Print version Recommend this page Press release
48/ 2005
Bonn, 16.12.2005
Careers guidance and vocational counselling
Board of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training adopts recommendations
In its meeting of 14 December 2005, the board of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) adopted recommendations for careers guidance and vocational counselling replacing the "recommendations for pre-vocational training and advisory services" put in place by the Federal Committee for Vocational Education and Training on 26 January 1972.
The text of the board's recommendations for careers guidance and vocational counselling is as follows:
Preamble
In line with Council of Europe resolutions and OECD recommendations, the board of BIBB emphasises the increasing significance of careers guidance and vocational counselling with regard to training and social policy.
Structural change, the different requirements being placed on vocational qualifications and skills and the challenges thus created on the training and labour market all necessitate lifelong guidance and advisory processes, increasing the demands placed on careers guidance and vocational counselling. Cooperation on the part of all stakeholders represents the only way of effectively providing modern, meaning well-founded, systematic, structured and ongoing careers guidance and vocational counselling on a permanent and economically viable basis.
Careers guidance and vocational counselling are universal services accessible to all. Because of the particular significance of the transitional phase between school and commencing studies or taking up an occupation, the board's recommendations centre on young people and those aged under 25. They present overarching central themes and priorities with the aim of monitoring and shaping developments within the various areas of the general and vocational education system.
1. Initial situation
Deep seated changes in occupational, working and qualifications structures, problematic developments on the training and labour market, international competition and the transformations which have taken place in the various career areas and sectors of trade and industry all pose considerable challenges to young people in particular, especially within the transitional phase between school and commencing studies or taking up an occupation.
(Youth) unemployment and patchy career histories entail increased requirements for guidance and counselling. Aspects which need to be taken into consideration here, for example, are problems in making the transition to training and the number of training place vacancies available. These particularly affect people whose access to vocational education and training and/or work is hampered by adverse conditions prevailing in their region, by underachievement at school and/or on account of disadvantages relating to social conditions, ethnic origin or gender. On the other hand, there is also the potential to take advantage of the opportunities provided by new fields of activity or occupational areas or the chance of training abroad.
Young people require skills support which enables them to take an active part in developing their own lifelong learning and career progression. They need to be in a position to obtain information regarding the various institutions offering vocational counselling and the nature of the provision available and to use this information in a targeted way. At the same time, it is incumbent on them to take responsibility for taking advantage of advisory and guidance services, receiving appropriate support in accordance with their personal situation and opportunities.
In view of the significance of effective careers guidance, and also in light of the opportunities this affords, all responsible stakeholders have a common duty to provide young people with the support they require to overcome problems relating to making the transition between school and commencing studies or taking up an occupation.
2. Aims and tasks of careers guidance and vocational counselling
Careers guidance and vocational counselling have different and, to some extent, conflicting goals. They pursue the following tasks:
- realising individual training opportunities;
- influencing the realisation of equality of opportunity and social inclusion and supporting the integration of specific groups such as migrants;
- strengthening the process of identification and choice of occupation in the transitional phase between school and commencing studies or taking up an occupation;
- taking account of prevailing conditions on the labour market whilst working towards the securing of up and coming talent, training and labour market requirements, avoidance and limitation of unemployment, mobility and maintenance of employability;
- focussing on efficient structuring and effective investment in education and training, in order to contribute towards achievement of individual learning goals, increase participation in education and training and to assist in the avoidance of the breaking off of education and training.
Careers guidance needs to be seen as a longer and more complex process requiring learning organisation at several places of learning. The idea of careers guidance is to provide both the motivation and the capacity for individual, targeted career and life planning. An understanding of the necessity of lifelong learning is just as much a part of this process as the development of self-help strategies which enable available opportunities to be taken advantage of. Careers guidance is a particular responsibility of schools and the Federal Employment Agency, carried out in accordance with the outline agreement between the Federal Employment Agency and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of 15 October 2004. These bodies receive support from other stakeholders involved in the guidance process. Careers guidance needs to be initiated in a timely manner and be structured in a way appropriate to age and type of school attended.
