Learning for the Working World: Vocational Training in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The German education system is the responsibility of the 16 federal states. The federal government plays the leading role in regularizing the on-the-job section of occupational training in the dual system. Other forms of occupational training are full-time vocational schools and further full-time vocational training schools. The on-the-job part of the dual system goes back to the medieval crafts guilds. With the introduction of compulsory attendance in vocational schools for apprentices in the 1920s, trade training became dual. The main location of vocational training within the dual system is the employing firm, which must have suitable instructors and comply with training regulations. Inplant training is supplemented by interplant instruction courses and an interlinked training system. Coordination between the vocational training school and the firm is one of the major problems in the dual training system. Career information is provided only at main schools. Most large cities now have Careers Information Centers. Recruitment efforts are aimed at both able and less able youth. Special training programs are available for disadvantaged and handicapped individuals, foreign youth, and women. State-financed vocational further training has been chiefly concentrated on interplant programs. Further development of vocational training is influenced by work force requirements and demographic development. (Appendixes include a glossary, addresses of 13 important ministries and other organizations, and 5 references in German.) (YLB)