SFIVET helps to ensure that the Swiss VPET system remains top-notch

Dear reader,

Never before in its almost 50-year history has SFIVET been discussed so fervently and at such length in the Swiss Parliament. The result is clear: the SFUVET Act was unanimously adopted. This is a strong political commitment to our institution and to its national mandate in the area of vocational and professional education and training. With this development, the terms “higher education” and “VPET” will no longer be opposites but instead will come together in the future Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training. This fact alone demonstrates the uniqueness of our institution and its unchanging mandate. We intend to help ensure that the Swiss VPET system continues to meet the needs of learners, employers and society and that quality remains at the highest standard in the future.

Taking the helm of the SFIVET Board during these turbulent times was an enlightening experience. However, the transformation of our Institute into a higher education institution and successful navigation through the headwinds of this unprecedented pandemic were made possible thanks to the many years of extensive and ongoing work at SFIVET. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, Dr Philippe Gnägi, for his commitment over all these years. The SFIVET Board and the SFIVET Executive Committee intend to do their utmost to keep our institution on course as we finalise the transformation. Working together, we will make sure that our institution lives up to the expectations expressed during the parliamentary sessions while also taking into account the Federal Council’s strategic objectives. We intend to show that our institution continues to have its finger on the pulse of vocational education and training at all learning locations.

SFIVET took steps to ensure that it was able to continue providing basic and continuing training, even during the pandemic. Education is very important, particularly in times of crisis, and it must be able to continue, regardless of changing circumstances. Course participants, their employers and government agencies understood this, as evidenced by the overall course enrolment figures for 2020. We all hope for more normal times in which we can fully grow again on cultural, athletic, economic and personal levels. As the new SFIVET Board Chairman, I look forward to more direct personal interaction in the coming months so that information about VET can be shared even more intensively. Through our concerted action, we make it possible for the Swiss VPET system to remain top-notch.

Adrian Wüthrich
SFIVET Board Chairman