Vocational education and training concept for Turkey

iMOVE interview with Jakob Stephan Baschab, Managing Director, German Federal Guild of Hearing Aid Acousticians, May 2015.

iMOVE: What is the name and background of your organisation?

Baschab: The German Federal Guild of Hearing Aid Acousticians ("Bundesinnung der Hörgeräteakustiker", biha) is a professional representation of interests of independent hearing aid acousticians, who have joined forces to promote their shared craft interests and to control the vocational education and training provision in their field. The Federal Guild is a semi-governmental organisation under public law.

iMOVE: Which services do you offer in the field of vocational education and training?

Baschab: The Academy of Hearing Aid Acoustics ("Akademie für Hörgeräte-Akustik") in Luebeck (Northern Germany) is a subsidiary company within this confederation, which includes about 5,600 member businesses and 14,000 hearing aid acousticians. The academy is the vocational training and continuing education provider for all hearing aid acousticians in Germany. The future-oriented vocational education and training concept, the innovative technical equipment and the interdisciplinary working style of the academy enjoy an excellent reputation well across the globe.

At its premises in Luebeck, the academy maintains several boarding schools for housing all the apprentices from all over Germany. Also, it closely co-operates with the Nation-wide Federal State Vocational College for Hearing Aid Acousticians ("Bundesoffene Landesberufsschule für Hörgeräteakustiker") located on the same campus. The service provision includes also a subsequent master craftsperson training programme.

Moreover, in co-operation with the University of Applied Sciences Luebeck, the academy offers the bachelor study course "Audiological Acoustics" and various vocational training and continuing education courses, for instance, in the fields of paediatric audiology, tinnitus, cochlea implants and audio therapy.

iMOVE: What are your international business experiences?

Baschab: For years the German training systems for hearing aid acousticians has set international standards. As early as in 2002, the biha aimed at the European harmonisation of recognition of vocational attainments in the professional field of hearing aid acousticians. To this end, it developed a proposal which was accepted by the European industry associations.

Moreover, the biha developed a service provision standard at European level under the name of DIN EN ISO 15927. Equipped with these and other comprehensive experiences, the federal guild contacted numerous health ministries across Europe and the world with the aim of expanding the health and education political network. For the academy, this resulted in the development of another pillar in its vocational training and continuing education provision.

The international education co-operation projects have increased the academy's turnover by a six-figure sum. The academy maintains co-operation agreements with numerous countries worldwide. In 2013 alone, the academy welcomed acousticians from more than 40 nations and a co-operation agreement was concluded with Egypt, Qatar and Jordan for establishing a training centre for the Middle East and North Africa.

iMOVE: Which key service do you provide for a successful co-operation with international partners?

Baschab: Co-operation with Turkey was initiated by the networking activity between the federal guild and the Turkish association of hearing aid acousticians "işitme cihazları akustik akademi derneği" (ICAAD) as well as by the activities of the Turkish Ministry of Health.

The ICAAD plans a new vocational education and training centre for hearing aid acousticians that is intended to be capable of competing on an international level. The German Academy for Hearing Aid Acousticians is to provide the model for the training concept, because German vocational education and training enjoys a high degree of international appreciation. Moreover, the Turkish Ministry of Health plans to professionalize the vocational education and training programme for hearing aid acousticians.

The federal guild offers a wide range of advisory services in the compilation of a vocational education and training curriculum that is tailored to meet the framework conditions in Turkey. In addition to compiling trade-specific technical and organizational concepts, train-the-trainer courses were carried out in Luebeck and online, during which the Turkish trainers and teachers learned about technical and didactic know-how from Germany which they can implement in the provision of vocational education and training for journeymen in Turkey.

The first training courses took place already in 2010, and the co-operation including regular personal contacts persists to this day. The Turkish market for health services is experiencing a period of growth and increasingly follows European standards. The government-run health system in Turkey is being further expanded and reformed.