Dual vocational education and training is regarded internationally as an extremely successful training model. Just what makes the system so attractive and how can it be further fostered? The papers included in the latest issue of “Vocational Training in Research and Practice” (BWP) address this question from a range of different angles. The BWP interview provides the trainees themselves with an opportunity to have their say and describe their own expectations, experiences and prospects. Current research results on the willingness of companies to offer training and on company commitment in this area are presented. At an international level, experiences from Austria and Switzerland are taken into account and assessments of the attractiveness of VET in European comparative terms are portrayed.
In his Editorial, BIBB President Friedrich H. Esser points out that no growth in the dual system is discernible despite the pleasing developments in the German education and training system. He calls for young people to be made more aware of vocational education and training as an attractive career option and demands the implementation of necessary reforms.
Further topics included in the present issue deal with aspects such as coordination strategies for the development and realisation of the German Qualifications Framework and the modernised training occupations that entered into force on 1 August 2013.
A special supplement on the VET policy positions adopted with regard to the German General Election of 2013 is also provided and is available for download free of charge.
Regular BIBB school leaver surveys provide information on the plans that young people have after general schooling and the occupational pathways upon which they embark. This article uses the 2012 results as a basis for presenting how young people became aware of their training place, how many offers they received and which career plans they are forming for the future.
What are the attractions of vocational training from the trainees' viewpoints? Why did they choose their vocational training programmes? What are their plans once they have gained their certificates? The four people interviewed talk about their motivations, expectations and plans. A highly diverse set of motives and prospects are revealed. All interviewees agree, however, that their chosen training gives them an opportunity to realise the career goals on which their sights are set.
With the dual courses of study, a promising training model has taken root at the interface between vocational and university education. The number of courses offered by the universities and the demand on the part of enterprises and students has increased steadily in recent years. There are hardly any larger enterprises not offering dual study places. But why is it that companies engage in dual courses of study and what makes this study model so successful? In November 2012, the BIBB conducted an online survey among 280 enterprises that were participating in dual courses of study at universities of applied sciences. The results presented in this article show that dual courses of study are attractive recruiting tools for the enterprises although their quality potential may not yet have been exhausted.
Not too long ago, the German model of VET and its combination of school-based and company-based learning venues was considered to be a vocational training pathway all of its own, and Germany regularly had to face criticism from the OECD that its rate of persons with academic qualifications was too low. The OECD 1 is now recommending that others look to Germany and Switzerland. What is the reason for this recent interest in dual vocational education and training? On the basis of experiences from the international cooperation in which BIBB is engaged, the present article develops responses to this question and outlines the prospects for supporting the promotion of dual training in European partner countries.