The Free University trains its chemical laboratory assistants on the Lankwitz campus Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
From the BZ editorial team
Chemical laboratory technician, animal keeper, gardener or electronics technician – there are between 40 and 45 apprenticeship positions every year at Freie Universität Berlin (FU).
Young people can learn twelve trades here. Not as part of your studies, but as an apprenticeship!
Nikita Burikukiye (29) studied North American Studies at the Free University after graduating from high school. “But there were simply no job opportunities. It was a babble,” says Burikukiye in retrospect. “Then I thought to myself: I would like to have professional experience at my age.”
Nikita Burikukiye (29) started an apprenticeship after her studies. Everything at the FU Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
She reoriented herself and began training as an IT specialist. So she stayed at the FU – but from now on as an apprentice instead of a student.
Jan-Ole Rost (20) is also an apprentice at the university. The prospective chemical laboratory assistant moved to the capital from Schwerin for this purpose. Why did he want to go to university? “Because university is always connected to teaching and because it’s in the public service,” he says. Studying was never an option. “Theory has been my weakness.”
Jan-Ole Rost (20) preferred to work straight away after graduating from high school rather than study. You can do both at university Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
They are not in line with the trend. The vast majority of high school graduates decide to study for two reasons: Because they come from an academic family and because the wage differentials are still very large, according to Heike Solga, Director of the Training and Labor Market Department at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB). .