Print version Recommend this page Press release
16/ 2011
Bonn, 14.04.2011
BIBB Signs Cooperation Agreement with Columbia
BIBB President Kremer at Education and Training Meeting with President Santos in Berlin:
The practice-oriented dual system of vocational education and training in Germany, combining in-company training and vocational school education, is meeting with great interest internationally. The expertise and advisory services of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) are increasingly in demand world-wide. Now we have a further step: the cooperation agreement on International Cooperation between the BIBB and the National Apprenticeship Service in Columbia (SENA/ Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje), signed in Berlin yesterday by BIBB President Manfred Kremer and the General Director of the SENA, Camilo Bernal in the presence of the Columbian President, Dr. Juan Manuel Santos and the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Professor Dr. Annette Schavan.
On the occasion of the agreement being signed, BIBB President Manfred Kremer declared: "The goal of this cooperation is to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational education and training in Columbia, to enhance the employability and earning capacity of adolescents and young adults and thus to bring about lasting benefits for all participants in the vocational education and training system through innovation and target group oriented approaches. What we have to do now is give life to the cooperation agreement we have signed today."
The agreement provides for joint activities and periodical exchanges of information in the field of vocational education and training, for example on the institutional modernisation and promotion of the dual system of education and training, early detection of qualification requirements, the qualification of training personnel and the development of national standards, tests and certifications.
The agreement was signed in the context of a German-Columbian meeting in Berlin to intensify and expand cooperation in the fields of education, science, research and innovation. The meeting with Columbian President Dr. Juan Manuel Santos und Education Minister Dr. María Campo was attended by the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Professor Dr. Annette Schavan, as well as by many of the presidents of German education and research institutions.
During a visit to Columbia by Federal Education Minister Schavan and BIBB President Kremer in 2009, the Columbians had already signalled great interest in close cooperation with the BIBB. The signing of the cooperation agreement now lays the groundwork for cooperation in the field of vocational education and training between the BIBB und SENA.
The BIBB is perceived internationally as a competent point of contact in the modernisation of vocational education and training systems in threshold, developing and transition countries. It currently maintains about 30 cooperation agreements world-wide, and Columbia is the third partner in Central and South America following Mexico and Brazil.
The National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) is a public institution with the task of promoting the social, economic and technological development of Columbia by providing vocational education and training free of charge. The Service operates under the authority of the Ministry of Social Protection and in addition to initial and continuing training opportunities it provides information and support for technological development projects and the promotion of competitiveness.
Further information can be found at www.bibb.de/international
Contact persons at the BIBB:
- Diana Cáceres-Reebs, E-mail: caceres-reebs@bibb.de
- Hans-Joachim Kissling, E-mail: kissling@bibb.de
Pictures are available at www.bibb.de/pressefotos.
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