Print version Recommend this page Press release
39/ 2009
Bonn, 05.11.2009
20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall: dual vocational education and training still not established on sufficiently firm foundations in East Germany
A study on the development history and current situation of vocational training in the federal states of the former East Germany conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has revealed that VET structures in East and West Germany continue to exhibit significant differences, even 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The opportunities for young people in East Germany to obtain a training place have, however, improved. The reasons for this are massive state funding and the discernable decrease in the number of school leavers, although the latter circumstance will create new and serious problems for East German firms and companies with regard to future development of skilled workers. The results of the BIBB study have been published in the latest edition of the BIBB REPORT (12/09).
The BIBB investigation traces the development of the East German training system over the course of the last 20 years against the background of economic, demographic and educationally related trends and presents its results on the basis of official statistics. The study shows that the restructuring of vocational education and training required in the wake of the collapse of the GDR has not been sufficiently successful despite the financial support put in place. Dual training in East Germany continues to be characterised by a high proportion of extra-company training places and a comparatively low quota of companies providing their own training to young people.
The main causes of this are the severe economic upheaval in the East and the particular difficulties East German trade and industry faces, apparent in the light of unemployment rates which remain high and the shrinking number of companies. Further factors are the persistent migration of young people from East Germany to the federal states in the West, a trend which has been continuing for some years, and the attendant significant decline in the number of applicants. In addition to this, the analyses carried out by BIBB permit the conclusion that flexibilisation of the labour market has caused unintended ancillary consequences for the development of an in-company training culture in East Germany which is also sustainable in quantitative terms.
"The main focus of support provided for in-company training in the federal states of East Germany", says BIBB Deputy President Professor Reinhold Weiß, "should be on the creation of conducive general conditions, including such aspects as training guidance, support measures for young people to run alongside training, locally based training provision and supplementary inter-company instruction."
In the light of the shortage of qualified skilled workers already becoming apparent in East Germany, Professor Weiß is appealing to both large and small companies based in the region to become more involved in providing in-company training. "Young people with lower school leaving qualifications, unplaced training applicants from previous years and young adults who have not completed a VET qualification should also be given a fair chance." Professor Weiß fears an impending restriction in the performance capacity of the East German economy if this fails to happen and believes that regions which are already having to deal with the dramatic consequences of a decreasing and ageing population would be particularly badly affected.
Detailed information is provided in the new BIBB REPORT 12/09: "All quiet on the eastern front? 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, vocational training is facing enormous challenges". The report is available for download free of charge on the BIBB website at http://www.bibb.de/en/52551.htm .
