50 years of the BBiG – a legal framework with sufficient leeway?
The Berufsbildungsgesetz (BBiG) [Vocational Training Act] entered into force on 1 September 1969. Its enactment was preceded by long and detailed debates on the necessity for such a law and the regulatory areas that should be covered. Uniform national provisions for dual and advanced vocational education and training have applied since the BBiG came into effect. The high degree of standardisation and the statutorily regulated cooperation that takes place between the social partners, the Federal Government and the federal states exert a major impact on raising the profile of this particular area of education and enjoy a considerable amount of esteem internationally. But does this legal framework offer enough flexibility for it to react to changes in trade and industry and within society? Members of the BIBB Board and Research Council have provided brief statements which shed light on this issue, both retrospectively and in looking to the future.
From your point of view, which central aspects of the BBiG have proved their worth in terms of structuring VET in a nationally uniform way?
Prof. Dr. Detlef Buschfeld I would approach this question by looking for reassurance. When can we tell that the central aspects of a law have proved their worth? I believe that we can arrive at this conclusion if the law would be reinvented today with structures that are similar and comparable to those adopted 50 years ago. From this perspective, I am able to agree with the assessment which emerged from the “Evaluation of the Berufsbildungsgesetz” in 2016 by the BMBF [Federal Ministry of Education and Research] and say that the principles of the BBiG have stood the test of time. I am not a legal specialist and cannot comment on whether there are areas in which provisions could have been formulated more simply or more economically. Neither can I identify any parts of the law where regulatory density is fundamentally insufficient or say whether any important aspects have been inadequately defined. For this reason, reforms and amendments should be an object of policy debate. And indeed, this process was also followed in the case of the current modernisation. In my view, however, there are no points either for or against which exclude significant side effects and clearly indicate that we need to move towards fundamental change. Areas of leeway should be a matter for policy discussion, but I do not believe that we need to debate any of the foundations on which its content is based.
Dr. Alexandra Bläsche From the point of view of the federal states, the outstanding significance of this act is that it stipulates how VET should be defined in a nationally standardised way. Fundamental provisions relating to aspects such as the training contract, examination procedures and the tasks of the competent authorities are all set out in the BBiG. VET in Brandenburg fulfils the same prerequisites and objectives as in all other regions in Germany. The trainees and the companies know what they have let themselves in for. At least theoretically, they also know what the outcome will be – provided, of course, that training is completed successfully. The BBiG therefore constitutes a “quality assurance system” which forms a legal and qualitative framework. It has proved its worth over a period of 50 years and has turned “dual VET” into a universally accepted label that is also recognised internationally. One particular strength of the law is the way in which it integrates the social partners to act as central experts in all issues relating to VET. This means that the BBiG is closely aligned to the needs of the companies.
Elke Hannack Dual VET as governed by the BBiG is a unique area of education in that it imparts comprehensive employability skills in a way that is aligned to the principle of the regulated occupation. This process is made tangible in the form of high-quality vocational qualifications that are relevant to the labour market. For this reason, those who have obtained qualifications in the dual VET system are well equipped to deal with the increasing complexity of work processes and work organisation. Employees with a dual vocational qualification help companies to be more innovative. One important driver of success is the fact that engagement in VET is shaped as a contractual relationship with rights and obligations. This makes it a significant investment decision for companies in terms of training skilled workers. With regard to their future careers, VET is an attractive option for young people because they receive a training allowance whilst also enjoying protection.
Dual VET is, however, linked with certain prerequisites. It is not a state training system. The state, the employers’ associations and the trade unions work together to arrive at a consensus with regard to the definition of standards in initial and advanced training regulations and in the examination system, and in respect of the tasks to be performed by the competent bodies. This process guarantees a balance between the requirements of the world of work and the needs of the apprentices themselves and is instrumental in securing a high degree of acceptance of vocational education and training qualifications on the part of employers.
