Old [West German] Länder¹:
Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Schleswig Holstein

New [East German] Länder:
Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia

The figure 'Education in Germany’ gives an overview of the typical structure of the educational system, including the starting age and the duration of the various levels of education:

Participation in education, and thus the importance of individual education levels in the overall system, is shown in the figure ‘Vocational Training in the Dual System’:

The education system in the Federal Republic of Germany has two features which distinguish it from the education systems of most other industrialised nations:

In the Federal Republic of Germany schools - both general and vocational - as well as universities and institutes of higher education are usually State institutions. Private educational institutions - for which there are special Länder laws governing licensing, recognition and financial support - play a subordinate role in terms of the number of pupils and students.

Compulsory schooling starts at age six and usually ends after nine years of full-time compulsory education. In all Länder general education is followed by vocational school - usually three years - for young people who do not go on to full-time higher general education (e.g. grammar school).

All schools - both general and vocational - as well as institutes of higher education and universities, are free.

In order to allow all young people to choose training which is in keeping with their interests and aptitudes, regardless of their family's financial situation, financial support is available under the Federal Law on Education and Training Promotion.

Basic knowledge and key skills are already taught in schools of general education with the aim of providing preliminary vocational guidance. The education system attaches equal importance to vocational education and training and general education.

Vocational training has two main aims: firstly, to provide young people with a basis for a successful career and thus contribute to their personal development, and secondly to satisfy the demands of businesses for various skills and thus serve economic policy interests.

There is a close link between training and employment opportunities.

The vocational education and training system provides initial vocational training, promotes career development through further training and gives suitable candidates the chance to acquire qualifications up to the university entrance certificate.

The dual system has two characteristic features.

Most learning within the dual system is done in business enterprises. The young person is trainee in an enterprise, in a liberal profession or in the public sector, and is released to attend vocational school. Whereas the in-company vocational training concentrates on teaching specialised practical skills and providing the necessary occupational experience, the vocational school focuses on providing the specialised theoretical knowledge for the relevant occupation and on consolidating and improving the level of general education.

The federal government has competence for in-company vocational training. The Basic Law provides that the Ministries of Education and Culture of the Länder have competence for school vocational training in educational establishments.

The term ‘dual system’ refers to the constitutional allocation of competence for the different learning venues. Neither vocational schools nor enterprises are uniform learning venues. Various types of vocational school exist, as do widely differing forms of learning in enterprises. Besides training workshops in large enterprises and workplace learning, there are also inter-company training centres, particularly in the crafts and construction sectors. The small and medium-sized enterprises in this sector – which train about two-thirds of all young people in the dual system – utilise these inter-company training centres to provide trainees with the knowledge and skills prescribed in the training regulations. At present there are around 100 000 places in inter-company training centres, which are also used for continuing training schemes.

Apart from the dual system of vocational training there are a number of other training courses which take place in educational establishments. Particularly in the occupational fields of business and administration, personal hygiene, health and home economics occupational qualifications are acquired in full-time training courses in educational establishments. These are usually specialised vocational schools offering three-year courses leading to vocational qualifications - usually governed by Länder legislation - which for various reasons cannot be acquired in the dual system.

Full-time specialised vocational schools are quantitatively less important and provide vocational qualifications that can also be acquired in the dual system.

In addition there are full-time specialised vocational schools which do not confer vocational qualifications, but only basic vocational training in a specific occupational field. This period of training can be credited to trainees if they enter the dual system, shortening the length of training in this system. Some pupils see this form of full-time specialised vocational school as a ‘stopgap’ until they can start another course of training, usually in the dual system.

Universities, institutes of higher education and specialised institutions of higher education also provide occupational qualifications. A pre-condition for enrolment at this level of education is the general or specialised university entrance certificate, which is usually acquired after 13 years of school. University courses are meant to be completed in four years. The actual average duration of studies is about six years, however. Enrolment in a specialised institution of higher education requires the certificate of aptitude for specialised short-course higher education. This can usually be acquired after a 12-year course of education, for example at a higher technical school or a college school.

Because of the educational policy of equivalence for vocational and general education, recent Länder regulations make it possible to enrol in this level of education with a vocational training certificate and a certificate of further training to master craftsman or supervisory level, depending on certain other criteria.

