作者/Christian

編譯/黃蘋

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瑞士的學徒制度 (全球的模範)

 

Swissmem是瑞士一個機械及電子工程的組織

我很榮幸能參與七月二號swissmem industrietag組織在歐瑞康的蘇黎世展覽，今年的主題是有關技職教育的發展。

 

青年的低失業率

在Swissmem組織的主席Hans Hess開場之後，第一位講者是前瑞士協調中心教育研究院的主任Stefan C. Wolter教授。他非常有趣，在其他國家如何看待瑞士體制這個議題上，是擁有第一手經驗及洞見的人。

大部分講者的主題都是關於瑞士的雙教育體系。它給予青年學子們機會選擇教育結合學徒制度，而非僅僅一般的學術道路。當歐洲各國正在面臨25%的青年失業率，甚至像西班牙高達50%的青年失業，這個教育體系便是讓瑞士擁有低於百分之十青年失業率的原因。
然而，在工業方面，瑞士仍然戒慎恐懼。許多學生選擇普通中學教育(讓學生們準備去念大學)，而較少學生去選擇與教育結合的學徒制度。

 

學徒制的優勢

Wolter教授了解到全世界正在把瑞士當成一個增進教育制度的榜樣。以下列出幾項學徒制的優點：

• 可運用的知識
• 強烈的工作倫理態度
• 真實生活中解決問題的能力
• 與不同年齡的人工作
• 全球化的社會工作

Wolter表示，很少國家真的認同學徒制度的基本思想，他們通常只是想快速解決青年失業率的問題。

瑞士模式擁有流動性的明顯優勢(雖然其目前也正面臨著潛在性的問題)。學生們可先從學徒制開始，如果他們選擇去追求學術的頭銜或是職涯，再轉往大學去念書。
然而，學術往往不會轉移到產業中。一項工作通常只需要百分之十能穩定成功的員工擁有研發工程的學術背景便足夠了。

 

為什麼學徒制將會在許多經濟層面下失敗

根據Wolter指出，學徒制不能輕易被複製的原因主要和產業性質有關。瑞士以精密產業聞名，其中以手錶產業著名。因此，精密、細緻的組件是瑞士工業的基本要件。

當精密工業在1970出現危機時，許多員工失業，但卻在機器人及自動化工業中找到新的工作。瑞士產業在地理位置上主要提供組件給一些瑞士公司，例如: Swatch是全球最大的手錶組件供應商，且是瑞士主要的手錶產業代表。所以，即使你買了勞力士手錶，也有可能是出自於Swatch。

這讓人們可以轉移他們工作的能力到另一方面去。這也顯示出瑞士產業在危機中生存下來了。相反地，Wolter教授指出，每三百美金的iphone從中國進口到美國，其中只有美金十元是在中國完成。最貴的組件是由瑞士、德國、奧地利、韓國、台灣以及新加坡所製造。

相比於這些國家和中國，美國的貿易赤字明顯地不平衡。直到國家開始效仿瑞士的學徒制，去看其經濟成熟度和了解當地網絡產業的優勢，學徒制將會因為技能太難轉移而無法運作。

 

體制上的危險

現今體制在瑞士的威脅下，在與學徒制及學術的結合擴展相等的頭銜名號也有越來越多的趨勢。Lino Guzzella教授指出即使它讓學徒制更吸引人，但這個決定並不理想。他的理由是在本質下，這兩條路徑下讓人們發展出完全不同的經濟方向。

有趣的是，Guzzella清楚地闡釋大學有一個作用，就是去推動知識的界線，在理論上工作，在科學中突破。以他的觀點，大學需要成為獨立的產業。

理工大學必須和產業結合。再者，不同路徑上的流動性是被強調的。學者必須被鼓勵去尋求就業機會，而工業背景的人則須追求進一步的學術教育背景。

 

流動性是主要的關鍵

從學者轉移到學徒是由一位東瑞士講者所提出。更小的州，就會有更多的工業。他描述了一個趨勢，即一群學生在體育館實現了他們幾年的研究，而不是遵循學術道路，反而選擇進入到業界工作。

在這些案例中，該州將會制定出一個快速的學徒制課程，以解釋在體育館做研究得到的知識。這即是其他州得去適應、以免青年感覺受困的彈性。

其中，許多歐洲國家有那麼高的青年失業率原因之一，就是候選人的學術頭銜普遍沒有可運用的工作技能，這些人沒任何他們獲得學分該有的效力。比起在邁向工作里程碑時失業，在職涯中去努力仍然相對簡單。

 

二零一四年二月九號投票的影響

最後一天的最後一個講者是瑞士國會議員以及前Swissmem主席,Johann Schneider-Ammann。

主要是談到聯邦政府如何處理瑞士移民的配額，他承認目前解決方法不是最佳的。瑞士工業知道這一點，尤其是在萊茵河上的工業部分，大部分都仰賴外籍勞工。

但是，Schneider-Ammann保持著樂觀的態度，瑞士仍是充滿著天賦。他強調我們必須找到確保人才的方式。他呼籲教育，尤其是學徒計畫能夠盡可能地和政治事務分離。

因為政治並不了解市場。百分比六到七的瑞士工業學徒仍然處於未被填滿的空缺狀態，而有能力填滿職缺的外國人卻會被身具工業背景下，看見他們經濟價值的人搶走。

 

【作者介紹：Christian】

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The Swiss Apprenticeship System (A Model for the World)

 

Swissmem is the Swiss association of mechanical and electrical engineering industries.

