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1. Forthcoming policy developments

2. Ongoing debates

Forthcoming policy developments

Against the background of an increasing number of unfilled training places and the simultaneous rising number of young adults without a vocational qualification, the federal government has recently launched new measures in the area of vocational education and training (VET).

The Continuing Education Act (Aus- und Weiterbildungsgesetz), which was promulgated in July 2023, provides for the introduction of a training guarantee to give young people access to fully qualifying vocational training, preferably in a company. To this end, existing support programmes offered by employment agencies, such as introductory training (EQ), are to be expanded and combined with new approaches such as vocational orientation internships. As supply and demand for training places varies greatly from region to region, the geographical mobility of trainees is also to be supported with a mobility grant. In future, young people who are unable to find a company-based training place despite their best efforts will be entitled to extra-company vocational training, although this is considered to be a last resort. The training guarantee is to start on 1 April 2024; the relevant legislation was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS).

In December 2022, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the Excellence Initiative in Vocational Education and Training (Exzellenzinitiative Berufliche Bildung) with the aim of increasing the attractiveness of dual vocational training and therefore the number of potential applicants for training places. This initiative will further develop ongoing activities until 2026 and pool these with new initiatives; funding totalling EUR 750 million is available for this purpose. The Excellence Initiative aims to better promote individual opportunities for trainees and provide impetus for innovative programmes and a modern infrastructure for vocational education and training. The initiative also aims to make international mobility a matter of course in vocational education and training. The Excellence Initiative includes measures on developing career guidance (especially at Gymnasien), expanding scholarship programmes, promoting innovative concepts for initial and continuing education and training, support for outstanding inter-company training centres and expansion of existing advisory and support instruments to promote the mobility of trainees.

In the area of school education, the 2021 Coalition Agreement (Koalitionsvertrag) of the traffic-light coalition government contains various measures, including expansion of all-day schooling, in-service training for teachers, digitalisation of schools and the reduction of social inequalities. For example, the coalition agreement provides for the introduction of the Startchancen programme, the aim of which is to give children and young people better educational opportunities regardless of their parents’ social situation. To this end, around 4,000 general and vocational schools with a high proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils are to be supported with investment in a modern learning environment and positions for school social work and school development. As things stand at present, BMBF has drafted initial proposals for the programme’s design; it is expected to be launched in the 2024/25 school year. The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK) also welcomes the programme.

With the Digital Pact 2.0 for Schools (Digitalpakt Schule 2.0), the governing coalition is also seeking to provide support to the federal states and local authorities with further digitalisation of the education system by 2030. Among other things, the aim is to reduce bureaucracy in the drawdown of funds and promote the establishment of competence centres for digital and digitally supported teaching in schools and continuing education. As things stand, the Digital Pact 2.0 for Schools is set to start in 2025, although its actual implementation remains unclear. In a joint declaration by all ministers, the KMK addressed the federal government in July 2023 and called for a clear and reliable commitment (gemeinsame Erklärung aller Minister:innen) to continuation of the Digital Pact.

For an overview of further policy reforms and developments since 2021, see also the Eurydice chapter on Ongoing reforms and policy developments (europa.eu).

Ongoing debates

Problems matching supply and demand on the training market are currently a major topic of public and political debate. In addition to the developments already outlined (introduction of the training guarantee, Excellence Initiative in VET), other activities also aim at increasing the attractiveness of vocational training and thus winning more young people back into dual training. These activities are particularly important in the light of the increasing shortage of skilled workers seen in various sectors of the German labour market.

Through information campaigns such as Die Duale or Du + Deine Ausbildung - praktisch unschlagbar, BMBF endeavours to inform young people about the many opportunities offered by dual vocational training and to awaken their interest in it. The Alliance for Initial and Further Training (Allianz für Aus- und Weiterbildung) is also involved in various activities to make dual vocational training more attractive to young people and to position it more centre stage than before. One example of this is the Summer of Vocational Training initiative (Sommer der Berufsausbildung). Other campaigns are aimed at attracting young people to training in certain professions. In late 2022, for example, BMFSFJ launched the Pflege kann was campaign, which aims to provide information on employment and career opportunities in the care sector and counteract prejudices against training and the profession. The information campaign is set to run until 2025.

The various efforts of the federal government to make Germany more attractive as a country of immigration can also be seen in the context of the shortage of skilled labour. The Immigration Act for Skilled Workers (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz), which was adopted in March 2023, will also introduce new opportunities for the recognition of skills acquired abroad. In future, academic qualifications in Germany need no longer be recognised as standard and factors such as professional experience will also be taken into account by means of the ‘opportunity card’ (Chancenkarte).

In the field of school education, the issue of teacher shortages is currently the subject of intense debate. According to forecasts by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), the predicted shortfall of teachers will reach around 25,000 by 2025. In view of this, the Standing Scientific Commission of the KMK (Ständige Wissenschaftliche Kommission) drew up recommendations in early 2023 (Empfehlungen zum Umgang mit dem akuten Lehrkräftemangel) to deal with the acute shortage of teachers. It proposes the following measures:

• development of employment reserves among qualified teachers, for example by adjusting the retirement age or relieving teachers of organisational and administrative tasks;
• expansion of the potential of qualified teachers, for example through post-qualification in shortage subjects;
• relief of qualified teaching staff by students and other people who are not (fully) formally qualified;
• making the deployment of teachers more flexible, for example through hybrid teaching or by increasing the amount of time students spend learning independently;
• preventive measures to promote health, for example through coaching and (group) supervision programmes;
• taking stock, evaluation and further development of lateral entrance models.

In addition, social inequality of educational opportunity has been a much discussed issue for many years and continues to be highly topical given the disparities still identifiable not just in school education, but also in higher education and vocational training. Various initiatives by the federal government, such as the BAföG reform of 2022 or the ‘Startchancen’ programme planned for 2024, aim to improve the (financial) framework for participation in education. Measures such as the expansion of all-day childcare or programmes targeting specific groups of people, such as young people with a migration background, can also help to reduce differences between different socio-economic groups. 

The federal government’s 16th Child and Youth Report (16. Kinder- und Jugendbericht) focused on the topic of civic education (Deutscher Bundestag 2020). Key chapters of the report were devoted to formal and non-formal places of learning, such as schools (cf. Deutscher Bundestag 2020, chapter 6), vocational education and training (Deutscher Bundestag 2020, chapter 7), child and youth work (Deutscher Bundestag 2020, chapter 10), voluntary services (Deutscher Bundestag 2020, chapter 13) and digital worlds (Deutscher Bundestag 2020, chapter 9). The report sets out emerging challenges and the state of research, professional discussion and practice in the respective areas in the light of known challenges facing democratic societies (in particular globalisation, climate change, demographic change, digitalisation, growing democratic distance and democratic rejection). The commission emphasises the right of all children and young people to civic education and points out that this “[... requires] adequate long-term public funding – at municipal level, at state level, at federal level and at European level. Only in this way can it fully realise its potential” (Deutscher Bundestag 2020, p. 567).

For an overview of further policy reforms and developments since 2021, see also the Eurydice chapter Ongoing reforms and policy developments (europa.eu).