The dual system provides training in State-recognised occupations. These are developed and adapted to meet the demands of the world of work through close co-operation between federal and regional governments and the social partners. The total number of recognised occupations stands presently (at the end of 1998) at 357. Thus the number of recognised occupations, which stood at 606 in 1971, has been substantially reduced. This does not mean, however, that fewer occupations require training today. It means that reclassification has bundled recognised occupations to cover a wider range of activities. This ensures greater mobility and flexibility for employees in their subsequent occupations.

The fast reaction of vocational training to the growing demands and rapid structural transformation of the economy is demonstrated by the fact that about 100 training regulations have been newly developed since 1996. In addition to rewriting existing training regulations, the authorities have created a series of new recognised occupations, for example in the areas of information and communications technology.

Training regulations set out minimum standards for the content and scope of training. However, they leave enough leeway in practice to react to new technological and economic demands. Training regulations are issued by the minister responsible, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, according to a procedure established in agreement with the social partners. They set out the legally binding terms for in-company training. All training regulations contain details on the name of the recognised occupation and the duration of training, as well as the skills and knowledge to be acquired (occupational profile). They also contain instructions on the material and chronological order in which skills and knowledge should be taught (overall training plan), as well as examination requirements. For several years the newly issued training regulations have also contained a multilingual training profile (German/English/French), containing important information on the qualifications acquired, with the aim of improving the comparability of qualifications in EU Member States.

In-school vocational education follows skeleton curricula issued by the Conference of Länder Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, which the individual Länder have to enact as Länder laws. Recently they have also included the subject matter, organised in subject fields, as well as general objectives and didactic and methodological advice. Vocational schools, too, are free to adapt the subject matter to their courses on the basis of the skeleton curricula.

A characteristic feature of the dual system is the clear distinction made between instructors in enterprises and teachers in vocational schools. Their different working conditions lead to considerably different roles, status, qualifications and fields of work.

Only suitable persons, i.e. those with the relevant specialist and teacher training and inclinations, are eligible to become instructors in enterprises. A master craftsman diploma (for trade crafts) or the master craftsman diploma or qualification in an appropriate recognised occupation (for non-trade craft occupations) is usually considered evidence of specialist qualification. Proof of ability to teach occupational and work-related subjects is also required. A new skeleton curriculum for ‘Training Trainers’ has been in effect since 1998. The contents of the new curriculum, which are organised according to subject, aim to teach instructors, in practice-oriented courses, how to elucidate the tasks and problems typical of their future field.

In trade and industry, agriculture, the public sector, the liberal professions and home economics alone, about 530 000 instructors are registered with the competent bodies. A large number of instructors are also employed in trades crafts.

Vocational school teachers acquire their ‘first state examination’ within the framework of educational science studies. Minimum duration, subject combination and intensity of specialist and pedagogical studies are prescribed. This ‘first state examination’ is followed by a two-year practice teaching period which includes a study seminar and occupational experience in a training school. This leads to the ‘second state examination’. Teachers give instruction in the basic theory of the occupations in which they have specialised.

1997 statistics showed approximately 52 500 teachers to be working in vocational schools and about 14 600 in higher technical schools and specialised schools.

The importance of continuing vocational training is growing because rapid technical developments lead to changes in occupational requirements at ever shorter intervals and make the adaptation of vocational qualifications absolutely necessary. Continuing vocational training also helps to prevent unemployment. In some cases, initial vocational training is closely linked to continuing training.

A distinction should be made between two types of continuing vocational training: further vocational training and vocational retraining.

Vocational further training, which begins after completion of vocational training and during a phase of occupational activity, is directed firstly towards adaptation of vocational skills to new technical and occupational developments by means of on-the-job training measures - usually in the enterprise itself. Secondly in-company, extra-plant and in-school courses can lead to occupational advancement or to a higher qualification as middle-level skilled worker or supervisor (e.g. foreman).

