Cooking for Europe

Five apprentices from Neubrandenburg were given the opportunity of getting to know Europe in a pleasant way. Together with vocational students from Poland and Slovakia, they met at a vocational college near Lodz for the EU project "Healthy Lifestyle". Yet not just for fun.

The aim of the EU-funded project is to improve the vocational education and training provision in both East European countries and to adapt it to the current market requirements. The young people are also meant to learn from each other, for example, which food is served at Christmas in their neighbouring countries.

The German project partner is the Bildungszentrum Nordost education centre with headquarters in Neubrandenburg. It is one of the leading providers of vocational education and training in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Its broad spectrum of vocational education programmes includes also vocational education and training in gastronomic occupations such as cook and specialist in the hospitality industry.

Thanks to numerous partnering businesses, the vocational education and training programmes include subject-specific theoretical lessons at a vocational college and an internship of several weeks at a business in the region providing vocational training.

This is precisely the advantage of vocational education and training in Germany: the combination of teaching theory and its practical application - the dual system. Many countries in Europe and in the world follow this model.

In Poland, there are purely school-based and dual vocational education and training courses. However, only ten per cent of a graduate year choose the dual vocational education and training provision. In Slovakia, the vocational education and training system is characterised by a school-based approach. Dual vocational training with a contractual relationship between the apprentice and a business does not exist.

It was interesting for the future cooks and waiters from Poland and Slovakia to hear what their colleagues in Germany occupy themselves with. It was important for all to know what ought to be part of a restaurant's kitchen or what must be taken into consideration on a hotel's serving floor.

Part of the EU project is also the installation of a new school kitchen at the Polish vocational college. When it was inaugurated, the Polish apprentices were looking forward to now being able to cook like real chefs.