News about VET from Germany

"We cannot and we must not accept the fact that young people feel they do not stand a chance in Europe", emphasised Martin Wansleben, Chief Executive of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), in a speech at the European Parliament.

The German Bundestag has decided on a national benchmark for internationalising the vocational education and training system. In 2020, a minimum of 10 per cent of apprentices are to gain work experience abroad during their apprenticeship term.

The partners associated within the "National Pact for Career Training and Skilled Manpower Development in Germany" have raised awareness for the "Apprenticeship Placement Day" and the numerous offers of information for employers as well as for young people.

On occasion of the federal government's Second Demography Summit, the German Federal Minister of Economics Philipp Rösler highlighted the significance of a sufficiently large number of skilled professionals.

According to the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, gender distribution has hardly changed since 2005. However, women prove to be more flexible than men. They are more likely to decide on a male-dominated job than vice versa.

"Blended Learning in Prison" (BLiS) has received the Xenos Stabilisation Award. The award recognises the work of the Institute for Education in the Information Society (IBI), an independent institute at the Technische Universität Berlin.

In the recently published business report by the German Federal Employment Agency it is printed black on white: "The acquisition of professional qualifications remains the first and foremost goal." It states that the long-term and sustained integration of low-qualified people will continue to play a central part in the coming years.

The goal of iMOVE networking events is to create a network of training providers, industrial companies and further service providers with business interests in specific countries.

First vocational education and training, then a study course. The old model once again gains in popularity. Increasingly, an apprenticeship even becomes the key to the lecture room.