Vocational retraining becomes necessary when no more openings are available on the labour market in the occupation for which a person has trained. The most common objective of vocational retraining is to acquire new qualifications as a skilled worker. It usually takes place in extra-plant centres. People in retraining and further training are eligible for financial support in accordance with the Social Security Code, Volume III. Thus participants can claim for expenses for training measures and even receive support for living expenses. Germany has a differentiated system of continuing vocational training, with various organisational structures and forms of funding related to the varying contents, functions and objectives of continuing vocational training. In contrast to the strictly organised dual system of vocational training, with its clearly defined areas of responsibility, continuing training has grown spontaneously and pragmatically.

The competent bodies established about 2 570 further training regulations just to cover regional needs in 1997.

Enterprises are the most important providers of continuing vocational training. Large concerns usually operate their own continuing training departments, responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating continuing training measures. Other providers and agencies for widely differing continuing vocational training programmes are the chambers of trade and industry, business educational foundations, trade union further training foundations, institutions of higher education with courses for those in employment, and private continuing training companies. Adult education centres play a major role in the area of general continuing education and training.

Participation in continuing training is increasing steadily. The chambers of trade and industry statistics for 1997 show that well above 50 000 people took part in over 2 700 commercial and industrial technology courses alone. Approximately 4 200 instructors refreshed their training in around 370 seminars, and the chambers organised about 840 courses for over 16 000 skilled workers to acquire instructor qualifications. Approximately 266 200 took part in continuing vocational training programmes promoted by the Federal Labour Office in 1997.

A number of bodies are responsible for ensuring that the provisions of the Vocational Training Act and the Promotion of Vocational Training Act are enforced on the federal, Länder and regional levels. The social partners are granted considerable rights of participation, structuring and decision-making. This form of co-operation on the federal, Länder, regional and enterprises levels – based on an assumption of mutual responsibility for planning, implementing and developing vocational education and training – has proved very successful in the past.

In addition to out-of-school vocational training, the federal government is responsible for the Higher Education Framework Law, the promotion of research and training and the expansion of existing and construction of new institutions of higher education, (together with the Länder).

The federal government is responsible for in-company vocational training. For this reason, the most important law, the Vocational Training Act of 1969, regulates the implementation of in-company vocational training for the whole of Germany. The Crafts Code issued by the Federal Ministry of Economics also covers this sector.

The Federal Institute for Vocational Training functions on this level. Its main committee has 53 members, 16 representing employers, 16 for employees and 16 for the Länder, plus five representing the federal government. The Federal Institute for Vocational Training conducts research and development in the sphere of in-company vocational training and fulfils mandated service and consultancy functions to the federal government and vocational training providers. The main committee advises the federal government on fundamental issues of in-company vocational training. Under paragraph 9 of the Promotion of Vocational Training Act a subcommittee is responsible for harmonising the national training regulations and the school skeleton curricula of the individual Länder.

The Basic Law provides that competence for school education – vocational and general, as well as university and higher education – lies with the Länder Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs. The Ministers of Education and Culture of the Länder cooperate in the Standing Conference of the Länder Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs to ensure a certain measure of uniformity and comparability, especially in school and higher education policies of national significance. The decisions of the Standing Conference of the Länder Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs are Länder recommendations and only become legally binding when passed by the individual Länder parliaments.

The Länder have committees for vocational training, with equal representation of employers, employees and the highest Länder authorities. They advise the Länder governments on vocational training issues in schools.

On the regional level the autonomous administrative organisations of industry, the ‘competent bodies’, have considerable powers. The competent bodies include about 83 chambers of trade and industry for the industrial sector, about 56 chambers of handicrafts for the craft trades, and the appropriate professional boards for the liberal professions in the Länder. The tasks of the competent bodies are to ensure the suitability of training centres, monitor training in enterprises, support vocational training with advice to training enterprises, instructors and trainees, to establish and maintain a list of training contracts, and to institute the system of examinations and hold final examinations.

The competent bodies also have vocational training committees, which are made up of six representatives each from employers, employees and vocational school teachers, who have to be notified of and consulted on important matters of vocational training. These bodies can establish legal requirements for the implementation of vocational training in their fields.

The cost of in-company training is borne by industry and other training enterprises and institutions. Public funds cover the cost of vocational schools, including institutions providing full-time schooling.

