93 percent pass rate in the summer examination

Over the course of the past few weeks, 6,856 trainees have sat final examinations set by the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 93 percent of candidates were successful, and seven percent even achieved the top mark of "very good".

"The high pass rate is evidence of a good level of training and of the outstanding cooperation that takes place between the company providing training and the vocational school," stresses Carsten Taudt, Head of the Education and Skilled Worker Training Department at the chamber. He stated that "all doors" were now open to those who had successfully completed the summer examinations.

The latest calculations for the chamber's Skilled Worker Monitor show that they are required by trade and industry. This survey indicates that companies in North Rhine-Westphalia will experience a shortage of skilled workers of almost 30,000 by as early as next year, a figure which is even set to rise to around 69,000 by 2030. Persons with vocational qualifications make up 90 percent of this requirement.

In light of the increasing skilled worker shortage, Mr. Taudt recommends that companies should seek to secure the loyalty of young qualified staff. "This can be achieved via vehicles such as attractive continuing training measures which are linked to career prospects."

According to the German Qualifications Framework, advanced training qualifications like certified senior commercial clerk or certified industrial foreman are now at the same level as a higher education degree. Since the end of March, Chamber of Commerce and Industry advanced training qualifications such as business economist, vocational educator and IT business engineer have been classified as being equivalent to a Master's degree obtained from an institute of higher education or university.

"Academic and vocational education are equal," says Carsten Taudt. "This has been made clear via the policy adopted over the past years. However, both pupils and their parents need to be made much more aware of the fact that higher education is not necessary in order to forge a career."

Every year, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry examination is taken by over 11,000 trainees from the region. The range of examinations on offer covers more than 150 training occupations, encompassing everything from automobile business administrator to industrial clerk to milling machine operator. 

The examinations are conducted by a team of over 3,400 volunteer specialists working for 359 Chamber of Commerce and Industry examination boards. These experts ensure that examinations are practically related and make an important contribution towards countering the shortage of skilled workers in the region.