"Increasing the willingness of young migrants to undertake an apprenticeship"

This initiative is part of a seven stage project of the development partnership M.A.R.E. - M.A.R.E. belongs to the EU-programme Equal

In the year 2001 nearly 3500 young people under the age of 25 years were registered as unemployed in the cities of Frankfurt and Offenbach as well as in the districts of Main-Taunus and Offenbach . Approximately 40 per cent of those registered did not have a German passport with the rate of young people coming from a migrant background estimated to be as high as 60 to 70 per cent.

The CGIL-Association for Education wants to change this situation through the project “Increasing the willingness of young migrants to undertake an apprenticeship”. Through the utilisation of different measures and methods young people will be made more aware of the topic “apprenticeship”.

The work of the project focuses first on young people of Turkish, Italian and Moroccan origin as these target groups are strongly represented in the Rhine-Main region and show considerable difficulties in dealing with the search for an apprenticeship and the pursuit of their chosen career path.

For more information see the report “The situation of migrants in the region of Rhine/Main”.

“Increasing the willingness of young migrants to undertake an apprenticeship” is part of a seven stage project of the development partnership M.A.R.E. – which stands for migration and work in the area of Rhine-Main.

Goals

The aim of the project is to increase the willingness of foreign youth to undertake an apprenticeship.

An important contribution to this is made by different persons and institutions like schools, administrations, and parents etc., who are involved in the apprenticeship process. We want to bring together the different persons involved and intensify the exchange with each other. Also playing an important role are the “multiplicators” who are native speakers of different nationalities acting as role models and providing encouragement for young people.

Apprenticeships are worth it, as this is how the professional chances of young migrants in the labour market will increase, besides a school-leaving qualification and an introduction into the workforce will help lead to a more successful integration.

Young people coming from a migrant background are not the only ones that can profit from the work of this project, the regional economy of Germany can also enormously benefit from an improved apprenticeship situation among young foreign migrants. The support of the Chamber of Industry and of Commerce as well as the Chamber of Crafts underlines that even for the industry and for the enterprises it is worth while to train young people of foreign origin. Their potential in speaking two languages and their knowledge of different cultures are of a great value in an increasing globalisation of the markets.

Measures and methods

Building up a good working network is of particular importance for carrying out our goals. In this network there are “multiplicators” (native speakers of different nationalities acting as role models), as well as schools, administrations, chambers, offices, trade unions etc.

“Multiplicators”

The “multiplicators” have made their own life experiences as migrants and have experienced the difficulties of entering the workforce and integrating into society. They can assist in a special way and be of great help for young people and the parents by supporting them in their chosen career. They give for example a presentation at parents’ evenings, visit schools or speak directly to the young participants.

Schools

We work together with the schools of the region, which show an especially high rate of foreigners. Together with the teachers and the school leadership we carry out information sessions for young people and their parents in the respective language of origin.

Administrations

The administrations and the employees of youth centres are made aware of this topic. Also in these areas there are people, who would like to be informed regarding the situation and initial position of young foreign people.

Chambers, offices, trade unions etc.

We engage them as solid partners and enable a specific exchange of information.

Public relations work

To reach our targets and to achieve a large widespread effect we believe in a strong press and public relations presence.

We gain media institutions as partners for our campaigns and carry out regular background talks with the local journalists in which we inform them about the situation of young people of foreign origin. Not only do we contact the German speaking media but also the publications and programmes which appear in different languages.

As a service we produce specific information material, videos and audio plays in different languages and carry out an info campaign like, for example, the poster campaign with the message “training is worth it - also for you!”, which is directed at schools, migrants representatives and youth centres.

We are also active in the area of sport and allow for example chosen international youth football teams to run onto the field wearing shirts advertising “training keeps fit”.

As a CGIL-Association for Education we work with a multicultural expert team and have access to widespread networks. At our disposal we have a coordination centre with an extensive data bank.

M.A.R.E.

A world of projects and hopes.

The project “Increasing the willingness of young migrants to undertake an apprenticeship” is part of a seven stage project of M.A.R.E., which stands for migration and work in the area of Rhine-Main - regional development partnership.

M.A.R.E. belongs to the EU-programme Equal.

The target group of the whole project are unemployed migrants of all nationalities. By giving them specific advice it is not only intended to increase their professional qualifications and to make their access to the labour market easier but also to increase their participation in apprenticeships. Through the course of the project quality standards will be worked out for those types of integration offers, which can be also used by the existing institutions of the regional authorities.

The project is promoted through the community initiative “Equal” of the European Union. Altogether there are 16 development partners as well as twelve strategic and two trans national partners.

In January 2002 M.A.R.E. started its preparation phase. First of all the 16 development partners had to coordinate themselves and work out different concepts. Since May 2002 the second part of the project has started: the concrete realization of the seven parts of the project. Until June 2005 these parts of the project will be concluded and will have worked out for each of the central topics methods and measures that offer a pilot profile for the region of Rhine-Main. The knowledge gained will then be transferred into lasting structures through the module “Mainstreaming”. This way for example a guideline will be worked out to train the intercultural competence of the administrative forces.