Initial Vocational Education and Training  

Initial Vocational Education and Training, known as I-VET, prepares young men and women to get a first qualification to successfully enter the world of work or continue to higher education. I-VET prepares them with the knowledge, skills, capabilities andattitudes they need to work as wage-earners or entrepreneurs. I-VET is a key to building a person’s long-term employability.

Interventions can range from short-term courses delivered by formal and non-formal training providers to long-term courses delivered by formal VET schools, polytechnics or universities.

Swisscontact's offer

To address the school-to-work transition challenge faced by young men and women, Swisscontact’s I-VET projects contribute to the transformation of existing VET systems. They build the capacities of VET actors to improve access and delivery of quality and context-specific vocational training.

At the institutional level, interventions improve the training and management capacities of training providers, and also strengthen infrastructure and facilities, public-private governance of VET, and management and administration.

Most importantly, Swisscontact builds the capacities of VET partners to collaborate and link learners with enterprises and the labour market. 

At the system level, Swisscontact assists national authorities with the design and implementation of entirely new I-VET schemes or reform processes.