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Die Förderung beruflicher Weiterbildung durch das Arbeitsförderungsgesetz (AFG) ist ursprünglich als ein Instrument "präventiver Arbeitsmarktpolitik" konzipiert worden. Die Einschränkung der Förderung seit dem Haushaltsstrukturgesetz von 1975 und die gleichzeitige Prioritätensetzung zugunsten Arbeitsloser und unmittelbar von Arbeitslosigkeit Bedrohter haben dagegen die Anpassung der Weiterbildungsförderung an die akuten Schwierigkeiten des Arbeitsmarktes immer deutlicher werden lassen. Auch die derzeit geplanten Einschränkungen beruflicher Bildungsmaßnahmen durch das Arbeitsförderungs-Konsolidierungsgesetz (AFKG) werden diese Tendenz noch verstärken. Erste Ergebnisse aus der Begleitforschung zum AMP, in dessen Rahmen betriebliche Qualifizierung als Instrument öffentlicher Arbeitsmarktpolitik eingesetzt wurde, zeigen dagegen Möglichkeiten einer präventiven Qualifizierungsförderung, die auch die Rand- bzw. Problemgruppen des Arbeitsmarktes berücksichtigt. Für eine Weiterentwicklung der beruflichen Weiterbildung ergebensich daraus neue Impulse.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) across almost all occupational areas is also changing the contents and processes of vocational education and training. This development had already been addressed in the first round of funding of the InnoVET innovation competition and is assuming more distinct shapes in the second round, which was launched in 2024. The article presents examples of how AI is being addressed by the projects.

The aims of vocational orientation provision are to address the interests and predispositions of young people, to facilitate access to practical occupational experiences, and to create bases of information on the world of employment and work. The article addresses the question of how training staff in the Vocational Orientation Programme (BOP) are able to strengthen the career choice competency of young people against the background of newly formulated standards.

In order to counter the shortage of skilled workers in the field of electrical engineering, the Aachen University of Applied Sciences has joined forces with the relevant chambers to develop a new type of study programme. This article describes the orientation and education and training provision on offer. Participants are able to gain practical experiences at a company providing training whilst also receiving an initial insight into higher education study. This enables them to arrive at a decision regarding the future education and training pathway they wish to pursue.

The cherry blossoms featured on the homepage of the University Conference on Vocational Education and Training signalise that spring will be directly on its way when expert representatives from the field of vocational and business education convene for the event in Paderborn from 17 to 19 March 2025. But spring will not be the only attraction luring the participants to Paderborn. A packed and highly topical general programme promises an opportunity to engage in inspiring professional networking. This interview with Professor Dietmar Heisler covers the main focuses and highlights of the event.

A broadly based monitoring system at local government level plays an important part in the identification of skilled worker and training requirements. Against the background of local government-aligned funding programmes of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), this article describes the new National Office for “Securing a Skilled Workforce/Education and Training Structural Shift” (FaBiS) and explains how it is established within the specialist network of the Local Government Education Management Transfer Initiative.

The federal states are launching new training models for nursery school teachers in order to counter the shortage of skilled staff in early years education. A practically integrated training programme, in which participants receive remuneration throughout, was created in Baden-Württemberg in 2012 to supplement school-based training. The article presents the results of a study which were acquired on the basis of new data from an online survey of persons completing training at five colleges of social education. The object of the investigation is whether additional target groups for early education have been reached and whether these remain in the occupational field.

Refugees require extensive assistance in many areas of life, especially at the transition to training. Coordination of support provision is, however, a challenge. The results of the evaluation of the “Career Orientation for Immigrants (BOF)” Programme show how important a broad networking of project providers is in order to support immigrants in training. The article formulates recommendations in this regard.

While (initial) vocational education and training is highly significant to the integration of refugees, it also creates challenges for them during this phase of life, and this is frequently because of insufficient language knowledge. The University of Konstanz has been implementing the TASK teaching project since 2018 with the objective of providing refugee trainees with individualised support. This article investigates the impacts of the mentoring programme on the professional and personal development of trainees and on their integration.

Ranking lists of the most popular training occupations pursuant to the Vocational Training Act (BBiG) and the Crafts and Trades Regulation Code (HwO) are published annually. School-based VET programmes are not shown in these rankings. Consideration of different statistics allow school-based VET to be included in the figures and thus completes the overview of the field. Once again, this clearly shows that young people’s occupational preferences often lie beyond the training system pursuant to the BBiG/HwO.

Two advanced training programmes are being developed and piloted in the InnoVET project “UpTrain”. Practically relevant networking is emerging as part of the learning process via the integration of three sector-related learning venues into the programmes. This article describes the significance of green skills in the advanced training courses and initial experiences with the trial learning.