What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country)?
In 2012, Germany passed a federal law to streamline recognition of professional qualifications. Foreign nationals can gain recognition regardless of residence status or citizenship. They can make a legal claim for recognition and receive a decision within three months. Professional qualifications obtained abroad are checked for compatibility with German professional requirements.
How was the initiative established? How was it implemented?
A national Recognition Act of 2012 entitled everybody with a qualification obtained abroad, including asylum seekers and refugees, to go through a recognition process to assess whether the foreign qualification is equivalent to a respective qualification in Germany. Before 2012, the procedure was available only for EU migrants. The Act ensures a standardized and transparent procedure governed by federal law. It has improved opportunities for individuals with foreign professional qualifications and allowed many to practise their profession in Germany, thus preventing career disruption and contributing effectively to the labour market.
The recognition procedure is generally a prerequisite for immigration of skilled workers and applies to professionals with vocational qualifications and those seeking employment in regulated professions. The Act has proven effective, as it provides quality assurance for both employer and employee and the majority of skilled professionals are employed after a successful recognition procedure
Which stakeholders are involved in the design and/or implementation of the initiative? Which sectors do they represent?
The Integration through Qualification (IQ) network has been operating nationwide since 2005 with the aim to facilitate qualification recognition. The IQ Network provides information and counselling, as well as advice on upskilling measures if the recognition procedures found the qualification to be insufficient. Upskilling measures include professional training and language tuition.
The Integration through Qualification network is a joint funding initiative operated by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Employment Agency
The network includes actors in the field of qualification recognition, such as Chambers of Commerce, municipalities, social partners, civil society and church organizations, technical colleges, language course providers and public employment services
The IQ online portal operates in ten languages and provides a way to connect with the appropriate authority to receive information about the procedure for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications
What are the impacts of the initiative in terms of facilitating lifelong learning? Who does it benefit and how?
In 2015, about 22,000 applications for recognition were assessed. Countries of origin are highly diverse; the top 20 countries of origin made up for less than half of all applicants. Romanian and Polish applicants were the largest groups, with around 2,000 applications each. Around half of the qualifications assessed were obtained in another EU country and only around 800 Syrian and 300 Iranian nationals applied in 2015. However, in the second half of 2015, 2,800 or 20% of the participants in pre-counselling at the IQ Networks were asylum seekers or refugees. More than half of these were Syrian nationals (BMBF, 2016, as cited in OECD, 2017). The majority was highly educated; about 75% of asylum seekers and refugees participating in counselling had a university diploma. However, it is unclear how many of them then entered the recognition procedure in 2015.
Recognition rates are generally high; around 74% of the applications processed in 2015 were judged to be fully equivalent to the respective German qualifications and only 3% of applications were rejected. Remaining applications were awarded partial equivalence with the possibility of participation in upskilling measures. It should be kept in mind, however, that these high recognition rates partly reflect the personal consultations received by many applicants prior to handing in their applications (around 160,000 between 2012 and 2015). This ‘pre-screening’ measure ensured that applicants already had high chances of having their qualifications recognized before submission
References:
Federal Ministry of Education and Research. 2020. Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications. [online] Available at: https://www.bmbf.de/en/recognition-of-foreign-professional-qualifications-1413.html [Accessed 10 September 2020].
OECD. 2017. Labour Market Integration of Refugees in Germany. [Online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/els/mig/Finding-their-Way-Germany.pdf [Accessed 10 September 2020].
Recognition in Germany. n.d. Information Portal of the German Government. [Online] Available at: https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/en/index.php [Accessed 10 September 2020].