“Each term they complete is a victory for each and every one”: A development project to establish an upper secondary diploma after completing a short, workplace-based educational programme

• Main Authors: Sveinsson, Hjalti Jón, Sigþórsson, Rúnar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2015
• Subjects: dropout from upper secondary schools; workplace based learning; Upper Secondary Diploma; individualised learning; inclusive education; brotthvarf úr framhaldsskólum; starfsnám; framhaldsskólapróf; nám við hæfi; nám án aðgreiningar; Akureyri; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/1950

Context In Iceland there are long standing concerns about high dropout rates from upper secondary schools. According to new information from Statistics Iceland, only 44% of students who started secondary schools in 2003 graduated within the normal four years of study, while the average rate within OECD was 68%. Two years on the OECD average had risen to 81% but was 58% in Iceland, the lowest of 11 countries with comparable statistics (Hagstofa Íslands, 2012a, 2102b). Lög um framhaldsskóla (The Upper Secondary Act, nr. 92/2008) entitles students access to schooling until the age of 18. Upper secondary schools are also authorised to establish short, workplace-based programmes and grant students an upper secondary diploma when they have completed 52 credits of the 140 credits required for the matriculation exam. In many European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and Sweden, there is a rich tradition for vocational education with a strong connection with workplaces, and many of those countries are pursuing such educational programmes as a means of preventing dropout (European Commission, Education and Training, 2012a, 2012b; European Parliament, 2009; Hoffman, 2011; Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2009.) The study Akureyri Comprehensive College (VMA) has for a number of years offered a programme of study within its Department of General Studies (DGS) for students without the required prerequisites. Even though this programme has been successful for some students, it does not seem to have met the needs of the students that are most at risk of dropping out of school. In an attempt to improve provisions for students who are thought to be unlikely to graduate without special measures to meet their needs, the school has responded to new opportunities opened in the Upper Secondary Act of 2008 to grant students an upper secondary diploma after having completed 52 credits and engaged in a workplace-based programme of study aimed at these students. The aim of the current study was to investigate the progress ...