Print version Recommend this page Press release
42/ 2007
Bonn, 20.09.2007
BIBB and DIE to shed light on the continuing vocational education and training market
The continuing vocational education and training market in Germany is not particularly transparent. At present, no one can say precisely how many providers are active in this market. Estimates range from "a few thousand" to 85,000 providers. Although government-funded continuing vocational education and training (CVET) providers are relatively well-documented, there is in particular very little reliable information on the broad array of CVET providers who are 100% privately funded. The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training ("BIBB") and the German Institute for Adult Education ("DIE") plan in conjunction with the Institute for Development Planning and Structural Research ("IES") to shed some light on Germany's rather 'opaque' continuing vocational training market. The study is being financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in light of the fact that detailed information about provider structures is of great interest not only for continuing education and training policy but also for day-to-day CVET practice and CVET research.
As a collaborative member of the project being conducted by BIBB and the German Institute for Adult Education, the Institute for Development Planning and Structural Research has started contacting CVET providers to check whether the information on the continuing vocational education and training market that is available is also up-to-date. Providers are also being asked to sign up online at www.anbieterforschung.de . This method is being used to identify 'white' spots that are not included in current provider statistics or covered by other available sources of information.
Germany has no national, cross-provider CVET statistics. The few surveys that do exist focus almost exclusively on individual regions or CVET product segments. It is not possible to make reliable statements about future developments on the provider market on the basis of this information.
However, having detailed information would be extremely helpful at this time. Economic and structural changes such as cuts in government funding are predicted to lead to fundamental changes in provider structures. However, it has not been possible to substantiate this prediction to date because of a lack of representative data.
The new BIBB-DIE project will help remedy this situation. The aim of this collaborative project is to obtain a comprehensive overview of all CVET providers that are currently active in Germany. With this in mind, the Institute for Development Planning and Structural Research will therefore collect and compile all provider addresses from available lists, directories and databases, and then check them to ensure they are correct and complete.
Based on the findings from this work, the project will also focus on developing a system that will allow future changes in the CVET market to be promptly recorded and studied with the least possible cost and effort.
Further information in German is available at http://www.anbieterforschung.de/
Points of contact for further information:
- Stephan Dietrich, Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung (DIE, German Institute for Adult Education), Tel.: +49 (0) 228 / 3294-327; E-mail: dietrich@die-bonn.de
- Hans-Joachim Schade, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), Tel.: +49 (0) 228 / 107-1117; E-mail: schade@bibb.de
