The importance of quality and quality assurance in vocational education and training will continue to grow. This was the opinion voiced by Professor Dr Reinhold Weiß, Deputy President and Head of Research for the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), on the occasion of the opening of a symposium on the topic of quality assurance in vocational education and training.
"In the competition for qualified young employees, companies must make clear what they can offer applicants - above and beyond minimum standards," underscored Weiß. "The objective is to create a culture and awareness of quality, and to continually strive to review and examine education and training for potential improvement areas."
This, he continued, is a task for every enterprise, every vocational school and every person bearing responsibility in the field of vocational education. Germany can proudly point to many successful elements and tools that safeguard the quality of vocational education, Weiß added.
The European initiative for quality assurance in vocational education and training offers the opportunity to develop a uniform quality assurance strategy together. "We must take on this task in order to ensure that the European education area can be reliably structured and that vocational education can be suitably positioned within this structure," explained the Deputy President of BIBB. Comparability and permeability require trust in national vocational educational and training systems and educational facilities. "This necessary trust should supply a joint quality strategy."
However, quality assurance is no longer just a European challenge, added Weiß. It is being addressed by means of the agreement on the German Qualifications Framework (DQR), which the German Federal government, the German states and social partners concluded in late January.
The DQR encompasses a total of eight reference levels and calls for senior specialist and technician degrees to be aligned to Level 6 together with the Bachelor degree. They would then be considered of equal value. "Against this backdrop, university and vocational education are both equally called upon to systematically and transparently ensure and prove the quality of their degrees, because quality assurance is the business conditions laid down by the DQR," said Weiß.
The discussion on quality was initiated by the increased commitment of the European Member States to further developing the different vocational education systems in Europe and making them more comparable.
The EQAVET process, a quality initiative sponsored by 33 European states, includes the obligation to establish national points of contact. In Germany, this function has been performed since 2008 by the "National Reference Point for Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training" (DEQA-VET) located within BIBB.