The 5th "Röpke Symposium", which took place in December 2012 in Düsseldorf, criticised the belief in academic education which persists in policy and institutions and called for greater appreciation of vocational training in Germany.
"A holistic educational pathway and a process of maturity are required in order to achieve capability, sustainability and thus authority and morality." This statement made via video feed from New York by the renowned sociologist Richard Sennett may be viewed as the essence of the presentations and discussions which took place at the 5th "Röpke Symposium".
It also takes on a permanent current validity against the background of the failure of the supposed elites in the world financial crisis. In his opening address to the conference, which was attended by participants of the highest calibre, Vice President of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts and Trades (HWK) Siegfried Schrempf expressed the view that the statement also acted as "a fundamental reminder for a culture of solidarity which has its firm basis in education and training".
Last year's "Röpke Symposium", staged by the "Competence Centre for the Social Market Economy" at the HWK Düsseldorf in conjunction with the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) attempted to clarify the contribution made by the vocational training systems in Europe and other regions of the world to the "wealth of nations".
Unacceptable prejudice against the significance of vocational training for development and education
Schrempf justified the selection of topics addressed by referring to the "marked influence exerted on educational policy discourse in Germany by pleadings based on a belief in academic education" emanating from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU). He did not feel that these paid sufficient tribute to the contribution made by the vocational education and training system to the success of the German economy.
BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser expressed himself in even blunter terms. "The OECD finally needs to stop degrading practical and practically-based training in Germany. To categorise children of parents with academic qualifications who learn a trade crafts occupation as moving down the educational league is discriminatory and constitutes evidence of unacceptable prejudice against the significance of vocational training for development and education."
Esser made the further point that, in contrast to the general education sector, vocational training was particularly aligned towards the bringing together of knowledge and practical activity. "This is the area from which it draws its strength, a strength which is increasingly being perceived as such and which needs to be recognised", he emphasised.
The President of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH), Otto Kentzler, stated that there were some areas where there was a certain tendency towards improvement. The draft version of the most recent OECD report "Education at a glance" promulgated for the first time the assessment that most people in Germany with high-level vocational qualifications did not wish for or require any further academic education. Quite the contrary was, in fact, the case. "A decrease in participants in the field of advanced vocational training will have a negative effect on economic growth in Germany", said Kentzler, quoting directly from the paper.
Within this context, both Kentzler and Esser made reference to the German Qualifications Framework (DQR). Kentzler was of the view that the firm establishment of master craftsman and technician qualifications at reference level 6 of the eight-level framework together with Bachelor degrees represented an "educational policy breakthrough" signifying the first time that the acquisition of employability skills had obtained appropriate recognition as an educational objective. This was an insight which was long overdue, as Professor Esser went on to say. "These employability skills are precisely what is needed in order to deal with complex worlds of work and life worlds, and they are primarily developed through experience and acquisition."
Deficits in vocational qualification models in most countries
In his presentation, BIBB Director of Research Prof. Reinhold Weiß identified deficits in the vocational qualification models disseminated in most countries, such as "training on the job" in the USA and the United Kingdom and the systems in southern Europe which are too largely school-based. He pointed out that permanent integration into the labour market was only achieved in a minority of cases, even years after the induction phase, and that the amount of innovation produced by those who had gained their qualifications in this way was significantly weaker compared to those who had completed the dual system.
This view was supported by the occupational scientist Prof. Gerhard Bosch (University of Duisburg-Essen), Head of Training at the IG Metall Trade Union Dr. Klaus Heimann and HWK Managing Director Dr. Axel Fuhrmann, who also drew attention to the areas where modernisation of the dual system of vocational education and training was required. Sylvia Löhrmann, Minister of Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, gave a welcoming address in which she indicated her government's clear commitment to dual training.