At the beginning of April, a delegation from the National Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) from Ghana visited LIfBi. The background to this is a long-standing cooperation between the CTVET and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), as part of which members of the commission visited various institutions in Germany in spring 2025. In Bamberg, the National Educational Panel Study and the LIfBi Research Data Center in particular were presented to the delegates.
LIfBi Director Prof. Dr. Cordula Artelt introduced the guests to the institute and its history - from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which started as a third-party funded project at the University of Bamberg in 2009, to the founding of the institute and the large number of different research projects conducted at LIfBi today. Dr. Michaela Sixt, Head of the NEPS Development Department at LIfBi, then explained the structure, development and significance of the National Educational Panel Study in more detail and answered the Commission members' many questions.
The third part of the visit was dedicated to the LIfBi Research Data Center (RDC). Dr. Daniel Fuß and Dr. Lydia Kleine presented the function and tasks of the LIfBi's RDC as well as the various offers and services for data users. They also addressed aspects of quality assurance in the preparation and provision of data and outlined the integration of the LIfBi-RDC into the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) and the German Data Forum (RatSWD).
The cooperation between BIBB and CTVET includes mutual support in VET-related activities, a continuous exchange of knowledge and information in the areas of VET reporting/data reporting, organizational development, dual VET, peer learning and, in the future, cooperation in VET research. The joint activities currently consist of the development of a Ghana TVET report, the establishment of steering mechanisms and structures for Ghanaian dual VET and cooperation in the “Bridging Innovation and Learning in TVET (BILT)” project, which is coordinated by BIBB and the United Nations International Center for Vocational Education and Training (UNESCO-UNEVOC).
The CTVET was established as a sub-agency of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education (MOE). It is responsible for the regulation, promotion and administration of vocational training (TVET) with a view to transformation and innovation for the sustainable development of the country.