Modernisation issues of Germany's system of vocational education and training: review and analysis

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Modernisation issues of Germany's system of vocational education and training: review and analysis

Samokhval Olesia

Vinnytsya, Ukraine

Annotation

The article deals with the theoretical review and analysis of the modernisation issues of Germany's education system, particularly vocational education and training. It also reveals the identification of the main elements and factors of reforming the system of vocational education and training, their interaction and directions of operation for the accomplishment of the set tasks. It is stressed that Ukrainian insufficient system of vocational education and training, inconsistency with social needs, socioeconomic development and human achievements in the world require a deep analysis of the educational reform trends in the leading countries of Western Europe, being oriented on highly efficient economic development, a continuous stream of innovations and developing of innovative products that require high intellectual human resources provided mainly by the system of vocational education and training. It has been determined that the reforms of Germany's vocational education and training are carried out in three main directions: social, economic and financial. Three main structural elements of the process of reforming the vocational education system and training were also defined during the research. They are Federation - states - education establishments. Primarily, the modernisation of Germany's vocational education and training are aimed at: providing high-quality training of future specialists in accordance with the national and world labor market needs; involving society in continuing education; guaranteeing state financial support to the students while getting professional occupation and to education institutions in providing the country with highly qualified workers.

Key words: modernisation issues, reform trends, vocational education and training, initial education, future skilled workers, educational institutions, dual system of education, German-speaking country, German education system.

У статті проаналізовано процес модернізації системи освіти Німеччини, зокрема професійної освіти та підготовки. Виявлено основні елементи та фактори реформування системи професійної освіти та підготовки, їх взаємодія та напрямки роботи для виконання поставлених завдань. Підкреслюється, що недосконала система професійної освіти та підготовки в Україні, її невідповідність соціальним потребам, соціально-економічному розвитку та досягненням людства в світі вимагає глибокого аналізу тенденцій освітніх реформ у провідних країнах Західної Європи, орієнтованих на високоефективний економічний розвиток, безперервний потік інновацій та розробки інноваційних продуктів, які вимагають високоінтелектуальних людських ресурсів, які забезпечує система професійної освіти та навчання. Визначено, що модернізація професійної освіти та підготовки в Німеччині здійснюється за трьома основними напрямками: соціальним, економічним та фінансовим. Під час дослідження були визначені три основні структурні елементи процесу реформування системи професійної освіти та навчання, а саме: Федерація - землі - навчальні заклади. З'ясовано, що модернізація професійної освіти та підготовки в Німеччині спрямована на забезпечення якісної підготовки майбутніх фахівців відповідно до національних та світових потреб ринку праці, залучення суспільства до безперервної освіти, гарантування державної фінансової підтримки студентів в процесі отримання професійної кваліфікації та навчальних закладів у забезпеченні країни висококваліфікованими працівниками.

Ключові слова: питання модернізації, тенденції реформування, професійна освіта та підготовка, початкова освіта, майбутні кваліфіковані працівники, навчальні заклади, подвійна система освіти, німецькомовна країна, система освіти Німеччини.

Problem statement. Ukrainian insufficient system of vocational education and training, inconsistency with social needs, socioeconomic development and human achievements in the world require a deep analysis of the educational reform trends in the leading countries of Western Europe, being oriented on highly efficient economic development, a continuous stream of innovations and developing of innovative products that require high intellectual human resources provided mainly by the system of vocational education and training. Today, the cooperation between Ukraine and the countries of Western Europe, especially German-speaking countries, on educational issues is strongly strengthened, therefore their experience in modernising the educational sphere is significant for determining the priority trends of the national educational system development. Special attention should be paid to the experience of Germany, that proved to be one of the countries with the most productive and high-quality educational and vocational system within Western Europe.

