Dutch vocational education and training and adult education (mbo)
The Netherlands Association of VET Colleges
The 'MBO Raad' is the Netherlands Association of VET Colleges. The association represents all government-funded colleges for secondary vocational education and training and adult education in the Netherlands.
On behalf of its members, the MBO Raad promotes the collective interests of the sector, supports common activities of the colleges and acts as an employers’ organisation. The association negotiates labour conditions for the sector with the trade unions and signs collective labour agreements. The MBO Raad plays a major role in the remodelling of vocational education to competence-based vocational education and training.
The executive committee of the MBO Raad is elected by MBO Raad members and consists in six members and a chairperson. The MBO Raad employs approximately 70 staff at its office in Woerden, in the province of Utrecht.
Dutch vocational education and training (mbo)
Mbo (middelbaar beroepsonderwijs) is the abbreviation for secondary Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the Netherlands. VET is the main supplier to the labour market and is often regarded as the 'foundation of the economy' and the 'backbone of society'. Approximately 40% of the Dutch working population have completed a vocational course to at least a secondary vocational training level.
There are currently 630,000 students in the VET sector, 485,000 of them taking part in regular VET courses. The remainder follows adult education programmes. The government invests about 2.6 billion euros annually in this sector, which represents approximately 12% of the total budget for education.