VET as important European issue

German Chamber of Crafts President and German Education Minister emphasise the importance of vocational education and training (VET) in Brussels.

The German Chamber of Crafts President Bernd Ehinger has highlighted the success and importance of dual system education for Europe before an international audience.

"The master craftsman is a guarantor for quality of service, products and vocational training. And he prevents increased youth unemployment throughout Europe. Out of misconceived ambition, many parents in Germany force their children into a university course that very often does not suit them at all: this is wrong. The OECD [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development] standards pour further oil on this fire. On the basis of social and market-political considerations, if nothing else, we do not need these high student numbers in Europe", said Ehinger during a panel discussion at the federal state representation of the German Federal State of Hessen in Brussels. "We have to find a new social consensus in Europe and have to reconsider the so-called flow of education of school graduates. This is about the future of young people in Europe."

Professor R. Alexander Lorz, Education Minister of the Federal State of Hessen, praised the dual education system in Germany as being exemplary for vocational education and training in Europe.

"These days, all EU [European Union] Member States face the same decisive issues: how do we train young people for the future labour markets? And which competences do we convey in the process?" Last but not least one must not forget the right balance between academic and vocational education.

"Our co-operation agreement with the Madrid region, signed two years ago, targets not only a more intensified exchange, but in the first line also the further development of the labour and vocational education and training markets in order to safeguard the skilled labour supply." The Chamber of Crafts Frankfurt-Rhein-Main has rendered great services in the context of this co-operation project, said Lorz.