Germany’s employers are critical of the coalition’s plan to strengthen further training opportunities for employees in Germany. According to a position paper by the employers’ association BDA, which is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin, the “educational (part) time” agreed in the coalition agreement would unnecessarily complicate the already unmanageable legal situation in matters of further education.
Today, Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) and Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) want to present the current status of the so-called National Further Education Strategy in Berlin. In their coalition agreement, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP had announced: “With an educational (part) time based on the Austrian model, we offer employees financial support for job market-related further training.”
graduation or professional reorientation
According to the coalition agreement, this should make it possible to catch up on a professional qualification or a professional reorientation. An agreement between employer and employee should be a prerequisite. The Federal Employment Agency should examine funding opportunities.
The BDA criticizes: “There are already numerous opportunities for job market-related further training funding for different target groups and with different objectives.” Instead of introducing new funding instruments, the existing ones should be brought into an overall structure. According to the employers’ association, if the goal of increasing participation in further training is to be achieved with “part-time education”, it must be financed from taxes and not from the contributors’ funds.