Dr. Hans Jürgen Metternich The success of the dual VET system is recognised worldwide. The Berufsbildungsgesetz provides the framework for this success. The result is that Germany has a vocational training system which ensures a uniform standard right across the country. Companies can rely on the fact that workers who have completed VET will be able to offer a high level of employability skills regardless of where they have trained. Skilled workers can therefore be deployed at the company in line with these high standards in quality. Trainees become qualified skilled workers in accordance with the requirements of the company. This provides them with the very best employment and career opportunities. Ultimately, therefore, the BBiG secures the innovative strength and high economic performance of our country.
Although the Berufsbildungsgesetz makes virtually no explicit mention of companies providing training, a close sense of collaboration has emerged over many years of practical application. The close integration of the social partners allows technical or organisational developments and changing operational requirements to be addressed in a timely manner in the initial and advanced training regulations. This ensures the ongoing further development of training needs and standards.
The Berufsbildungsgesetz brings together a wide range of VET stakeholders in a unique way that fosters cooperation. All of it governed by the principle of consensus, which is of particular constructive significance in VET.
From your perspective, where does the law offer important leeway? Has sufficient use been made of this thus far?
Dr. Alexandra Bläsche The Act defines the framework and the fundamental requirements and conditions for VET in the dual system, for advanced vocational training and for re-training. It offers considerable scope at the company training level, and there is no doubt that this could be more fully exploited. Cooperative training is, for example, one possibility. For smaller companies in particular, this provides a good opportunity to enter training and to offer their apprentices a good quality programme. Most of the federal states support companies by helping to finance cooperative training.
From the point of view of the federal states, there are no restrictions within the law which would fundamentally stand in the way of structuring vocational education and training in an attractive way. Ultimately, the attractiveness of training is decided at a company level. There is no reason why companies cannot present themselves in an inviting manner by offering good conditions and highly appealing training provision and methods.
Dr. Hans Jürgen Metternich The Act defines the framework and the fundamental requirements and conditions for VET in the dual system, for advanced vocational training and for re-training. It offers considerable scope at the company training level, and there is no doubt that this could be more fully exploited. Cooperative training is, for example, one possibility. For smaller companies in particular, this provides a good opportunity to enter training and to offer their apprentices a good quality programme. Most of the federal states support companies by helping to finance cooperative training.
From the point of view of the federal states, there are no restrictions within the law which would fundamentally stand in the way of structuring VET in an attractive way. Ultimately, the attractiveness of training is decided at a company level. There is no reason why companies cannot present themselves in an inviting manner by offering good conditions and highly appealing training provision and methods.
Elke Hannack The BBiG offers considerable scope for companies and competent authorities in terms of the execution of VET, although trainees do not always benefit from this. The growing number of vacant training places and the serious quality problems in some sectors speak for themselves. The role of the competent authorities, whose task is to monitor company-based VET, also needs to be scrutinised.
For this reason, the planned introduction of a minimum apprenticeship pay sends out an important signal. This will at long last define what appropriate apprenticeship pay should be and will limit opportunities to exploit trainees. But trainees need even more. The provisions relating to release from work to attend vocational school are, for example, very vaguely formulated. There are still trainees who return to the company after classes or who work whole shifts on the day before an examination. Strictly speaking, the BBiG is actually a good foundation for good VET. It is, however, also true that some regulations are not sufficiently binding. These include regulations relating to aspects such as the suitability of training centres and trainers or to the monitoring and guidance services the competent authorities offer to companies providing training. This is an area in which structural leeway can also be misused. For this reason, the focus needs to be on creating a robust system of quality assurance and quality development in VET.
Prof. Dr. Detlef Buschfeld Even a cursory glance at commentaries on VET law or at cases that have been considered or decided on by the administrative courts is enough to show just how diverse the areas of leeway are. In my view, the main thing which the BBiG preserves is a constitutive balance between market and state governance. It addresses the cornerstone of contractual freedom in VET under civil law and also sets out appropriate guiding principles by defining curricular benchmarks and standards governed by labour and employment law. The reference, governance and monitoring procedures stipulated also protect the scope of action afforded to stakeholders and experts. Perhaps robust implementation of standards is a problem in some areas. But such an objection is directed more against cases in which the spirit of the law is not followed rather than against the Act itself.
Which further areas of potential for flexibilisation do you see with regard to current and future developments?
