Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt Forum

German vocational training in global competition

Megacity governance

Energy policy in the USA


02/2007		  

[ Vocational training ]

“GET” ready for globalisation

Germany has some of the world’s best skilled labour. Training concepts developed here could help elsewhere to speed up economic development and reduce poverty. However, German providers of vocational training struggle to make their mark in global competition. An expert forum staged by InWEnt, the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) came up with ideas to improve matters.


[ Interview with Wilfried Telkämper ]

Why do development agencies concern themselves with occupational skills and vocational training?
German specialists and skilled workers have a very good reputation worldwide, and rightly so. They really are exceptionally well qualified, and, accordingly, our vocational training is highly regarded internationally. Obviously, it is a productive force and an important locational factor. Among other things, skill-training can help turn people from poor backgrounds into valued and well-paid members of the workforce. Our model has a number of strengths. The one best known is probably the linkage of schooling and on-the-job training. Adapted to local conditions in partner countries, this model could drive growth and help boost incomes of disadvantaged segments of the population. Sadly, however, the international performance of our training institutions is not top notch. Not all prospective clients understand our strengths. But we need to remain competitive. Education and training have become a fast-growing global market. It is growing faster than the automotive sector, for example.

So where does Germany stand in international competition?
Competition is tough – especially from providers in Anglophone countries. Their models and programmes have an international profile, for several reasons. One is the sheer size and predominance of the US economy, another is the fact that English is an international language. We can certainly hold our own in terms of quality, but we are not yet properly prepared to put that message across. It would be a good thing if German agencies and organisations were to present a common brand. German vocational training and its institutions do not have a real image internationally, they lack a face. We have been discussing this matter for a long time, but we have not achieved much. In order to harness the opportunities globalisation offers, we need a corporate identity. Otherwise, we risk being marginalised. That is something the Expert Forum agreed on. We need to create a real brand for German cooperation in terms of vocational training.

What does the Federal Government say?
A working title has been agreed with the two relevant ministries, the ones in charge of international development and education: “GET Successful Partnership - the German Approach to Occupational Competence.” GET stands for German Education and Training. The cooperation of BIBB, GTZ and InWEnt is a first promising step towards creating an appropriate network. The initiative is expandable. If other institutions and organisations join in, we can develop a good international presence – a global presence, spanning the developing and newly industrialising world as well as transition and industrial countries.

What German partners would help your initiative?
There are lots of candidates. Employers’ associations, for example, are involved in vocational training, with widely differing, sector-specific needs. The concerns of the automotive industry and engineering sector are different from those of the bakery trade and the financial sector. The basic requirement for joining our network is support for the salient strengths of German vocational training. These include education at school and workplace, acceptance of nationwide standards, close cooperation between public and private sector, integrated didactics, as well as research and counselling.

If you want to attract employers’ associations, your initiative must serve the private sector.
Vocational training is an important building block for German foreign-trade promotion. German workmanship is admired throughout the world thanks to the high standards of our education and training system. Successful international cooperation in this area is very much in the interest of actors from both the public and private sector. Wherever the German education and training model is adopted, new contacts and business opportunities arise.

So you are going to create a new institution to promote this model internationally.
No, that is not the idea. We do not want to create a new organisation; we want to pool our strengths in a network. Diversity, after all, is also a strength. Our aim is to harness the intrinsic dynamism derived from the original interests of the German actors. The initiative is intended to be a peer-to-peer network of non-profit German institutions. There is already a coordination group made up of BIBB, GTZ and InWEnt representatives. It is acting on behalf of the two ministries I mentioned earlier. Other ministries will hopefully sign up, too, and make use of our liaison role.

But Germany will still stand alone as a competitor in the global education and training market.
No, not necessarily. Opportunities arise from cooperation within the EU. Some recent initiatives are very interesting, including EQF, the European Qualifications Framework, or ECVET, the European Credits Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training. These are projects geared to skills, projects that specifically suit German education and training. These opportunities should not be missed. However, if we want to get our ideas incorporated in broader international programmes, we need to develop a sharper profile.

So where do you go from here?
We have agreed on a pilot phase with three main lines of action:
– First, the development of a corporate identity for German actors based on the features described, and the launch of a campaign. We want to establish ourselves as a brand with the acronym GET.
– Second, the various partners’ experts need to define a joint stand on interdisciplinary issues and spell that out in the international arena.
– Third, a common office for organising and coordinating is to be set up at InWEnt.

Questions by Hans Dembowski.


Wilfried Telkämper
heads the Industrialised and Transition
Countries Department at InWEnt
wilfried.telkaemper@inwent.org


Links:
EQF
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/eqf/index_en.html
ECVET:
http://www.embedding-standards.com/ecvet_002.pdf