Analysis of previous research. A large number of foreign researches' scientific works is devoted to improving the vocational education and quality of future skilled workers' vocational training. The problem of development, modernisation, reformation and coordination of the system of German vocational education and training in accordance with the requirements of the modern national and world labor markets and the globalization of the economy is contemplated by Cockrill A., Deissinger Th., Kupfer A., Miller-Idriss C., Mayer Ch. and others. The researchers analyzed the contemporary structure of the German system for vocational education and training, examined dual system for initial vocational training and studied the process of reforming vocational education and training of Germany as an urgent requirement for accelerating economic growth, reducing youth unemployment and benefiting from economic globalization.

Purpose of the research. Accordingly, our research is intended to analyze the theoretical review of current reform trends in Germany's educational system, particularly vocational education and training, as well as to identify the main elements and factors of reforming the system of vocational education, their interaction and directions of operation for the accomplishment of the tasks set.

Presentation of basic material of the research. Taking into consideration the demographic changes in the country, the growing need for the highly skilled employees, the challenges caused by globalization processes in the world and the prolonging migration crisis, Germany is making significant efforts to develop and reform the national education system. It should be underlined that as a Federal republic with 16 federal states (ger. Land (pl.Lдnder)) Germany's urgent educational issues are discussed both at the federal and local levels. The decision on the Qualification Initiative for Germany (ger. Qualifizierungsinitiative fьr Deutschland) "Getting ahead through education" (ger. "Aufstieg durch Bildung”), taken during the discussion between the Chairman of the Federal Government of Germany and the Chairmen of the federal states governments on October 22, 2008 in Dresden is rather illustrative [2]. The sustained result of the meeting was the coordination of important goals and measures that covered all educational levels -- from early childhood to continuing education and were to be implemented in the nearest future. They are the following: education is to be the highest priority for Germany; every child is to be provided with the best conditions for an educational start; everyone should have the opportunity to get the General Certificate of Secondary Education (ger. Hauptschulabschluss) and a professional qualification; everyone should have the opportunity to continue his or her education; the state is to encourage young people to obtain higher education degree; the state is to stimulate the country's population to receive scientific and technical professions; the number of people taking the opportunity of continuing education is to be rising [6]. Therefore, it should be stated that the tasks in the education sphere are rather specific and encompass different age cohorts.

The Federal Government and the state governments have also intensified their financial obligations in the field of education within the framework of the Qualification Initiative for Germany measures' implementation. They decided to increase the share spent on education, science and research to 10 percent of Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2015 [2]. In 2014, the share spent on Germany's educational, scientific and research spheres grew to 9.1% of GDP and amounted to 65.5 billion Euros (in 2012 -- 9.1% (251.9 billion Euros), in 2013 -- 9.1%. (257.4 billion Euro)) [3]. The implementation of the Qualification Initiative concerning the 40% of school leavers' enrolment in higher education also turned out to be successful. In 2014, the percentage of school leavers within the same age group not only reached the target limit, but also exceeded significantly and amounted to about 50%. At the same time, the number of those wishing to attend the programs of continuing education was up to 51% of the working population. Significant progress was also made in reducing the dropout rates: the number of school leavers without the General Certificate of Secondary Education in 2014 was reduced to 5.8%, and young people without professional qualifications -- to 13% [2]. vocational education labor market

In March 2011, the final agreement on the National Qualifications Framework for Continuing Education (ger. Deutscher Qualifikationsrahmen, DQR), developed by the specially created working group in 2006, was reached. During this period, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (ger. Bundesministerium fьr Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the States in the Federal Republic of Germany (ger. Stдndige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Lдnder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) agreed to interact in creation of the National Qualifications System as a prerequisite for forming the European educational space. In February 2009, following the preparatory work, an offer for the creation of the National Qualifications System of Germany was made. It was the basis of numerous researches, the results of which were taken into account at the stage of final approval and implementation of the declared innovations. The pilot project (May-October, 2009) included four-sector qualifications (IT, metal, healthcare and trade) as a "basis" for the creation of a nationwide qualification system. Interest group of people, including school experts, representatives of vocational schools, higher education institutions, trade unions, and employers, worked together to make the necessary adjustments and proposals. At a high-level meeting, held on January 31, 2012, the interest group enhanced the agreement by the adjustment of important qualifications in vocational and higher education. It should be stressed that currently the National Qualifications System of Germany does not include general education levels [1].

