Around one in four training contracts is terminated prematurely. Tutoring programs are designed to help young people complete their education. Seniors often support the trainees.
Franz Caron worked as a human resources manager for many years. Now, in retirement, he wants to do his part to combat the shortage of skilled workers in Germany. He coordinates the VerAplus initiative in the Middle Lower Rhine region in North Rhine-Westphalia, a mentoring program that brings together seniors and young trainees. These are trainees who have problems with the examination requirements or with punctuality and who would most likely not be able to complete their training without support.
Height Dropout rates
About 30 percent of nursing trainees in the region are currently dropping out, says Caron. The ex-HR manager sees two main reasons for this: “Many trainees have problems with the language because, for example, they have only recently lived in Germany. However, the curricula and examination tasks are formulated in a German that even native speakers sometimes have problems with. ” The second big problem is self-organization. The VerAplus volunteers try to address where there is an acute problem, be it school deficits or private concerns.
There are currently 25 senior trainee tandems in the Middle Lower Rhine region alone. There are currently 2,151 across Germany. They usually meet in the evening – once, but if necessary several times a week. The volunteers often accompany the young men and women until they graduate.
Increasing learning deficits
According to the 2023 vocational training report, which is based on data from the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB), around one in four training contracts in Germany is terminated prematurely. “Our training surveys had already identified increasing learning deficits among school leavers before the Corona pandemic. Unfortunately, the latest PISA results confirm these experiences of many companies,” says Markus Kiss, training expert at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).
The decline in performance in the areas of mathematics, natural sciences and reading is particularly worrying from the companies’ perspective. Kiss observes that there is also an increasing lack of important social skills such as the willingness to learn and perform or the ability to work in a team.
Many companies offer programs
According to Markus Kiss, 35 percent of IHK training companies now have their own tutoring programs to support their trainees. This also includes the steel manufacturer Thyssenkrupp in Duisburg. Veit Echterhoff, who is responsible for training, relies on in-house mentoring. Every trainer in the company tries to respond to the trainees’ individual questions and provide support where there is a need to catch up.
“If we notice that there is a lot more catching up to do than others, we recommend our trainees tutoring programs that are supported by the employment agency. However, it also takes self-reflection to admit that you need that,” says Echterhoff. Of the 600 trainees at the Duisburg location, only three are currently taking advantage of such tutoring. “Most of our trainees prefer to turn to their trainers as a reference person. They know that they can discuss their weaknesses with them confidentially.”
Tutoring increases your chances of success
With the free VerAplus program, you are proud of your trainees’ successes. 75 percent of the participants have successfully completed their training so far, says Caron.
“For example, we looked after four young women from India who completed nursing training in the Middle Lower Rhine region,” says Caron. “There was a great risk that they would not pass the intermediate exam because of a lack of language skills.” The volunteers trained intensively with them – with the result that all four women passed.