When I moved to Leipzig in the summer of 2019, I came with the widely-held belief that German transport infrastructure was a paragon of efficiency. Arriving in August – the month during which Stadt Leipzig digs up every road simultaneously, re-routes every tram and changes the timetable for most S-Bahn trains – brought this stereotype somewhat into question.
However, my faith in German efficiency has now been restored. In November, in my role as Beyond LIS careers co-ordinator, I attended the Stadt Leipzig-organised event ‘Schule und Unternehmen werden Partner’, a speed-dating style opportunity for schools and local businesses to set up collaborative networks.
Hosted by Mercateo, this was a paragon of outstanding organisation, from the details of how we compared our different needs and potential areas of collaboration to the follow-up email collecting together our notes for those whose desks and bags are overflowing with bits of paper. The contacts I made there have already been pressed into action in organising work placements for the Grade 10s.
Germany’s approach to careers education and its valuing of work-school partnerships has long been held up as an example of excellent practice throughout the world. It is a privilege to be able to link into and take advantage of this system on a regional level. The Grade 8s are kick-starting their careers exploration via the ‘Schau Rein Sachsen’ initiative while the ‘Stadt Leipzig Praktikumsangebot für Schüler‘ has been invaluable for the Grade 10s finding their work experience placements. I’m hoping that a Covid-free/reduced summer will allow the opportunity to take part in careers-related Geocaching around Leipzig and for the ‘Leipziger Nacht der Ausbildung’ in June. If you hear of any opportunities that might be interesting for our students, please send them my way.
In the meantime, perhaps the ‘Berufs- und Studiensorientierung Abteilung‘ of Stadt Leipzig could have a word with their colleagues in the ‘Stadtentwicklung‘ department…