Focus on Swiss system of vocational education and training during work of Pacific Alliance in Lima
Bern, 20.05.2016 - On 18 and 19 May Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, was in Peru in an official capacity to take part in the activities of the Pacific Alliance. There he had the opportunity to present Switzerland’s system of vocational education and training to ministers and other Alliance dignitaries at the first ‘Education Forum’ organised in Lima.
The Pacific Alliance brings together four Latin American countries, namely Mexico, Columbia, Peru and Chile. Switzerland has had observer status in the Alliance since 2013 and maintains a dialogue with it particularly on vocational education and training and innovation, conducted jointly by the Federal department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
State Secretary Mauro Dell’Ambrogio took the floor on Wednesday both as a guest speaker and also took part in a panel discussion at the first Pacific Alliance Education Forum in front of a high-level audience that included several ministers and high-level representatives from the worlds of politics, business and education in the Alliance countries.
Taking the example of Switzerland, he highlighted the need for close collaboration between public authorities, social partners and business for a dual system of vocational education and training to function well.
This message was also conveyed the following day in front of 700 young people from Peru, Mexico, Columbia and Chile at the first Pacific Alliance Youth Summit, an event organised jointly by the Alliance and Nestlé, which launched an ambitious employment and training programme for young people in the region. A second such event supported by Switzerland, will be held in Chile in 2017.
State Secretary Mauro Dell’Ambrogio also had the opportunity to meet with the Peruvian education minister, Jaime Saavedra Chanduví, labour minister, Daniel Ysau Maurate, and trade minister, Magalí Silva.
The visit to Lima also allowed him to visit several important Peruvian institutions, including the research funding agency Concytec and the San Marcos University, as well as pupils and teachers at the Swiss Pestalozzi school.
Address for enquiries
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI
Roger Swifcz
International Relations
Tel.: +41 79 379 42 36
roger.swifcz@sbfi.admin.ch
Publisher
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
http://www.sbfi.admin.ch
