Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs Aigner: "Vocational education is a path to success."
The current official statistic 2014 regarding the master craftsman BAföG (student loan) reveals that vocational education and training has hit a new record high in Bavaria.
The Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner: "Vocational education and training is particularly successful in Bavaria. Especially given the increasing demand for skilled labour, many businesses need qualified employees, which is why the significance of vocational education and training further increases. It is becoming more and more important to advance one's career by way of vocational advanced training."
The number of grant recipients in 2014 is about 2.1 per cent higher than in 2013. In total, some 52,000 people in Bavaria received support in
the
form of the master craftsman BAföG in 2014 and about EUR 53 million grants in aid have been awarded (2013: EUR 51 million). Of this sum, about EUR 11.7 million were provided by the Free State
(2013: EUR 11.3 million).
Each year since 2000, Bavaria has had the highest number of master craftsman BAföG grant cases of all German federal states. In the past years, Bavaria even led this statistic with a huge margin compared to all other German federal states.
The master craftsman BAföG can be applied for by craftsmen and other professionals in the skilled trades. The aim of the grant is to support preparation for a higher class of employment, for example, as a self-employed master craftsman or as a middle management executive in a business.
The master craftsman BAföG supports the payment of fees for training courses and examinations. In the event of full-time training courses and if the funding requirements are met, an additional livelihood grant is awarded. The grant is split into a percentage of subsidy and a percentage of loan. The federal government covers 78 per cent of the costs for the master craftsman BAföG and the federal states provide 22 per cent.