BIBB's VET cooperation with India
Maren Verfürth
Translated by: Sarah Zimmer, English Language Service
Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research Schavan and India's Minister of La-bour Mallikarjun Kharge held bilateral talks in New Delhi on 31 May 2011 parallel to the German-Indian government consultations headed by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. Minister Schavan promised the Indian minister of labour the provision of assistance through the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Institute for Vocational Edu-cation and Training (BIBB).
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is an important partner to the Indian government in its efforts to reform its vocational education and training system. BIBB president Professor Dr Friedrich Hubert Esser, who was also a member of the German delegation attending the German-Indian government consultations, remarked:
"As a rising economic power, India has set itself the goal of providing vocational training for some 500 million people by the year 2022. The Indian government is counting on German assistance and particularly on BIBB's expertise to help it master this enormous task. The German dual vocational training system with its unique combination of theory and practice is very attractive for India. Through its advisory services BIBB can make a sizable contribution to the progressive development of India's vocational education and training system."
The Government of India (GoI) has launched an enormous campaign - the Skill Development Mission - to reform the Indian vocational education and training system. These reform efforts are being undertaken to correct the serious imbalance between number of insufficiently quali-fied workers and the growing need for qualified skilled workers in India's trade and industry. In response to this challenge, the GoI aims to rapidly develop an efficient and productive vocational training infrastructure. This work will include the development of national standards and certificates (National Vocational Qualification Framework - NVQF), the modernization or construction of training facilities and training centres, the training of training personnel, access to up-to-date technical equipment, modern teaching methods and materials, and the establishment of vocational training research.
The Indian side had explicitly requested German know-how to support its efforts to modernize the country's vocational education and training system. The intention here is not to transfer the German system to India. Instead, individual elements of the German vocational training system are to be incorporated into the reform of the Indian vocational training system. The inclusion of the private sector at all levels of vocational education and training is of particular interest in this connection. It has been recognized that vocational training in India should no longer be organized solely by the government. Instead, trade and industry must also be involved in the provision of vocational training in order to ensure its relevance to the labour market and to employment. For this reason, the Government of India is interested in Germany's 'dual' vocational training system (which combines part-time schooling with practi-cal work experience) where trade and industry play a major role as employers, places of learning, examination and certification bodies and as contributors in organising the framework for the provision of in-company vocational training.
The German-Indian Working Group on Vocational Education and Training headed by Ger-many's Federal Ministry of Education and Research agreed that BIBB experts will advise the Government of India in future in connection with the development of occupational and ex-amination standards, qualification development research and the training of training person-nel. A first joint workshop is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in mid-September. "The aim of BIBB's strategy is to strengthen skilled personnel on the ground on a lasting basis," BIBB's President Esser emphasized.
Plans also foresee an exchange programme for guest researchers from BIBB and the Central Staff Training and Research Institute (CSTARI) with the aim of fostering young researchers.
The German-Indian Working Group on Vocational Education and Training was set up in the year 2007 in the wake of German-Indian government negotiations during which the Govern-ment of India had asked the German government for assistance with its efforts to reform In-dia's vocational training system. BIBB coordinates this working group on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The German-Indian Working Group on Vocational Education and Training meets once a year, alternately in India and Germany. German members of the working group are the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), the International Marketing of Vocational Education (iMOVE) initiative and sequa. Indian members of the working group are the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) which is the lead ministry on the Indian side, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Depending on the agenda of the respective meeting, other institutions - such as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (giz), individual German chambers and associations, India's Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) or the Apex Hi-Tech Institute also attend the working group's meetings.
The exchange of information that has taken place at the working group's meetings to date has revolved around the following areas which have been designated 'issues':
Issue 1: Creating Public Private Partnership on the Pattern of the German Dual System
Issue 2: German Assistance in Upgradation of Vocational Training Institutions
Issue 3: Training of Trainers
Issue 4: Development of Competency Standards
Issue 5: Transparency of Qualifications (Mutual Recognition of Qualification)
Issue 6: Development of Instructional Material
Issue 7: Assessing Labour Market Demand and Converting it into Training Modules
BIBB makes on-going substantive contributions to the lines of action that have been agreed upon by the working group. It is currently involved in the following activities aimed at expand-ing and increasing the depth of the German-Indian dialogue on the reform of India's voca-tional training system:
- A stocktaking study will be conducted to examine the provision of in-company vocational training by German companies in India and to develop recommendations for in-creasing their provision of vocational training. The Düsseldorf-based Central Agency for Continuing Vocational Education and Training in the Skilled Crafts (ZWH) has been commissioned to conduct the study.
- Advising the Central Staff Training and Research Institute (CSTARI) in Calcutta, which is directly responsible to the Director General Employment & Training (DGET). The topics covered by these advisory services are the standardization of occupations, research into the development of qualifications, the training of training personnel, and the planning of a working visit to BIBB for up to four researchers from CSTARI.
- Collaboration with the semi-private National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in connection with the development of occupational, training and examination standards.
