Participating providers comment on training place programmes for the eastern states
Klaus Berger, Klaus Schöngen
URN: urn:nbn:de:0035-0148-3
Germany's federal government and eastern states (including Berlin) agreed in May 2005 for the thirteenth year in a row to fund additional training places as part of the Federal-State Training Place Programmes for the Eastern States. The federal government's contribution of € 92 million will finance an additional 14,000 training places that will be made available under the direction of the states at the start of the upcoming 2005/2006 training year. Most of them will be external training places with phases of mainly practical training in actual companies. There will however also be training places at schools and collaborative school-based training places. Germany's states will provide the other half of the funding, in most cases using funds from the European Social Fund.
As part of the evaluation of the Training Place Programmes for the Eastern States that were carried out between 2000 and 2004, the Bonn-based SALSS Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungsgruppe social research institute surveyed, on behalf of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training ("BIBB"), a total of 208 training providers that trained young people as part of the 2003 Federal-State Training Place Programme for the Eastern States. One hundred and fifty of the respondents conducted training on a collaborative basis with other providers, 58 offered school-based training (in their capacity as public or private schools).
Satisfaction with cooperation
The vast majority of providers indicated they were satisfied with the cooperation that participation in the programmes requires. These respondents reported that for the most part they were able to establish and develop good, constructive ties to companies, employment agencies, chambers and part-time vocational schools. The schools did not assess their collaboration with the Federal Employment Agency quite as positively as the providers of collaborative training measures did.
Less satisfaction with paperwork, level of involvement in planning and amount of funding
The providers were dissatisfied and felt their leeway had been considerably reduced primarily as a result of the amount of paperwork and their lack of sufficient involvement in the planning activities. This 'satisfaction gap' was evident not only among the school-based providers but also among providers of collaborative training. In addition, the collaborative training providers tended to be dissatisfied with the financing as well, citing in particular insufficient funding, the financing of examinations and the rules governing financing in those cases where a training measure was terminated prematurely.
Training allowance is important motivator
Many providers however felt that the small training allowances paid to in-company trainees and the lack of any training allowances at all in the vocational school system markedly dampened young people's motivation.
Comparable success rates for final examinations
The portion of programme participants who pass their final examination is virtually the same as it is for trainees who complete in-company vocational training. At approximately 80 per cent, the "pass rate" for trainees in training courses provided on a collaborative basis matched the rate seen among trainees who undergo in-company vocational training (first attempt at the examination). The rate was 73 per cent for trainees who participated in school-based training measures. It must be noted here that this latter group of trainees usually sat the chamber examination as external examinees.
Training providers help their trainees find work
The vast majority of training providers participating in the programmes - regardless of whether they provide collaborative or school-based training - help their trainees find a job following completion of training. This usually takes the form of informing them of companies in the region that are currently looking for skilled workers. Courses on how to apply for a job and assistance with drawing up job applications were however also frequently cited.
The programmes must be extended
Nearly all the providers surveyed considered it necessary that the programmes be extended beyond 2004. The reasons cited for this focused on the tight situation on the vocational training market and, particularly, the many yet unplaced training place applicants from previous years. Another reason for extending the programmes is that they - according to most of the respondents - are very well suited to helping disadvantaged youths obtain formal vocational qualification.
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