"Skilled trades campus" opens in Trier

With the reconstruction of the officially opened education centre, the German Trier Chamber of Crafts and Trades (HWK) is bringing the "Fascination of Skilled Trades" to life. Training of the next generation of skilled workers can now be provided in a practical way and at the very highest level in a modern, and extremely functional building, the cost of which (€18.5 million) was covered by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) using funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

10,000 square metres of floor space with 26 modern workshops for a wide range of trades, training and conference rooms, and a cafeteria have been created and together form the "Skilled trades campus". For the renewal of the workshops, and with BMBF funding, BIBB was able to specifically provide €2.5 million to help provide digital equipment through the special program for digitalisation in inter-company vocational education and training centres (ÜBS) and competence centres.

"Inter-company training centres make an essential contribution to vocational education and training in the skilled trades. The new requirements in the occupations, in particular with regard to increasing digitalisation, decarbonisation and sustainability, are making the vocational education and training in the skilled trades even more demanding," says BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser at the opening of the campus in Trier. "In this respect, companies therefore need worthwhile support, and specialists in the skilled trades need offers they can use. The skilled trades campus is a successfully completed reconstruction project providing all that's required for high quality education and training in the skilled trades."

The opening of the "Skilled Trades" campus was also an opportunity for the Federal Ministry of Education and the Central Association of Skilled Crafts as partners in the Alliance for Initial and Further Training to mark the formal start of the “Summer of the Vocational Education and Training." This round of more than 800 events took place for the first time in 2021, and in 2022 also aims make one thing very clear to young people and their parents: training is worth it! In light of the far-reaching consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the initiative has already been very successful in terms of careers guidance and as a promotional tool for dual training. This year, key themes include careers guidance and the attractiveness and variety provided by dual training.