The Chamber of Crafts and Skilled Trades Münster (Handwerkskammer Münster, HWK), established in 1900, is a regional body incorporated under public law and is responsible for some 27.000 crafts firms and business with approximately 150.000 employees and 17.000 apprentices in the district of the chamber. The chamber employs ca. 270 employees and 360 freelance teachers. The large competencies of the chamber in the field of vocational education and training are concentrated in general on fostering VET and in specific on: Kontaktstelle Ausland since 2003 implementation of exchange programmes for apprentices and skilled workers as well as participation in European Projects, master of crafts qualification in 32 of 94 crafts professions, supplementary vocational training for apprentices in 32 crafts professions, postgraduate professional education etc. Since 1990 participation in numerous European Programs (COMETT; FORCE; INTERPRISE; PHARE; OUVERTURE; LEONARDO DA VINCI I + II; SOKRATES-GRUNDTVIG; ADAPT, EQUAL).
The EU Service Centre for Business and Vocational Training is part of the District Administration Münster. The Centre is a service orientated institution of the School Supervisory Board and cooperates in projects with the 38 vocational colleges of the region as well as with enterprises, chambers, universities, seminars of teacher-training.
The function of the EU Service Centre is to initiate, realize and evaluate national and international EU projects. So far the Centre has conducted projects of the LEONARDO Programme (mobility and pilots), the EU initiative EQUAL and INTERREG IVA as well as other support programmes of the ESF (European Social Fund). Furthermore the EU Service Centre provides for the distribution and embedding of project result in regional and national networks with members ranging from the Ministry of School and Further Education in North Rhine-Westphalia to the EU Service Centres of the other District Administrations.
In close cooperation with the Vocational Colleges “Max-Born-Berufkolleg Recklinghausen” and “Technische Schulen des Kreises Steinfurt” the EU Service Centre as a functional and administrative authority is taking on the project tasks.
The Max Born Vocational College as NRW Europe-School sees a focus of its work in the promotion of the European idea by any means necessary. Therefore the school not only participates in Socrates, Comenius and Leonardo EU programmes, but also places a special emphasis on the promotion of apprentices. The possibility of cooperating with the Handwerkskammer Münster and the WHKT was used already in the development of the “Europe Assistant” and therefore the school will also participate in the development of new ZQ GVA and support it.
The Max Born Berufskolleg educates in the fields of metal and electrical engineering, construction and wood technology as well as design and orthopedic technology. Currently approximately 3200 students are taught in either full or part-time. The school teaches all graduations of the secondary level from vocational qualifications to a general higher education entrance qualification, often in the combination of vocational qualification in accordance with federal law.
The Technische Schulen Steinfurt is a commercial-technical VET school in the rural area in the western part of the county of Steinfurt. Responsible body is the county government which has high-quality equipped the school and has therefore enabled it in the past years to offer qualification which copes with current technological challenges and ensures the implementation of a holistic training approach. Not least due to the schools location close to the Dutch boarder, the school perceives itself as a training provider which vital concern it is to prepare students for a living in a united Europe and globalized world. Therefore it is necessary to develop comprehension of the diversity of European cultures and countries, to detect similarities and to abolish preconceptions. A particular objective of a VET school should further be to highlight professional prospects which arise from a united Europe and globalized world. By means of a continuous expansion of European activities during the past 20 years, by implementation of the approved additional qualification “Europe Assistant in Crafts”, by developing networks with other European schools and by participation in European projects and contests a clear European school profile has been developed.
Since 1951 the Forschungsinstitut für Berufsbildung im Handwerk an der Universität zu Köln (FBH) has surveyed special problems of VET in SMEs, especially in the crafts sector. Being a research facility within the German Crafts Institute (Deutsches Handwerksinstitut, DHI) the FBH is responsible for the topics “vocational education and training”. Furthermore it is a member of different nationwide networks concerned with vocational education and training in the crafts sector. It is on the committee of the Deutscher Handwerkskammertag (DHKT) as well as the Central Association of the German Crafts Sector (Zentralrat des Deutschen Handwerks, ZDH). In the frame of international projects concerning VET-sciences especially topics like professional mobility or comparison or recognition of qualifications are treated. The testing of relevant European instruments – like the European Qualification Frame (EQF) or the European Credit Point System for vocational education and training (ECVET) – play a major role.
The formation of composite building services Saxony-Anhalt e. V., the daughter of the Association for Sanitation, Heating, Air Saxony-Anhalt serves SMEs in the industry for more than 10 years in the area of training. The Association currently employs 5 staff and a student office clerk in the offices of Magdeburg and Halberstadt. Its purpose is the support of SMEs in the field of education and training.
As part of the ongoing federal project JOBSTARTER, Project "ACTIVE training in building technology" will be annually, 80 additional training places in the building services industry in the counties of Magdeburg and Halberstadt Agency acquired and occupied. The activities under the project include the implementation of guidance measures, the acquisition and occupation of accurate register of training courses, the training management and the implementation of internships abroad. The BV has to a network of competent partners at home and abroad.
The association bildetet addition of about 80 apprentices in the state supplement program / apprenticeship program in eastern industrial-technical and commercial occupations.
Since 2003, overseas internships and trainers travel will be organized in the framework of European and bilateral programs such as gjør det, Training Bridge, Leonardo da Vinci. In addition, the association is involved in various federal and EU projects, for example, "Internationalization of services in the trade" and as partners in innovation transfer projects.
The BV has extensive contacts with many foreign partners.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
[Translate to English:] Französische Europaassistenten starten am 18. November mit ihrem Unterricht