ABSTRACT
Having served on a variety of local, state, regional, national, and international workforce development-related boards and committees presented opportunities to research vocational/professional education and training systems that encompassed more than 12 countries on four continents. The American apprenticeship system is fundamentally different from that in Switzerland. RAs are not part of the education system. They are regulated by the DOL, and educators do not always recognize their certificates. Apprenticeships were given fresh impetus via the creation of industry-led sector skills councils, which were tasked with writing new apprenticeship programs and rolling them out across an expansive range of sectors, including information technology (IT), public sector, and the creative industries. Union-affiliated pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and continuing education programs are models of private industry investment in the recruitment, education, and upgrading of unionized workers across Canada. Apprenticeship was always meant to be a combination of on-the-job training, accompanied by periodic related technical instruction.
