Germany0s dual vocational training system
How are training regulations developed?
The development of new training regulations or the updating of existing regulations and the coordination of these with the outline curricula of the federal states (Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany, KMK) take place within a multi-stage process involving substantial integration of the parties participating in vocational education and training, namely employers, trade unions, the Federal Government and the federal states.
The starting point for an updating of training occupations within the dual system of vocational education and training on the basis of §§ 25 and 26 of the Vocational Training Act and the Crafts and Trades Regulation Code is a corresponding qualification requirement in trade and industry. An initial application approach is made to the federal ministry responsible, generally the Federal Minister of Economics and Labour (BMWA), the respective training benchmarks are stipulated in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and with the consent of the leading employers' and employees' associations, all of this then forming the basis for the development of draft training regulations and the coordination of these with the outline curriculum of the secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (KMK).
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, in collaboration with experts nominated by the leading employers' and employees' organisations, has fundamental overall control for the development of the draft training regulations (for the in-company element of the training). The draft outline curriculum (for the school-based element of the training) is developed by federal state experts nominated by the individual ministries of culture and education. One of the ways in which coordination of the contents and timeframes of the two drafts takes place is through mutual participation in meetings by the experts.
Enactment of the training regulations is via publication in the Federal Law Gazette. New training regulations normally come into force on 1 August of the following year, to coincide with the beginning of a new training year. The training regulations, the outline curriculum and the training profile are published in the Federal Gazette.
