Youth unemployment and vocational training

Cedefop — European Centre For The Development Of Vocational Training

Description

Material and social standing of young people during transition from school to work in the Federal Republic of Germany
Vocational training

Sujets

• Education
• Social security
• Vocational education
• Germany

Informations

• Publié par: CEDEFOP-EUROPEAN-CENTRE-FOR-THE-DEVELOPMENT-OF-VOCATIONAL-TRAINING
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Youth unemployment and vocational training
The material and social standing of young people
during transition from school to work
in the
Federal Republic of Germany CEDEFOP
/f\ Joachim Münch/Elke Jung o.
German contribution to a comparative study of nine Member
States of the European Community conducted on behalf of O
the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Train­LL ing (Cedefop), Berlin 1980
LU Professor Joachim Munch holds the chair of Pedagogics, in
Q particular Vocational and Labour Pedagogics, at the University
of Kaiserslautern. Elke Jung (Diploma of Commercial Teach­LU ing) is a freelance collaborator
O Published by:
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training,
Φ Bundesallee 22, D­1000 Berlin 15, Tel.: [phone]­0
The Centre was established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 o.
of 10 February 1975 of the Council of the European Com­o munities
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Repu This publication is also available in the following language :
DE ISBN 92-825-1741-1
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1983
ISBN 92-825-3600-9
Catalogue number: HX-11-83-001-EN-C
Reproduction in whole or part of the contents of this publication is authorized provided
the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium 3 -
Introduction
The Centre presents the report for the Federal Republic of Germany
on the subject of "The material and social standing of young people
during transition from school to work".
1. The problems and the aims
Leaving school at the end of compulsory education, with or without
a terminal certificate, is a watershed in a young person's life and
one which is influenced by many factors - in particular:
social origins
the young person's sex
educational and vocational guidance
- employment and further education opportunities .
These factors were closely examined in the course of the Centre's
investigation into occupational choice and motivation.
Several of the studies then undertaken show that for many
youngsters economic considerations can govern the decision
to leave school prematurely. In order that young people may
have better vocational preparation and training, more and more
Member States of the EC are offering an educational maintenance
allowance and/or special training remuneration to those who
have completed compulsory schooling. In addition, a whole
range of integration grants is available, such as those provided
by .the labour authorities with the aim of improving their
employment prospects. - 4
But the amounts paid as remuneration, support allowances or
grants vary considerably; furthermore, various providers compete
with one another: grants paid by the education or labour authorities,
in-firm remuneration, social service grants and so on.
A first-year apprentice may well earn less than a schoolboy
attending an integration course run by the.labour authorities. A
young unskilled worker without any vocational preparation or
training can sometimes be better off than a trainee or someone
undergoing a vocational preparation course. It is therefore
to be expected that the various employment and further education
options open to youngsters at the end of compulsory education,
such as
full-time education (school/university)
technical/vocational school-based education
on-the-job training (technical, e. g. apprenticeship)
labour authorities' integration measures/courses
unskilled jobs as blue or white collar workers
jobless at the end of compulsory education
unemployment
compete with each other, in particular because of the various
material advantages which accompany them.
The social status differs likewise in these various forms, as the
study on emergency measures to combat youth unemployment
showed. It was, of course, impossible to consider all the factors
which, in manifold ways, determine social standing, therefore
this investigation was essentially confined to two aspects: 5 -
a) the special social status of young people in these transitional
situations resulting from legislation such as the Law for the
Protection of Children and Young People (Jugendschutzgesetz)
or the Labour Promotion Law (Arbeitsförderungsgesetz), the
associated jurisdiction and collective agreements and
b) the material status of the young people (the level of allowances
and remuneration in the various situations).
This investigation was to cover, basically, young people between
the ages of 15 and 25 years.
However, particular attention had to be paid to those under the
age of 20 as it is in this age group that the problems of transition
from school to work, in relation to the development of vocational
training, are particularly acute.
But in some situations governed by specific legal regulations
and collective agreements adult status comes later, therefore
a rigid borderline at the age of 20 has to be avoided. Furthermore,
the data already amassed at EC level also relate to young people
up to the age of 25. At all events, maximal differentiation within
this age group was desirable.
A comparison of the material and social standing of young people
with that of adults in the most important points was likewise
desirable in this study.
The inter-relation ship between school and work and the transition
of young people from the one field to the other is largely dependent
upon the associated material and social conditions. Bringing about
greater transparency appears to be a prerequisite for better harm­
onization of initial vocational training and further training - both
quantitatively and qualitatively - by the providers on the one hand
and the demand for vocational qualifications on the other. To
this extent the study can be an important decision-making aid
for the policy-makers. 6 -
2. The German contribution, result and conclusions
The investigation carried out by the authors with regard to the
Federal Republic of Germany shows that, because of the multi­
farious possible situations, this aim of increased transparency
has been only partially achieved. And this despite the great
efforts and diligence of the authors on the one hand and the active
cooperation of the experts from the Federal Ministry of Education
and Science, Bonn, the German Federation of Trade Unions,
Düsseldorf and the Confederation of German Employers' Associations,
Cologne, on the other.
Far more apparent is the multiplicity of the provisions made for the
social and material security of young people during the transition
from school to work and here the opportunities offered to young
people under the Promotion of Training Act of 1971 (Bundes­
ausbildungsförderungsgesetz), regardless of the type of vocational
training and/or further education they are undergoing, must be
emphasised.
In 1978 the provisions of this act were extended to cover pupils
undergoing one year's school-based basic vocational training
and those participating in vocational preparation measures or
undergoing one year'sl preparation, which brought
about a substantial improvement in the situation of those youngsters,
in particular, who were unable to find a training place in the
traditional dual system of linked work and training. This created
an incentive to remain at school longer and have better vocational
preparation and/or basic vocational training for those high-risk
youngsters who would otherwise enter the employment system
lacking any systematic vocational training.
Referred to in the text as the Basic Vocational Year (BVY). 7 -
General conclusions cannot be drawn from this study of a single
Member State of the EC. We hope to be able to develop these on
the basis of
a) detailed study of the reports from the other countries and
b) the synthesis report commissioned at the end of 1979
for the EC as a whole, having regard to conditions in the individual
countries, and submit them to a selected group of experts for
discussion.
Whether, and to what extent, an initiative can then be taken or
proposals made to the EC institutions, in particular the Commission
of the EC (which, in accordance with the Regulation establishing
the Centre, we are required to assist in this matter also) depends,
not least , upon these steps which have still to be completed.
But we wanted to make this report available to a specialistic
readership now, in order that the oft-expressed demand for
fuller information may be at least partially satisfied.
Burkart Sellin, Project Coordinator
CEDEFOP
Berlin, .January 1980