Economy

News - Kollegium “Berufsbildung und Fachkräfte für Sachsen” Presents Results

The Kollegium “Berufsbildung und Fachkräfte in Sachsen” – the council of all responsible stakeholders acting on behalf of professional education and training as well as skilled employees in Saxony – has presented the results of education and training for 2009.

All told, 24,487 of the 30,967 school graduates in Saxony signed an apprenticeship contract; 6,812 of whom hold state-financed non-company vocational training positions.

It was, however, not possible to exceed the number of company-internal apprenticeships attained in the previous year (20,195). This was primarily due to the demographic change. For example, the number of school graduates has decreased by almost one third over the past two years. But the economic and financial crisis has also resulted in reduced enrollment in education and training measures – above all, in many industrial occupations. The total number of company-internal vocational training positions decreased by 12.5 % to 17,675 apprenticeships when compared to the previous year. 434 of the 16,153 internal vocational training positions which companies had reported to the Employment Agencies and ARGE initiatives were still vacant in September.

It is a positive signal that the state-financed measures of the so-called transition system also decreased significantly. This applies to non-company education and training (-6.4 %), the so-called prevocational training year (-11.4 %), vocational preparation measures (-25.7 %) as well as basic vocational training in schools (-10.8 %).

In 2009, 74 applicants did not get an apprenticeship contract which is, once again, significantly below the respective value for the previous year (271). During the current placement measures, it must be assumed that the registered applicants without a position probably reported to the Employment Agencies just after they, for example, had dropped out of their vocational training. Applicants without a placement are offered alternative positions right away.

The number of first-year students has increased by 1.9 % to 21,079 persons. The proportion of courses which qualify pupils having an intermediate-level diploma continues to increase. Today, 34.1 % of these pupils continue their educational career at a Berufliches Gymnasium or a Fachoberschule, two vocational schools which both lead to the university entrance qualification. For special health care professions, which are standardized throughout Germany, a plus of 9 % was noted when compared to the previous year. This clearly demonstrates the increasing demand for skilled employees in health care facilities which follows the demographic trend. Increases are also reported for education and training in the public service sector (+30.9 %) and in the independent professions (+5.9 %).

Figure of the Month - 5,253

During the academic year 2009/2010, a total of 5,253 students, of whom 1,868 are first-year students, are enrolled in Saxony’s seven state academies of the Berufsakademie Sachsen University of Cooperative Education. According to the Statistical Office of the Free State of Saxony, the number of students, thus, increased by 43 compared to the previous year. Among the students are 64 foreigners, 42 of whom come from Austria.

Business administration is the largest field of study with more than half of all enrolled students (2,822). 2,055 students are enrolled in the technology program. 376 students are studying social sciences.