Emerging from the cul-de-sac – Upgrading Training Assistance Act reformed with the aim of enhancing apprenticeship occupations

The facts are sobering. Whereas Germany's universities are bursting at the seams as they attempt to accommodate around 2.8 million students, interest in vocational education and training is in constant free fall. Reforms and financial improvements have now been made to the Upgrading Training Assistance Act in order to send out a signal to young people that apprenticeship occupations also provide plenty of opportunities for advancement. The emphasis now will be more on upgrading training rather than on training leading to a master craftsman qualification. Will this help?

What is the current status of dual training, a system often presented as an exemplary model?

Not good is the answer, and this is also the reason behind a wide range of initiatives which have been launched with the aim of breathing new life into the tried-and-tested combination of company-based training and vocational school learning.

According to the most recent Report on Vocational Education and Training, the number of new training contracts decreased once more in 2015, this time registering a small decline to around 520,000. Only one in five companies in Germany provides training, and firms are also complaining of a lack of good applicants. "The proportion of those entering the dual system has fallen by 100,000 persons over the past 15 years," says Professor Kai Maaz from the German Institute for International Pedagogical Research (DIPF).

What steps are being undertaken by the policy makers?

Federal Minister of Education Johanna Wanka is seeking to strengthen the attractiveness of dual training via programmes which inform young people of the benefits of an apprenticeship occupation as early as in Years 7 and 8 at school. She would also like to improve "permeability" within the education and training system, hence the idea for an Upgrading Training Assistance Act which is as attractive as possible and delivers genuine incentives to pursue continuing vocational education and training or even to enter higher education at a later date. "Switching to an institute of higher education is perfectly possible," Mrs Wanka emphasises.

Has the Upgrading Training Assistance Act proved a successful model so far?

In 20 years, it has enabled around 1.7 million people to advance their careers by entering management, starting their own company or qualifying as trainers to teach the skilled workers of tomorrow. Total funding has been approximately €6.9 billion.

Nevertheless, interest has been declining in recent times. According to figures provided by the Federal Statistical Office in July, 2015 saw the first fall in seven years in the number of persons in employment seeking support from the Upgrading Training Assistance Act (down 5.7 percent to 162,000).

Mrs Wanka took a relaxed view of these figures. Because such a decline had been on the cards, the lower and upper houses of the German Parliament had acted in a timely manner to introduce reforms to the Upgrading Training Assistance Act.

What is new?

One major aim is to make things easier financially for those seeking to pursue upgrading training and to adopt a family-friendly approach. For this reason, contributions to living costs and course costs, supplementary childcare grants and the so-called "success bonus" have all risen with effect from 1 August.

The effect of the increases is to raise maximum payments per month from €697 to €768 for single persons, from €907 to €1,003 for single parents, from €1,222 to €1,238 for married persons with one child and from €1,332 to €1,473 for married persons with two children.

Who is the reform aimed at?

Although the reformed provision is not exclusively targeted at young persons seeking advancement (indeed, there is no age limit to the funding), in some of the utterances of the minister there is a discernible wish to encourage some applicants to the already overfilled institutes of higher education to consider vocational education and training instead.

Mrs. Wanka advised aspiring master craftsmen and qualified skilled workers that "the risk of becoming unemployed is similarly low to that experienced by persons with academic qualifications, and there are rapid opportunities for responsibility as well as attractive earnings and career prospects." In spite of the fears expressed in many quarters, her credo is that dual training is not a cul-de-sac.

Whilst we are on the topic of institutes of higher education, there is also news to report regarding student loans and grants.

Also with effect from 1 August and after a period of six years in which no changes took place, "Bafög" support paid to students in Germany (usually consisting of a 50 percent grant and a 50 percent loan) is rising by seven percent.

Students with their own apartment will be able to receive up to €735 per month (an increase of 9.7 percent). Parental earnings thresholds are also being raised by seven percent, meaning that around 110,000 students and pupils will receive increased grants and loans. The German Association of Student Services Organisations (DSW) is already calling for more action to be taken soon.

DSW General Secretary stated: "If the next increase in loans and grants is not tackled until budgets for the years 2018 and 2019 are agreed, it will possibly only enter into effect in 2020 at the earliest. The Federal Government needs to act now to instigate this, before the 2017 General Election."