You are here
News
Pages
A new analysis conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) based on a survey covering 5 500 young people aged 18 to 24 shows that young people with migrant backgrounds are nearly as successful in dual vocational education and training (VET) as their counterparts not from migrant backgrounds.
Germany ranks eighth in a list of most popular countries to study in, after USA and United Kingdom. Over 300 000 foreign students were enrolled in German universities in 2013/14 winter semester corresponding to 11.5% of total students.
For the third year in a row, 2014 saw a strong increase in training allowances based on collective wage agreements.
Since the Hannover trade fair for industrial technology in spring 2014, Industry 4.0 has become Germany’s synonym for a new industrial revolution based on digitalisation, automation, networking and flexible production processes.
Necessity of college degrees is beginning to be questioned. With youth unemployment in Europe at 24% in 2013 and thousands of graduates leaving university every year without jobs to go into, there seems to be a missing link somewhere between education and employment.
The professional and vocational qualifications assessment law (BQFG) permits informally or non-formally acquired competences to be taken into account when checking equivalence of foreign and German qualifications. As long as the prerequisites for a vocational qualification obtained abroad are met, assessment of equivalence is based on documentary examination regardless of the route via which competences were gained. Under certain conditions, vocational competences may be assessed on an individual basis.
In former years, most of the working population was trained within the dual vocational education and training (VET) system. Now, half of all school-leavers pursue academic education focusing on theory. Industry in the federal state of Hesse therefore demands adaptation of the education system to current requirements since it has remained the same for decades.
More and more companies recognise benefits of an international workforce and provide training for young apprentices from southern Europe. In this way, businesses offer young people from countries with high youth unemployment sustainable employment opportunities.
The scholarship programme Stiftung für Begabtenförderung (foundation supporting the gifted and talented) for young vocational graduates was established over 20 years ago. Since then, around 96 000 young professionals in Germany have profited from support towards their professional qualifications.