In Germany there is a lower rate of further training than in many other countries and as a result there is a worsening shortage of skilled workers.
(Photo: obs)
Berlin In order to combat the increasing shortage of skilled workers, Germany must expand its system of further training – and the Bertelsmann Foundation demands that it should be based on countries like Austria and Denmark.
In Austria, for example, there has been full-time educational leave since the 1980s, which was later supplemented by part-time training – both of which are state-financed. Denmark has a nationwide modular continuing education system.
According to the Bertelsmann study, the weaknesses of the German system are blatant: there are many further training opportunities, but they mainly reach younger people who are already well qualified. Further training and retraining are financed by the state, above all for the unemployed or employees who are threatened by unemployment, for example through the relatively new Qualification Opportunities Act.
People with a job who want to expand their qualifications would have few opportunities and would only be supported by the ascent Bafög. Experts have been warning for years that the result is significantly lower continuing education rates than in many other countries (see chart) and an increasing shortage of skilled workers in an international comparison.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The traffic light government has promised a remedy in the coalition agreement, Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) wants to create “access to further training for everyone” with a “life chance student loan” and educational savings. There are no concrete plans yet.
That’s not enough, warn Bertelsmann experts such as Katharina Bilaine: “Because further education in the middle of working life often fails due to a lack of time, Germany needs a flexible training time, either full-time or part-time – for everyone.” A conditional legal right, that employers cannot refuse without objective reasons should help to anchor the instrument.
The condition would be a concrete individual goal and the acquisition of qualifications that are not company-specific and can later be combined with other modules. The spectrum should be much broader than today, i.e. not just include advanced training or the catching up of qualifications.
Bertelsmann recommends “wage replacement benefit without means test”
Bilaine said there would need to be far more funding than today to enable those workers who have to reduce their working hours or take time off work to participate.
The author of the study recommends a “wage replacement benefit without a means test, approximately in the amount of unemployment benefit”. So that low earners and part-time workers are not disadvantaged, they should receive higher rates or a minimum sum without the need for a new instrument.
Multi-year qualifications could also be supported by a further education grant. This should be open to everyone, regardless of an application from their company or a specific problem in the respective company or industry. That would go far beyond the existing Work of Tomorrow Act and the Qualification Opportunities Act.
Financing could be organized via the Bafög, as indicated in the coalition agreement, or along the lines of the Austrian specialist grant or the Swedish adult grant and should therefore also be open to the self-employed.
Savings accounts such as the free space account indicated in the coalition agreement could be used to supplement other services, “on their own they do not provide sufficient financing for comprehensive further training,” warns expert Bilaine.
Recognized partial and additional qualifications as in Denmark
The basis for the new world of further training must be a “Germany-wide system of recognized partial and additional qualifications”, such as exists in Denmark. “Everyone should be able to complete and combine different elements that fit their individual experiences and inclinations, but also the operational and labor market environment,” says the study.
In Denmark, qualifications can be acquired from different educational institutions and modules from very different educational contexts can also be combined to form a formal qualification.
In order to raise the treasure trove of non-formal skills, Bertelsmann recommends certifying them across the board. Germany could learn from the recognition system that already exists for migrants and refugees, who are far less likely to bring formal qualifications with them from their homeland.
In Denmark there is a legal entitlement to a competence assessment procedure. Such informal, certified skills should also have a very practical value, for example by shortening the duration of later vocational training or by being recognized as a partial qualification.
More: Qualification expert Baron: “There is a lack of help for someone who wants to study again at 40”