Abstract
The System of Continuing Education in German VET
In Germany, on one hand vocational further education is part of the “tertiary” educational sector which consists of professional and scientific add-on-qualification. On the other hand, it is part of the “quaternary” sector which is the field of independent further education. Vocational further education follows a variety of school and vocational phases of education beforehand. It is characterised with a dynamic development and – at the same time – in-transparency as no other sector in the field of education in Germany. Pluralism and partial regulation are the main characteristics of vocational further training in Germany and there are historic reasons for this.
This article
- reconstructs the development of typical structures (institutions, offers) in vocational further education,
- presents different concepts and practices of control and regulation of vocational further education as well as
- discusses the connectivity of vocational further education to preliminary vocational training processes.