La implantación de la Formación Profesional Dual en Españadel consenso sobre su necesidad a la complejidad de su gobernanza

Resumo

The general objective of this article is to show the different experts’ assessment of the governance structure of the dual vocational training system for employment in Spain, during the (2012/2018) period. This time framework comprises the implementation of the Contract for Training and Learning. The selection of the period under study, is based on the fact that two distinct strategies were pursued during those years. The first stage (2012/2015), is the so-called «non-linked training», a time destined to adapt to the new requirements determined by the regulation in force, (accrediting training entities, completing the national repertoire of Certificates of Professionalism for all sectors and incorporating the new model of tele-training). The second stage (2016/2018) corresponds to the «linked training» phase, which aims to guarantee young people with dual vocational training official accreditation. This implies that any Training and Apprenticeship Contract must be linked to obtaining a Certificate of Professionalism, cumulative partial accreditation, professional training qualification or academic certification. At this stage, distance training disappears and it can only be by taught through face-to-face or tele-training. In this context, governance must be analysed according to two specific areas: the consistency of the legal framework (through the regulatory base that is extracted from Royal Decree-Law 3/2012 and Royal Decree 1529/2012); and the dynamics of social partners’ participation. On the one hand, the legal framework for dual vocational training in Spain is characterised by relative fragmentation, both at inter-administrative and territorial level. This fragmentation generates problems when defining the degree of partners’participation/ integration, as well as coordination between training schools and partners. On the other hand, the variety of stakeholders (central and regional public administrations, training schools, companies, partners, etc.) involved in decision-making, management and implementation of vocational training systems, –and especially dual systems– is the reason why all these systems are characterised by their complexity and, sometimes, contradictions. For this reason, the study of their governance has become an area of research of growing interest. Indeed the success and effectiveness of Dual vocational training systems depends, to a large extent, on the development of governance structures that favour the coordination and integration of the various institutions, activities and stakeholders that have interdependent relationships with each other. As regards the methodological approach, the scarce institutionalisation of the Spanish dual vocational training system shows the relevance of a methodology based on the testimony of the main stakeholders who are participating in the development of this system, combined with the analysis of the regulations in force. Thus, this qualitative methodology has been based on conducting thirty-two semi-structured interviews. These were carried out with experts from different areas (public administration technicians, training bodies, company tutors, tutors from schools), with the aim of obtaining the broadest possible view of the weaknesses and strengths of the governance of dual vocational training in the Spanish system. The way of presenting information has been marked by the most relevant aspects included in the analysed legislation, as well as the axes that articulated the testimony of the interviewed experts, which was guided by the design proposed in the interview script. The text structure is divided into three parts. The first section focuses on the implementation of dual vocational training for employment in Spain. In the second section, the methodology used is explained, referring to the relevance of the semistructured interview, as well as the content of the script, to conclude by justifying the selection of the subjects interviewed. The third block, which constitutes the core of the work, deals with the analysis of the Spanish governance model, around two previously mentioned issues: the soundness of the regulatory framework and the dynamics of social partners’ participation: business organisations, trade unions and training entities in the dual professional training system. The main results can be summarised as follows: – Dual Vocational Training in Spain has experienced undeniable progress in all its elements during the studied period (2012/2018). – In order to improve system governance, the experts agree that, as a preliminary step, there is need for a common regulatory framework. It allows for the coordination of actions at all levels and within the flexibility required by spatial planning, such a framework should establish a uniformity of criteria limiting the space for the interpretation of basic issues. – The homogenisation of the regulatory framework should have an impact on the following issues: a) Professionalising the training and apprenticeship contract, diversifying the sectors in which it is signed and disassociating it from its focus on low-skilled and highly precarious sectors. b) Defining the legal relationship between the school and the company and the duration of the internship. The fact that far-reaching issues are subject to interpretation according to the different territories considerably reduces the degree of involvement of companies. c) Eliminating the idea that training depends more on the schools’ offer than on the qualification needs of the productive sectors, speeding up the transfer of the needs of the productive sectors to the occupation catalogue. d) Linking the contract for training and apprenticeship to collective bargaining at its different levels, emphasising the importance of overcoming insertion in order to achieve the apprentice’s continuity, thus achieving the ultimate goal of employability.