Austria: Continuing vocational education and training (CVET) for adults

Source : http://www.trainingvillage.gr/.
There are various types of CVET in Austria:
1. Publicly promoted CVET for all
2. CVET as instrument of active labour market policies
3. CVET at the initiative of enterprises and social partners
4. CVET at the initiative of the individuals
Due to the federal and multi-faceted structure of adult learning establishments in Austria no uniform planning procedure can be found.

Publicly promoted CVET for all
Universities offer CVET mostly within the framework of short-term university courses for post-graduates and non-academics who satisfy other admission criteria (Universitätslehrgänge). These courses lead to a master’s degree or to the awarding of the prefix ‘Akademischer…’ before the graduate’s existing professional title, provided that the curriculum has a value of at least 60 ECTS credits. Participants are required to pay a tuition fee, which is set in the light of the actual cost of the course. Most classes take place in the evenings or at weekends in order to suit people in employment.

Training for unemployed people and others vulnerable to exclusion in the labour market
In Austria, training for unemployed people is the core task of the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS), an autonomous government funded body. It is not a training provider but responsible for funding training programmes for unemployed people. It also funds some skills needs research to develop appropriate measures which achieve labour market requirements.

CVET at the initiative of enterprises or social partners
In Austria enterprise learning is generally split into two areas: initial vocational education and training, i.e. apprenticeship training (Lehre) and enterprise CVET (betriebliche Weiterbildung).
The company size – independent of sector – has a separate effect in terms of enterprise CVET. Pronounced differences can be found between large enterprises, which as a rule carry out internal training programmes as HR development tools. On average 72% of all Austrian enterprises provided any type of CVET to their employees in 1999. While 96% of the large companies (more than 250 employees) are active in CVET courses, only two-thirds of the small companies are training enterprises.

CVET at the initiative of the individual
Individual adults have different motivations to engage in CVET activities. Both job-related and non-job-related reasons are of relevance and often hard to distinguish. A number of surveys on CVET have been conducted but there is still a lack of data on general motivations for participating. Statistical data show that participation in CVET depends greatly on age and educational attainment.
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