News about VET from Germany

"In practice, there still remain unnecessary obstacles such as entrance examinations", said the German Federal Education Minister Johanna Wanka. "If we were to reduce these, we could surely motivate even more people to attend university." At the same time, the minister demanded opening up the vocational education and training system for university drop-outs.

The German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has modernised the vocational education and training regulations for the profession "Media designer digital and print". Newly added were the areas of content creation, social media and 3D graphics. The new training regulations recently became effective.

Each individual member country of the European Union determines its own education policy. The so-called dual vocational education and training system is effective in Germany, Austria and in Switzerland, to name a few. This form of apprenticeship combines theoretical learning at the vocational college with a long practical phase of training at a business.

In the vernacular they are simply called pool attendants - the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training calls them certified assistants for swimming pools. In the case of the Karlsruhe pools they are all-rounders. Uwe Raih and Reiner Friedrich have been working at the Europabad Karlsruhe since March 2008.

Advanced vocational education and training in Germany conveys sought-after competences, states the country analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

"A lot is happening in winning over apprentices", said Martin Wansleben, Managing Director of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

Careers within the dual vocational education and training system have seldom been as promising as they are today. Up-to-date and modern vocational education and training regulations are indispensable to this end.

In the context of the International Conference on eLearning in the Workplace (ICELW) 2013, which took place in New York from 12 to 14 June, the global online language learning solution Speexx received the International eLearning Award (Business Division) in the field of "Blended Learning".

There are significant structural differences among European countries in young people's participation in the labour market. The reason is a combination of institutional factors (e.g. formal apprenticeship schemes), cultural determinants, whether there is a job market for students, the role of professional training, etc.