On July 2, I had the pleasure of attending the Swissmem Industrietag at the Messe Zürich in Oerlikon. The title of this year’s event was Königswege, Spannungsfelder und Entwicklungstrends in der Berufsbildung (high roads, fields of tension, and development trends in vocational education). Coming from an educational background, but more importantly believing that engineering and industry are important for economic and social success, the topic was of great interest to me.

 

Low Youth Unemployment

After the nice reception and opening words from Swissmem president Hans Hess, the first speaker was the director of the Swiss Coordination Center for Research in Education, Prof. Dr. Stefan C. Wolter. A really interesting man with first hand experience and insights into how other countries view the Swiss system. I would have liked to speak with him afterwards, but unfortunately I could not find him.

The topic on almost all speakers’ minds was about Switzerland’s dual education system. It gives youth a choice of pursuing an education together with an apprenticeship versus a purely academic path. This education system is one of the reasons why Switzerland has a youth unemployment rate of below 10 percent, while many other European countries are dealing with 25 percent and in cases like Spain even 50 percent youth unemployment.

However, even in Switzerland there are fears, especially in the industrial sector, that there is a growingAkademisierung (academicization). More students attend a Gymnasium (a high school that prepares students for university), and fewer choose to pursue an apprenticeship – which also comes with education.

 

Advantages of an Apprenticeship

Prof. Dr. Wolter knows that the rest of the world is looking to Switzerland as a role model for improving their own education systems. Among the listed advantages of doing an apprenticeship are:

• Applicable know-how
• Strong work ethic
• Real life problem solving skills
• Working with people of different ages
• Socialization into the world of work

Wolter was quick to point out that while he has delegations visiting him weekly, few of the countries actually really subscribe to the underlying idea of the apprenticeship and are simply looking for a quick fix to their youth unemployment problems.

Where the Swiss model has its clear advantage (and this is where it currently also faces potential problems) is that there is mobility. Students can start with an apprenticeship, then move on to university if they choose to pursue an academic title or career. Academics, however, tend not to transfer into industry. A business typically only needs about 10 percent of employees with an academic background for its R&D and to warrant continued success.

 

Why the Apprenticeship System Will Fail in Many Economies

According to Wolter, a chief reason why the apprenticeship system cannot be easily copied has to do with thenature of industry. Switzerland is known for its precision tool industry which has roots in the watch industry. So working with tiny, delicate components is in the DNA of Switzerland’s industrial landscape.

When the precision industry had its crisis in the 1970’s, many workers lost their jobs but found new jobs in other fields of robotics and automation. Also, Swiss industry is geographically centralized as many Swiss companies supply components to yet other Swiss companies. For instance, Swatch is the world’s largest producer of watch components and supplies most of the Swiss watch industry. So even if you buy a Rolexwatch, you are probably still getting some Swatch in there.

This fact allows people to transfer their skills from one business to another. It also shows that Swiss industry survives by being on the cutting edge. In opposition, Prof. Dr. Wolter pointed out that for every USD 300 iPhone imported from China to the US, only USD 10 of work was done in China. The most expensive components are made in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

America’s trade deficit is significantly more out of balance with these countries compared to that with China. Until countries looking to emulate the Swiss apprenticeship system see their economies mature and understand the advantage of having a local network of industries, the apprenticeship track will not work because the skills are too hard to transfer.

 

Dangers to the System

The current model is under threat in Switzerland. There is a growing tendency to want to extend equal titles to those having completed an apprenticeship and those going the academic route. As Prof. Dr. Lino Guzzella from the ETH Zurich pointed out, this is not a good decision, even if it makes apprenticeships more attractive. His reason is that in their very essence, the two paths are preparing people for two entirely different places in the economy.

It is interesting to note here that Guzzella made it very clear that universities have a role to explore and push the boundaries of knowledge, to work in theory and come up with scientific breakthroughs. In his own words, universities need to be independent of industry.

Polytechnic universities (Fachhochschulen) should work with industries, though. Again, mobility between the different paths was stressed: Academics should be as encouraged to seek employment in industry as those with industrial backgrounds should pursue further education in academics.

Mobility is the Key

The idea of moving from the academic track to the apprenticeship track is something that a speaker from Eastern Switzerland addressed. The cantons there are smaller and more industrial. He described a trend that a great deal of students in gymnasiums realize a few years into their studies that they do not wish to follow an academic path but would prefer to move into industry.

In these cases, the cantons will work out a fast track apprenticeship curriculum to account for knowledge gained during studies at a gymnasium. This flexibility is exactly what other cantons need to accommodate the youth and prevent them from feeling trapped.

One of the reasons that so many European countries have high youth unemployment is the prevalence of candidates with academic titles and no applicable work skills. These youth do not receive any credit for what they have already accomplished. It remains easier to work one’s way up in a career rather than to be unemployed near the top.

 

The Impacts of Vote from February 9, 2014

The final speaker of the day was Swiss parliamentarian and former Swissmem president Johann Schneider-Ammann. Speaking mostly about how the Federal government is dealing with implementing the quotas on immigration to Switzerland, he acknowledged that the solution is not optimal. Swiss industry groups know this – especially in the Rhein Valley and other industrial sectors relying heavily on foreign workers.

Yet, Schneider-Ammann remained optimistic that Switzerland is full of talent. He stressed that we will need to find a way of ensuring that talent finds its place in the marketplace. He called for education, especially when it comes to the apprenticeship program remaining as separate from political affairs as possible.

Because politics does not understand the market. With 6 to 7 percent of industrial apprenticeship positions in Switzerland remaining unfilled and the ability to fill these positions with foreigners being taken away, those with industrial know-how will surely come to see their economic advantage.

 

【Author：Christian】

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圖片來源：《Newly Swissed》

原文經合作媒體：《Newly Swissed》授權編譯，未經許可不得轉載