Still, German government does not consider such positive changes as sufficient ones and continues to work on solving certain problems, because to get the educational degree does not always guarantee getting proper employment or being ready to stand fierce competition on a labor market. Fierce competition on a labor market we consider as one of the main driver for developing and implementing reforms of vocational training while it affects both for-profit and non-for-profit institutions, resulting in pressure to be innovative and to do it all better, faster, cheaper and continuously.

Restructuring will occur frequently in order to achieve the greatest efficiency and productivity [8]. Therefore, EU member states work together to coordinate efforts to promote youth employment in Europe. Within the framework of Pan-European recommendations for the implementation of the so-called "Youth guarantee", Member States are being supported in implementing initiatives such as preventing high youth unemployment by EU Solidarity Fund. Significant in this case is the coordination of the efforts of the EU leading countries. This approach demonstrates integration tendencies as a manifestation of the population needs, a strong focus on the social, political, and cultural heritage of other peoples as well as foundation of a close cooperation between EU countries in educational sphere.

Despite the fact that Germany has a low youth unemployment rate compared with the other EU member states, in April 2014 the Federal Government approved a national plan for the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee Program in Germany. The National Plan is aimed at supporting young people under the age of 25 to continue education and training, as well as to resolve employment issues. The main idea of the project is to develop existing labor market instruments and achieve structural improvements in the transition from general education to vocational training and employment.

It also provides certain measures of supporting young people in the process of vocational education and training as a new tool for employment promotion. Besides the EU Youth Guarantee Program foresees further increase of the number of youth career agencies (ger. Jugendberufsagenturen), and the startup of the ESF (ger. Europдischer Sozialfonds), a joint financial monitoring system that enables the transition to the labor market [6].

It should be noted that understanding the importance of vocational education for the country's economic growth, Germany is constantly working on improving the status and quality of the future highly qualified workers' training. Thus, at the end of 2014, the Federal Government, the Federal Agency for Employment (ger. Bundesagentur fьr Arbeit, BA), the trade unions and the federal state governments signed an "Alliance for Basic and Continuing Professional Education 2015-2018" (ger. Allianz fьr Aus- und Weiterbildung 2015 -2018). The Alliance replaced the National Pact for the Training and Development of qualified human resources in Germany (ger. Nationaler Pakt fьr Ausbildung und Fachkrдftenachwuchs in Deutschland) and is going to operate until the end of 2018.

The key feature of this document is that it combines the efforts of partners to improve the process of dual vocational training and make the vocational and academic education equivalent. Using concrete measures Alliance partners want to enable more young people to receive vocational education and encourage companies to cooperate with the educational institutions in corporate training more actively [6]. Such trends are considered progressive as they meet the requirements of the labor market and guarantee working places for the majority of graduates.

In March 2015, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the States in the Federal Republic of Germany approved a new agreement on vocational education and training (ger. Rahmenvereinbarung ьber die Berufsschule). The reason for the renewal of the previous framework agreement (1991) was a heightened need for better respond to the demands of the globalized labor market, the possibility of obtaining vocational education abroad and improving the conditions for the future specialists' training at the national level. First of all, the changes concern the expanding and deepening of the foreign language competence, which is a necessary component of the future specialist's establishment. Besides, the Official Certificate of Language Proficiency, issued by the Permanent Conference, is an opportunity to demonstrate the level of foreign language competence in accordance with the European Guidelines for Language Education (CEFR) [6].

