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The growing worldwide interest in dual initial vocational training has intensified international cooperation among stakeholders and institutions involved in vocational education and training. This issue of BWP (Vocational Training in Research and Practice) points out the parameters, approaches and strategies of international cooperation, and sheds light on selected cooperations between Germany and individual partner countries. In 2013 the German government passed a common strategy on international vocational training cooperation from a single source. Government department representatives deliver an initial verdict on its success.
According to the latest Eurostat harmonised unemployment figures for under 25-year-olds, countries with dual systems of initial vocational training are doing well. Between 2007 and 2013 German youth unemployment fell from 11.9 to 7.9 per cent. In the countries of Southern Europe, on the other hand, it rose several times over. Nevertheless, it is simplistic to conclude from that alone that better initial vocational training would improve labour market prospects for young Southern Europeans.
International cooperation on vocational education and training (VET) has intensified and diversified over the past few years. A variety of policy areas are involved: alongside education policy issues, matters of development and foreign policy come into play, as do economic and labour market policy considerations. As part of the German government’s common strategy for international cooperation in vocational education and training from a single source, in October 2013 a »Round Table« was established and the Central Office for International Vocational Education and Training Cooperation (GOVET) was brought into being. GOVET will pool expertise across departments and organisational entities so that German activities in international VET cooperation can be developed and showcased coherently. How this will happen is made clear in the statements by the Minister of Education and by State Secretaries from the federal government ministries.
The European programme for education and training, youth and sport known as Erasmus+ began on January 1, 2014. The programme offers – in Germany’s view – great potential for education and training practice. In order to benefit from this, it is helpful to become familiar with the new objectives and how the options for action have changed. The article outlines the education policy framework, the socio-political context and the role of the programme in the European Union’s strategy. Aspects relevant to vocational education and training are the central focus.
UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre (UNESCO-UNEVOC) is UNESCO’s specialised centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and acts as the hub of the UNEVOC Network. This article argues that future challenges in TVET like ›greening TVET‹ or ›youth unemployment‹ call upon robust partnership building and cooperation that supports development of TVET policies and strategies, knowledge sharing and capacity building.
For companies operating internationally, the training of skilled workers is becoming an increasingly significant topic worldwide. In this context the transferability of the German dual vocational education and training system to other countries is a contentious matter. The article engages with the question of how far foreign branches of German companies follow the German training and qualification model. On the basis of a theoretical approach from International Management, examples of German subsidiaries in China and the USA are studied by means of expert surveys with a view to characterising their initial vocational training strategies. The findings show that within the German subsidiaries, the training and qualification practices of the host countries are dominant.
The dual study model is credited with the potential to play an important part in competence development for 21st-century occupations. So far dual study programmes have been a largely German phenomenon. Currently, however, this higher education model is attracting growing interest from foreign education and training stakeholders who are specifically seeking models to improve linkages between academic learning and vocational practice-based learning. Country studies of France and Brazil analyse the general conditions for successful transfer of this study model and the possibilities for binational cooperation.
The Master's degree in Electrical and Microsystems Engineering at Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg can be studied as a full-time, part-time or dual programme. Practical phases have been an important element of this degree course from the outset. As part of the Jambadua Project, a dual international study model has been designed in cooperation with the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and German companies in the Penang region of Malaysia. The background to the cooperation venture and the development of the degree programme model are described in the article.
Regional cooperations in initial vocational training could contribute to making European vocational training systems more practice-oriented. The focus is not on exporting Germany’s dual system of initial vocational training but on cooperation between regional stakeholders as they develop realisable models. What potential such a cooperation might hold for bringing initial vocational training into closer contact with the labour market was studied as part of a feasibility study for the tourism sector in two Greek regions (Kavala and Drama) in East Macedonia - Thrace. The results are presented in the article.
Britta van Erckelens; Philipp Phan Lassig; Nguyen Quang Viet
The Vocational Training Report of Viet Nam, the first of its kind in the ASEAN region, is a milestone in building the monitoring and reporting capacities needed for reforms in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The article provides insights into how the Vietnamese National Institute for Vocational Training (NIVT) strengthened its capacities (competencies of personnel, procedures, resources) in order to develop the Vocational Training Report in the frame of a trilateral cooperation with the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It finally draws lessons learned from this process for similar undertakings in other countries.
The article presents results from the research and development project “Water-Energy-Building – Training and Transfer” (WEB-TT). It explores the transfer potential of qualification modules for skilled-worker training in Egypt and demonstrates how transfer can be implemented, taking the example of the “Paving/Concreting” qualification module from the Garden and Landscape Design qualification.
When complex technologies are sold to foreign companies, training of the local skilled workforce is crucial. For the engineers assigned to train the foreign skilled workers and familiarise them with new technologies, this poses a dilemma: they need to pass on highly specialised technical knowledge without divulging trade secrets. A study commissioned at ENSTA Bretagne describes this dilemma and specifies requirements for the training of engineers deployed as trainers so that they are better equipped to pull off this balancing act.
The Ukrainian system of vocational education and training faces major challenges. As part of an EU twinning project on the modernisation of vocational education legislation and the development of standards, Germany’s Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is contributing to a Danish-German consortium to advise and support the Ukrainian Education Ministry on the implementation of imminent reforms. In the interview, Prof. Dr. Valentyna Radkevych refers to key aspects of this reform process and to opportunities that may arise from the international exchange.
The Ukrainian system of vocational education and training faces major challenges. As part of an EU twinning project on the modernisation of vocational education legislation and the development of standards, Germany’s Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is contributing to a Danish-German consortium to advise and support the Ukrainian Education Ministry on the implementation of imminent reforms. In the interview, Prof. Dr. Valentyna Radkevych refers to key aspects of this reform process and to opportunities that may arise from the international exchange.
The training occupation of Dental Assistant (Zahnmedizinische/-r Fachangestellte/-r, ZFA) offers few opportunities for progression. Two widespread progression routes are found in the fields of prophylaxis and administration. Nevertheless, these do not bring any notable rise in income or broadening of the range of duties because of the strong regulatory impact of the Dentistry Act in particular and the politics of occupational demarcation. The new Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene and Prevention Management clearly signals the start of a trend towards academic qualifications in this occupational field. Against this backdrop, the article traces and critically scrutinises development opportunities for Dental Assistants.
Thanks to the quality standards and competence profile passed by the general assembly of the German National Guidance Forum for Education Career and Employment (Nationales Forum Beratung, nfb), a quality development and quality assurance concept for guidance in education, careers and employment is now available, which has been written and piloted over several years in a nationwide “Open Coordination Process”. The article presents procedures and the BeQu concept.
Initial vocational training in the construction sector was comprehensively reformed in 2011. Two previously three-and-a-half year training occupations, Technical Product Designer and Technical System Planner, were brought into force with maximum durations of five years, however, since no consensus on length of training could be reached during the training regulation modernisation procedure. On the basis of a BIBB advisory opinion, the appropriateness of the duration of initial vocational training has now been reviewed. The article presents key findings of this advisory opinion.
The German National Qualifications Framework (DQR) in practice
The German national qualifications framework (Deutscher Qualifikationsrahmen, DQR) level shown on final certificates from vocational and university programmes is based on a coordinated procedure which has been agreed upon by Federal and Länder governments and the social partners, and which is therefore quality assured. In other cases, DQR level assignments appear which have not been put through this process and could therefore be incorrect. The article looks into how the assignment of levels can be protected against such abuse, thus strengthening the DQR as an instrument.