Birte Nienaber
Fonction
Professeur associé
Organisation
Université du Luxembourg
Lien université
Using cross-border mobility in vocational education and training in the Greater Region SaarLorLux region
Using cross-border mobility in vocational education and training in the Greater Region SaarLorLux region
Border Region
Grande Région
Language(s)
Anglais
Introduction
This book chapter analyses the diversity of cross-border vocational and educational education in the Greater Region.
Summary
High unemployment rates on one side of a border and training opportunities on the other, the lack of training programmes for specialised jobs on the one side of the border and well-defined vocational programmes on the other side: cross-border vocational education and training (VET) is an increasingly used tool to accommodate the differing needs inside the European Union in recent years. This paper present explains and analyses the diverse approaches and concepts of tailor-made as well as more standardised cross-border VET programmes in the Greater Region SaarLorLux (DE, FR, LUX, BE) and explain the different mobility types.
Content
The book chapter is part of “The Palgrave Handbook of Youth Mobility and Educational Migration”, edited by David Cairns in 2021. It is an outcome of the working group “Employment and Education” of the UniGR-Center for Border Studies.
The book chapter is divided into the following subchapters: After an introduction, the subchapter “European and International Scale of VET Mobility” deals with the EU framework of the Bruges-Copenhagen process cross-border VET programs. “The Greater Region SaarLorLux: labour Market and Education Profile” set the context of the other dynamic economic and population developments in the Greater Region. The “History/Institutional Framework of Cross-Border VET in the Greater Region” analysis the legal and policy frameworks of cross-border VET either bilateral between sub-regions of the Greater Region as well as on the Greater region scale. In the subchapter “Cross-border VET in the Greater Region”, an analysis of the online available information on cross-border VET in the Greater Region is analysed regarding to the actors, the timeframes (e.g. no specific duration, short stays, etc up to double VET degrees with exams in both countries), the frameworks, the economic branches etc. As for cross-border VETs, language skills are necessary. The subchapter “Plurilingual dimension of VET” goes deeper into the issue of languages. Then the case study of the “Fachstelle für grenzüberschreitende Ausbildung (FAgA)/Centre d’aide à la mobilité transfrontalière (CAMT)” analyses – based on interviews - one of the main actors (non-profit organisation) in the cross-border VET between Saarland (DE) and Lorraine (FR) facilitating young people to find either vocational or educational training across the border and supporting the administrative burden related to this. The book chapter finalised with conclusions and references.
Conclusions
Cross-border vocational and educational training in the Greater Region is very heterogenous. Therefore, the diverse actors involved (students, employers, authorities, schools, etc.) need different legal, administrative and linguistic skills to make cross-border VET a success. Learning from regions like the Upper Rhine where it has been already longer established, the Greater Region has built up especially bilateral agreements and frameworks. Most of them are referring to concrete professions.
This book chapters gives a good insight into which challenges and opportunities cross-border vocational and educational training faces from especially linguistic, legal, normative and administrative perspective. It also shows which fostering structures exist (here one is mentioned more deeply as a case study) and how they can support youth mobility in the Greater Region. The Greater Region can be seen also as a case study for other cross-border regions, however the historical economic relationships between different parts of the Greater Region also support the development of cross-border VET as the labour markets are also organised across the borders.
Lead
Birte NIENABER
Contributions
Nienaber, Birte (University of Luxembourg); Dörrenbächer, H. Peter (Saarland University); Funk, Ines (Saarland University); Pigeron-Piroth, Isabelle (University of Luxembourg); Belkacem, Rachid (University of Lorraine); Helfer, Malte (University of Luxembourg); Polzin-Haumann, Claudia (Saarland University) ; Reissner, Christina (Saarland University)
Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2021
Publié dans
The Palgrave Handbook of Youth Mobility and Educational Migration.