OECD country report: Germany

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).

In Germany, the transition from school to professional life is remarkably smooth. An excellently developed vocational education and training system allows young people to enter into the employment market well prepared and to find jobs that match their qualifications.

The vocational education and training of the so-called Sekundarbereich II (second-stage secondary education), which in Germany is characterised first and foremost by the dual system, creates a solid foundation for subsequent continuing qualification, in particular by way of postsecondary vocational education.

Part of this advanced form of vocational education and training, that is, the technical colleges and continuing education programmes such as for master craftspersons, constitutes the focus of the most recent country analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), titled "Postsecondary vocational education and training in Germany".

The study concludes that the unemployment rates amongst technical college graduates, master craftspersons and technicians in Germany are amongst the lowest in the OECD region. People with these competences, internationally assigned to tertiary education, are particularly in demand in Germany.

One reason for this may be the fact that employee and employer organisations are closely involved in the system of postsecondary vocational education and training. This co-operation between politics and social partners ensures that the content of vocational education and training programmes meets the demand and that institutions providing vocational education and training swiftly take into consideration changes in the employment market. It directly benefits the graduates of advanced vocational education and training programmes.

For instance, two thirds of all successful participants of an advanced education programme, such as master tradespersons, improved their salaries. And as many as three out of four participants of such continuing education programmes reported to have gained more responsibility or a formal promotion.

In Germany, only people with a university or university of applied science degree have even better remuneration options and job market opportunities. Therefore, the authors of the study welcomed the fact that, since 2009, the transition from vocational to academic education has been improved by several reforms.