Print version Recommend this page Press release
07/ 2009
Bonn, 12.02.2009
Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Heister-Neumann and BIBB President Kremer award the "WIP 2009" to five winners
This year sees the ninth conferment of the "Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training" (WIP), awarded by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) to recognise innovative and forward looking ideas in continuing vocational training/in-company continuing training. The "WIP 2009" (www.bibb.de/wip ) carries a cash prize of €2,500 and was presented to each of the five winners by Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs of the State of Lower Saxony Elisabeth Heister-Neumann and President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Manfred Kremer this Thursday as part of the programme of events at the "didacta" education fair" in Hanover.
Elisabeth Heister-Neumann, Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs of the State of Lower Saxony: "The knowledge and skills of our specialist staff working in companies are our greatest resource. The topic of continuing training needs to be accorded an overriding degree of significance, especially in economically difficult times. Once the crisis is over, the advantage will be in the hands of those who have used the transitional period for innovation. This applies to the competences of employees as well as to new products. The State of Lower Saxony has been funding projects driving forwards new developments in initial, continuing and advanced vocational training for a number of years."
Manfred Kremer, President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Train-ing (BIBB): "The innovative concepts which the prize winners of the ,WIP 2009' have produced sends out promising signals for the future structuring of vocational training in Ger-many. Their projects and initiatives are helping to train skilled workers, retain jobs and secure the competitiveness of the economy. More than 200 concepts are submitted to BIBB each year, and these provide us with a valuable impetus for the further development of initial and continuing vocational education and training." (This quotation is available for download as a German language sound file from http://www.bibb.de/Pressease/wip).
The "WIP 2009" prize winners:
Three clinics - two countries - one course of study "Bachelor of Nursing".
In-service training for nursing staff
Evangelical Hospital, Klinikum Oldenburg gGmbH, Pius Hospital, Oldenburg
The continuing training concept developed by the Hanseatic Institute founded by the three Oldenburg clinics working in conjunction with a Dutch institute of higher education improves the quality of care provision and patient satisfaction and increases the attractiveness of the nursing profession. Experienced nursing staff are trained to take on new, more responsible functions in middle management or in intensive care by undertaking the innovative course of study on an in-service basis. The project exemplifies successful transnational cooperation between companies and institutes of higher education and permeability between vocational training and higher education. Contact: Frauke Wiedermann, Tel.: 0441 / 36189352, e-mail: wiedermann@hanse-institut-ol.de ; Internet: http://www.hanse-institut-ol.de/
e-learning for craft trades: "Overcoming conflicts in training and in the company"
State Association for the Promotion of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in North Rhine-Westphalian Craft Trades, Düsseldorf
This prize winning project approaches the sensitive topic of "dealing with conflicts", an issue which is often emotionally charged and a source of trepidation, with the help of an innovative and successful e-learning concept. Five learning units featuring typical cases of conflict from craft trades practice raise awareness of the topic via the high proportion of interactive tasks they contain and encourage participants to address their own conflict behaviour. The project is making an important contribution towards reducing the high number of contractual termina-tions which occur in training and employment as the result of conflicts. Contact: Thomas Waxweiler, Tel.: 0211 / 30108-390; e-mail: waxweiler@lgh.de ; Internet: http://www.lgh.de/
Fibre composite plastics practitioners
Plastics Continuing Training Partnership lead managed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manu-facturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM), Bremen
Training employees to deal with innovative fibre composite plastics strengthens the national and international competitive position of the plastics manufacturing industry. The sectors particularly affected here are wind energy power plant construction, shipbuilding, the automotive sector, aviation and aerospace. The contents of this four-week training course, which has been designed by trade and industry practitioners and academic researchers, have been adapted to the requirements of the companies and of the market. 180 participants have suc-cessfully completed the course since May 2007. From 2009, four additional one-week course modules will facilitate improved and more flexible integration of the continuing training into the companies' business processes. Contact: Dr. Silke Mai, Plastics Competence Centre Bremen and Bremerhaven, Tel.: 0421 / 22 46-400; e-mail: silke.mai@ifam.fraunhofer.de; Internet: http://www.kunststoff-in-bremen.de/
Fit for company succession
Lower Lusatian District Craft Trade Workers Association, Finsterwalde
This is a joint initiative by companies, regional craft trades organisations and schools which offers high-ability trainees and journeymen an additional training or in-service qualification leading to the advanced training qualification of "Certified Senior Technician". This is recog-nised as Part 3 of a subsequent master craftsman training course, which should ideally fol-low. The training course is based on company sponsorships and provides incentives and assistance in overcoming the growing challenges facing the Elbe-Elster Valley and the Lower Spree Forest area of Lusatia, in finding suitable company successors and in retaining young skilled workers within the region. Contact: Ellen Lösche, Tel.: 03531 / 718784, e-mail: info@finsterwalde-khw.de
Re-entry to the labour market via networking
Supervisory and Service Directorate of the Rhineland Palatinate
In its capacity as a family friendly local authority, the Rhineland Palatinate Agricultural Office offers continuing training courses delivering exemplary organisational provision and address-ing the topics of parental leave, integration and occupational development of skilled staff re-turning to work and company knowledge management. The prize winning concept reflects the interests of the varied collection of "comeback" groups involved by offering a flexible and individualised blended learning course supported by company sponsors and a distance learning tutor. The focus is on improving participants' self-directed learning skills and their ability to deal with new media. Effective group work serves as a vehicle for the imparting of specialist content and for promoting readiness to make greater use of the network to share knowledge with one another.
Contact: Beate Bimmer, Tel.: 0261 / 120-2658, e-mail: beate.bimmer@addko.rlp.de;
Internet: http://www.add.rlp.de/
The BIBB Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training (WIP) is sponsored by the didacta Educational Association, the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper and managerSeminare.
