Print version Recommend this page Press release
11/ 2010
Bonn, 25.03.2010
"Au revoir" and "Alles Gute" - First exchange of trainees with France in Bonn government offices completed successfully
It is a matter of course for many school students, and now it ought to become a firm component of vocational education and training: acquiring skills and experience by spending time abroad. It was for that purpose that the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) initiated the first exchange for trainees from various Bonn institutions, and it has now said goodbye to the 13 French young people who worked in Bonn from 8 to 26 March. "Such international experience is of great value for one's career. Trans-border mobility plays an ever greater role in an increasingly unified Europe. When young people are given the chance to experience mobility they not only further develop their intercultural and vocational skills, they also improve their chances in their careers and in the labour market", is how BIBB President Manfred Kremer praised the readiness of a total of 26 young people to look beyond the ends of their noses when concluding this "pilot project" in the presence of Angelica Maria Kappel, mayor of Bonn, Jean-Marie Haas, director of the partner school from Forbach in Lorraine and representatives of the participating German and French institutions.
From 14 September until 2 October 2009, in the context of a project conducted by the Franco-German Secretariat for Exchanges in the Vocational Education and Training Field (DFS) with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), for the first time, 13 trainees from Bonn completed three weeks of practical training in commercial trades in partner institutions in Forbach, France. The young French people worked and trained with their "tandem" partners in the participating institutions in Bonn (the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the German Research Foundation, the Federal Railway Authority and the BIBB). The young people's stay abroad is certified by the European education certificate, the "europass Mobility". The qualifications and competencies acquired are documented in that certificate, introduced by the European Commission in 2005, and are recognised throughout Europe.
For further information see www.bibb.de/de/52596.htm or www.europass-info.de
For press photos on the event see www.bibb.de/pressefotos
Contact person at the BIBB: Hans-Joachim Kissling, Tel.: 0228/107-2002, E-mail: kissling@bibb.de
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