German Dual Education System

The dual education system combines a company apprenticeship with vocational education at a vocational school within a single course of study, and is practiced in several countries, most notably Germany, along with Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Within Germany's Duales Ausbildungssystem, students can train in one of about 250 regulated apprenticeship occupations, with the specific skills and theory taught strictly defined by national standards so that, for example, every apprentice training as an Industriekaufmann follows the same courses in production planning, accounting, marketing and HR management; in southern Germany the model also extends to a college-level system called the Duale Hochschule. The system has also been studied and adapted elsewhere, including in South Korea, where President Park Geun-hye's administration implemented a version of the German and Swiss dual apprenticeship approach to address youth unemployment.