The direct cost of vocational education and training to industry in 1996 amounted to DM 66.1 billion. Thirty-three billion of this went on vocational training and DM 34.4 billion on continuing training. Spending by enterprises on vocational training includes trainee remuneration. The average payment to trainees, based on collective agreements, was DM 1029 per month in 1997. Since the cost of vocational training reduces taxable profits in enterprises liable for taxation, the state indirectly shares this expense.

Public budgets allocated DM 10.9 billion for vocational schools and DM 4.9 billion for continuing training in 1997. An additional DM 22.7 billion for continuing training, retraining and other measures was covered by the Federal Labour Office.

The development of vocational training and the dual system is again being hotly discussed in Germany. Apart from the sustainability of the dual system of vocational training for Germany as a production site, the vocational training debate focuses on aspects of the European dimension.

One of the main problems currently facing the dual system is the provision of sufficient training opportunities. In 1998, approximately 636 000 openings were available for approximately 648 000 candidates. Thus supply does not meet demand. In spite of an increase in the number of training openings in comparison with the previous year, the growing number of candidates could not all be accommodated. In November 1998 the new federal government introduced a 'Crash Programme for the Reduction of Unemployment among Young People - Training, Qualification and Employment of Young People', to provide 100 000 young people with initial training, supplementary qualifications or employment. Before the end of March 1999, over 50 000 young people had been helped to find places of training or work. In addition, the federal and Länder governments have agreed to a new crash programme to combat the shortage of training places in eastern Germany. It is designed to create 17 500 additional training places, beginning in the autumn.

The dearth of openings for training has repeatedly triggered criticism of the dual system. The gap stems from a demographic rise in the number of school leavers and a reluctance on the part of enterprises to offer training, as a result of a too cautious estimation of their skills needs. The deficiencies of the system as stressed in public debate are not the real cause of the problem, especially considering the respect which the enterprises themselves have for the dual system. From this point of view it is wrong to speak of a systemic crisis in the dual system. If there is a crisis, it is rather one of the providers of the system (companies).

The discussion on vocational training policies also addresses a number of qualitative aspects of the further development of vocational training. It concentrates on such issues as modernisation and diversification of vocational education and training, equivalence of vocational and general education, vocational support for women, expansion of continuing training, innovation in vocational training and gearing the dual system to the Single Market.

The objective in modernising vocational education and training is to react to rapidly changing demands with regard to skills needs in the economy, by creating new or adapting existing recognised occupations. Only new qualifications in growing fields of activity can safeguard old and create new training capacities, and cope with changes linked to structural transformations. The social partners are implementing the new classification of recognised occupations and an observation system for the early identification of skills trends is being established.

The 'lifelong learning' complex is included in the 'Forum Education' set up at the beginning of the year by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is to be treated as a central topic affecting all areas of education. In this connection, federal and Länder governments are planning a joint lifelong learning programme in the Federal and Länder Committee for Educational Planning and Research Promotion.

Vocational education and training plays an essential part in the process of European integration. It supports development and growth of the European Single Market and policies of social cohesion in Europe.

From the German point of view, liberalisation of the European labour market need not entail standardisation or generalised, reciprocal formal recognition of educational and training courses and skills certification. Mobility and competitiveness should be ensured by information on training courses and the skills they impart, on the basis of mutual trust in the quality of the national vocational education and training systems. A crucial step in this direction are transparent occupational certificates, like those being introduced gradually in Germany. They are multilingual and contain precise and comprehensible information on skills acquired during training.

Vocational Training in the Dual System / Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (ed.). -
Bonn, 1997. - 60 pages
(English language edition 1997, French and Spanish 1998)

Basic and Structural Data 1998/99 / Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (ed). -
Bonn, 1998. - 505 pages (English language edition 227 pages)

Numerical Barometer 1998/99 / Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (ed).
Bonn, 1998. - 76 pages (multilingual - German, English, French)

Arnold, Rolf; Münch, Joachim
Questions and Answers on the Dual System of Vocational Training in Germany / Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (ed.). -
Bonn, 1995. - 138 pages (English language edition 1996, 104 pages)

Greinert, Wolf-Dietrich
Das duale System der Berufsausbildung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland : Struktur und Funktion / Wolf-Dietrich Greinert; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (ed.). - 3. new, updated edition
Stuttgart: Holland and Josenhans, 1997. -159 pages