Ceemet & EMF emphasize in their common statement on the importance of permeability between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE).
“High quality vocational education and training is central to a successful manufacturing industry in Europe. In order to realise its full potential, public authorities and education and training systems must make significant progress towards increasing permeability”
Permeability is needed notably when it comes to:
- Access – Vocational education and training students should be granted access to HE and
- Content and design – there should also be programmes on offer in higher education that build on the competences taught in vocational education and training.
Companies in a number of countries report about unfilled vacancies for skilled workers or engineers while unemployment rates remain high. As highly-skilled employees are central to ensuring the competitiveness and sustainability of the sector, Metal, Engineering and Technology-based (MET) industries are reliant on high quality education, including higher education as well as vocational education and training.