important lessons for contemporary Britain. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

In the United Kingdom, the Modern Apprenticeship scheme is financed and managed largely by Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) which are regionally based. The article reports on a study carried out amongst a sample of TECs which examined their financial commitment to Modern Apprenticeships, and their views on the responsiveness of employers and trainees to the scheme. The study found that the funds devoted by different TECs to Modern Apprenticeships vary quite widely, but in general, were minimal compared with money devoted to unemployment containment strategies such as Youth Training Schemes. It is concluded that, unless there is both robust financial commitment to apprenticeship training and a scheme which is national, rather than local in focus, it is unlikely that the United Kingdom will produce a labour force capable of competing with our European trading partners. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article reviews national policy in work-based learning for young people during the mid-1990s in the United Kingdom. It is divided into three main sections. A brief contextual section covers the period of implementation of a national framework of post-compulsory qualifications prior to 1994 and the mounting pressures to which it was subjected. The second section examines a phase during which the framework and the place of NVQs within it was reviewed by official enquires led by Sir Ron Dearing and Gordon Beaumont (1995–1996). The third section deals with policy in the context of the long run-up to the General Election of May 1997. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article critically assesses the role of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) in the development and delivery of Modern Apprenticeships (MAs). It begins by reviewing the genesis of TECs as a new form of policy delivery mechanism designed to re-create a market-led training system. It explains their role in the new policy of MAs. The discussion then focuses on two interrelated questions: can locally based employer-led agencies provide a strategic focus for identifying the economy’s intermediate skills requirements and are TECs the best basis for forging a consensus on the need for MAs? The particular position of small businesses in relation to MAs is also considered. The article concludes that there needs to be a greater role for sector organisations and a new basis for dialogue about what the aims of training policy should be. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article uses data from a five-year ethnographic study of a single higher education institution to assess aspects of the 'realism' of managerialist approaches articulated through the credit framework in higher education in the United Kingdom. By 'credit framework' is meant the constellation of more or less compatible features facilitated by the assignment of credit to assessed learning, including modularity, the semester system, franchising, the accreditation of work-based learning and of prior learning. From the perspective of managerialist ideology the framework as a whole and its individual components offer a number of attractions, including greater economy, efficiency, manageability and market responsiveness in higher education institutions. Data from the site of the study and a theoretical framework derived from policy sociology are used to show that managerialist ideology oversimplifies and occludes aspects of social reality in higher education, the effect of which is to undermine many of the benefits claimed for the credit framework by managerialists. © 1998, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article considers the impact of the introduction of Modern Apprenticeships on employers’ recruitment practices and training provision at intermediate skills level. The main source of data is the findings of a study conducted during the early stages of the implementation of the initiative. Whilst the findings indicate employer enthusiasm for the new initiative, the article also highlights the tensions surrounding the establishment of training programmes for young people in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This article explores the potential role of further education (FE) colleges in the delivery of Modern Apprenticeships. It reflects upon FE’s role in traditional apprenticeships and examines, through a case study of Modern Apprenticeships in a large manufacturing company in partnership with two FE colleges, the extent to which that role has been redefined. The case study draws upon the responses of apprentices, work-place supervisors, company young people development personnel and college staff. It identifies differences from and similarities to traditional apprenticeships and suggests ways in which Modern Apprenticeships can help to forge closer relationships between college and work-place. It further suggests that FE is well placed to make a contribution to the successful delivery of Modern Apprenticeships but that, at the moment, insufficient evidence is available on the extent of the sector’s involvement nationally. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.