It is known that any reforming issues are largely in need of financial support. Accordingly, since 2015, after the introduction of the 25th Amendment to the Federal Law on the Promotion of Education (ger. Bundesausbildungsfцrderungsgesetz, BAfцG), Germany has provided a complete funding of the continuing training grant of future qualified workers. Amendments to some provisions of the Federal Law have also been made, namely: providing grants for students, higher salaries for teachers involved in vocational training of future skilled workers, increasing the postgraduate levy payments and dismissal compensation up to 7%. In 2017, the German government has allocated more than 500 million Euros for the implementation of the Federal Law on the promotion of education. Besides, the Credit Union for Recovery (ger. Kreditanstalt fьr Wiederaufbau, KfW) has paid scholarships for the future qualified workers in the amount of 325 million Euros. In general, Germany spends 825 million Euro annually for the implementation of the reform laws [4].

Conclusions. Having studied the modernising issues of German vocational education and training, it should be said that the reforms are carried out in three main directions: 1. Social: encouraging the population to obtain academic degrees in order to ensure a high level of literacy in Germany; involving people to continuing vocational education as a guarantee of successful employment and self-development of future qualified people; 2. Economic: federal support to youth participation in the workplaces within the country and abroad in cooperation with the EU member states; the involvement of industrial and commercial companies in vocational training to improve the quality of the national workforce; providing higher vocational institutions as structural elements of the university education system of Germany with the university status to adapt vocational education to the needs of the labor market and to increase the scientific capability of the state. 3. Financial: financial stimulation of educational projects by the Federation and the federal states in order to provide Germany with the high-quality human resources; federal financial support of higher education institutions for the development and implementation of projects for the scientific and socio-economic development, providing Germany with the image of the country that has an attractive research location.

Summarizing the contents of the article, it should be pointed, that the reform of vocational education and training in Germany is carried out in close co-operation of three main structural elements: Federation -- federal state -- education institution. The first two elements (the Federation and federal states) are characterized by the subjective reform efforts aimed at increasing the educational and scientific level of Germany and providing high-quality human resources for the state's economy.

The third structural element (education institutions), being under the influence of globalization factors within the country and in the world as a whole, is considered to be the subject of a reform process, that corrects, reorganizes and improves educational activities in order to ensure the high quality of the academic and vocational training of future skilled workers as well as managerial and supervisory staff. In this context we support the idea that as major public institutions, universities can be considered either as subsystems of the state or as independent institutions that nevertheless are strongly affected by the nature of the state [7].

Generally speaking, the modernising of vocational education in Germany is directed, first of all, towards: 1. the providing of high-quality vocational education and training of future specialists in accordance with the needs of the national and world labor market; 2. the society encouragement to pursue lifelong learning as a guarantee of the occupational growth and competitiveness; 3. the guaranteeing federal support to the youth in the process of vocational training and employment. Thus, Germany's experience in reforming the vocational education is comprehensive and prosperous and can be successfully used by other countries.

References

1. Analysis and overview of NQF developments in European countries. 2013. Annual report 2012. European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 338.

2. Aufstieg durch Bildung [Getting ahead through education]. Offizielle Webseite des Bundesministeriums fьr Bildung und Forschung [Official website of Federal Ministry of Education and Research].

3. Bildung und Forschung in Zahlen 2016 [Education and research in numbers 2016]. Internationale Vergleichsanalysen [International Comparative Analysis]. Referat Statistik [Report of Department of Statistics], 106 p..

4. Bundesausbildungsfцrderungsgesetz [Federal Education and Training Assistance Act]. Offizielle Webseite des Bundesministeriums fьr Bildung und Forschung [Official website of Federal Ministry of Education and Research].

5. Excellence Initiative (2005-2017). Offizielle Webseite der Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [Official website of the German Research Foundation].

6. Germany: Ongoing Reforms and Policy Developments. Official website of Eurydice.

7. Maurice Kogan, Stephen Hanney. 2000. Reforming Higher Education. Higher education policy series. Vol.50. : 272 p..

8. Rupert Maclean and David N. Wilson. 2009. International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work. Bridging Academic and Vocational Learning. Vol. 1(6). : 3036-23 p..

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