News about VET from Germany

In today's globalised economy, international experience and knowledge of foreign languages increase in significance for young people embarking on their professional career. However, whereas a semester abroad often is more or less compulsory for students, the larger part of apprentices is not yet given the chance to see the bigger picture.

Some 300,000 people already living in Germany can profit from the new acknowledgement legislation. This law, for the first time, creates a legal claim to assessment of equivalence of foreign vocational qualifications with German qualifications for the 350 occupations requiring vocational training within the dual vocational training system.

At the end of last year, the EU Commission presented its proposal for modernising the Professional Qualification Directive. The objective is to facilitate recognition of occupational qualification across Europe and thus enable skilled personnel to work in other member countries.

People without a training qualification face several disadvantages in the employment market. According to an evaluation by the Institute for Employment Research, the rate of unemployment is about three times higher for unskilled workers than for skilled labour.

In 2011, the two-year vocational training occupations newly created over the course of the past years again attracted great interest on part of rather more practically inclined young people. This is the result of an up-to-date survey conducted by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

Resulting from a strong working relationship between iMOVE and the Indian Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoL&E), the Indian Government decided to issue an invitation to tender on training of trainer courses via iMOVE in Germany.

In order to provide today's young people with practically related training and with a good foundation for their future working lives, the contents of dual training occupations, which number approximately 350, need to be kept completely up-to-date at all times and aligned to the work processes and requirements within companies.

The Board of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has issued an Official Statement regarding a decision taken by the Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) at the end of November.

When selecting applicants for training places, enterprises have different means for getting an idea of whether the individual candidate is suitable for the targeted vocational training. Most base their assessments on the grades listed on half-yearly certificates or leaving certificates from secondary school.