Australia Centre Series: Vocational Training and Lifelong Learning in Australia & Germany

Background

Monash University - ACER Centre for the Economics of Education and Training

Germany has long been the model for apprenticeships for young people. Germany's high rate of entry of young people to training and the relatively low rate of youth unemployment has attracted attention in Australia, where from the early 1970s the issue of youth unemployment has been a major concern.

Less well known has been Australia's achievement of high rates of participation in education and training among adults. The vocational education and training and further education systems, working alongside the university system, have made access to continuing study or remedial education very widely accessible even to persons who have not completed secondary schooling. The importance of this is enhanced in an era when the concept of lifelong learning is receiving considerable attention in policy documents.

Some understanding of the broad shape of two countries' education and training systems and economies can be gained from statistics compiled, for example, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A selection from these is given in the appendix to this chapter. What the statistics do not provide is an analysis of the different purposes and outcomes. Nor do the statistics provide an understanding of the extent to which the policies of one country could be adapted to another.

The proposal by Dr Ditta Bartels and the committee of the Australia Centre to hold a conference on vocational education and training provided the opportunity to explore a number of issues relating to the two countries, to examine similarities and differences, the emerging major issues, and ideas for addressing them.

The theme chosen for the conference was 'Vocational training and lifelong learning in Australia and Germany'. Inclusion of the term 'lifelong learning' in the title reflects its importance in the work of the OECD and of the body with responsibility for national policy on vocational education and training in Australia, the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). The Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (CEET) which was invited to organise the conference program has 'Rapid economic change and lifelong learning' as its operating theme.

Following the successful style of previous Australia Centre conferences, German and Australian presentations were arranged on selected topics. Representatives of public education and training authorities, providers of education and training and researchers were invited. Mr John Richardson from the Australian Embassy in Berlin gave the address at the dinner. The full list of speakers is shown in the program in the appendix to this chapter.

The papers do not comprehensively cover all the major issues but they do provide both data and analysis that highlight that many of the problems are similar but policies adopted somewhat different. To provide a lead in to these similarities and differences an introductory chapter by Jochen Reuling draws out a range of observations on Australia from a German perspective.

The opening conference papers presented succinct overviews of the major policies and issues in relation to vocational education and the needs of lifelong learning facing the federal governments in each country. The papers are by Paul Cowan, Counsellor for Employment, Education and Training, Australian Delegation to the OECD, and by Veronika Pahl, Director General of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Teasing out the needs and issues of the VET sector in each country are the papers by Dr Helmut Pütz, President of the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and Virginia Simmons, then director in Australia of a major institute for vocational training within a university and now of Chisholm Institute.

Higher education along with vocational education and training provides most of the post-school opportunities for formal education and training. Two papers from Australia are presented, one concerned with universities as a whole by Ken Eltis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney and one by Robert King, Rector of the Australian Defence Force Academy focussing on that college.

Changes in the economy and the commitment to lifelong learning are both changing and increasing the need for resources for vocational training. On the other hand governments are reluctant to increase their funding. Gerald Burke explores the broad issues of needs and sources of funding for Australia. Klaus Berger and Günter Walden in a paper specially prepared for this volume focus on the problems in Germany of providing training particularly in-company training within the dual system.

The purposes and effectiveness of industry training are examined by Andy Smith of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in Australia. The role of industry in training in Germany is examined from the perspective of a major corporation Deutsche Bahn AG by Ulrich Wiegand.

The institutional factors that exist to support particular policy approaches in Germany but do not exist in Anglo-Saxon countries like Britain, the US and Australia are examined by David Soskice of the National Science Centre in Berlin. Thorsten Stromback of Curtin University provides very insightful additions to the arguments.

The final group of papers focus on the provisions for youth. Jochen Reuling considers the provision and problems in Germany and options for policy. Phillip McKenzie of CEET takes on the issues for Australia. Richard Sweet of the OECD examines OECD data on employment, education and training for young people in Australia and Germany which suggests that while Germany is more successful in engaging its 15 to 19 year olds the patterns for 20 to 24 year olds are more similar than expected.

The contribution to the conference is acknowledged of presentations by Professor Bob Gregory of the Australian National University who spoke on the changing distribution of work and income in Australia and Professor Dieter Timmermann of the University of Bielefeld who examined the financing of training in Germany.

It is hoped that the conference will lead to continuing collaboration and research projects. Dr Reuling of the German Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) and co-editor of this publication visited Australia in 2001 and undertook extensive discussions with research and training authorities. Professor David Soskice is now an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the Australian National University.

The organisers were delighted with the quality of the contributions to the conference. The participants, who in addition to the speakers included a small number of noted Australian and European researchers, also expressed very positive views on the papers and the formal and informal interactions that the small conference made possible. The dynamic organisation of Dr Ditta Bartels, Rico Janke and staff of the Australia Centre, the hospitality of the German Director Professor Hans-Georg Petersen and the excellent setting at the Hotel Voltaire all contributed to this outcome. It is hoped that the Australia Centre, after its move into Berlin, will continue to provide the setting for such valuable interactions.