The new basic commercial training will be offered in… 2023

In Switzerland, the two training levels for commercial employees (FTA and CFP) will be harmonized in terms of methodology and content

After extensive discussions with its partners, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) of the Swiss Confederation has decided that the new ordinances and training plans for commercial employees of the FTA and commercial employees of the CFP (formerly office assistants of the CFP) will come into force at the beginning of the 2023 school year.
As a result of the reform, the two training levels have been better aligned in terms of methodology and content and now form a coherent professional field that optimally meets the needs of the labor market.
The business community has called for an urgent reform of basic commercial training, which was last partially revised ten years ago after being repositioned in 2003.
This is because companies still need, and will continue to need, new employees who can meet the demands of the modern labor market. Young people, for their part, expect to be able to find a job immediately after completing an apprenticeship.
For these reasons, the relevant bodies launched the “Commercial Employees 2022” reform in 2017.
The results of the official survey, which was conducted from January to April 2021 under the direction of SEFRI, show that the cantons, the social partners and other interested parties generally approve of the new training.
The concept of vocational baccalaureate during basic education MP1 (FBA level) is currently being developed and should be finalized by a national implementation plan.
The new foreign language teaching concept received broad support from the cantons and the business community and was approved by President Guy Parmelin.
On August 16, 2021, SEFRI issued and approved the ordinances and education plans necessary for the reform to enter into force.

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Operational skills and general culture at the center

In the new basic commercial training, specific knowledge is taught in the form of operational skills. This enables learners to acquire the necessary knowledge in appropriate depth and with real relevance to their daily work.
At all three training locations (training company, vocational school and inter-company courses), the learning objectives are based on the operational skills defined in the training plan and are more homogeneous than in the past.
In addition, general education is integrated into the teaching process so that trainees can also acquire knowledge that is not purely technical but is also relevant outside the vocational context.
In vocational education and training, orientation to operational skills has become the norm. Now basic commercial training is also adapting to this change.

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New training profile and foreign language teaching

The existence of two different profiles (B and E) has not proved successful on the labor market. The new basic commercial training is better suited to the potential of individual learners and the expectations of the training companies.
Together with the new foreign language didactics and the possibility to complete the vocational baccalaureate parallel to the apprenticeship, this individual orientation testifies to the high quality of the new training.
The option of completing the vocational baccalaureate during basic training (MP1) or after the apprenticeship (MP2) is guaranteed, as is a certain degree of freedom for the cantons in implementing it.
The option of school-based vocational training with a long-term internship in a company also remains open.
In addition, all learners at the AFC level must now learn two foreign languages (today’s B profile provides for only one compulsory foreign language).
The first foreign language must be a second national language or English; the second foreign language will be a second national language, a third national language or English, depending on the choice.
Innovative and forward-looking teaching methods have been developed that offer young people without language skills the opportunity to learn a second foreign language and acquire an AFC.

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Implementation postponed by one year, but with full participation

At the beginning of June 2021, the VET partners decided to postpone the introduction of the reform from summer 2022 to summer 2023 so that the cantons, vocational schools and apprenticeship companies can better prepare themselves.
To support this process, the partners established a National Coordination Committee (NCC) for the reforms in retail trade and basic commercial training as early as summer 2020, which has already developed implementation strategies and tools as part of various sub-projects.
The reform was developed in a participatory process involving representatives from 19 training and examination sectors, vocational schools and cantons, who closely followed all steps.

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