Vocational teachers initiative supports dual vocational training
The dual vocational training system is the backbone of the German economy and internationally renowned. To ensure the future viability of the system, there is need for high-quality training of vocational teachers at German institutions of higher education. But fewer and fewer students choose these studies. Particularly in technical disciplines, for instance in the field of vocational teaching for mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or mechatronics, there is an extreme shortage of university graduates. Consequently, the number of junior vocational teachers keeps declining.
To reverse this trend, the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities (Stifterverband) has launched the vocational teachers initiative that will be supported financially by the Wilo-Foundation from the very beginning. The goal is to make university studies for vocational teachers more attractive again to new and active students and to lateral entrants so that more vocational teachers enter that profession – especially in commercial-technical disciplines. To that end, existing reform approaches, which up until now have only been implemented in some selected federal states, will be rolled out across Germany in the medium term. In addition, a nationwide innovation network on “teaching in vocational schools” will be an outcome of the two-year pilot phase.
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The Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities is a joint initiative of private sector players. 3,000 companies, business associations, foundations and private individuals are members of the association, making it Germany’s largest supporter of science and academia. The association’s mission is to further improve the education and research landscape in Germany over the long term.