Challenge
In 2015, the Flemish government announced to revive the old system of Learning and Working. The launch of the new system of Duaal Leren started in September 2019. With this project, the entrepreneurial training agency SYNTRA Flanders wanted to prepare for it and adapt its services accordingly.
First, the agency needed a system to monitor the supply and demand of apprenticeships. Secondly, SYNTRA Flanders wanted to develop an analysis tool that would identify which factors make workplace learning a success and which have a negative influence on it. This tool should allow to monitor and analyse both the inflow and outflow of apprentices in/out of the system, as well as the labour market. Various databases and datasets should be opened up and linked to each other and used for scientific as well as data-driven research. The data must also be accessible to various stakeholders and end users, both inside and outside the Flemish government, including pupils, companies and schools.
The tool to be developed should ensure that SYNTRA Flanders can fulfil its director's role for Dual Learning. The social added value of this project is enormous. Training, work experience, 'matching' supply and demand on the labour market, filling bottleneck vacancies with the right profiles, etc. are essential for the Flemish economy and, by extension, for guaranteeing prosperity and well-being in Flanders in the short and long term. This project fits entirely within Vision 2050.
The entrepreneurial training agency SYNTRA Flanders is also learning a lot itself - for its day-to-day operation and its optimisation - from this project. In the long run, other public organisations can also benefit. Just think of government institutions that increasingly offer internships.