Print version Recommend this page Press release
19/ 2009
Bonn, 10.06.2009
New training opportunities in the music retail business - Additional qualifications integrated into the training regulations for the first time
The music retail sector will be able to provide innovative, future-oriented in-house vocational training starting with the next training year. The modernized occupation Salesperson with Specialization in Music which requires completion of formal vocational training ('training occupation') will supersede the previous occupation Salesperson with Specialization in Music Supplies which has been offered since 1954. The new designation and the new training content take into account the far-reaching changes that have taken place in the music retail trade and make it clear that persons with this occupation deal not only with music but - due to the growing influence of music electronics - also with musical instruments and sound carriers. This will in turn put this sector in a position to ensure a supply of young skilled personnel on a long-term basis. Under the direction of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), experts from employer and employee organizations played a decisive role in the work on modernizing the training content for this new occupation. The new training regulations will go into effect on 1 August 2009.
Furthermore, additional qualifications that can be earned parallel and supplementary to the regular vocational training for this occupation were created as an integral component of the training regulations which are operative nation-wide. This constitutes the first time that this has been done during the revision and reorganization of a recognized training occupation. This was undertaken pursuant to Section 49 of the Vocational Training Act (BBiG) which was amended in 2005. As a result, the designation, training content, envisaged duration of training and the specific examination requirements for additional qualifications have now been regulated for the first time on a uniform and binding nation-wide basis. This will increase the transparency, quality, flexibility and marketability of additional qualifications not only for the persons earning them but also for the firms hiring and employing these persons.
Three elective qualifications for the areas Musical Instruments, Music Supplies and Sound Carriers were incorporated into the regular training regulations for the occupation Salesperson with Specialization in Music. Trainees for this occupation are required to choose one of these three qualifications as their specialization. The other two can then be completed as additional qualifications parallel to the trainee's regulation training.
Additional qualifications target and foster in particular highly motivated, high-achieving youths who want to broaden their vocational profile during their training by acquiring qualifications that go beyond their regular training. Such qualifications are the subject of a separate examination and are documented in a certificate.
Further information is available in German on the BIBB website at www.bibb.de/de/31680.htm and in Issue 3/2009 of the BIBB journal "Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis - BWP" (Vocational Training in Research and Practice) that features the special focus "Occupations - Developments and prospects". The article on this subject can be downloaded free of charge at www.bibb.de/bwp/musikfachhandel .
Points of contact at BIBB for further information:
- Hannelore Paulini-Schlottau; Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-2423; E-mail: paulini-schlottau@bibb.de
- Silvia Annen; Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-2418; E-mail: annen@bibb.de
