In the Main-Franconian workshops, people with disabilities are able to complete "light" dual training. This provides them with improved opportunities in the labour market following their workshop activity.
A career in the electrical sector would be Dominik Popelkas' dream. The 22-year old took an initial step in this direction by completing the dual assistant training in the electrical sector. He is one of the very first employees in the Main-Franconian workshops in Würzburg to have learned their occupation both in the workshop and in a vocational school. The new dual assistant training for people with disabilities is something very new for the Main-Franconian workshops.
People with a disability normally learn the job they will later do solely in the workshop. Vocational school teaching is not intended as part of this. At the end of the two-year vocational education and training phase, they receive a certificate. This tends to be of little value in the labour market, because it does not indicate specific capabilities. This has also changed with the new concept which the Main-Franconian workshops developed together with the Don Bosco vocational school in Würzburg in 2017: The certificate for the "dual" graduates boasts the stamp of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
What the Main-Franconian workshops created two years ago is unique across Bavaria. Although workshops throughout Germany do endeavour to offer their employees "genuine" vocational education and training. Many do this using the "harmonized education and training framework curricula" of the German Federal Association of Sheltered Workshops (BAG WfbM) These take into account content of recognised training occupations in the qualification. How well the legal entitlement to vocational education training is now implemented in practice is currently being investigated by researchers at the University of Würzburg on behalf of the BAG WfbM.
The Main-Franconian workshops developed innovative concepts for vocational education and training at an early stage, explains Würzburg-based educator Hans-Walter Kranert, part of the research project management team. This enables participants to discover the potential within themselves. For example, as a result of the dual assistant training, Maria-Lisa Kliegel discovered that she possessed an aptitude for technical matters. Kliegel is 24 years old and achieved the intermediate level school-leaving certificate, but struggled in her training due to depression: "I first dropped out of an apprenticeship as a pastry chef and then from training as a housekeeping assistant." On both occasions it was due to psychological reasons.
The new provision from the Main-Franconian workshops enables both Popelka and Kliegel to progress professionally. "It provides a real opportunity to then move into skilled worker training," explains Madeleine Leube who is responsible for "inclusion" in the areas of work and training in the Main-Franconian workshops. Previously, the workshops barely the considered the future careers of their employees, confirms Roland Stein, holder of the Würzburg chair of "Pedagogy for behavioural disorders," and who is leading the research project. "In some cases, the vocational education and training sector was regarded as purely work training."
This was not least due to the lack of money and time. "Traditionally, the role of the sheltered workshops has been to provide work for people with a disability and to finance the workshops through this," explains Stein. The educational role is a recent addition. And Jana Schmidt, spokesperson for the German Federal Association of Sheltered Workshops, knows that this is essential: "All people with disabilities have a legal entitlement to vocational education and training."
She added that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires signatory states to the convention to ensure that persons with a disability have equal rights in terms of access to lifelong learning. "As the German Federal Association of Sheltered Workshops, this is what we campaign for."
Dominik Popelkas knows that his motivation would plummet if he would have to remain in a workshop forever. He has certainly enjoyed the dual training. "The teaching at the vocational school was great," explains Popelka, who suffers from a stiffening of the joints known as arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). Popelka certainly likes the job in the workshop. But in five years he wants to be on his way. He would like to add skilled worker training to the assistant apprenticeship in order to make his way into the primary labour market after this.
Many young people arrive in the workshops with extremely mixed feelings. "That was the case for me," admits Maria-Lisa Kliegel. However, she was certainly happy to have regained some prospects for the future following two failed apprenticeships: "But I didn't want people to think I was stupid just because I was in a workshop." This time, on the third attempt, it has worked with the assistant training. Kliegel has something to show for it: a certificate bearing a Chamber of Commerce and Industry stamp. This is confirmation for her that she has the necessary competence in elements of the curriculum for vocational education and training as an electronics technician. For example, she can cut braided wire to length and crimp cable lugs. Today, people with disability no longer have just one option when they are seeking work.
The workshops recently gained a competitor from a new service provider. And according to Madeleine Leube, this is a major reason why it is important for workshops to develop good concepts for vocational education and training and for lifelong learning which are individually tailored to the needs of employees and with progression options. "This keeps us attractive as an employer for people with a disability," explains the social education worker.
Taken as a whole, the issue of "vocational education and training for people with disabilities" covers a vast field. According to special education teacher Stein, this is because the target group is very heterogeneous. People are now arriving in workshops who just a few decades ago were being regarded as "incapable of being educated" and to whom, as a result, nothing was being taught. At the same time, workshops are dealing with very intelligent people who, due to a psychological crisis, are being rejected from the everyday working process. "Some would be able to achieve the secondary school leaving certificate or go on to study, but were prevented from doing so because of their illness."