Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

International BIBB Conference

16 October 2013

Work-based Learning in Europe - renewing traditions

The model of dual vocational education and training is currently attracting considerable attention. Demand is rising worldwide, and there has been a strong increase in the amount of media reporting. The main factors driving public attention are the high rates of youth unemployment in some European countries and fears of an impending shortage of skilled workers.
The international BIBB Conference "Work-based Learning in Europe - renewing traditions" on 4 and 5 December 2013 in Bonn will be a joint event with European partners to address various "work-based learning" models such as "apprenticeship" and "alternance", to discuss the associated consequences for the role and responsibility of the stakeholders involved (the state, companies, trade unions, learners) and to identify joint elements of various models of "work-based learning".The conference is aimed at a specialist target audience, in particular VET experts and practitioners from different countries. It aims to make a contribution towards the joint identification of "best fit" solutions for the structuring of "work-based learning" in vocational education and training.

The conference is fully closed. Additional Applications are no longer possible.

International BIBB Conference

Training of skilled workers worldwide

07 October 2013

BWP 5/2013 now available

India, China, Russia, the United States, Mexico, and Egypt - the contributions in the current issue of BWP give insights into skills training concepts and activities in those countries. They deal with, among other questions, whether and how elements of the dual system of education and training can be transferred.

BWB 5/2013: Training of skilled workers worldwide

Official launch of the new Central Office at BIBB

16 September 2013

State Secretary Quennet-Thielen and BIBB-President Esser

President Esser: "BIBB is opening up a new chapter in international vocational education and training cooperation"

The Central Office for International Vocational Education and Training Cooperation at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has begun its work. For BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser, this "opens up a new chapter in international vocational education and training cooperation". Speaking at the contract signing ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which is responsible for the Central Office, Professor Esser said: "Interest in dual vocational education and training 'Made in Germany' is huge right across the world. The new Central Office at BIBB will serve as a competent platform for the exchange of information with immediate effect and is a logical consequence of rising international demand for the German VET system."

Central Office for International Vocational Education and Training Cooperation

BIBB-Press release

Attractiveness of vocational education

05 August 2013

BWP 4/2013 now available

Dual vocational education and training is regarded internationally as an extremely successful training model. Just what makes the system so attractive and how can it be further fostered? The papers included in the latest issue of "Vocational Training in Research and Practice" (BWP) address this question from the point of view of trainees and companies and within an international context.

A special supplement on the VET policy positions adopted with regard to the German General Election of 2013 is also provided and is available for download free of charge.

BWP 4/2013: Attractiveness of vocational education

Qualification for gainful employment as initial vocational education and training

10 July 2013

Will this remain the ultimate solution?

There is a growing interest in models of dual and alternating initial vocational education and training in view of the high youth unemployment rates in the southern EU Member States. Referring to the newly formulated EU strategy in the field of vocational training policy, however, the author warns against attempting to solve social problems in the short term by transferring the German initial training model. It becomes clear in the historical perspective that this particular arrangement has developed over many years and has entered in the course of time into highly complex interrelations with numerous other social subsystems. Despite the many benefits of the cooperative training system, the author concludes by pointing out that, even in Germany, the problems of youth unemployment and social integration of young people have not been fully solved yet and states the need for reforms.

Qualification for gainful employment as initial vocational education and training

First Global BIBB Partner Meeting at the WorldSkills in Leipzig

01 July 2013

The first global BIBB partner meeting took place from 3 to 5 July 2013 as part of the programme of events at the WorldSkills in Leipzig. Cooperation partners from 24 countries and 30 BIBB partner institutes attended the event. The main focus of the three-day conference and workshop programme was on the creation of new jobs whilst also reducing environmental pollution.  The central topics addressed in the three-day conference and workshop programme were "Green Skills" and "Greening TVET".

First Global BIBB Partner Meeting at the WorldSkills in Leipzig
Programme and presentations

History of Vocational Education and Training

05 June 2013

BWP 3/2013 now available

"To envision the origins and historical developments is a genuine component of professionalism" writes BIBB's Head of Research, Prof. Dr. Reinhold Weiss, in his editorial to the current issue of BWP (Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis - Vocational Training in Research and Practice). In such a spirit of self-examination, the articles in this issue have a retrospective focus. Starting out from issues of current relevance, they trace the lines of development in vocational education and training in Germany.

