Vocational training cooperation with South Africa gains political momentum
Vocational training cooperation between Germany and South Africa is gaining momentum: the Binational Government Commission has agreed on an action plan for cooperation, and shortly afterwards the bilateral expert group launched a series of training courses aimed at further developing vocational teacher training.
The Binational Commission (BNC) is the highest coordinating body for cooperation between South Africa and Germany. It was established immediately after the end of apartheid to support the transition towards a democratic and just society and to build a new partnership with South Africa in the fields of business, politics, culture and education.
Under the leadership of the foreign ministers of both countries, the BNC met for the twelfth time in Berlin on 13 April and decided to expand its cooperation into a “strategic partnership”. Joint action plans were adopted for all thematic areas. This partnership focuses on key geopolitical and economic areas of action, such as advocating for international law and multilateral cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, peace and security policy, human rights, energy partnership and the mitigation of the climate crisis, as well as closer cooperation in business and trade and in research, development and innovation.
Another key area of strategic cooperation is vocational education and training. The Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) in addition to its long-standing activities in development cooperation and foreign economic cooperation has been working continuously with the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) since 2013. This impressively demonstrates how Germany and South Africa cooperate in a reliable, long-term and strategic manner.
The new action plan gives concrete form to the intention, formulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg in November 2025, to strengthen cooperation in vocational education and training. It builds on the current priorities for cooperation in curriculum and teaching staff development, the involvement of broad stakeholder groups, and vocational training research. In addition, there are initiatives for job creation and training within the framework of the energy partnership. The training initiatives also serve to address the shortage of skilled workers – for German companies in South Africa and in Germany, as well as for South African companies.
Symbolic of the current momentum in the cooperation, a training series was launched just three days after the BNC, aimed at improving the work- and practice-related skills of vocational training staff in South Africa. The partners in this are teacher-training institutes that train vocational school teachers and practitioners. Dr Ralf Hermann, Head of GOVET, explains:
We want to complement successful projects for the practice-oriented further training of teaching staff already in post and start right at the beginning of the skills chain. Teacher trainers at universities should be empowered to impart holistic, independent and process-oriented practical knowledge to future trainers in colleges, companies and inter-company institutions.
Dr Ralf Hermann, Head of GOVET
The introduction of new curricula, developed in collaboration with industry, offers particularly good opportunities for this, but at the same time requires the strengthening of implementation skills, emphasises Dr Ralf Hermann.
The bilateral expert group, coordinated by GOVET on the German side, will deliver the series through eight online and face-to-face events.
On the German side, Professors Michael Gessler (University of Bremen, Institute of Technology and Education) and Waldemar Bauer (University of Erfurt) will draw on their practical experience in vocational teacher training. The content structure of the series was developed by the South African and German experts at a workshop in Irene, near Johannesburg, in November last year. It is based on the areas of competence described in the ‘TVET Educator Profile’, which was jointly adopted at the bilateral workshop in November.
These encompass pedagogical, technical, planning and organisational tasks, whilst also responding to the transformations in education and work brought about by new technologies and processes.
The response to the joint invitation from the the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) and DHET to the training series has been overwhelming. Thirty university lecturers have registered for the kick-off on 16 April; they will now work together in groups for over a year and a half, alongside their own teaching practice, to deepen their teaching expertise. The format promises a mutually beneficial exchange on teaching and learning in vocational education and training.
The German-South African Binational Commission (BNC) defines and decides on high-priority issues for relations between the two countries. The joint working group on labour, social affairs and vocational education and training, in which several federal ministries participate, sets out the priorities for cooperation in these areas. It was agreed back in 2020 to form bilateral expert groups and to focus cooperation on lecturer and curricular development. In April 2026, the BNC decided to expand its cooperation into a ‘strategic partnership’. Joint action plans were adopted for all thematic areas, including vocational education and training.
GOVET plays a key role in shaping the vocational education and training cooperation of the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) and coordinates the expert group on the German side. At the end of June 2023, the joint memorandum of understanding between the BMBFSFJ and the South African Department of Education (DHET) was extended. It forms the basis for GOVET’s cooperation with its South African partners.