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Vocational education and training and higher education
The relationship between vocational education and higher education has shifted. In 2013 for the first time, more young people in Germany opted for degree courses than for initial vocational training in the dual system. Moreover, higher education institutions are opening up to new target groups. Does this present opportunities for better permeability within the education system? How might the potentials of the two sectors of education be concentrated by more effective interlocking? And which perhaps new qualification profiles are emerging at the interface between higher and vocational education? These and other questions are taken up by the articles in this issue.
Most companies providing initial vocational training to young people initially incur costs and view initial vocational training primarily as an investment in the qualification of future skilled workers. The level of costs and returns shifts, however, over the course of initial vocational training. Decisive factors in this, apart from rising training allowances, are the productivity of the trainees and the organisation of initial vocational training. The article outlines these developments with reference to the data from the BIBB Cost-Benefit Survey 2012/13 in occupations requiring initial vocational training of various durations.
More and more young people in Germany are leaving school with a higher education entrance qualification. In the year 2014 for the first time, more school leavers opted for a degree course than for initial vocational training in a recognised occupation. The repercussions of these developments for the dual system, and the resultant requirements for the education system as a whole, were discussed by Prof. Dr. Friedrich Hubert Esser and Prof. Dr. Heinz-Elmar Tenorth in an expert dialogue held on March 18 in Berlin.
Which qualifications will be in demand in the labour market in future – vocational or academic? And where will shortages potentially occur? The article presents findings of the first region-specific BIBB-IAB Qualification and Occupational Field Projections (QuBe project). The analyses show that the labour market situation can range from large shortages to large surpluses of skilled workers in conjunction with the regional demographic trend and economic structure. According to the projections, shortages of skilled-worker trainees will occur in almost all regions, particularly for the mid-level initial vocational qualifications, albeit with varying consequences.
In the years 2005 to 2009 and 2011 to 2014, a total of 31 development projects were supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on the basis of two lines of funding under the acronym ANKOM, the objective being to analyse and improve permeability between vocational and higher education. The summary of results in this article focuses on the credit transfer procedures developed and structurally embedded, the transitional measures and continuing region-specific developments, as well as the relationship between vocational and higher education. The article concludes with strands of development and visions.
The article deals with aspects of informing and advising the target group of vocationally qualified applicants at the point of transition to higher education, as part of efforts towards a permeable education system. Its central focus is a BIBB flanking study carried out in the context of the BMBF initiative ANKOM, which tackles questions about the needs of specific target groups for guidance. On the basis of the findings, proposals are formulated for designing appropriate provision of information and guidance at the interface of vocational education and higher education.
In the course of the reform of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate’s Higher Education Law in the year 2010, the State’s Ministry of Education, Science, Continuing Education and Cultural Affairs initiated a model project to test how far it is possible to dispense with occupational experience as a standard criterion for granting access to higher education to those with vocational qualifications. The findings presented in the article indicate that the duration of work experience is far less significant to degree-course success in comparison to other factors such as subject affiliation or the compatibility of higher education studies and working life.
Among the various forms of degree course funding, the BMBF advancement grant is aimed at a specific target group: it is addressed to vocationally qualified skilled workers and supports them through higher education studies until they gain a first academic degree. The article describes the special characteristics of the programme and outlines how this is reflected in the composition of grant recipients.
Margit Ebbinghaus; Bettina Milde; Moritz Winterhager
With the growing number of unfilled training places, the demand for more permeability in the education system has extended to asking how degree course dropouts might be recruited for dual initial vocational training programmes. For this purpose, knowledge about the interests and possible reservations of companies and higher education dropouts is helpful. The article investigates these on the basis of a survey of experts.
It is clear from the example of the IT occupations that rising demand for skilled workers cannot be addressed solely with more higher education qualifications, but that differentiated competence profiles are necessary. Additional options are called for, which integrate elements of academic and vocational education and thereby facilitate reciprocal transitions between the different educational sectors. The article presents how the “DQR Bridge 5” project is developing cross-cutting education measures at Level 5 of the German Qualifications Framework (DQR), for which credit transfer can be granted within the framework of a regulated continuous vocational education and training and a Bachelor’s degree programme.
Dual study courses were created as a form of educational provision offering both an academic and a practical vocational qualification. The coupling of competence acquisition in both higher education and practical company-based contexts is aimed at supporting learning transfer and hence achieving a benefit over purely academic or purely hands-on forms of initial vocational training. There is, however, a lack of clear criteria for describing this duality. The article presents different approaches and concludes with a plea for the future, to focus on the interlocking of content across learning phases and curriculum units as a matter of priority.
When apprenticeship contracts are dissolved early, the causes are normally multifactorial. Little research has been carried out so far into substance consumption during initial vocational training, although there are indications that it is widespread and could have a negative influence on the success of initial vocational training. The article presents findings of a study by the IFT-Nord health research institute which investigates how widespread substance consumption is among trainees and what correlations can be found between substance consumption and initial vocational training success.
Vocational education and training in Ukraine was in upheaval even before the political events of the last year. In the year 2012 an EU twinning project was set up by the EU Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, with a view to initiating and supporting reform processes. Results and experiences from this three-year international cooperation are presented in the article.
The precise arrangements for a person’s final departure depend not least on that person’s religious, cultural and family values and beliefs. Undertakers who assist bereaved relatives with the funeral arrangements not only need sophisticated professional expertise but also considerable intercultural competences. The article also describes the significant part these skills play in initial vocational training leading to the Funeral Services Specialist qualification.
The draft of the German Federal Government’s Annual Vocational Training Report for 2015 prompted the Board to consult intensively on the current training-place situation. For the first time in more than ten years, the Board adopted a Joint Statement on the Annual Vocational Training Report without amending it, as in previous years, with votes from the “benches”. Germany’s new Alliance for Initial and Continuing Vocational Training was likewise a subject of consultation. Other substantive focuses of the meeting were the integration of young foreigners into vocational education and training, and the evaluation of the Vocational Training Act currently in progress. The meeting was led by UWE SCHULZ-HOFEN, Berlin, who was deputising for the chairwoman ELKE HANNACK (DGB).