Jeon - Unlocking the Potential of Migrants

This cross-country report was prepared under the project Unlocking the Potential of Migrants through Vocational Education and Training, together with a country review of Germany that studies the same theme. It draws on national experiences across OECD countries with focuses particularly on Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. The European Commission and Switzerland sponsored this cross-country project and the publication of this report.

Shinyoung Jeon from the OECD Centre for Skills drafted this report, with research assistance from Toma Savitki, Rosa Neri and Edoardo Magalini. Benedicte Bergseng and Samuel Lthi from the OECD Centre for Skills, and Eva Degler and Thomas Liebig from the International Migration Division within the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs gave valuable input and advice. Jennifer Cannon, Charity Kome and Elisa Larrakoetxea provided valuable administrative support. Lauren Thwaites provided valuable support in the editorial and production process. Pascal Marianna assisted in obtaining official Eurostat data.

Anthony Mann oversaw the preparation of this report as Head of the VET and Adult Learning team within the OECD Centre for Skills. Viktria Kis, Magorzata Kuczera and Pauline Musset within the VET and Adult Learning team provided additional input. Francesca Borgonovi from the Directorate for Education and Skills, Kim Samuel from the OECD Centre for Skills and Anja Meierkord from the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs also gave useful comments. Support throughout the project was received from Montserrat Gomendio as Head of the Centre for Skills, Dirk van Damme as Head of the Skills beyond School division in the Directorate for Education and Skills, Andreas Schleicher as Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills, Stefano Scarpetta as Director of the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs and Ludger Schuknecht, Deputy Secretary-General at the OECD.

The OECD would like to thank many colleagues in Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland for their constructive engagement throughout the study, and especially: Oliver Diehl, Erik Hess and Peter Thiele at the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in Germany; Fabio Roma and Valeria Scalmato at the ANPAL ( Agenzia Nazionale Politiche Attive Lavoro ) in Italy; Cristina Pontis, Malin Mendes, Carina Lindn, Jacob Johansson and Christina Mnberg at the Ministry of Education and Research in Sweden; Marlene Furrer, Frederic Berthoud, Benedikt Hauser and Truong-Dinh An-lac at the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation and Tsering Tsewang and Thomas Fuhrimann at the State Secretariat for Migration in Switzerland. We also greatly appreciate the time given by hundreds of other colleagues who contributed to this report by sharing their experience and perceptions on the topic through stakeholder interviews throughout the project period. These include participants from a workshop held in Bremen, Germany, which brought together policy makers, researchers and experts from Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden.