“That is completely unrealistic. The practical part provides for setting up and wiring a stage situation. Even the basic vocational school doesn’t provide that, ”explains Sarah Stücker, co-owner of the Bielefeld company Provisuell, which works in the field of light, projection and special effects.
Stücker and her husband are training two event technicians themselves. Kevin Brotte and Peter Dettmar are both in their second year of training and should take their intermediate exams in spring 2021. “We have been on 100 percent short-time work since May – this is exceptionally possible due to the pandemic. In the vocational school, the subject matter of the first year could not be completed, ”explains Kevin Brotte. In addition, substitute hours were repeatedly canceled and teachers did not show up for lessons, emphasizes the 21-year-old. Now things are going better in the vocational school, but there is still a lack of practical work experience.
With regard to the pressure of exams, Mechthild F. Teupen, interim manager for vocational training at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, explains on request: “As long as no decisions have been made about making training easier or more flexible, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce is formally obliged to invite trainees to intermediate and final exams in order to to ensure a proper examination process and thus also the comparability of the degrees with other years. ”
Brotte and Dettmar, however, doubt the comparability. “We fear that we will be branded as age groups who have not learned anything during their apprenticeship due to corona and therefore have poorer chances on the job market later,” says Peter Dettmar.
Then there is the precarious economic situation. “Nobody can live from the short-time working allowance that a trainee receives. We are lucky and are currently supported by our parents, ”explains the 26-year-old.
For several months, Sarah Stücker has been trying to make herself heard at various ministries and to create awareness among politicians for the special situation of apprentices in the event industry. “So far, all conversations have come to nothing,” says Stücker, who can prove extensive e-mail traffic.
Their idea to tap into a funding pot from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and to found a training association of various Bielefeld companies, in which the trainees could have gained various professional experiences on a rotation basis, failed because of the money. “We would have received 4,000 euros per trainee. All the companies should have shared the money. The calculation showed that the money would have been enough for 1.37 months. However, a term of six months is binding, ”explains the entrepreneur, whose company has not generated any income since March. “We couldn’t have afforded that. A trainee costs around 1200 euros a month to run the company, ”explains Stücker.
On the other hand, the funding pots are well filled because many have failed. So far, nobody has focused on the trainees’ situation.
And so Brotte and Dettmar as well as 28 other trainees from their apprenticeship year alone are still hanging in the air.
“Apart from the fact that our trainees are currently unable to gain practical experience, no one has given any thought to how the practical part of an exam under pandemic conditions can be carried out at all,” criticizes Sarah Stücker and adds: “Our boys will have the right to education currently denied. ”
–
