News about VET from Germany

After completing secondary modern school (Hauptschule), Gökhan Öcel did not yet think about going to university, not even during his apprenticeship as a machine engineering mechanic.

The initiative "Erfolgsfaktor Familie" (Success Factor Family) of the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs welcomes a new member: With immediate effect, the Institute for Vocational Education and Training (IBB) will actively support the programme's goal of achieving improved compatibility of family and work in Germany.

Five female employees from the defacto-ServiceCenters in Istanbul have completed the qualification course for "Communication Coach IHK", the concept of which was developed in co-operation with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) of the Saarland and the CCAkademie Saarland GmbH.

The Minister of Justice for the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein delivered an allocation decision for about 1.31 million Euro to the TÜV NORD Bildung (Education) at the Lübeck penal institution.

The reform plans, officially presented by Hamburg's Schools Secretary, Ties Rabe (SPD), will have a direct impact on a total of 32 of the 44 vocational colleges in the city and their combined number of 54,700 students.

In future, educational attainments and occupational qualifications earned in Germany will be made more comparable across Europe. The German federal government and the German federal states agreed on this by signing a joint decision on the German Qualifications Framework.

The drop in numbers of VET beginners in the transitional phase from school to vocational training has continued in 2012. This applies to the national average as well as to most of the 16 Länder (federal states).

The iMOVE Provider database includes more than 200 corporate profiles of German companies in the education sector. From now on, interested parties can not only select potential partners with concrete training measures on offer, but also consulting firms which focus on thoroughly informing its clients about appropriate training strategies and how to implement them.

The Germans are an inquisitive nation – at least as far as professional continuing education is concerned. The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research has kept count for 2012: in the past year in Germany, a record number of people was registered to have completed a continuing education course.