Changing an award-winning system — for better or for worse?

This paper deals with the latest structural changes in the Danish vocational education and training system (VET), a system so far characterised by a principle of alternating between practical training and theoretical instruction. Structural changes can be described as a shift of paradigm, which might be seen as a regression compared to the Danish VET system that received the Bertelsmann prize in 1999. The shift can also to some extent be viewed as a step backwards in achieving the political programmes and goals such as the Lisbon strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]