BWP 3/2013: History of Vocational Education and Training

BIBB REPORT 20/13 now available

21 May 2013

Extern examination: Purposefully improving preparation

Even without dual vocational education and training, young adults have a second chance to obtain a vocational training certificate. The BIBB REPORT comprehensively analyses data and facts on the subject of the extern examination: Who attends the examination? What are the success rates? And where are there opportunities for improvement in the preparation?

BIBB REPORT 20/13: On the trail of external examination participants

WorldSkills Leipzig 2013

30 April 2013

BIBB at "WorldSkills"

From 2 to 7 July 2013 the WorldSkills Competition will be held in Leipzig. At the first global event of its kind to be held in Germany for 40 years, the best international trainees aged below 23 will compete for medals in 45 official disciplines. Over 1,000 Competitors will make WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 the biggest international competition of its kind ever held. WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 is also a unique offer for specialists. At conferences, seminars and symposiums experts will discuss the future of education, while companies will make use of the opportunity to present their expertise and make business contacts.

Read more WorldSkills in Leipzig

Quality assurance through standards

08 April 2013

BWP 2/2013 now available

What contribution can standards make to assuring quality in vocational education and training? This question is the main focus of the current issue of BWP. On the one hand, standards for assuring and developing quality at the systemic level are examined. On the other hand, the question of how quality standards can be put into practice in in-company training is discussed. Examples of best practice are provided in this context.

BWP 2/2013: Quality assurance through standards

Doing a top job - including in Germany

08 April 2013

Recognition Portal

"Recognition Act" will have been in force for one year on 1 April 2013

Since the German economy is dependent on qualified skilled workers, the German government enacted the Recognition Act to improve the assessment and recognition of foreign professional qualifications. It aim is to facilitate the equivalence procedures of foreign professional and vocational qualifications and to support the integration of qualified immigrants and foreign skilled workers into the German labour market.
To mark the first anniversary of the Recognition Act, a new information campaign was launched on 1 April. The information campaign initially takes place at a national level before being extended abroad from the end of the year. The campaign will be conducted in 9 different languages (Arabic, English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Rumanian, Russian and Turkish) and aims to raise awareness on the part of those interested in seeking recognition of the benefits of the law and of the service provided by the Recognition Portal.

BIBB President Esser: "Good information provision is supporting the successful implementation of the Act"

Recognition of foreign professional qualifications - the Federal Government's new Recognition Act

RECOGNITION IN GERMANY

Work-Life-Balance

04 February 2013

BWP 1/2013 now available

Work structures and working times are becoming ever more flexible, and at the same time the demands on the individual motivation of the employees to learn and perform are growing. Against that background, what can be done to create a healthy balance between the times spent on living, on learning and on working? To deal with this question, the articles in the current issue of BWP present research findings from the points of view of employees and enterprises and introduce concepts and concrete measures from company practice.

BWP 1/2013: Work-Life-Balance

Training for healthcare and nursing occupations

04 December 2012

BWP 6/2012 now available

Health and nursing care are growing sectors of employment in Germany. Demand for qualified skilled staff is high while qualification pathways are diverse and complex. This issue sets out to present an overview of this aspect. Against the backdrop of the debate surrounding the increasing bias towards academic qualifications in the nursing care occupations, it addresses qualification requirements, new tasks and occupational profiles in nursing care, as well as matters of compatibility and permeability between education and training courses in this sector.

BWP 6/2012:Training for healthcare and nursing occupations

Germany and Spain intensify cooperation in the vocational training field

27 November 2012

German-Spanish task force holds first meeting

Germany and Spain will jointly launch several pilot projects in the vocational training field in the coming year. The work of these projects will revolve around the subjects "Training of vocational training personnel", "Development of standards for vocational training and examinations" and "Improving cooperation between learning venues" as foreseen by an action plan which a German-Spanish task force on vocational training adopted at its first meeting in Madrid. Acting on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) serves as the lead agency for the German members of the task force.

