Qualification for gainful employment as initial vocational education and training - 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.