Dual Vocational System

Is practiced in several countries, notably Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but also Denmark, the Netherlands and France, and for some years now in China and other countries in Asia. It combines apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school in one course.
In the Duales Ausbildungssystem  in Germany, young German people can learn one of 356 (2005) apprenticeship occupations (Ausbildungsberufe). The precise skills and theory taught are strictly regulated and defined by national standards: An Industriekaufmann (Industrial Manager) for example, has always acquired the same skills and taken the same courses in production planning, accounting and controlling, marketing, HR management, trade laws, etc.

Apprenticeship section
As one part of the dual education course, students are trained in a company for three to five days a week. The company is responsible for ensuring that students get the standard quantity and quality of training set down in the training descriptions for each trade.

School section
The other part of the dual education course involves lessons at a vocational school (German: Berufsschule). The responsibility for this part of the course lies with the school authorities in every German state. Both general lessons (German, politics, economics, religion, sport) and trade-specific theory are taught.

Testing
In Germany, for most trades, the first examination takes place about half-way through the vocational training and is only to test how well the student is doing so far. Depending on the occupation, the final examination takes place after 2 or 3 years. Both exams are organized by the chamber of commerce and industry. Examinations for trained artisans are traditionally known as journeyman's tests (Gesellenprüfung).