The state-run Traunstein vocational school II says farewell to 388 pupils. 88 graduates with an average grade of 1.5 received a state award from the government of Upper Bavaria. Of these, 35 achieved the perfect score of 1.0.
Graduates in the training occupations of bank clerk, warehouse logistics operator, industrial clerk, management assistant in wholesale and in foreign trade, office manager, sales/management assistant for retail services, legal assistant, clerk in public administration, medical assistant, qualified dental employee as well as commercial employee in the pharmaceutical sector, also received prize money provided by the administrative district and the vocational school association.
"It is, and remains, our aim to prepare all young people who place their trust in us as best as possible for their individual futures," explains Andreas Gembala, the headmaster. Gembala followed all the other speakers in thanking the teachers, the trainers in the companies, as well as parents, relatives and friends for supporting the graduates in completing their training.
Gembala urged graduates to work hard and with passion and commitment, and to remain vigilant as freedom of thought and speech, he explained, is our most valuable possession, as is being creative and thinking outside of the box.
Klaus Steiner, member of the federal state parliament, is — as a member of the Education committee in the state parliament (Landtag) of Bavaria — an advocate for the appreciation of vocational education training. He explains that at a time when academic education is under discussion, the vocational pathway is of equivalent value. He added that the vocational qualification is both a milestone and stopover. "Continue on your way with self-assurance, with confidence, looking straight ahead and do not stop", commented Steiner, offering advice to graduates as they set out on their path through life.
Deputy head of the district authority, Resi Schmidhuber, emphasised that, "The quality of training and, in particular, of vocational training is the best advertisement for our region." She also noted that vocational training was without doubt a springboard for a career and the training in particular offered superb future prospects in the local economy. With an unemployment rate of 2.3 per cent, she explained, the administrative district has virtually full employment, adding that there were currently 543 vacant trainee positions compared to only 233 school leavers without a position.
Mayer Christian Keegan said that the certificates they were holding in their hands represented part of their future. "The vocational qualification is a fantastic success." he said. He quoted Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do", adding that the graduates had acquired knowledge in the vocational school and in the training companies. It was now down to them, he said, to make something of it, to exploit the opportunities and to head off into a successful professional future.
School representatives Julia Streitwieser and Valentin Pfaffinger, emphasised in their speech that, "This qualification does not now symbolise an end and having fully arrived in the world of work," rather that it is the start of a new stage in life for them all, a stage at which it is now time to take the reins themselves and to do what makes them happy and to use this time when they are young to build an exciting future. After all, happy memories are worth more than one month’s salary.