Ordinance on basic vocational training
The Swiss Ordinance on Basic Vocational Education and Training (BiVo) formulates the action competencies that a learner must have in order to exercise his or her profession . It is also called the Education Ordinance. There is an educational ordinance or professional regulation for every profession. The ordinances and regulations are listed in the SERI occupational directory for each occupation.
The Education Ordinance only focuses on professional training. General education is regulated in the general education framework curriculum . The vocational part of the final apprenticeship examination is developed directly from the respective occupation-specific education ordinance or the occupational regulations.
Legal basis of the Education Ordinance and its implementation
The education ordinance is issued by a federal department, the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology . The legal basis for education regulations is the Federal Act on Vocational Education and Training (BBG). The implementation of the Education Ordinance is essentially the responsibility of the cantons. The cantons issue cantonal laws and ordinances for enforcement. The vocational training offices are the enforcement agency in the cantons.
Difference between education ordinance and professional regulations
All education regulations are based on the new BBG Vocational Training Act, which came into force on January 1, 2004. Before 2004, professional skills were regulated in so-called professional regulations. These regulations were mainly based on the federal law of April 19, 1978 on vocational training.
In a five-year implementation phase, all professional regulations must be revised in accordance with Art. 73 BBG. The current regulations remain in force until they are replaced by a corresponding new regulation. The reform of the individual basic vocational training programs will not be completed in 2009 as planned. The reason for this is a lack of human resources.
| Professional regulations | Ordinances on basic vocational training (education ordinance ) |
|---|---|
| dated before 2004 | dated after 2004 |
| based primarily on the federal law of April 19, 1978 | Based on the Vocational Training Act of December 13, 2002 |
| Learning goal orientation | Competence orientation |
| The educational plan is integrated in the entire regulations | Education plan is no longer a component, just a chapter Advantage : more flexible for changes |
Structure and structure of an education regulation
An education ordinance is always structured in the same way:
- Section: Subject and Duration
- Section: Objectives and Requirements
- Section: Occupational health and safety and environmental protection
- Section: Proportion of learning locations and language of instruction
- Section: curriculum and general education
- Section: Requirements for providers of training in teaching
- Section: Learning and performance documentation
- Section: Qualification Process
- Section: IDs and Titles
- Section: Composition of the respective commission for professional development
- Section: Final provisions
Creation of an education ordinance
On average, it takes three and a half years to draw up a regulation on basic vocational training from the formation of the project organization to the start of the newly regulated training.
The process is ideally divided into the following main phases:
- Phase 1: The professional associations, also known as organizations in the world of work (OdA), develop a reform concept in cooperation with SERI. The OdA applies for a pre-ticket from SERI
- Phase 2: The new education ordinance and the education plan are created in a creative process lasting several months.
- Phase 3: SERI issues the ticket
- Phase 4: The newly developed education ordinance is being discussed. After adjustment, the Education Ordinance is finally issued by SERI.
- Phase 5: The OdA implements the new education ordinance in cooperation with the cantons. The implementation period is 12 months.
With the Ordinance Manual, SERI provides a detailed explanation of the process.
New or amended education regulations can have significant costs for the public sector. There is therefore a political steering body, the Swiss Conference of Vocational Training Offices (SBBK), which draws up a master plan for vocational training . The SBBK commission lays down the timetable which determines when which organization in the world of work can begin reforming the regulation on basic vocational training.