As an online lecturer in funded continuing education and as a person with many private intercultural contacts, Konrad Rennert (KR) is only surprised at the lack of creativity in dealing with immigration in Europe. An ageing Europe needs young people willing to work and thus qualified immigrants, but it does not act accordingly. Initiatives by thousands of parliamentarians and politicians in the European Parliament and in the parliaments of the member states are hardly noticeable, he said.
The difficulties in obtaining a visa for the EU or Germany cause many to enter as refugees. The costs of smuggling organisations place a heavy financial burden on families and put those who come to Europe illegally in danger of their lives. Asylum procedures often drag on for a long period of time, and the transition into the world of work is long and costly, as financial support has to be provided for a long time until a sufficient income of one’s own can be earned. An ideal solution would be to create legal entry opportunities, e.g. through proof of language skills sufficient for the profession or qualifications in occupational fields in demand in Germany where there is a shortage of applicants. German companies and organisations could offer contracts with shortened training periods if credible proof of competence is available from the countries of origin. This would not only relieve the German labour market, but also the social security funds, which have to support for years until training can be started. In summary, it makes more sense to create incentives for legal entry than to erect ever higher barriers to entry into the EU.
Every German embassy should be able to advise suitable immigrants in cooperation with appropriate institutions so that they not only acquire language skills in German as a foreign language (DaF), but also receive information about professions in demand that suit them. With the help of the internet, preparation for working life in Germany can already largely take place in the home country. Certified examination centres could then establish contact with potential German employers to prepare for the integration of their future trainees and employees. Such a perspective would relieve the tense situation at the EU’s external borders and correspond to the European understanding of human dignity.
There are several hundred apprenticeship occupations in Germany, many of which are suitable for people with German as a foreign language. On the following page you will find a compilation of all framework curricula for dual vocational training:
https://www.kmk.org/themen/berufliche-schulen/duale-berufsausbildung/downloadbereich-rahmenlehrplaene.html.
Since not every immigrant has the possibility to translate, some framework curricula of KR have been translated into the most important languages of the immigrants with the help of machine translation with DeepL.
The translation of the cover sheets of KMK publications failed in part because the clerks had too little word processing skills and wrote the word “Rahmenlehrplan” with spaces after each letter. Decades ago, it was common for typewriters to use blocking characters to emphasise something. Word processors have been using the capabilities of laser and inkjet printers to highlight headings for decades.
This ignorance of the possibilities in the secretariats of the ministers of culture then leads to poor results when using search engines and machine translators. Perhaps AI will succeed in putting the meaning of 15 individual letters with spaces between them back into a meaningful context. Some recent curricula show that the possibilities of word processing have also arrived in the writing rooms of ministries.
German R a h m e n l e h r p l ä n e (Rahmenlehrpläne) are available in languages
| English | Framework curricula |
| French | Programmes d’études cadres |
| Ukrainian | Рамкові навчальні програми |
KR has provided a list of translations of the vocational training PDF documents on its website:
Framework curricula for some training occupations – Sorted by language and occupation
Framework curricula for some training occupations – Sorted by occupation and language
Companies and organisations that would like to work with KR as an online trainer and instructor will be happy to make an offer, which can be discussed in advance in a video conference.