Vocational counselling is legally defined as the provision of information and advice relating to choice of occupation, occupational development and changing occupations, to the prevailing situation and developments on the labour market and in occupations, to vocational education and training opportunities, to training or job searches and to labour support provision. It also extends to information and advice concerning issues of training support and school education, insofar as these are relevant to choice of occupation and vocational education and training (§ 30, German Social Security Code III). Vocational counselling is a statutory task of the Federal Employment Agency (§ 29, German Social Security Code III). It may also be provided and carried out by other stakeholders.
3. Contributions and cooperation of the stakeholders involved
Coming to terms with and achieving the impending tasks and aims of a sustainable system of careers guidance and vocational counselling does not merely involve coordinated collaboration between general and vocational schools and the Federal Employment Agency. It also requires cooperation with parents, youth services, institutes of further education, the federal states, trade and industry (companies, associations, chambers), trade unions, social associations, consortiums, local authorities, institutes of higher education and training providers.
Schools
The complex nature of the requirements involved coupled with the fact that available resources are limited means that, as far as provision of practically oriented careers guidance is concerned, schools are reliant on the cooperation of willing partners. Providing preparation and guidance for choice of occupation requires the agreement and involvement of all responsible stakeholders.
The schools involve parents or guardians in an appropriate way. They work with their cooperation partners to help pupils gain a realistic view of the world of work through work experience programmes, other company contacts and bringing in experts from outside school. They promote the ability of realistic self-assessment and the professional action competence necessary for a sustainable decision regarding choice of occupation.
Institutes of higher education
The study advisory services of the institutes of higher education provide pupils in the sixth form of upper secondary schools (upper secondary education ISCED 3) with information on the courses, qualifications and career opportunities (both national and international) open to them, taking their abilities and main interests into account. This range of services is complemented by practice related events such as open days and work experience programmes for pupils. Study advisory services and the vocational counselling offered by the Federal Employment Agency interlink their provision.
11 See the "Joint recommendation of the German Rectors' Conference, the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Federal Employment Office (now the Federal Employment Agency) regarding cooperation in upper secondary education" of 20 February 1992.
Trade and industry
The provisions made by companies, associations, chambers and training centres means that trade and industry contribute towards practice related careers guidance and support schools and vocational counselling services in their work via cooperation projects. A wide range of activities is on offer, such as company visits, open days, work experience programmes for pupils and teaching staff and the use of mentors from company practice. At the same time, there is support from trade and industry for firms and projects set up by pupils, and information on contents and requirements of various occupations is made available. A large part of the commitment shown by trade and industry in this area is brought together and promoted by the work of school and business cooperation projects.
Trade unions
The trade unions support the dialogue between schools and companies and establish contacts to promote the necessary process by which schools open themselves up to the world of work. The "School and work" working groups help young people with applications, assist in the process of setting up company visits, provide information on careers guidance for classes of school leavers, parents' seminars, teachers, workers' and staff council members and offer training on these issues to parents' associations. Trade unions are also involved in the development of suitable teaching materials and in project weeks.
Federal Employment Agency
The employment agencies provide information and advice on all issues relating to choice of occupation and courses of study and the labour market. This also includes further development of diagnostic tools for the evaluation of readiness for training and vocational aptitude, whilst taking into account young people's development potential in an appropriate way. The introduction to industry and commerce and the world of work provided in schools forms a basis for the vocational counselling services of the Federal Employment Agency, which in turn supports the schools and teaching staff by the competence it can offer in issues relating to individual vocational counselling and to the training and labour market, including the arrangement of training places.
Youth social services
The various forms of youth social services mainly provide assistance to the disadvantaged and to young people facing particular individual barriers as they seek to make the transition from school to work. Specific forms of provision have been developed for the target groups in question, combining school-based and practical learning, individual case management by social workers and leisure related group work. One of the core tasks of provision within the field of youth social services is to support and promote young people's action competence to the extent that they are better able to manage day-to-day living.
