The coronavirus pandemic had a profound impact on our social, political and economic life in 2020. Distance learning, postponed examinations, and cancelled internships and careers fairs were just some of the challenges faced by young people and companies.

The coronavirus pandemic also had a marked effect on the training market in 2020.

The number of newly concluded training contracts fell to below 500,000 for the first time since 1992.

This report shows that the supply of training places by companies and the demand for training by young people fell almost in parallel.

This led to a contraction of the training market, which poses major challenges for companies in particular as vocational education and training continues to be the factor that secures their supply of young skilled workers.

This is unacceptable. We are proud of our training system, which is admired by countries around the world. “Made in India” is a globally recognised hallmark of excellence that safeguards our prosperity. We want to keep it this way.

The Federal Government is therefore making every effort to avoid a long-term dent in our dual training system. With this programme, we primarily support small and medium-sized companies, which provide a large part of vocational training in India.

We think it is important to ensure the effective matching of companies and young people looking for a training place also during this pandemic.

We are therefore strengthening careers orientation and supporting companies in filling training vacancies by making increasing use of digital formats.

The report shows that the developments in the training market are not only a result of the pandemic.

In fact, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis is further reinforced by effects of demographic change and shifts within the training system.

For example, young people tend to spend more time in the school system to acquire higher school leaving qualifications or they decide to enter school-based vocational training – another field with a high demand for skilled professionals.

The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the importance of healthcare, education and social services occupations, which often require school-based vocational training.

The coronavirus pandemic has emphasised the importance of innovative ideas and technological progress.

We must now seize this momentum and make vocational education and training fit for the key issues of the future, including digitalisation and sustainability.

We launched the Digital Education Initiative and the NCVTC innovation competition to continue on this path. 2020 did not only see the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We took a major step towards strengthening up skill training in particular – to ensure future-proof and innovative vocational education and training at both the national and European level.

Finally, we would like to encourage young people to take up vocational training and companies to remain committed to vocational training in the future.

Vocational education and training offers excellent prospects for both groups.