Information regarding cooperation between Germany and Spain

BIBB strengthens vocational education and training co-operation with South America

BIBB President Esser: "We give projects for closer international co-operation the benefit of our good experience with the dual system of vocational education and training."

The intensification of co-operation in the field of vocational education and training was the main focus of a trip to South America by BIBB President Esser as a member of a government delegation headed by Federal Minister of Education Schavan. In each country, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil, the discussion centred on mutual experiences in organising and financing vocational education and training. As guest speaker at a vocational education and training conference in Chile, Esser stressed the readiness of the BIBB to give bilateral co-operation projects the benefit of Germany's good experiences with the dual system of education and training so that the challenges of skilled manpower shortages in Latin America could be met.

Further information on vocational education and training co-operation with South America

The new Recognition Act

01 October 2012

BWP 5/2012 now available

Around 2.9 million people living in Germany have migrant backgrounds and acquired their highest vocational qualification in another country. Often, however, they are unable to find employment matching their qualification. Germany's new law to improve the assessment and recognition of professional qualifications acquired abroad aims to contribute to better and more uniform regulation. The articles in this issue set out the background, describe the initial experience of applying the new law, and point out perspectives for further development.

BWP 5/2012: The new Recognition Act

Structural issues in vocational education and training

07 August 2012

BWP 4/2012 now available

This issue of BWP takes up structural issues and models that are being discussed and im-plemented in the course of work to refine occupational profiles and design new vocational qualification pathways. Aspects include information about trends in the occupational qualifi-cation structure, the concentration of occupations into occupational groups, flexible and competence-oriented occupational profiles, greater outcome-orientation, and better compati-bility and permeability between vocational training programmes.

BWP 4/2012: Structural issues in vocational education and training

BIBB's President Esser moderates German-Spanish Conference on Training in Stuttgart

13 July 2012

Ignacio Wert Ortega, Dr Annette Schavan, Professor Dr Friedrich Hubert Esser

"Important impetus for the Europeanisation of dual vocational training"

Germany and Spain want to intensify their cooperation in the area of initial and continuing vocational training. BIBB has pledged its support in connection with the implementation of a corresponding declaration of intent which was signed by the German and Spanish governments at a joint conference on vocational training. The conference in Stuttgart was attended by Federal Minister of Education and Research Schavan and her Spanish colleague Wert Ortega and was moderated by BIBB's President Esser.

Further information on: "BIBB's President Esser moderates German-Spanish Conference on Training in Stuttgart"

New training regulation

14 June 2012

Getting noticed is vital: the new occupational profile for Sign and Luminous Advertisement Makers will offer a choice of two specialisations

Their work is designed and executed to command the greatest possible attention: qualified Sign and Luminous Advertisement Makers produce advertising, trade fair stands, signage systems and much more. In future, they will be able to specialise in "Technology, installation and advertising electrics/electronics" or "Graphics, printing and application". The diversity of tasks from different trades give this occupation its particular appeal.

Further information

On the client's side: Specialists in Labour Market Services

05 June 2012

Training regulation for new occupation comes into force on 1 August

The content of this newly introduced training occupation incorporates the latest reforms to statutory unemployment insurance, and more importantly, a much stronger emphasis on customer orientation.  Labour Market Services Specialists will support people who need advice on choosing a career, finding a job, dealing with welfare benefit decisions or claiming family benefits. The new three-year initial vocational education and training programme replaces the "old" qualification of Specialist in Labour Promotion, which dates from 1999.

More on the new training occupation

Learning with digital media

04 June 2012

BWP 3/2012 now available

Web 2.0 technologies and mobile learning facilities open up new potentials for initial and continuing education and training. The articles pursue the question of whether and how learning is being changed by digital media, what new options they offer for the various learning venues and the different fields of action and how these options are already being implemented in practice. The promotion of media competence among teachers and learners plays a decisive role here as well.

BWP 3/2012 Learning with digital media

Germany and the United States deepen cooperation in vocational education

16 May 2012

BIBB President Esser: "Great interest in the United States of dual vocational training"

"In the USA, the manufacturing industry in particular is greatly interested in company-integrated, customer-oriented vocational education and training following the German model. The conference provided an excellent platform for discussing these approaches and possible solutions with German and American representatives from the spheres of politics and business". This is confirmation, said Esser that the dual system is becoming more and more of an export hit.