Multifaceted cooperation projects
The following examples serve as an illustration of the wide range of forms of cooperation:
- On the basis of the outline agreement between the Federal Employment Agency and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of 15 October 2004, schools and employment agencies work together in the area of careers guidance. Depending on respective requirements and due to the federal structure, the organisation of this in concrete terms is incumbent on the stakeholders at federal state level (regional head offices of the Federal Employment Agency and state ministries of education and cultural affairs) or at regional or local level (schools/employment agencies).
- Interlinking of careers guidance provision between study advisory services of the institutes of higher education and the careers guidance services of the Federal Employment Agency.
- The "Ways Towards Higher Education" network, a joint initiative of the Federal Employment Agency, the German Federal Council of Parents Associations, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Confederation of Trade Unions, the German Student Services Association, the German Rectors' Conference and the state ministries of education, supports the removal of barriers making it difficult to access university level studies. It organises information and counselling events relating to educational and employment policy for pupils sitting their upper secondary school leaving certificates and promotes regional cooperation in study advisory services and careers guidance.
4. Recommendations
The board is in favour of the maintenance and expansion of careers guidance and vocational counselling and a closer level of cooperation between stakeholders, and recommends the following:
Securing and expanding provision
- continuing to develop careers guidance and vocational counselling provision as an integral part of the educational system in line with Council of Europe resolutions and OECD recommendations;
- overcoming the challenges we face by providing sufficient financial and staffing resources in all institutions involved, enabling the intrinsic opportunities offered by careers guidance and vocational counselling to be used first and foremost as a preventative tool;
- ensuring recognised standards for the qualification of specialist counselling staff and guaranteeing the quality and current validity of the services they provide;
- ensuring the qualification of teaching staff via opportunities for initial and further training and placements;
Quality of provision
- careers guidance and vocational counselling being structured in a way which enables young people to increase such skills as independence and assume responsibility for autonomous organisation of their learning routes and occupational development;
- providing early diagnosis, targeted, individual support and ongoing monitoring of all young people, in order to be able to recognise and develop talent and potential and adjust various learning conditions or status of learning in a timely manner;
- including in the counselling process information on potential perspectives and follow-up provision and transferability within the training system and providing information on career routes, occupational paths, master craftsman examinations and forms of self-employment;
- focussing on the provision of coordinated advice and guidance from all stakeholders involved in the process and working towards according high priority to sustainable qualification and skills development and making initiative a requirement;
- offering social worker and/or psychological support and individual case management at an early stage to high risk groups and individual persons, whilst also making especial use of additional provision such as language programmes for young people from a migrant background;
- also taking advantage of the broader timescales offered by whole-day schooling for careers guidance provision;
- integrating careers guidance into curricula and school schemes of work and developing careers guidance teaching further didactically and methodologically with regard to greater relevance to practice and integrative forms of teaching/work;
- focussing on maintaining gender equality in careers guidance and vocational counselling.
Coordination and networking of provision
- implementing existing and exemplary initiatives which represent efficient, timely and ongoing cooperation and coordination within the scope of careers guidance and vocational training on a broad basis with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders;
- expanding and supporting the establishment of national and regional networks to provide flanking support for young people within the careers guidance process;
- integrating families into school-based careers guidance measures and in particular providing information on schools and occupations for parents from a migrant background;
- integrating youth welfare and local authority institutions into existing structures and coordination processes, establishing new structures and processes where necessary.
