The circumstances facing refugees in Germany are largely dependent on their integration into education, training and employment. It is now time for the legal, financial and institutional framework conditions to be translated into relevant action. In light of this, what are the demands facing institutions and individuals involved within vocational education and training? And how might they contribute to ensure that refugees receive support which is in line with their school-based and vocational qualifications, and are integrated in society? This BWP issue provides background information, academic findings and experience from practice.
Over recent years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers in Germany. At the start of 2014, the »Early Intervention« project was launched to ensure rapid integration into the labour market and into wider society. The initial results from research supporting the project are presented in this article.
The huge number of people fleeing regions affected by civil war and seeking refuge in Europe presents enormous challenges for countries which receive them. Asylum policy in Germany has undergone a transformation when compared to the mid-1990s. For refugees with good prospects of remaining, the focus is now on integrating them into society, education and training, and employment as quickly as possible. How can we do this? Which hurdles must be overcome, and which state and civil society institutions must respond?
Countries enjoy huge discretion in the decision on whether to accept migrants and on the status of those recognised as refugees entitled to protection. However, it is not just the current debates which show that the willingness to grant protection is always the result of complex negotiating processes between individuals, collective stakeholders, (state) institutions and their various interests. The issue of who is regarded as a refugee, and under what circumstances, and to what extent protection or asylum should be granted, has been the subject of ongoing discussion since the introduction of the basic right to asylum in 1948/49. The article sets out to highlight the central elements to this discussion and to highlight points of reference to the current situation.
Due to a lack of data for Germany, little is known to date about the integration of asylum seekers into vocational education and training, and employment. The new IAB-SOEP migration sample included a survey of individuals who had come to Germany as asylum seekers and who have managed to remain in Germany. The articles considers the question of what characterizes this group of people and which factors facilitated their integration into the German labour market. Previous investigations have shown that, in Germany, investment in education and training, and in language acquisition, is essential requirements for this. The extent to which these investments are in turn associated with the asylum seeker’s level of education and training has therefore also been examined.
The Recognition Act which entered into force on 1 April 2012 aims to provide better employment opportunities in the training occupations for people with foreign vocational qualifications. This option is also of interest for refugees, many of whom were unable to bring the relevant documents with them, such as a diploma or employment reference, for the vocational qualification to be recognised. However, under certain circumstances, a recognition procedure may also be carried out without documents by means of a qualification analysis. The article examines this option which is enshrined in the Law for the Amendment of the Professional Qualifications Assessment Act (BQFG) and presents initial experiences of its implementation.
In light of demographic change and the forecast shortage of skilled workers, immigration from abroad is gaining in importance for the German labour market in large parts of the economy. Company recruitment strategies are increasingly focussing on skilled workers with a foreign qualification. This article examines the company perspective and identifies the key conditions required for the successful employment of immigrants in German companies.
In many regions of Germany, an increasing shortage of new skilled workers exists, while at the same time, youth unemployment in Southern European countries is very high. Programmes were prepared some years ago in order to ease this situation. The aim of these programmes was to help young people from these EU regions to gain vocational education and training and thus offer them a professional future in Germany. The article reports on the experience and lessons learned from the 2013 support project for the integration of young people from Spain, funded by the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft Thüringen (LEG) [Thuringa State Development Company].
The number of refugee children coming to Germany without their parents is higher than ever. The article describes the challenges faced by those involved in providing the support and education these children require. In light of this, social and education support and investment in the appropriate education, training and support programmes would seem to be vital.
Since 2010/11, Bavaria has driven forward the vocational school education of asylum seekers and refugees of compulsory school age with real momentum. Following initial pilots with classes in Nuremberg and Munich and since the start of the school year 2015/16, approximately 8,100 pupils across 95 sites and in a total of 440 classes are being taught throughout Bavaria. This article describes the framework conditions, the features and the implementation of the Bavarian approach based on academic monitoring on behalf of the City of Munich.
In view of the anticipated shortage of skilled workers and the current high proportion of refugees under 25, the question arises of whether and how young refugees can be integrated in the dual education and training system. Policy-makers have responded and are making efforts to improve the legal framework conditions. This includes, above all, the gradual adaptation of existing funding instruments to the particular practical requirements of refugees. The article presents the new regulations concluded for this purpose and the requirements for access to company-based education and training.
Merging together subject and linguistic levels in vocational school teaching so that successful learning can take place is a complex task. As part of teacher training in North-Rhine-Westphalia, a new focus has been applied to raising awareness of linguistic aspects for some years. The article looks at the question of whether the impact of school-based practice is already evident. The teachers’ perception of linguistic difficulties in the classroom and how they respond to these is examined.
The school experiment »DuBAS – dual vocational training with the higher education entry qualification in Saxony« was launched at two vocational school centres in the region. Under the Vocational Training Act, high-performing pupils with the intermediate school leaving certificate are able to obtain the general university entrance qualification and also a vocational qualification within four years. Academic support for the project was provided by the Institut für Berufspädagogik und Berufliche Didaktiken der TU Dresden [Institute for Vocational Education and Vocational Didactics at Dresden’s Technical University]. The article highlights initial experiences four years after the introduction of the training course.
The concept of environmental protection as a minimum standard of content required has become established in general training plans and framework curricula and generally also in examination requirements for dual vocational education and training. But how is this addressed specifically in examination questions? Starting from the BIBB board recommendations and the occupations profile requirement of “environmental protection” in general training plans, the article describes how the theme is embedded in regulatory instruments and examination questions taking four recognised training occupations as an example. The continued development of the theme towards sustainability is then considered.
The integration of refugees in vocational education and training has been a main topic of board discussions. Chaired by Elke Hannack, the board also adopted four recommendations. In addition to a recommendation regarding the suitability of training centres, there was also a recommendation to place grades of full-time school-based training courses on an equal footing, a recommendation for a model certificate for advanced vocational education and training qualifications and a recommendation for a training qualification for people with disabilities in accordance with Section 66 of the Vocational Education and Training Act (BBiG) and the 42 of the Crafts and Trades Regulation Code (HwO) Specialist Practitioners in Industrial Mechanics. A further key topic covered at the meeting was the current situation regarding training places.