VerA Initiative - Retired professionals support apprentices

VerA is an initiative by the Senior Experten Service (SES) that goes by the full name of 'Verhinderung von Ausbildungsabbrüchen' (prevention of apprenticeship dropouts): volunteering senior experts - all experienced, retired professionals - support apprentices.

The successful initiative is available nationwide. What makes VerA so special is the tandem model: as a rule, each youth is assigned a voluntary apprenticeship tutor for support. These tutors are specially trained SES experts. Some 2,100 of the currently over 11,000 retired experts registered at the SES have undertaken this special training.

In the context of VerA, help becomes tangible: an experienced master hairdresser supports a budding baker's apprentice; a bank clerk supports an office administration assistant-to-be. This concept has proven its worth: two thirds of such pairings are successfully concluded.

The SES is continually on the lookout for experts from all professional fields - in particular also for VerA, as the interest in this initiative is growing. The SES's partners in VerA are the Association of German Chambers of Crafts (DHKT), the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the Federation of German Independent Professionals (BFB).

VerA receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the context of the Initiative Bildungsketten (chains of education) and is free of charge for apprentices, businesses providing vocational training and vocational colleges. The service is available throughout Germany.