Apprenticeship Pulse: 1 Year of Research on VET

It has been one year since the Apprenticeship Pulse started analyzing the effects of the COVID-​19 pandemic on Vocational Education and Training in Switzerland.

By Katie Caves

In April 2020, researchers at the Chair of Education System initiated a unique research project, Apprenticeship Pulse, to closely monitor and analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various aspects of Swiss apprenticeship training on monthly basis.
Based on survey data from training companies, the Apprenticeship Pulse sheds light on how and how strongly apprentices and training companies are affected by the pandemic. It also demonstrates how those effects vary across regions, economic sectors, and occupations.

The following figure show how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped apprentices’ training between April 2020 and March 2021. The blue shading in the background shows Swiss case numbers, and the lines show the rates of companies using different training modalities to deliver apprenticeship training. Although in-company training has consistently been the most common option, alternatives like working from home, having limited on-site work, doing homework exercises, and getting no training at all have ebbed and flowed over the past year. Their prevalence follows COVID-19 cases and the preventive measures imposed by the federal authorities.  

Enlarged view: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on training of apprentices over time.
Remarks: Results based on weighted data from the monthly Apprenticeship Pulse surveys from April 2020 to March 2021. On the left vertical axis, the figure shows the proportion (%) of apprentices per measure for in-company training among all apprentices covered by the apprenticeship companies surveyed (multiple answers possible). The right vertical axis shows the number of COVID-19 cases per day (weekly average) from April 2020 to March 2021.