Saxony-Anhalt: DGB calls for improvements in career orientation

Young people have the choice between hundreds of apprenticeships.

Saxony-Anhalt: DGB calls for improvements in career orientation

Young people have the choice between hundreds of apprenticeships. The influence of vocational orientation at schools can be great - if there is any help at all. A survey of trainees shows shortcomings - also with regard to vocational schools.

Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - According to a survey by DGB youth, the satisfaction of trainees in Saxony-Anhalt has not suffered in the pandemic. Three out of four trainees are satisfied or very satisfied with their apprenticeship and the quality of the training in the company. That was similar to two years ago. This is shown by the training report 2022, which the trade unionists presented in Magdeburg on Friday. As in the 2020 report, the vocational schools performed worse: only 60 percent of those surveyed gave top marks for their quality. The state youth secretary of the DGB youth, Fabian Pfister, attributes this to poor accessibility and long journeys, among other things.

The DGB demanded that the state provide better teaching with more teachers. Vocational schools should be closer to where young people live and easily accessible by public transport. It also needs modern equipment.

However, the survey also showed that 44 percent of trainees in their third year of training did not know whether they would be taken on by the training company. In the previous survey for the 2020 training report, it was only 34 percent. "The transition perspectives have worsened," said Pfister. This is also due to the economic consequences of the pandemic. In the end, however, the takeover rate did not change, it ranged between 72 and 75 percent.

According to the DGB, 1262 young people from Saxony-Anhalt who completed dual training in the 25 most common training occupations were interviewed for the training report. The surveys ran between September 2020 and May 2022.

The main topic of the survey was career orientation. And since the DGB finds more deficits, especially at the high schools. According to Pfister, 31 percent of those surveyed stated that school-based careers orientation helped them or helped them a lot. It was 48 percent for former secondary school students, and only 18 percent for respondents with a high school diploma. "This is a problematic finding," said Pfister.

"If we know that a large proportion of the trainees have a high school diploma, then we also need decent career orientation," the state youth secretary continued. In this way, the young people would know better what they are getting into and fewer training contracts would be terminated. From the point of view of the DGB, the state should offer mandatory careers orientation for everyone, specifically for the school types and genders.

An existing state concept is good: It starts in the seventh and extends up to the ninth grade, includes two work placements and skills assessments. Careers advisors are involved. "All of this is happening, but not in high schools."