German-Italian vocational education and training cooperation to be stepped up further

Germany and Italy have issued a new Declaration of Intent which extends their successful bilateral collaboration in the areas of vocational education and training and labour market policy and have also agreed additional main work focuses. The Cooperation Agreement has already been signed in Italy and will be ratified on the German side in the coming days by Bettina Stark-Watzinger on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by her ministerial colleague Hubertus Heil from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). The Italian signatories are the Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara and Marina Elvira Calderone, Minister of Labour and Social Policies.

The Vocational Education and Training Excellence Initiative launched by the BMBF is seeking to align VET in Germany in a more individual, more innovative and more international way. Cooperation with European partner countries such as Italy is a key aspect of this approach. Germany and Italy are thus displaying a joint commitment to high-quality and future-proof training for skilled workers.

The BMBF and the Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito (Ministry of Education and Merit) have been collaborating in the field of VET since 2012. They were joined by stakeholders from the Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali (Ministry of Labour and Social Policies) in 2017. In Italy, these two ministries are responsible for different specialist topics relating to vocational education and training. Numerous successful projects and joint initiatives aimed at strengthening dual VET have been conducted since this time with the involvement of various German and Italian stakeholders and companies.

The new Declaration contains a new focus on vocational education and training measures which address current challenges such as the digital and green shift in the world of work. Cooperation will now be stepped up further together with the Italian partner ministries. The German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training (GOVET) will be responsible for technical planning, consultancy and governance of the cooperation activities with Italy from the outset and will be acting on behalf of the BMBF in this regard.

Extensive activities will be continued and newly developed in 2024. These will include specialist conferences on the quality and present challenges of dual VET, measures aimed at improving the image of vocational education and training such as the awarding of a prize for excellent dual VET at companies, and the strengthening of bilateral networks of VET stakeholders from both countries.