Print version Recommend this page Press release
19/ 2007
Bonn, 24.04.2007
New climate index measures current mood amongst continuing training providers
Joint press release by BIBB and DIE
The wbmonitor - a regular survey of continuing training providers in Germany - will in future be jointly conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE). This will take place via the newly designed online portal www.wbmonitor.de. In order to identify the prevailing mood within the continuing training sector on an ongoing basis, BIBB and DIE are introducing the wbmonitor Climate Index. The first joint online survey will be launched before the end of the month.
An assessment of providers' own current business and budgetary situation and their future expectations constitute the main element of the surveys. In a similar way to the ifo Business Climate Index, which reflects the current mood within German trade and industry, the information is then used to calculate the wbmonitor Climate Index, the new yardstick for measuring the economic situation of providers operating on the continuing training market.
Continuing training is a dynamic and multi-layered educational sector, the significance of which is set to grow further in the light of demographic developments. In Germany, however, continuing vocational training is precisely the area where considerable backlog demand exists. A European study of companies (CVTS) found Germany occupying "only" 9th position amongst 25 countries surveyed.
The wbmonitor, a regular survey involving 4,500 continuing training providers on the most recent occasion it was conducted, was introduced by BIBB in 2001 in order to gain information on trends within continuing training. The initial focus of wbmonitor was on vocational continuing training.
In March 2007, BIBB and DIE, the latter also based in Bonn, concluded a cooperation agreement to conduct the wbmonitor jointly and to establish a wider data basis for the study. Future surveys will now also accord greater attention to general adult education.
Together with additional information supplied by the continuing training establishments, the wbmonitor Climate Index will in future enable analyses of specific areas within the continuing training sector, such as developments of continuing training providers with and without public funding, to be conducted. Such market observations are of considerable interest both to policymakers and the providers themselves.
The plan is to present the new concept and the initial results of the online survey at a joint BIBB and DIE congress to take place in January 2008 and involving representatives from the fields of politics, academic research and practice.
Further information in German is available at www.wbmonitor.de
Points of contact for further information and enquiries:
Dr. Gisela Feller (BIBB), Tel.: 0228 / 107-1124, e-mail: feller@bibb.de
Hans-Joachim Schade (BIBB), Tel.: 0228 / 107-1117, e-mail: schade@bibb.de
Ingrid Ambos (DIE), Tel.: 0228 / 3294-134, e-mail: ambos@die-bonn.de
