Print version Recommend this page Press release
09/ 2008
Bonn, 28.02.2008
School - working world: Shaping the transition
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has taken on the job of running the website of the School - Economy/Working Life (SWA) programme (www.swa-programm.de ) with immediate effect. This programme has set itself the goal of developing and testing models for ways to help youths make a better transition from school to vocational training (the "first threshold"). The programme encompassed 46 projects nationwide that ran until December 2007. These projects revolved around numerous tasks that revolve around orientation, skills and coordination and that must be mastered when making the transition from school to an occupation and the working world. These innovative projects were funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in collaboration with Germany's federal states. Some of the funding was provided through the European Social Fund.
The website will be maintained by the Good Practice Center (GPC) which assists disadvantaged persons in the vocational training system and has its offices at BIBB. This new responsibility expands the GPC's transfer activities. The aim of this undertaking is to keep the good practices and findings generated through the SWA programme available - first and foremost for municipal experts in schools, for youth welfare services and for trade and industry.
The SWA projects worked on five joint issues:
- Fostering pre-vocational occupational competence,
- New forms of collaboration between school and the working world,
- Assisting specific target groups at the "first threshold",
- Innovative prior vocational learning that makes use of the internet and the
- Systematic development and organization of career orientation in day-to-day school life.
The offerings on the programme's website include a list of completed projects by state. Project findings and the materials generated during the respective project are also available for downloading. The website additionally contains numerous bibliographic tips on the subject of career orientation. Specialist events and texts from the accompanying research are also documented on the SWA website.
Further information is available in German at www.swa-programm.de
Point of contact for information at BIBB:
- Dr Friedel Schier, Tel.: +49 (0)228 107 1328; E-mail: schier@bibb.de
