Germany’s dual vocational-training system: Possibilities for and limitations to transferability

Abstract

Germany’s vocational education and training system, the so-called dual system of vocational education, has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Within the dual system, the company provides practical training while the vocational school supplements this on-the-job learning with theoretical instruction. Furthermore, it is a complex and historically conditioned institutional structure with a large number of differing actors, responsibilities, interests and logics guiding action. Major hurdles in the implementation of dual vocational-training systems are, for example, companies’ lack of willingness to provide training positions in their organizations and the lack of vocational education’s social acceptance. An exact replication in the sense of a 1:1 transfer to another country is thus unrealistic. Any country wishing to import a foreign vocational education and training system must take existing framework conditions into consideration as well as its own educational, social and economic objectives. Reforming education systems is a complex undertaking that needs thorough consideration and considerable patience. And it is best seen as a two-way process, offering both parties an opportunity to learn from one other.