Print version Recommend this page Press release
35/ 2009
Bonn, 01.10.2009
13 trainees from Bonn experiencing everyday work life in France first-hand
Franco-German exchanges have become a routine part of the schooling of many youths in Germany and France for years now. Such exchanges are now to become an integral part of vocational training as well. Thirteen trainees from several institutions in Bonn are currently experiencing three weeks of everyday work life in France where, until 2 October, they are completing part of their training for commercial occupations at French partner institutions in Forbach, Lorraine. During his visit with the Bonn trainees in Forbach, Manfred Kremer, president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) stated, "Stays abroad are standard practice at universities. The vocational training field still has some catching up to do in this area. In today's increasingly globalised economy, experience abroad and intercultural skills are becoming ever more important in the vocational training field as well. This project is making a contribution toward internationalising vocational training and I am pleased that two BIBB trainees are here to acquire experience on the ground. This is of great importance for an international research institute like BIBB."
Besides the two BIBB trainees, the group that travelled to Forbach on 14 September included trainees from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BAFin), the Federal Railway Authority (EBA) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Since their arrival they have been studying together with French trainees at the Blaise Pascal partner school and working in partner enterprises in Forbach. This project is being supported by the Ludwig Erhard Berufskolleg and the Berufskolleg Bonn-Duisdorf vocational schools in Bonn. French trainees are to come to Bonn in March 2010.
For the German trainees, learning the language of their host country while learning and working with their French counterparts takes centre stage during their stay in France - alongside gaining first-hand experience with everyday work life and becoming acquainted with the French social and cultural context. A Europass Mobility will be issued to confirm that the participating trainees have spent part of their training abroad. This multi-language document records organised periods of time spent undergoing training or gaining work experience abroad. The Europass makes qualifications and skills that youths have acquired in other countries transparent and comparable throughout Europe.
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training initiated the trainee exchange and played a decisive role in its preparation. While in Forbach, President Manfred Kremer will meet with not only the participating trainees and the director of the French partner school but also with the deputy mayor of Forbach and with representatives of the regional government of Lorraine and the Académie Nancy-Metz. "Our aim," said Manfred Kremer, "is to make exchanges between France and Germany an on-going, long-term activity and to expand them within the scope of our means."
The Saarbrücken-based Franco-German Secretariat for Exchanges in the Vocational Education and Training Field (DFS) is assisting with the financing, organisation and implementation of the project. DFS exchange programmes are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
