Modernisation and Reform of Vocational Education and Training in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

In many central and eastern European countries (CEECs) attempts to introduce changes in education go back long before 1989. In fact, changes have been on the agenda of educational authorities since the beginning of the 1960s. That was the time when the immediate post-war period of extensive industrialisation had come to an end and developments in technology and production methods asked for a fundamental adaptation of education and training. Due to worsening economic conditions and the weak bargaining positions of Ministries of Education none of the long-wished changes has, however, ever been implemented. As a result of failure to introduce the necessary modernisation, the overall situation in education has steadily worsened.