Local/sectoral coordination support services

Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of crafts and professional associations (e.g. of lawyers, architects, or electricians) may provide local/sectoral coordination support services

On the other hand, these services might be provided by group training organizations (GTOs), which directly employ apprentices, manage their training, support their needs and hire them out to employers - particularly SMEs that may not be able to provide a full training programme for their apprentices.

Whilst the roles and responsibilities will vary considerably according to institutional arrangements, the main roles and responsibilities may include:

  • Facilitating cooperation between enterprises and TVET institutions;
  • Providing templates of cooperation agreements between enterprises and TVET institutions and templates of apprenticeship contracts;
  • Coordinating the stakeholders involved in Quality Apprenticeships;
  • Establishing and maintaining close relations with the regional administration in charge of supervising TVET institutions and with the body in charge of assessment and certification;
  • Encouraging and facilitating improvements in the quality of Quality Apprenticeship training in enterprises and TVET institutions;
  • Steering the Quality Apprenticeship scheme through the different phases, from design and pilot implementation to the ongoing organization of Quality Apprenticeship training by the regional and local partners;
  • Promoting apprenticeships and supporting SMEs so that they can participate in apprenticeship schemes:
  • Ensuring that courses are in place for the selected occupations, and that each participating enterprise and TVET institution agree upon their training plans.

In Germany, this role is carried out by a ‘competent body’, a legally defined expression for the organizations that support and monitor the provision of in-company training (box 25), and in Australia, this role is taken on by GTOs (box 26).

Box 7: Coordinating bodies – ‘Competent bodies’ - Germany

The state has transferred the task of monitoring the in-company training to the ‘competent bodies’, which are listed in the Vocational Education and Training Act (2005). The Chambers of Commerce and Trade and the Chambers of Skilled Crafts supervise the majority of dual training carried out in Germany.

According to the Vocational Training Act, the competent bodies have the following tasks:

  • Supervising vocational training preparation, vocational training and retraining;
  • Maintaining the directory of apprenticeships (in the skilled crafts, this is the ‘Apprentices’ Register’);
  • Employing training counsellors that advise the enterprises on all training issues
  • running a register of trained training staff, organizing the aptitude assessment of the training staff;
  • Assessing the quality of the training facility;
  • Conducting the intermediate and final examinations or journeyman examination;
  • monitoring and supporting the mobility period abroad of apprentices and learners (Apprenticeship Toolbox, 2017b).


Box 8: Group Training Organizations - Australia

Group Training refers to an arrangement where Group Training Organisations (GTOs) employ apprentices and trainees and place them with host employers. GTOs undertake employer responsibilities, which include:

  • Selecting and recruiting apprentices and trainees;
  • Undertaking the employer responsibilities including wages, allowances, superannuation, workers compensation, sick/holiday pay and other employment benefits;
  • Managing the quality and continuity or training, both on and off the job;
  • Providing the additional care and ongoing support necessary for the apprentice to successfully complete the Apprenticeship/Traineeship Training Contract (Australian Government, 2017a).