Lehre - Praktikum for 18 year old with less than good German

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hello,

I am appealing to your collective experience to find a solution for the following problem:

There is a young girl from Romania (17 years and 5 months old) currently living in our village. She lives with a Swiss family ("au-pair" style). I am not really sure about the details (contract / permit), but I can find out.

She has been here in Switzerland for a year. Now the family does not want her living with them any more (they are getting a new "au-pair"). She had been promised that they would help her find a Praktikum at a local Heim for invalid people, but it did not work out. She has spent the last couple of days in our house, actually.

I also know (from overhearing conversations between her and the host family) that her biological family in her home country is not able to help her (poor, health issues).

From a quick internet search I know that, as long as she finds a Lehre, she can extend her permit.

Now the question is, are there any alternatives for her? She has finished compulsory secondary school in Romania, and she speaks some German (not bad, considering she started learning here). Perhaps there is a list of "unwanted" Lehrstellen for which she could apply? She would do most anything to stay.

Should we try the local Berufszentrum (Interlaken)? Or approach companies where I can see Lehrstellen are available for August (I am checking online on https://www.yousty.ch ).

I would be grateful for any ideas.

PS. Assume that she has a place to live, for free.

2
The problem with the Lehre is that she need German for the school that she attends (compulsary). So this could be VERY difficult.

Check for EBA instead of EFZ as that is easier and only last two years and might give her time to improve her German.

Even better would be a Vorlehre. Check if she would be allowed to do that with the BIZ or the canton. It might be too late to register.

Also make sure she DOES have a proper permit. It does not sound like it from the way you wrote!

3
If she wants to go down the nursing route, I totally second what irish_temptation said.

There is also an option of a ROTKREUZ Pflegehelfer Kurs, which relays basic nursing knowledge and could be a door opener to find a job in a nursing home for example.

https://www.redcross.ch/de/srk-diens...-in-die-pflege

If that'd work out, she'll learn the language also much quicker through interaction with patients, plus possibly a language course at a Migros Klubschule or so, to reach level B2 or even C1/2 and THEN start a longer EBA or EFZ apprenticeship.

EBA is the sort of easier and shorter apprenticeship usually 2yrs, EFZ is the full version and lasts typically 3-4yrs depending on the profession

4
Tell her to clear out of CH and go to Germany, here they are screaming out for carers and not many questions asked.

I would suggest to get in contact with the Arbeitsamt in the nearest German town and ask.

5
This is the only think I can think of: https://www.stokys.ch/de-ch/home/

Stokys used to be a commercial business many many years ago, the same as Meccano in the UK, Erector in the US and Märklin in Germany. In went out of business due to a fire in the factor and a dying market.

Anyway, a few years back some swiss pensioners pooled part of their savings, bought the machines etc and started it up again as a non profit. One of their objectives is to provide apprenticeships for young people who can't get them through normal channels - language difficulties, learning difficulties, foreign kids etc...

It might be worth contacting them.

6

Thank you for the tip regarding the Vorlehre.

I will definitely clarify the situation regarding the permit. In any case, since May 2019 Romania has "upgraded" status, so that a "Lehrvertrag" qualifies her for a permit.

7
This would be ideal, unfortunately she is almost but not yet 18 years old...

8
Update: The young lady from Romania has just started a Praktikum at a KiTa in the next village. The Praktikum had actually been advertised (locally) for a long time, I guess she got lucky that no local young people wanted it (otherwise I guess she would stand zero chance).

She is currently living in a WG, so all is well for the next couple of months

9
Oops, I saw this too late. By now, officially, the school year, and the apprenticeships, have already started. And your guest has started her practical training. That sounds good, but I’m a little concerned about your phrase “for the next couple of months”, especially since her 18th birthday is coming up. I think she might have better chances of help with an apprenticeship if she is under 18. And I wonder how she is going to support herself since she'll hardly be earning much as in her practical training.

I don’t know whether it is possible to start after the official starting date and catch up, but certainly some companies, especially smaller ones, struggle to find apprenticeships and really need the cheap labour, so as not to fold, financially.

I agree with the others that the command of the local language is an important factor, presumably for the less academically challenging apprenticeships the less so. And the more desperate companies may be more willing to provide language support. And some young people are talented in languages, and it would be a good idea to try to get your young guest an assessment, to see whether she can progress faster if she has the right support.

Just in case you missed any of these in your own research, here's my harvest.

A starting point to ask:

https://beruf.lu.ch/grundbildung/leh...Unterstuetzung

Advice Centre for Apprentices, also about financing same

And then there’s this, a programme which aims to provide a practical training with language support to non-German-speaking young people. It is officially for young refugees, but they may be able to explain you whether they provide language support in general, or suggest free or cheap language lessons (and possibly help her to negotiate time off her work to attend language classes).

https://beruf.lu.ch/Integrationsvorlehre_Zentralschweiz

https://www.yousty.ch/de-CH/lehrstel...SAAEgKYw_D_BwE

Apprenticeships not yet filled, throughout Switzerland

https://beruf.lu.ch/-/media/Beruf/Do...9.pdf?la=de-CH

Apprenticeships not yet filled, in Canton Lucerne

https://beruf.lu.ch/berufsbildungsze...lw_lehrstellen

Apprenticeships in Agriculture, not yet filled, in Canton Lucerne

The farmers of Canton Lucerne have a kind of alumni organisation, for those who have completed apprenticeships or courses

https://beruf.lu.ch/berufsbildungsze...emaligenverein

In “Aktuelle Veranstaltungen”:

You can see that they’re having an open day on Saturday 31st August 2019, and there’s a contact address.

10
Thank you, doropfiz, for the links!

Actually, we now live close to Interlaken (Berner Oberland), but the same principles (regarding finding a Lehre / Vorlehre) apply.

The young lady has now moved back to the original host family (all in all, she only spent 13 days with us). I am not privy to the exact arrangements, but I guess she provides some household support in exchange for staying there. I do know that she now she has finally had her paperwork sorted out (health insurance and permit).

Let's see how the Praktikum goes. Having completed a Praktikum is often demanded as a prerequisite for getting a Lehre at a KiTa.

11
She's got her permit? Yay! That's very good news.

If she returns to you for further advice, you could find the equivalent of that first link, called something like a Lehrlingsberatungsstelle or similar. They help apprentices whose parents cannot support them to apply for support (called "Stipendium" in German, at least in canton Zurich).

Thanks for letting us know.