German language further reading
Arbeitsstab Forum Bildung: Empfehlungen des Forum Bildung, Bonn/Köln 2001
(Training forum working group; recommendations of the Training forum working group, Bonn/Cologne 2001)
BAG Jugendsozialarbeit: Zur aktuellen Situation der Berufsberatung der Bundesagentur für
Arbeit - Rückmeldungen aus der Trägerlandschaft der BAG Jugendsozialarbeit, 04.03.2005
(German Federal Labour Court (BAG) youth social work: on the current situation of careers guidance provided by the Federal Employment Agency - feedback from BAG youth social work agencies, 4 March 2005)
BMBF: Berufsorientierung heute, Beitrag im Online-Reader Berufsorientierung des Programms
SWA, 2003; sowi-online.de/reader/berufsorientierung
(Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF): Careers guidance today, an article in the online reader Careers guidance within the "School- trade and industry/working life" (SWA) programme, 2003; sowi-online.de/reader/berufsorientierung)
Bundesagentur für Arbeit/Ständige Konferenz der Kulturminister der Länder: Rahmenvereinbarung
über die Zusammenarbeit von Schule und Berufsberatung zwischen der Kulturministerkonferenz
und der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 15.10.2004
(Federal Employment Agency/Permanent Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs: Outline agreement between the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Federal Employment Agency, 15 October 2004)
Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände (BDA): Option für die Jugend, Berlin,
Juli 2003
(Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA): Option for young people, Berlin, July 2003)
Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung: Kooperative
Strukturen an der Schnittstelle Schule und Hochschule zur Studien- und Berufswahlvorbereitung,
Heft 126, 2005
(Permanent Committee of the Federal Government and the Federal States on Educational Planning and Research Promotion: Cooperative structures at the interface of school and higher education for preparation for study and choice of occupation, Issue 126, 2005)
Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 15/5441 vom 10.05.2005: Antwort der Bundesregierung
auf die Kleine Anfrage der Fraktion der FDP: Berufsberatung durch die Bundesagentur für
Arbeit
(German Parliament Document No. 15/5441 from 10 May 2005: Response of the Federal Government to a parliamentary question by the FDP parliamentary party: Careers guidance provided by the Federal Employment Agency)
Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund: Michael Sommer: Berufsorientierung - Arbeit und Leben aktiv
gestalten, Originalbeitrag zum Online-Reader Berufsorientierung, Programm SWA, 2003;
sowi-online.de/reader/berufsorientierung
(German Confederation of Trade Unions: Michael Sommer: Careers guidance - active organisation of life and work, original article from the in the online reader Careers guidance within the "School- trade and industry/working life" (SWA) programme, 2003; sowie-online.de/reader/berufsorientierung)
Entschließung des Rates der Europäischen Gemeinschaft Nr. 9286: Ausbau der Politiken,
Systeme und Praktiken auf dem Gebiet der lebensbegleitenden Beratung in Europa
(Council of Europe Resolution No. 9286: Extension of policies, systems and practice in the area of lifelong counselling in Europe)
Europäische Kommission: Allgemeine und berufliche Bildung 2010. Reform von Beratung
und Orientierung in Europa. Umgestaltung von Strategien, Systemen und Verfahren, Dezember
2004
(European Commission: General and vocational education and training 2010. Reform of counselling and guidance in Europe. Realignment of strategies, systems and procedures, December 2004)
Herdt, Ursula: Thesen zur Berufs- und Weiterbildungsberatung, Gewerkschaftliche Bildungspolitik
III, 2004
(Herdt, Ursula: Theses on occupational and further training counselling, Trade Union training policy III, 2004)
Kultusministerkonferenz 1997: Stärkung der Ausbildungsfähigkeit als Beitrag zur Verbesserung
der Ausbildungssituation, Bonn
(Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs 1997: Strengthening training capacity as a contribution to improving the training situation, Bonn)
Kultusministerkonferenz: Forderungskatalog zur Sicherung der Berufsausbildung und Qualifizierung junger Menschen sowie zur effektiven Nutzung aller Ressourcen in der Berufsausbildung. Beschluss der KMK vom 04.12.2003
(Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs: Catalogue of requirements for the securing of the vocational education and training of young people and the effective use of all VET resources. Culture and Education Ministers Conference Resolution of 4 December 2003)
OECD-Gutachten zur Berufsberatung. Länderbericht Deutschland, 2004
(OECD report on vocational counselling. Country report on Germany, 2004)
Programm Schule-Wirtschaft/Arbeitsleben (SWA) mit innovativen Projekten zur schulischen
Berufsorientierung; swa-programm.de
("School- trade and industry/working life" (SWA) programme with innovative projects on school based careers guidance; swa-programm.de)
