Becoming a master craftsman with government support

Well-trained employees are a competitive advantage for businesses. Advanced training helps to keep the vocational qualification level up-to-date, to safeguard one's job and to improve one's chances of promotion.

Evening lessons and weekend seminars are attended over months or even years, culminating in an examination requiring intensive preparation. Vocational advanced training is often associated with great effort and high costs. In addition, one's employer has to agree and allow the employee to take time off occasionally. Often, businesses also financially support advanced training programmes; however, they hedge their investment by way of contracts and repayment clauses.

Employees leaving the company during or shortly after the advanced training course have to pay back the costs. Alternatively, the federal government's qualification initiative provides support by way of the Advanced Further Training Assistance Act (Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz - AFBG), also called the Master BAföG. The act ensures an individual right to funding for occupational advanced training programmes such as master craftsman programmes and comparable courses.

These courses may be full- or part-time, school or home study, media-supported or distance learning. Usually, the advanced training programme requires a previously completed professional qualification and professional experience. Craftsmen and other skilled workers preparing for an advanced training qualification as a master craftsman, technician, qualified assistant, qualified nurse, business IT specialist, business economist in the crafts or a comparable qualification and holding a first vocational education and training qualification can apply for the Master BAföG.

This so-called programme contribution is available for part-time and full-time courses; it is up to 10,266 Euro for the training course and examination fees, of which 30.5 per cent are given as a grant in aid. The rest is offered as a loan at low interest rates. The exam work sample is funded to up to half of the necessary costs, yet capped at 1,534 Euro and given as a loan at low interest rates. Applications for support funding are submitted to the municipal educational support offices; the loans are granted by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW - government-owned development bank). In the past year, more than 171,000 employees received Master BAföG funding and their numbers are increasing.

"This is an extremely gratifying development", says Federal Education Minister Johanna Wanka. "It shows that the investments into vocational education and training bear fruit. With the help of the 'Master BAföG', the recipients achieve their advanced qualification and thereby their professional advancement, making an important contribution to safeguarding the skilled labour supply. Many later choose to become self-employed and create jobs." So the approved funding of 576 million Euro is well invested.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports young qualified professionals under 25 years of age with a continuing education scholarship. For up to three years, it provides graduates with funding for extra-occupational continuing education programmes either in their discipline or across disciplines. Graduates with a final grade of 1.9 or better may apply for the programme. The qualification criterion is met also by the particularly successful participation in a supraregional performance competition or on the basis of substantiated recommendations by the employer.

Each year, up to 6,000 scholarships of up to 2,000 Euro per person and year are granted. The personal contribution is ten per cent per programme. The continuing education scholarships are organised nationwide by the Stiftung Begabtenförderung berufliche Bildung (SBB - Foundation Vocational Training Programme for the Highly Talented); the contact offices for an application are the various regional chambers.

The upgrading scholarships provide experienced professionals with an incentive to enrol for a university course. A full-time study course is funded with a lump sum of  670 Euro per month; part-time extra-occupational students receive up to 2,000 Euro per year. Applicants must have at least two years of professional experience in addition to a particularly successful graduation result. The applicants are tested regarding their willingness to perform and learn; the selection takes place after personal talks. Stiftung Begabtenförderung berufliche Bildung in Bonn (SBB) is the institution to contact here.

The Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia offers so-called education cheques for employees, people returning into work and entrepreneurs starting a new business. Half of all private expenses for occupational advanced training may be subsidised, capped at a maximum of 2,000 Euro per education cheque. All forms of continuing education are subsidized that serve the purpose of ongoing occupational qualification and maintaining one's employability. This includes language and IT trainings as well as media training and extra-occupational university courses.

The condition for the issuing of these cheques is the free consultation at an advisory office that has to take place prior to the continuing education course. In addition, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research has introduced the "Bildungsprämie" (Education bonus) programme. All employed or self-employed persons, whose taxable annual income does not exceed 20,000 Euro (40,000 Euro in the event of joint assessment), may receive a bonus voucher of up to 500 Euro; however, this bonus must be match-funded out of one's own pocket. The voucher may be used towards training courses, examinations and certificates.