Elke Hannack I perceive that there are three main challenges which the current BBiG and the existing draft law are not equipped to deal with.
Firstly, there are prognoses which tell us that unskilled jobs in particular will be highly susceptible to replacement by digitalisation. These jobs will increasingly be filled by employees who have completed a two-year vocational training qualification. In this area, the BBiG needs to provide a mandatory opportunity to progress from two-year to three-year training occupations.
Secondly, the examination system is currently only discussed from the perspective of the chamber organisations responsible for its implementation. This fails to recognise that voluntary examiners are finding it increasingly difficult to exercise such an unpaid function without suffering disadvantage in their working lives. If we are to retain volunteer examiners, I believe that an explicit regulation regarding paid leave is indispensable.
Thirdly, the BBiG has nothing to say about the rising number of dual students. Dual students, particularly those in practice-integrated programmes, do not have any access to the statutory protective provisions or to the suitability and quality assurance criteria that apply within dual vocational education and training despite the fact that their courses contain a considerable proportion of vocational elements. This is unjust and divides the young people at the company. We have therefore proposed that the employment law-related scope of application of the BBiG should be at least extended to encompass the company-based phases included in practice-integrated dual courses of higher education study.
Prof. Dr. Detlef Buschfeld Especially with regard to questions relating to examination organisation and digital forms and modalities of examinations, including in connection with according consideration to or upgrading competencies acquired by informal means, I believe that it may be necessary to think about flexibilisation or an extended interpretation of the formulations contained in the law. Otherwise my concern would be that expansion or flexibilisation of the scope of application of the BBiG in areas such as academic vocational training would tend to dilute the core content of the law and cause us to lose sight of it. Maintaining the current approach of the BBiG and supporting its key objectives of ensuring the quality of initial and advanced VET seems to me to be at least as important as considering additional flexibilisation.
Dr. Jans Jürgen Metternich Young people of high ability are increasingly switching between higher education and VET. In order to secure the knowledge they have acquired and to avoid duplications, greater thought should be given to the credit transfer and recognition at least of examination achievements if not even of prior (vocational) training in general. Within this process, we would need to ensure that individuals and companies were evaluated in a legally watertight way.
The established practice is to design training regulations in as competence-oriented a manner as possible and to structure them on the basis of fields of activity which are derived from specific work and business processes. In order to keep dual VET aligned to the needs of the world of work during the period of the digital shift, training regulations will need to be even more robustly shaped into output and process-oriented learning units in future.
The increasing heterogeneity of trainees also requires flexible responses. The rising number of trainees with a refugee or migrant background or with other disadvantages constitutes a major challenge with regard to final examinations. So that trainees who have acquired comprehensive employability skills do not fail because of individual formulations included in the final examinations, the use of simple and comprehensible language to conduct written and oral examinations is overdue.
Dr. Alexandra Bläsche The federal states hope that the current revision of the BBiG will flexibilise the examination system and thus give a real boost to the system of volunteer examiners. Plans to expand part-time training will create a structural option for further target groups such as young single parents, for example. The revision process should also be used to develop the Vocational Education and Training Statistics into a flow statistics system. This would enable training histories to be recorded within the VET system. In the case of contract dissolutions, it would be possible to differentiate between final drop-outs and switches between companies and occupations.
In addition to this, the German Qualifications Framework (DQR) should become legally mandatory in order to improve perception within society of the equivalence of vocational and academic training and thus increase the acceptance of VET. This will also involve making further progress with regard to permeability between vocational and academic education and training.
Not all challenges have to be resolved within the framework of the BBiG. Important points can be adopted in the form of recommendations by the Board. One example here would be the further development of the report book to create a holistic record of training to improve communication between trainees and trainers and help enhance the quality of training.
The final conclusion we can arrive at is as follows. The BBiG is a fundamental set of regulations that governs VET in Germany. From the point of view of the federal states, the act is in tune with the times and is just as relevant as it was 50 years ago. This does not exclude individual adaptations which become necessary because of new developments.
Translation from the German original (published in BWP 5/2019): Martin Kelsey, GlobalSprachTeam, Berlin