Forbes –
Nicholas Wyman
“Minnesota State Senator Terri Bonoff gets a lot of requests to attend ceremonial openings. But when Swiss-German manufacturing company Bühler asked her to cut the ribbon at its new apprenticeship program, it sparked her interest. Based on the German dual system, Bühler’s apprenticeship program brings in trainee-hires as full-time employees with benefits, and partners with a local college to provide it’s trainees with classroom instruction – alongside the experience they are gaining on the job. It was the first time she’d heard about the dual system – which seamlessly combines education and real world work – but on a subsequent trip to Germany, Senator Bonoff found out more. In the German dual system, students spend a significant amount of time in the workplace before they even graduate from high school. After high school, many students transition directly into jobs at companies where they’ve already apprenticed; the result being that they enter the job fully versed in the necessary technical skills, soft skills and familiarity with the workplace culture. .”(more)