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Country: Netherlands |
Country: Switzerland |
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The Dutch TVET model ensures a robust education in the engineering sector. As the students normally embark on a four-year course, which is seen as an alternative to a university pathway, the students gain more in-depth training, which covers a range of topics to allow them to enter multiple industries. For example, a single course may allow students to go onto work for manufacturing companies (e.g. car production), as maintenance technicians (e.g. lift/elevator maintenance), or in specialised industries such as the Dutch Greenhouse industry (e.g. hydroponics) This model is also shared by other similar European countries. |
Swiss students will spend time learning the core principles as part of their ongoing qualifications. However, for more advanced technical skills, the education providers will outsource this training to specialists in the specific industry. This ensures that the teaching content is up-to-date, relevant, and there is no skills gap in the teaching standards. By contrast, in the UK, the same advanced technical skills would be taught by the lecturer in the given educational institute. However, this means that the students only receive the knowledge that specific lecturer will have. Therefore, there will be a wider range in the quality of the educational output. |
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Country: Switzerland |
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The Swiss model is very closely aligned to industry, who play a large part in assisting with the qualification frameworks. The Swiss model allows them to rapidly change the qualification framework if they notice a shortcoming in the education system, or a gap in knowledge required by industry. As training is often provided by industry, they also ensure a high quality of training is delivered to the students. |
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Country: Hungary |
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In a recent pressure test, the Hungarians used advance computational algorithms, to speed up their PLC programming ability. This shows an in-depth understanding of the competition structure, and a desire to optimise their performance as a team, by investing in new and emerging technologies. This is possible due to the amount of time they dedicate to achieving excellence in their skill. By giving themselves time to work not only on their own technical ability, but by also thinking about ways to augment it, and speed up their own processes. |
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Country: Hungary |
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The Hungarians provide innovative and advanced techniques during their training, to ensure that they are staying at the cutting edge of what is possible in our skill. They develop systems for rapid working, ensuring that they try to be as lean as possible in their assembly / wiring stages. They constantly push the boundaries of the PLC programming environments they use, writing and utilising custom software to enable them to rapidly develop solutions to unknown problems. They do this by providing their competitors with an environment that encourages them to have extended training sessions and encourages them to spend their own time developing and working on solutions. Hungary also employs the use of previous competitors to pass on the knowledge to the next set of competitors working their way towards international competition. |
In comparing the UK’s education system to those in northern Europe, it is helpful to imagine two classrooms. Both of the following examples are based on a selection of real observations from Calum Knott, the UK Mechatronics expert, when visiting several UK and European classrooms between 2021 and 2024.
In Classroom One, you might find expensive equipment, neatly organised, tidy, and ready to be used for a class later in the week, with the specific scenario for use already planned. The activity will be structured, and the learning outcomes will be well defined. The equipment will be used and then put back. The students will receive guidance, perhaps step-by-step on what they are expected to do, and the expected outcome for all students will be the same. The students will work in the classroom during their expected 1.5hr session. If students fall behind, then the staff can assist them in working through the step-by-step activities, until the desired outcome is achieved.
In Classroom Two, you would find by comparison classrooms that are somewhat disorganised. Pieces of machines stacked to one side, others stripped apart and combined with other machines. Half-finished projects, experiments, or partially broken machines might be scattered around the room. No two students will seem to be working on the same thing. They might be there early in the morning, or later in the day, as they return to the room to work on projects outside of their allocated lesson time. The outcome for their projects will be different, and although the learning goals will be consistent, there will be more than one way to achieve them.
It should be clear that one of these scenarios fosters a habit of creativity, experimentation, and desire to learn, while the other, only serves to tick boxes. Too often the UK education system represents Classroom One.