BIBB President Esser at the Conference at the Aspen Institute in Washington D.C.

Increasing international interest in the dual system

15 May 2012

Prof. R. Weiß with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova

BIBB Director of Research Professor Weiß gives opening address to the UNESCO International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training

In his opening address to the UNESCO International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, which took place in Shanghai from 13 to 16 May 2012, BIBB Director of Research Professor Reinhold Weiß highlighted the challenges to vocational education and training posed by demographic change. One thing which is clear is that interest in the dual VET system has risen. German vocational education and training in particular was mentioned as a reference model on a number of occasions.

Further information on the UNESCO International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Cooperation between BIBB and China

Language and work

02 April 2012

BWP 2/2012 now available

The papers included in the present issue of Vocational Training in Research and Practice (BWP) address the question of nature of the role played by language in vocational training and at the workplace and deal with the importance of language for the development of employability skills, with provision and concepts for language learning and with the significance of foreign language competence in a world of work which is becoming increasingly globalised.

BWP 1/2012 Language and work

ASEM TVET Symposium in Berlin

14 March 2012

Photo Credits: Tobias Bohm/DAAD

From 27 to 28 February 2012, Germany hosted the ASEM*-TVET Symposium on national qualification frameworks. The event was organised in Berlin by the ASEM Education Secretariat and BIBB's Department for Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training.  The symposium offered a comparative Asian-European perspective, and explored the development of NQFs between the conflicting demands of education and employment.

ASEM Symposium on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ASEM TVET Symposium

Three become one - new occupation of "Office management clerk" to be created

07 March 2012

In the near future: New training occupation "Office management clerk

Office occupations, which make up one of the major areas within dual vocational education and training with just over 90,000 training contracts in place and also include around 68,000 female trainees, are to undergo fundamental modernisation. Under the lead management of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) the experts appointed by the social partners are now joining forces with the Federal Government and the federal states to begin a realignment of the occupations in the sector.The proposed title for the new training occupation, which is to enter into force on 1 August 2013 or 2014, is "Office management clerk".

New occupation of "Office management clerk" to be created

Using professional competence to study

09 February 2012

ANKOM Initiative supports transitions between employment and higher education

The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has taken on the project sponsorship of the next phase of the ANKOM Initiative "Transitions from vocational to higher education". ANKOM is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and its aim is to support access to institutes of higher education for those in possession of vocational qualifications. "The ANKOM Initiative builds strong bridges between vocational and higher education", explains BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser.

Using professional competence to study

Promoting continuing training

06 February 2012

BWP 1/2012 now available

Participation in continuing training amongst the working age population in Germany still remains behind the targets set nationally and internationally. Ongoing in-service learning is, however, becoming increasingly significant in the light of demographic developments. The papers included in the present issue of BWP focus on the participation behaviour of the various target groups and explain the possible courses of action via which participation in continuing vocational training can be strengthened.

BWP 1/2012 Promoting continuing training

Agreement on the introduction of the German Qualifications Framework (DQR)

31 January 2012

© Light Impression/Fotolia.com

Friedrich Hubert Esser, President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), has described today's agreement between the Federal Government, the federal states and the social partners on the introduction of the German Qualifications Framework (DQR) as an "important milestone" for vocational education and training in Germany. "This is the first time that the equivalence of academic and vocational education has been clearly and unequivocally stated", he explained.

BIBB President Esser: Agreement on the introduction of the German Qualifications Framework (DQR) an "important milestone"

BIBB at the 2012 "didacta" education fair in Hanover

31 January 2012

Award of the "Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training" (WIP)

The "didacta" is the largest educational fair in Europe, and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) will once again be maintaining a presence at this year's event in Hanover from 14 to 18 February in order to offer current information, presentations and discussions on issues relating to initial and continuing vocational education and training. One of the highlights of the activities which BIBB will undertake will be the awarding of the "Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training" (WIP) under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, David McAllister.

BIBB at the the largest educational fair in Europe: didacta