“Digitalisation: a driving force behind professional development”
“Digitalisation has become a driving force behind professional development.” This was emphasised by the president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), Friedrich Hubert Esser
, in his preface to the latest BIBB annual report for 2018. “We acknowledge that digitalisation has arrived at all levels of professional development: it has an impact on almost all initial vocational and further training occupations, it changes responsibilities and requires new qualifications and skillsets. Its influence on teaching and learning materials cannot be overlooked and it is also leaving its mark on learning establishments for professional development – businesses, vocational colleges, and inter-company training centres.” The annual report highlights examples of how vocational education and training continued to develop last year with respect to these actual effects and how the BIBB contributed to this advancement.
The BIBB president expressed his concern that, in spite of all the overall positive developments and factors in 2018, vocational education and training continued to lose their appeal compared with academic alternatives. Besides meeting the challenges presented by digitalisation, improving the image of vocational education and training as well as raising greater awareness of their social and economic significance for Germany as a location for business and industry therefore remains the key role of all those involved.
The BIBB annual report can be downloaded here:
http://www.bibb.de/jahresbericht
Author: Thea Payome
