Employer Engagement - What We Learned in Utrecht

The Dutch polder democracy model famously relies on trust, partnership and consensus. A country that would quickly sink into the North Sea if every partner did not work to protect the hard-won land has learned that social partnership and democracy go hand in hand. Trust in partners matters, and everyone brings something important to the table. This is apparent in the further education and training sector in the Netherlands and was readily visible when we visited with our partners at Roc Midden, one of the largest colleges. We were warmly welcomed and conducted positive and engaging meetings with Norbert Ruepert, Cor van Geffen, Kathy Uding and ancillary staff. The purpose of our KA1 project was to explore employer engagement.

Partnership with Industry

Over two days (May 24 and 25), BFEI staff Breda Lillis, Johanna O'Sullivan, Maria Achtida and Paddy Condon visited the technology and beauty campuses to learn how the Dutch FET sector engages with employers in delivering a highly collaborative and quality driven approach. The Roc Midden colleges are exemplary in how well resourced they are, with state-of-the-art training equipment, industrial expertise and a clear focus on preparation for work. FET in the Netherlands affords a flexible approach, with parallel offerings of apprenticeship and full time education. While the state sets national standards, we found it interesting that the colleges are more autonomous in curriculum content and in assessment approaches than is the case in Ireland. Of particular note is that it is common to have employer involvement in the assessment process. This again confirms the valued partnership between educator and industry that stands out in the Dutch model.

A further interesting element is the funding model. Typically, the state provides up to 85% of the funding needs of the colleges. Commercial activities are undertaken to augment resources, for example in the commercial hair and beauty salon at Roc Midden, clients pay a reduced fee and this money may contribute to the cost of materials used. There is also a strong emphasis on life long learning, and this seems to be wholly aligned with the EU strategy to develop specialised courses and micro-credentials to ensure that citizens are up to date and certified with contemporary skills.

Internationalisation

A core of FET provision at Roc Midden is to afford learners the opportunity to participate in Erasmus+, and again the college is well positioned to leverage access to these opportunities. The college has an international office, and there are excellent resources used to promote the positive benefits of engagement in education, training and work experience abroad. We at BFEI are committed to developing KA1 projects for a number of our computing, business, psychology, and beauty courses, and we found this aspect interesting. There were some examples of good practice which we can adopt such as preparing promotional videos to encourage learner participation in Erasmus+ work placement.

Global Citizenship

While technical and vocational skills are central to the success of Roc Midden, it was heartening to see that soft skills and an holistic approach to education is fundamental. All learners at ROC Midden are required to undertake a global citizenship module focused on social and political education. The Netherlands is a multicultural society, and the integration of different cultures aligned with Dutch values of respect, diversity, tolerance and inclusion which bridges formal education into the workplace and wider society is to be commended. Little wonder, in the land of Renaissance philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, who said “the main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth”. We in Ireland support certain aspects of global citizenship through junior cycle CPSE among others, but we may well benefit from adopting aspects of global citizenship in our programmes.

Utrecht  - A City of Culture

A great element of Erasmus+ is the time to step outside the classroom and the office to experience the culture of our host country. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the wonderful medieval centre of Utrecht, the canals and the Dom tower. We got around easily on public transport and on foot, and we were very impressed to see how the famous Dutch cycling culture is at the heart of transport. In a world that speaks a lot about climate change and the green economy, it is good to see it in action.

The experience was one we all thorougly enjoyed with our welcoming Dutch hosts. We learned a great deal, and we came away with a positive sense of how the Irish FET colleges can adapt and invest to futher the interests of our learners and wider Irish society.