The dual vocational training system ensures the skilled labor needs of the future and provided an entry for more than 500,000 young people to start a skilled occupation, according to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research's Vocational Education Report 2014 released on Tuesday.

The report showed the trends of the apprenticeship market had changed, as more and more young people aspire to tertiary education. It is also getting more difficult to match training places offered by companies and the demands of young people.

The number of training contracts newly concluded in 2013 fell by 37 percent to a total of 530,700 in comparison with the previous year, while the number of extra-company training contracts fell by 16.3 percent to 21,700, according to the report.

At the same time, the companies have increasing difficulties in filling their training vacancies, as German Federal Employment Agency (BA) reported that the number of unfilled training places in 2013 in Germany reached 33,500.

The report also showed that the number of companies that take on trainees has declined from 21.7 percent in 2011 to 21.3 percent in 2012.

"It is one of the major tasks in the coming years to match training places and the demand of young people," said German Education Minister Johanna Wanka.

To promote vocational guidance and training maturity, the German government has launched a series of targeted measures, said the report.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will focus on strengthening the dual training system by further developing initiatives and programs to enhance the attractiveness, quality, equivalence and transparency of vocational training. Endi

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