How training regulations are developed

• By the training advisor Peter Braune

Training regulations

Training regulations form the legal basis which governs the contents that must be imparted during the time of training.

New or modernised occupations emerge. Printers, for example, are now print media technologists. Typesetters are referred to today as designers of digital and print media. New craft trade occupations have been introduced since 2021. The occupation of electronics technician for information technology has been particularly extensively revised. Electronics technician for building system integration is a new occupation.

The training regulations drawn up for this purpose are legally binding foundations for training at the learning venue of the company. They need to be as up to date as possible. For this reason, new training regulations are developed and existing training regulations are revised at certain intervals. Time-limited pilot regulations will sometimes be enacted, and these may become permanent under the law.

Training regulations – what they contain

Training regulations are issued as legal ordinances in accordance with the Vocational Training Act by the specialist ministry responsible with the agreement of the Federal Ministry of Education. The minimum stipulations are as follows.

• Occupational title
• Duration of training
• Skills and knowledge
• Instructions regarding content and time structure of skills and competencies
• Examination requirements

The historic roots of the "regulation" of company-based training can be found as early as in the Middle Ages. Individual professions, trades and guilds controlled the teaching that took place at companies. The origins of our modern training regulations date back to the start of the 20th century.

Training regulations are prepared in a process which involves experts from the employers and employees, the federal states and the Federal Government and which is chaired by specialists from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). They are enacted by the Federal Government.

In a parallel procedure, a nationally standardised skeleton curriculum is developed for the learning venue of the vocational school. This is coordinated with the training regulations and enters into force at the same time. Such an approach ensures that training at companies and at the vocational school supplement each other.

What happens when training regulations need to be updated

Various methods are deployed at the beginning of the procedure to evaluate the existing training regulations or to look at a proposal for new training regulations. By the end of the evaluation, decision-making guidance is in place. This forms the basis for the start of the regulatory work.

If the contents of a training occupation are to be modernised or if a new occupation is to be created, the initiative for such a move usually comes from experts from the specialist associations and from the umbrella associations of the employers and the trade unions. The experts for the actual regulatory work are nominated by the social partners. The experts of the federal states, who are appointed by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, develop the skeleton curricula for the vocational schools.

By the way, access to vocational education and training is not dependent on any school qualification. Young people conclude a training contract with a master craftsman. Under the terms of this contract, they are employed as a trainee and undergo training in a recognised training occupation.

The "exclusivity principle" states that company-based training for young people aged under 18 may only take place in state-recognised training occupations for which training regulations are in place.