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In a recent interview in “Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik”, Prof. Backes-Gellner talks about the dual education system. Her main points are:
First, academic education is not generally the better way to go. Young people should decide given their ability and disposition. To obtain a solid education at the beginning and to participate in life-long learning in later life is much more important than the decision between vocational and academic education.
Second, in countries with a dual education system, firms’ innovativeness strongly benefits from the interaction of workers with a strong academic as well as workers with a strong vocational education background. The two types of workers have different, but complementary qualifications that foster firms’ innovation capacities.
Third, the dual education system provides a solid basis of skilled workers that are certainly a competitive advantage for countries with this type of educational system.
The interview has been published in Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik and is available here.