The Association of Conservators speaks out against a confusing game with university titles for journeymen and master craftsmen. President Professor Jan Raue calls for work to be done on strengthening the specific training content, conditions and skills of both craftsmen and academics The proposals recently made by Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) on Deutschlandfunk radio were met with both approval and vehement rejection […].
The Association of Conservators speaks out against a confusing game with university titles for journeymen and master craftsmen. President Professor Jan Raue calls for work to be done to strengthen the specific training content, conditions and skills of both craftspeople and academics
The proposals recently made by Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) on Deutschlandfunk radio were met with both approval and vehement rejection. The declared aim of the Federal Ministry of Education is to clarify the equivalence of university studies and vocational training and to encourage more school leavers to take up vocational training. The minister therefore proposed the creation of a so-called “vocational bachelor’s” and “vocational master’s” based on university degrees.
The Association of Conservators criticized this proposal and spoke out “against a game of confusion with university titles for journeymen and master craftsmen”: “Instead of underlining the ‘equivalence’ of craft and academic degrees, the almost identical job titles suggest a ‘similarity’ of completely different professional skills,” VDR President Prof. Dr. Jan Raue criticized the plans of the Federal Minister of Education. He advocates not working on newly invented job titles, but on strengthening the specific training content, conditions and skills of both the skilled trades and academic players. “We can only support the demand that the terms ‘Master’ and ‘Bachelor’ should be reserved for universities. Applied to the field of conservation and restoration of our cultural heritage, the new regulation would mean that in future it will be even more difficult for consumers to recognize genuine qualifications and not be confused by a multitude of similar-sounding titles.”
Art lovers and institutions wishing to place their treasures in the hands of restorers would already have unnecessary difficulties in recognizing qualified professionals due to the lack of protection for the professional title of restorer in Germany – the new regulation would further exacerbate the existing problem. Securing the continued existence of the traditional craft in Germany is a concern that the Association of Conservators also supports. According to Raue, however, the new designations are more likely to achieve the opposite. Established designations such as ‘master craftsman’ would be devalued and the quality of advanced craft qualifications would increasingly be defined by a desired proximity to academic traditions. “This is highly counterproductive for all sides,” says President Raue.
“It would be better if both professional fields presented their profiles confidently side by side. Young talent is won by clarity and openness, not by juggling titles. Peter-André Alt, President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), takes a similar view: “We think this proposal is misguided. I have already urged the minister to refrain from amending the law accordingly.”
Degree designations must be “transparent and clear” and must not lead to confusion. For example, it must be clear what is meant in career guidance, the wording of job advertisements or when companies are looking for personnel. “The proposed designations “Berufsbachelor” and “Berufsmaster” achieve the opposite: completely different skills are assigned almost identical designations.” Alt said that it was a short-circuit to believe that the equivalence of vocational and higher education could be made clear with similar designations. “If you take this equivalence seriously – and I do – both areas should confidently present their different profiles and they should also be expressed in the designations.”
When asked about the criticism from professional associations that well-known terms such as “Fachwirt” or “Meister” would disappear, Karliczek said that both designations would remain. Only an additional designation would be created. The Bundestag cabinet is currently discussing the proposal to reform further training qualifications. Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek wants to award academic degrees such as ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Master’ in a slightly modified form to skilled trades professions in future. There are to be three new designations: Journeymen, such as bakers and hairdressers, would be able to call themselves ‘vocational specialists’, master craftsmen ‘vocational bachelors’ and those with additional qualifications ‘vocational masters’. In her own words, the minister wants to highlight “the visibility of the equivalence of vocational and academic training at an international level”. However, what is supposed to provide more transparency leads to considerable and completely unnecessary confusion and therefore triggers massive resistance.
The President of the Federal Association of Liberal Professions (BFB), Wolfgang Ewert, warns against the new regulation: “The terms ‘Berufsbachelor’ and ‘Berufsmaster’ in particular pose a great risk of confusion with the degrees of the Bachelor-Master system. This is particularly irritating for young people looking for a career and for employers”. The universities also reject the introduction of the three levels of further education and the associated mandatory new job titles – precisely because of the great risk of confusion.
