User data is collected from you whenever you visit this site. To find out how the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) handles your data and the purpose of processing your data please refer to our statement on data protection .
This special edition singles out some of the current subjects to be discussed within the professional community and by the interested public at national, European and international level. The articles address two topics that are of permanent concern in international cooperation (Future of Work-Based Learning and Financing VET) and two further issues that have become highly pertinent over recent years (Digital Transformation – VET 4.0 and Migration and Integration). By pointing out these topics and publishing them in English, we hope to give you an insight in trends and progress within the German system of vocational education and training (VET) and to encourage the discussion on many levels.
Although ongoing digitalisation of the production and of the service sector is stoking fears of job losses, there are indications that the overall effect on employment will be relatively slight. In fact, the main expectation is that the nature of work will fundamentally change. As the use of digital technologies increases, employees will be able to carry out more demanding tasks. This article uses data from a current additional survey of the BIBB Establishment Panel on Qualification and Competence Development to investigate the impacts of the deployment of digital technologies from firms’ point of view.
Henrik Schwarz; Stephanie Conein; Herbert Tutschner
BIBB has been investigating whether the four dual IT occupations, which have remained unchanged since 1997, need to be modernised. Against the background of the increasing digitalisation of the world of work, the aims of this process were to identify current and foreseeable requirements for skilled IT staff and to draw up proposals for the future shaping of the IT oc-cupations. This article presents selected outcomes of the investigation and uses this to arrive at conclusions with regard to a possible rearrangement of IT occupations.
The digitalisation of work in the high-tech areas of the automobile industry and of the automobile supplier sector is a good example of the change in task and requirements profiles for skilled workers in engineering and plant construction. Within the scope of a pilot project, BIBB joined forces with the Volkswagen Academy to undertake a sample investigation of work tasks and activity profiles in the areas of operation, maintenance and repair of production systems. These were compared with existing training occupations and current training practice. After a brief description of the approach adopted, the article states the results which emerged and draws conclusions for possible changes in the structuring of training within the framework of existing occupations. It concludes by illustrating how these changes are presently being implemented on a step-by-step basis.
Opportunities to deploy digital media for the initiation and support of vocational teaching and learning processes are comprehensive and diverse. The associated challenges for company-based training staff are currently being investigated within the scope of the BIBB research project DiMBA. This project is based on a model of media-pedagogical competence which is presented in this article.
In April 2016, UNESCO adopted a document which underlines the growing global significance of vocational education and training (VET) and represents an important milestone in terms of increasingly aligning the quality of VET to the requirements of the world of work. This article outlines the background and the process behind the development of the recommendation and defines its main contents with regard to practical relevance.
In looking at issues for the future of VET, we are conscious of the fact that many topics relating to the further development of the dual system have a long tradition. The four topics that I will examine in greater detail below – digitalisation, matching problems on the training market, integration of refugees and internationalisation – do not, therefore, pose any questions that are entirely new. Nevertheless, it is necessary to localise these issues in the present and the future. This means clarifying their current relevance for the profiling of vocational education and training and the associated process of illustrating prospective action options.
Vocational education and training in German-speaking countries is traditionally aligned to the concept of the training occupation. Both the precise nature of this concept and the requirements made of it have regularly shifted in the past. The present article provides an overview of this development and describes current action areas with regard to structuring the training occupation in a future-oriented way so as to serve as the starting point for a flexible employment biography.
The aim of the European Erasmus+ Project “Apprenticeship Toolbox” was to present dual training systems in Europe. Within the scope of the project, it became clear that these systems are facing similar challenges. This article presents the challenges and approaches towards reform developed in Austria and Denmark.
German vocational education and training attracts a good deal of attention globally because it offers young people a good way of entering the employment system. However, what are the associated costs? Although precise determination of costs is difficult in methodological terms, this article attempts to address the issue.
Many countries aim to involve more companies in the vocational education and training system. Transparency of the actual costs and benefits of company-based training activities helps governmental authorities to steer this process adequately and can be used to convince firms to increase their involvement in company-based training. This article illustrates the challenges of implementing a cost and benefit study in Vietnam. It discusses the application of the BIBB cost-benefit model, the implementation of the survey, and the interpretation of the main results under special consideration of the different contextual conditions.
Michael Schwarz; Felix Wenzelmann; Maricris V. Capistrano
Companies have been involved in dual training in the Philippines since 1994. However their participation rate is minimal and the dual system of vocational education and training is not the focus of government stakeholders. Greater transparency of costs and benefits relating to company training might contribute to initiating, and empirically justifying, education policy decision-making which is specifically targeted at consolidating this qualification pathway. The article introduces key finds from the cost-benefit analysis as well as survey results which are considered in terms of recommendations for the next steps in the conclusion.
The training market situation has significantly improved for young people over recent years. Has this led to better opportunities for young migrants to find a training place? The present article looks into this question via a consideration of the training place applicants registered with the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) [Federal Employment Agency] for the period from 2004 to 2014.
The integration of refugees in training is currently one of the key socio-political challenges facing Germany. But how successful has this been so far? In the 2016 migration study, which was conducted by the BIBB in cooperation with the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) [Federal Employment Agency], around 1,600 vocational education and training (VET) applicants from a refugee background were surveyed about their current situation and on their views and opinions. The results highlight the problems perceived by refugees on their way into training and the areas in which they would like to have support.
The Recognition Act which entered into force on 1 April 2012 aims to provide better employment opportunities in training occupations for people with foreign vocational qualifications. This option is also of interest for refugees, many of whom were unable to bring with them the relevant documents needed for the vocational qualification to be recognised, such as a diploma or employment reference. However, under certain circumstances, a recognition procedure may also be carried out without documents by means of skills analysis. The article examines this option which is enshrined in the Berufsqualifikationsfeststellungsgesetz (BQFG) [Professional Qualifications Assessment Act], and presents initial experiences of its implementation.
German officialese is difficult enough for many native speakers to understand. How much harder must it be for migrants who are confronted with this kind of language within the process of seeking professional or occupational recognition? This article describes both how the “Recognition in Germany” information portal uses simple language for the purposes of providing guidance and identifying occupational competencies, as well as the challenges associated with this approach.