10.07.2015Leading House cooperates with KOF/ETHZ on “Summer Institute for International Educational Reform Leaders”

From July 1st to July 10th, more than 20 international policy leaders participated in the first Summer Institute for Educational Reform Leaders, a joint initiative of the UZH “Leading House on Economics of Education” and the ETHZ “Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems” (CEMETS).

Leading House Directors Prof. Dr. Uschi Backes-Gellner and Prof. Dr. Stefan Wolter contributed the results of 10 years of Leading House research on the Economics of Vocational Education and Training in Switzerland. Key topics of the lectures included the attractiveness of apprenticeship training for individuals, the link between vocational training and innovation, and firms’ decisions to be active in the training market.

These lectures were complemented by input from more than 10 key international stakeholders, including president of the Swiss Confederation of Employers Association Valentin Vogt, CEO of Swissmem Vocational Education and Training Arthur W. Glättli, US Ambassador to Switzerland Suzi LeVine, Vice President of Jobs for the Future in Boston Massachusetts Nancy Hoffmann, and Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Bob Schwartz.

This 360-degree picture of the Swiss VET system aims to help policy leaders from all over the world in their efforts to implement educational reform projects in their countries. Those reform projects were also presented and workshopped at the Summer Institute, and will be case studies for future research projects.

CEMETS is a cooperation of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute of ETH Zurich and the Swiss Leading House on the Economics of Education, Firm Behavior and Training Policies at UZH.

For more information on CEMETS, please visit: The CEMETS Webpage

The Summer Institute coincides with a new Joint Declaration of Intent between the U.S. and Switzerland for the cooperation in the area of work-based vocational education and training. The declaration was signed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Swiss Vice President and Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research on Thursday, July 9th at the Commerce Department in Washington D.C.

For more information, please visit: The U.S. Embassy Webpage or The U.S. Department of Commerce Webpage.