Part 1

The Dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) System in Germany Hermann Schmidt

Presented at the International Conference on TVET in Kuala Lumpur on June 24, 2002

by
Hermann Schmidt Professor, University of Duisburg President of the Federal Institute for VET (BIBB) (1977 - 1997) Bonn, Germany

A Case in Point: The Dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) System in Germany Introduction
What are the benefits of a dual system of VET :
for Enterprises ? they gain a young employable workforce empowered by corporate identity, they save costs: advertising and hiring costs, induction costs for newly hired workers and costs for badly chosen workers who do not fit in the team.
for the Trainee ? highly motivating earning & learning situations, opportunities to take responsibility, development and recognition of personality. for Government ? the opportunity to train ALL school leavers, share educational costs with the private sector, gain partners for world class VET-standards.

What are the preconditions for the Dual VET-System in Germany?

a broad consensus in society to educate and train ALL school leavers, a strong strategic concept with employers to train a young workforce, a top down strategic decision making process in government and in enterprises to implement a cooperative system; the readiness of the public sector (government, schools) to accept the private sector as partner in education on an equal footing; the readiness of the private sector to accept quality control of its educational and training activities in initial training; a basic training law that describes the roles of stakeholders.

The Basic Training Act of 1969 set the stage for

private-public-partnership in VET: the roles of stakeholders, their obligations, their rights; clear funding arrangements: private enterprises take responsibility for their own training costs (i.e. remuneration, instructors, material), government takes responsibility for schools, VET-research and programmes to promote cooperative VET;

an organisational infrastructure provided by the Chambers: accreditation of training companies, records of intern- or apprenticeships, assessment and certification;
VET-system arrangements: VET-standard criteria; private training contract criteria; prior learning accreditation; remuneration of trainees etc. Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB): platform for stakeholder meetings; research institute; agency for VET-programmes.

4 Characteristics of the Dual VET-system in Germany (1):

Trainees/Students: are trained in a company (workplace / workshop) for 3 to 4 days / week, ;attend a further education college for 1 to 2 days / week, some 1.7 millon in two to three year courses, on average two thirds of an age cohort, some 60 % men, 40 % women,

receive remuneration which is appr. 1/3 of a skilled worker`s salary. Training companies:
some 500.00 provide VET, appr. 1 m meet the requirements of a company accredited for training, the total no. of companies is appr. 2.5 m, large companies train appr. 20 % of all trainees; the majority is trained in small and medium sized enterprises, make work arrangements for 2 to 3 years of systematic training and pay remuneration.

5 Characteristics of the Dual VET-system in Germany (2):

Further Education Colleges: some 1700 colleges, usually equipped with workshops; some 90.000 teachers, who are also teaching at full time vocational schools; teachers hold professional university degree;

Chambers: some 430 in all sectors of the economy, predominantly commerce & industry and crafts; act as public authority in training matters; company membership is mandatory, advise companies on training matters, cooperate with schools, accredit training companies, keep records of training contracts, assess and certify trainees and instructors.

Training Costs

vary from larger (fulltime instructors, workshops) to smaller (workplace training) companies, from sector (i.e. electrical engineering) to sector (i.e. hair dresser),

breaking even is feasible, considering trainees productivity and earnings

rough breakdown of training costs: 50 % training personnel, instructors, 40 % trainee remuneration, 10 % training equipment, material, books, traveling costs etc.

Part 2
Research for the German Dual VET System Hermann Schmidt

Das Bundesinstitut fuer Berufsbildung (BIBB) The Federal Institute for Vocational Training

Presented at the International TVET-Conference in Kuala Lumpur on June 24, 2002 by

Hermann Schmidt
Professor, University of Duisburg President of the Federal Institute for VET (BIBB)(1977-1997) Bonn, Germany

The Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) Research for the German Dual VET - System 1
The idea behind the organisation
1969 : Re - engineering a traditional VET system ; Germany`s Basic Vocational Training Act ; roles of stakeholders setting up two research institutes: - IAB - focus on the labour market - BIBB - focus on VET guiding principle: private-public-partnership basic assumptions: - the corporate world is responsible for training and assessment - government is the Regulator tri - partite boards and consensual procedures in an ideological minefield; shared responsibilities and agreements on future scenarios, based on research; The BIBB: a public authority in private-public-partnership; a research institute; a programme agency; a platform for stakeholders.

2
BIBB`s organisational Framework and Stakeholder Involvement

a public authority directed by a president and a four - partite board (employers, trade unions, federal government, state (Lnder) governments); shared responsibility in private - public - partnership;

the board : advises federal government on VET - policy; decides on the Institute`s research programme;

the president : directs 400 staff, some 150 scientific personnel;

a unique funding idea: 100 % federal budget with federal government leading 25 % of the board`s votes ; offer to the private sector to share responsibility;

3 The BIBB: a Research Institute

the board decides on the research programme; pros and cons of diverging interests in research;

research projects in a field of constant change: long term and strategic studies and quick responses (i.e. early - rescognition - of change system);
the workplace as field of research; practitioner involvement; VET research personnel: hard to get - quick to lose; multi - facetted VET experts; VET research findings: raw material for political advice, VET quality improvement, updating VET standards, statistics, government programmes, human ressource development etc.

4
The BIBB: an Agency for Research and Development
The Institute`s legal basis enumerates its tasks and programmes: research as the basis of development, development of VET - standards in cooperation with social partners and states (Lnder), responsible for school curricula preparation of the annual State - of - VET-in - Germany-Report, contribution to VET statistics, support of the planning and funding of SME - interfirm workshops throughout the country, VET innovation programme, in - company-training pilot projects, testing VET distance learning courses on behalf of the responsible state (Lnder) authorities, national agency for European Union sponsored programmes, support for international VET activities of federal government.

The BIBB: Platform for Stakeholders

VET policy making: regular strategic discussions on the current state and future development of VET in Germany; State-of-VET-Report; Federal VET programme discussions, i.e. support programmes for the development of a dual VET system in eastern Germany; VET legislation: recommendations and advice to the Federal Government; VET standard development and updating: stakeholders act as policy advisors and experts making use of the institute`s research findings; Stakeholders table their research needs, discuss and decide on the institute`s research programme.

6 The BIBB : Organisational Chart

Main Board Employers Trade Unions Federal Government Lnder Governments Office of the Board

President ---Vice-President Head of Research

Office of the President Public Relations Audit Office

Research & Service Concept Developm. International VET

Sociological & Economic Principles of VET

Teaching & Learning Formats in VET

Structures & Standards in VET

In-House-Service Administ.