"The vocational training opportunities for young people in Germany have been further improved this year. It was possible to give an increasing number of young people an occupational perspective."
This is the positive conclusion the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, presented on December 15, 2011 in Berlin regarding the published results of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) study assessing the newly concluded articles of apprenticeship 2011. A particular, reason for joy is the significant rise in the number of in-company articles of apprenticeship by 20,729 (+4 %) to 539,646. In 2011, a total of 570,140 articles of apprenticeship were newly concluded; this is 10,180 (+1.8 %) more than in the previous year.
The safeguarding of an adequate range of vocational training and qualification proposals for all young people willing to and capable of undertaking an apprenticeship is the federal government's declared goal. This applies equally to high and low performing young people. This is the only way the demand for skilled labour in Germany can be satisfied.
The vocational training opportunities for young people continue to improve. The increasing offer of apprenticeship training positions is expressive of the desire on part of enterprises to safeguard their future supply of skilled labour by way of training. Furthermore, the strong commitment on part of partners to the pact and the Federal Employment Agency in winning over more companies to provide training and thus creating new apprenticeship training positions continues to pay out also in 2011.
Due to a decline in applicant numbers, however, companies prepared to offer vocational training face an increasing difficulty in finding suitable applicants to degrees varying between the various industries and regions. Although the integration of also rather more low performing young people once more turns out to be significantly more successful, many still find it difficult to make the transition to vocational training.
In the career counselling year 2010/2011, the employment agencies and job centres registered a total of 519,600 apprenticeship training positions; this is 7.5 per cent more than in the previous year. With regard to in-company apprenticeship training positions, the increase was 10.2 per cent, whereas the number of registered external apprenticeship training positions decreased considerably.
The intermediary result regarding the newly concluded articles of apprenticeship (as per end of October 2011) further emphasises the increased range of apprenticeship training positions: 340,000 articles of apprenticeship were concluded in the fields of industry and commerce, that is, 12,900 (+3.9 per cent) more than in the previous year. In the crafts, 152,500 articles of apprenticeship were registered, a decline by 900 (-0.6 per cent) compared to the previous year. In the field of liberal professions, 43,100 apprenticeship contracts were entered into, an increase by 500 (+1.1 per cent).
The positive development of newly concluded articles of apprenticeship numbers against the background of declining applicant numbers is indicative of a greater number of previous year's applicants and low performing young people having succeeded in obtaining an apprenticeship. According to the Federal Employment Agency, the number of young people having applied for an apprenticeship already in previous years (repeat applicants) has decreased by 5.7 per cent.
Even though the provision of an adequate apprenticeship training position primarily falls under the responsibility of the industry, the federal government fully acknowledges the state's responsibility in making its own contribution towards safeguarding a sufficient range of apprenticeship training positions and qualification propositions.
Together with the central associations of the economy, in June 2004 the government therefore agreed on the "National Pact for Training and Skilled Manpower Development in Germany", which envisions increased commitment towards in-company training as well as additional efforts on part of public authorities. This took place in a time of acute lack of apprenticeship training positions, when the main objective was to increase the number of such positions. In March 2007, this Training Pact was renewed until 2010. At the same time, additional quantitative targets were agreed upon. Moreover, the number of partners in the pact has been extended by the inclusion of the Federation of German Independent Professionals (BFB).
On October 26, 2010, the steering committee of the National Pact for Training and Skilled Manpower Development has decided in accordance with the coalition agreement for the 17th legislative period, to continue the Training Pact until 2014 with new points of focus and to include new partners. In future, new partners to the training pact include the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) as well as the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration.
Of significance for the further development as regards the pact's content was the fundamental change of the initial situation since 2004. Due to the demographic development, some industries and regions nowadays are characterised by a lack of applicants instead of a lack of apprenticeship training positions. Yet at the same time there is a considerable number of applicants failing to make the immediate transition from school to vocational training. These include the so-called repeat applicants, young people with migration background as well as socially disadvantaged young people, individuals with learning difficulties and disabled young persons.
Therefore, the new Training Pact aims at offering these young people in particular improved opportunities for vocational training, following the motto "Developing the entire potential". First and foremost, this means improving the manner in which CSE and GCSE graduates are prepared for vocational training early on, intensifying the support for weaker pupils, providing young people within the transitional system with genuine qualification propositions including a graduation perspective, as well as promoting the integration of young persons with migration background in the vocational training system.
The new pact agreement's central measures to this end include the Federal Ministry of Education and Research's new initiative "Abschluss und Anschluss - Bildungsketten bis zum Ausbildungsabschluss" (Graduation and Continuity - Educational Chains up to the Diploma) with a total funding volume of more than 360 million Euro and aiming at the qualitative improvement of the transition from school into the dual vocational training system by way of a comprehensive package of measures, as well as, for the first time, the industry's promise to provide 10,000 in-company Entrance Qualifications per year especially for young people in need of special support (EQ Plus).
However, in order to meet the future demand for skilled labour, the new pact agreement aims also at convincing more high performing young people to begin their career with in-company vocational training. With the KMK and the Integration Commissioner joining the Training Pact, the implementation of the planned measures both for high performing and less well performing young people can be carried out in an even more targeted manner in the future.