Kenyan Shares on Ausbildung Program for Single Parents

A program started in Kassel to help get single parents into an Ausbildung, recently celebrated a group of new graduates with a Kenyan among them.

Susan Waithira Macharia was among the graduates in the program in Kassel and was last month celebrated at the graduation that was graced by the Mayor, Betram Hilgen.

23 year old Susan, came to Germany six years ago only to discover she was pregnant. In addition to settling into the new country and culture, she had a new baby on the way and had to catch up.

Luckily, she found out about the „Stadtnetz Ausbildung“, an initiative run by the city of Kassel in an attempt to include young single mothers into training. Last month she graduated from the 3 year Ausbildung at Jafka gGmbH in Home Economics (Hauswirtschaft).

“To meet our demand for skilled labour, our society cannot afford to exclude a whole group of young people from starting a career”, Mayor Betram Hilgen said at the graduation ceremony.

Program Structure

To ensure the young parents are able to balance between their studies and taking care of their children, the program runs on a part time basis. At the Jafka gGmbH for example, the young mothers would work from 8am till 3pm (8-15Uhr)

The content of the program is exactly the same as that of the full time program.

The program also offers a semester abroad as well as „Azubi-Sharing“, where the Azubis can spend some time at one of the other partner companies in the Stadtnetz.

 

Target Group

This program targets groups that are marginalised by the current system in addition to being young parents. These groups include:

• Applicants from the Hauptschule or those holding a Hauptschulabschluss,
• Applicants from the Realschüle or those holding a Realschülabschluss
• Migrants

 

Ausbildungen Offered

All these members offer a wide range of Ausbildung to the young mothers. Some of the Ausbildungen they offer include:

• Kauffrau/-mann für Büromanagement
• Immobilienkauffrau/-mann
• Medizinische Fachangestellte
• Tischler/in
• Maler/in und Lackierer/in
• Köchin/Koch
• Hauswirtschafter/in
• Fachkraft im Gastgewerbe
• Fachkraft für Lagerlogistik
• Gärtner/in – Fachrichtung Garten- und Landschaftsbau –
• Teilezurichter/in
• Elektroanlagenmonteur/in
• Industriemechaniker/in
• Veranstaltungskauffrau/ -mann
• Bauzeichner/in
• Metallbauer/in Fachrichtung Konstruktionstechnik
• Fachkraft für Veranstaltungstechnik
• Kauffrau/Kaufmann für Tourismus & Freizeit

 

Companies in the Program

The „Stadtnetz Ausbildung“ initiative was started in 2005 with a group of 20 single mothers. The network includes

• the city of Kassel,
• Jafka gGmbH,
• StadtBild gGmbH,
• Kasseler Verkehrs- und Versorgungs GmbH (KVV),
• Kassel Marketing,
• Gemeinnützige Wohnungsbaugesellschaft der Stadt Kassel mbH (GWG),
• Stadtreiniger and
• the Gesundheit Nordhessen Holding AG.