Transfer of IVET Systems to Other Countries: The German Example

Abstract In some countries the conviction has arisen that their traditional national systems of Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) are no longer sufficient for preparing individuals to meet the requirements of the modern world of work referring to a state of the art that is determined by global competition. An easy way to initiate necessary changes appears to be the use of systems that seem to cause economic success. This is obviously the background of bilateral collaboration agreements between the German government and the governments of Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain (here called “reform countries”) in the IVET-area that shall help the reform countries to change their IVET systems in a way that they better fit to the needs of the labour market. The “reference model” for this kind of collaboration is the German IVET-system. However, there are many conditions for implementation which need to be reflected with regard to a successful “IVET system transfer”. The article at hand will deliver suggestions how to deal with this fact properly, after the German system of IVET and its strengths and weaknesses have been shortly described.