Disadvantaged pupils in Bavaria can continue to receive professional support in starting their careers from the coming school year. This was confirmed by the Bavarian Ministry of Education on Friday. “Especially those who are having a hard time need our special support,” said Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (FW). He spoke of a “great success”.
It’s no wonder that the career start support project, which supports young people at special schools and secondary schools on their way into the world of work, was on the brink of late. After EU money was cut, a political dispute erupted over funding. In the last budget negotiations there was no place for the money for experienced coaches. The project was about to end.
The outcry was correspondingly great. “You leave us alone,” the students chanted. Parents, teachers, headmasters and many representatives from civil society and business also protest and started a petition. Education experts warned of the high costs of later integrating young people with no prospects into the training and labor market.
Meanwhile, negotiations began behind the scenes. Who could plug the EU funding gap? The Free Voters and their Minister of Education were under great pressure to find a solution. It now looks like this: In the future, the Federal Ministry of Labor and the Free State will each shoulder the costs of several million euros in equal shares, with the Ministry of Education stepping in for the EU and using money from possible returns. A 50/50 solution that should do justice to the phases of life: school and training.
Experienced trainers support the students
The Free Voters faction spoke confidently on Friday of a “coup”. The program is and will remain a “mainstay” on the way from school to work, said Tobias Gotthardt, interim chairman of the education committee. The Bavarian head of the Federal Employment Agency, Ralf Holtzwart, spoke of a “proven instrument”. With support, the future prospects of disadvantaged young people could be permanently improved.
Despite the late rescue operation, there is no gap in the program. As of this year, the accompaniment no longer begins at the beginning of the school year, but in January. So when the teachers and headmasters on site were able to find out who needs professional help at all. This also explains why the government parties recently voted in committee against a rescue request from the opposition: this simply referred to the wrong financial year.
With career entry support (“BereB”), experienced trainers are provided to support students from the eighth grade onwards. The coaches support the students in learning for the degree, internships and applications right through to the found training. Several thousand young people have been supported in Bavaria in this way in recent years. Among them are many whose mother tongue is not German.
According to the Ministry of Education, around 3,500 disadvantaged young people could be supported individually over a period of three years with the money that has now been raised. Scientific results indicate that this is not only worthwhile for the individual young person, but also for society as a whole. Scientists from the Munich Ifo Institute have calculated that that the benefit of the mentoring program “Rock your life” exceeds at least 15 times, in the case of particularly disadvantaged young people it is even more than 30 times higher.