News about VET from Germany

Receiving one's vocational training or continuing education abroad in a European country and having one's achievements acknowledged at home – this is what the so-called ECVET intends to facilitate and promote.

"We never would have dreamed of these figures", admits Professor Dr Heribert Weber, President of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg. At present, 171 men and women study at his university without having a formal university entrance qualification.

The dual vocational training system is a major asset for Germany's innovation power, an aspect systematically underestimated in international studies. The highly innovative medium-sized businesses without proprietary research departments in particular greatly appreciate the well qualified skilled labour in this country.

What shall I do after leaving school? This is a question many pupils in Thuringia ask themselves each year. For their search for an adequate dream job to be successful, it is necessary to inform the pupils well ahead in time and comprehensively as to the occupational perspectives and development possibilities available in the region.

Seventeen occupations requiring vocational training and various forms of schools are at the centre of attention during the Vocational Training Day. Young people, parents, teachers, master craftsmen and their employees have come to attend the Day of Vocational Training.

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.