First hurdle taken on path to top

School and vocational education in Europe is as diverse as the number of European Union Member States. In the field of school education, the degree of success of the individual systems can be determined by the PISA study. In the field of vocational education, there are the so-called WorldSkills.

In this global competition of non-academic occupations, which is held every two years at different locations, young professionals from up to 65 countries and regions, representing occupational groups spanning the whole range from mechanics and florists to confectioners, compete against each other. The main objectives are performance transfer and international understanding.

Prior to admission to the global competition, the young professionals first have to demonstrate their skills in a national competition. Four young industrial mechanics employed at the clamping device manufacturer Hainbuch in Marbach have taken the first hurdle on the path to the trade and craft world championship and now hope to be able to demonstrate their skills also at the AMB trade fair in Stuttgart in September. If they are successful, they could even take part in the world championship 2015 in Brazil. Yet the competition is hard and one needs good luck to get that far.

Dennis Greiner, Lars Wolke and Robin Ziegler are industrial mechanics apprentices in their third year of training. The fourth in their team, Marcel Leonberger, completed his apprenticeship in January and has been employed in the soft machining department since then. Following the instructions by two major industry enterprises that are WorldSkills partners, they all have produced a work piece that "has no special function", as Marcel Leonberger explains. Their work was approved by the jury and the four young mechanics were invited to the two industry enterprises to train directly on the machines there. These days, an industrial mechanic does not necessarily end up with dirty hands any more. Rather, the skill is to properly programme and operate machines to make them produce the desired parts.

The next hurdle awaits the four young men from Marbach at the end of next week. Another work piece has to be produced on site at the partnering industry enterprises. The winners will then be invited to the AMB trade fair where they will have to compete with the best from the German-speaking countries. "That will raise the game even more", says Dennis Greiner. He and his colleague Marcel Leonberger both have a particular penchant for milling, whereas Lars Wolke and Robin Ziegler compete in the field of turning.

How is it to compete with a colleague one knows already from vocational college? "There is no competition", says Leonberger. "We all start at zero and we help each other." And with which expectations do the four enter into the competition? "The main thing is to get ahead!", says Marcel Leonberger.