The dual education system originated in Germany, where a complementary system of theory and practice in education is historically anchored and widespread in various forms. Daimler-Benz AG‘s application to the Ministry of Education of the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1971 led to the establishment of a dual higher education institution, which has since operated at several locations in Germany.
A groundbreaking agreement between Colombia and Germany in 1996 brought the system to Latin America, initially through the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga as part of its dual education program in business administration. The dual system already exists at 14 universities in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Brazil (as of 2022), which form the Duale Hochschule Latinoamerica (DHLA) network in collaboration with government agencies, local companies, and the pioneering German university, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW).
Today, Latin America benefits from the high quality of the German education system. Germany is the fifth most competitive country in the world, partly because it has understood the close relationship between education and business for three centuries. During the duration of studies, which usually does not exceed 7 semesters, attention is always paid to coherence and harmonization between theoretical and practical educational processes.
The German work philosophy, characterized by critical and analytical thinking, productivity, leadership, proactivity and organizational vision, is integrated into the training program as part of the cooperation with DHBW. The Latin American universities are then responsible for teaching social values in their specific context, while the companies take on the role of transferring the knowledge to the real conditions of the working world that the students will enter. This ensures consistency with the real needs of the sector.
Thanks to the ISO 9001:2015 university standard, the recognition of the German CERTQUA certificate, possible subject-specific certifications such as the ACBSP for management and, finally, the official recognition by the Colombian Ministry of Education by Decree 1303/2019, the dual university degree already enjoys a strong institutional recognition and guarantees high quality standards.
The DHLA advocates for a uniform implementation along the lines of the German dual education at universities and is the starting point for innovation projects and the expansion of dual education in Latin America. DHLA promotes the involvement of higher education institutions and communities and the harmonious development of the system with the aim of mobilizing and transferring diverse knowledge, thus improving the quality of employees and companies, Latin America’s competitiveness and, ultimately, social well-being.
Realizada por la Red DHLA, tomada de las siguientes citas bibliográficas:
Kötschau, T., Montoya, J., Pérez, L., Ferreira, S., & Fuenmayor I. (2019). FORMACIÓN DUAL UNIVERSITARIA – INNOVACIÓN EDUCATIVA. https://www.dhla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/LibroFormacio%CC%81nDual.pdf
Rojas, G. (2018). Modelo de Educación Dual con Sabor Latino (ISBN: 978-958-99643-2-3, 114 pág). http://hdl.handle.net/11520/23562
Molina, E. (2016). Éxito combinado (76 pág). Obtenido de http://www.dhla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/LibroFormacio%CC%81nDual.pdf
RindFleisch E. & Maennig-Fortmann F. (2015). Formación dual en alemania Formar técnicos por medio de la teoría y la práctica. https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=088ded9f-5c0f-6101-3d63-70cc7e7bfeaa&groupId=287460