Education ordinance for polygraphers under consultation

The polygraph profession is to be divided into three specializations: media support, media design and media production. This has caused some controversy. As Mediaforum.ch reports, the social partners responsible for vocational training, Viscom and Comedia/Syna, have drawn up a draft for the new training in a working group of the PBS (Paritätische Berufsbildungsstelle). This should have come into force on January 1, 2006. However, following the internal Viscom consultation and fierce protests from the industry, its introduction was postponed by a year. Opponents of the controversial training ordinance (BiVo) complain that the profession is being watered down and that the new draft does not reflect practical realities. It is feared that apprentices will learn too little of the actual craft in future. Furthermore, the distinction between media design and graphic design apprenticeships is unclear. The initiators, on the other hand, want to prevent current trends from being overlooked and want to integrate cross-media elements into the training. The new education ordinance will be submitted for consultation by the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology by July 7, 2006, according to Mediaforum.ch. Management and those responsible for training in the companies are called upon to deal with the new Polygraf training ordinance and its guidelines and performance targets and to comment on them.