Hou Jun, a reporter from China Economic Weekly, | Wired German report
A spirited young man in various professional uniforms, smiling, proudly saying, "I am Ich bin Azubi." ”
This is a few years ago, when a reporter from China Economic Weekly followed a Chinese media group to Germany, he was very impressed by an advertisement on the subway and street in Stuttgart (where many German car companies are headquartered).
We in China honor the skilled manufacturers as "masters", in Germany as "meister", and in Italy as "maestro".
"In Germany, vocational education is the most important way for our companies to find talents, and our automotive manufacturing, hotels, finance and service industries all rely on vocational education to send us the most professional talents." During the visit, both Mercedes-Benz and Bosch executives praised German vocational education.
According to the media, the German secondary education system can be roughly divided into four categories: gymnasium, comprehensive secondary school (Gesamtschule), realschule and vocational preparatory (Hauptschule).
According to the 2019 data of the German Ministry of Education and Scientific Research (bmbf), the number of eighth-grade students in Germany in 2018 was as follows: 9% of vocational preparatory schools, 19% of practical secondary schools, 13% of vocational preparatory and practical mixed secondary schools, 21% of comprehensive secondary schools including vocational preparatory classes, practical secondary school classes and liberal arts and science classes, and only 38% of liberal arts secondary school students who are completely based on academic education.
In German society, the acceptance of vocational education is very high, and the education system is very well developed.
Sasa, a Chinese who has been living in Germany for a long time, told China Economic Weekly that Germany has actually been diverted in primary schools, "The German primary school system is four years, and in the last year of the primary school stage, the school will evaluate each student's core subject performance, subject performance and comprehensive performance, and recommend going to the corresponding middle school." My daughter had average grades and strong hands-on ability, and at that time it was suggested that she go to the practical middle school to take the vocational education path, and at the beginning I could not accept it at all."
Compared with liberal arts and science middle schools, the curriculum of practical middle schools and vocational preparatory courses is roughly the same, the cultural classes are relatively simple, and the curriculum pressure is relatively small. Such students are likely to receive a vocational preparatory diploma or a practical secondary school diploma in the future and will enter secondary vocational schools.
"But later, through the people around me, I learned more and found that German vocational education is very perfect, not necessarily for life at once." German dual education can learn culture in schools and receive skills training (apprenticeships) in enterprises, and grasp both theory and practice. At the same time, a person's education ascent channel is not completely sealed, if the students who enter vocational schools do not want to be directly retained in the enterprise, but further accept education and training, after participating in the corresponding examinations, they can also enter higher vocational schools and even junior colleges, and even applied technical universities for further study, although similar to China's self-examination, but when applying for employment, they will not be discriminated against by the so-called domestic so-called full-time undergraduate degrees and the like. Sasa said.
"China Economic Weekly" found in the interview that Germany's recognition of vocational education is very high, and many executives of the famous German companies Bosch, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are from vocational education.
Bosch's public relations said that there are more than 2 million enterprises in Germany, close to 500,000 joint vocational education (the proportion is as high as nearly 20%), the cost of training is very high, including Siemens, Bosch, BMW, Porsche and other well-known enterprises, the proportion of these graduates staying in the enterprise after graduation is as high as 70%, which is completely "employers rushing to get".
China Economic Weekly visited the Porsche Car branch in Leipzig, Germany, where the vast majority of workers are trained by vocational education, and the cost of training each person is more than 30,000 euros. Moreover, many people are locked in by the company when they are apprentices, and they do not have to worry about finding a job on their own.
According to reports, German companies will sign contracts with apprentices, according to the contract, students in vocational school, two-thirds of the time in the enterprise to participate in practical activities, one-third of the time in school study. Students are prospective employees of the company during their studies at vocational school, and the company pays the student a monthly allowance ranging from 600 to 800 euros. Enterprises will also receive government subsidies, from the federal government, state governments, will be based on the number of students in the school to the school will be allocated, each student can receive a few thousand euros a year government grants.
German blue-collar wages may not be lower than white-collar workers, especially when they are just entering society.
Sasa told China Economic Weekly that the average annual salary of a white-collar worker who is a college graduate is about 30,000 euros, while the average annual salary of a skilled worker is about 40,000 euros. In addition, skilled workers who work in enterprises for several years can be promoted to senior technicians through examinations. Senior technicians not only have a much higher income than the average white-collar worker, but also can operate independently as a legal person and open a shop and run a factory. Of course, the conditions for promotion to senior technicians are very demanding, and the technicians must have 4 to 6 years of practical work experience, and also undergo 1000 hours of retraining, and finally must pass the examinations in 4 aspects, such as professional technology, modern economic theory, basic legal knowledge and enterprise management.
Robert Bosch, the founder of Bosch, Germany, was a mechanic, and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder began working as a retail apprentice in a hardware store at the age of 14.
"What makes me feel the most is that in Germany, no one will discriminate against children who go to the vocational education path, and parents will not feel faceless and incompetent, because even if they become workers, they have upward channels, and it is likely to become a company executive with worry-free income, let alone set a lifetime, and they will no longer be able to achieve class leaps." Sasa said so.
Editor-in-charge: Yao Kun
(The copyright belongs to China Economic Weekly Magazine, and no media, website or individual may reprint, excerpt, link, repost or otherwise use it without authorization.) ）