A History of Vocational Education and Training in Europe--From Divergence to Convergence

The idea of mounting a research project on "the history of vocational education and training in Europe" was launched at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in January 2000. The main aim of this project is to reach a better understanding of the current structure of the various vocational education and training systems in Europe by showing how this has developed historically at national and international level, and by revealing how vocational education and training and European integration have influenced each other. The project starts from the principle that a sound knowledge of historical developments is an indispensable prerequisite for fully appreciating and interpreting contemporary processes and events.