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Career Guidance in the Life Course – Structures and Services in Germany
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These courses include work experience and practical train- Youth Migration Service
ing, which help the young people to acquire vocational
skills and capabilities, as well as social pedagogical assis- Practitioners from Youth Migration Services support young
tance and career orientation and guidance. migrants under 27 years and those with a foreign back-
ground in their educational and vocational integration
During the apprenticeship training in a company the process through career guidance. The aim is to enhance
EA can also grant so called “training aids” to support the equal opportunities and equal participation for migrants in
apprentices’ vocational education and training process all aspects of political, vocational, cultural and social life.
through remedial lessons, social pedagogical guidance Applying a comprehensive case management approach,
and assistance. the Youth Migration Services draft individual action plans
based on interests, competences and needs in discussion
4.3 Guidance for people with the young person. The social workers and profession-
with a migrant background al pedagogues who work in over 400 offices across the
country often have a migrant background themselves so
About 20 % of the population in Germany has a migrant that they may speak the youngsters’ mother tongue and
background. Of these, 11 % of the total population are have a better understanding of their problems. They also
German citizens, and 9 % hold a foreign passport (Statis- co-operate with and refer young people to other local ser-
tisches Bundesamt (b), 2012). Most of them have special vices. The Youth Migration Service is financed by the Youth
guidance requirements, including the need for more infor- and Children Plan by the Federal Ministry for Families, Sen-
mation on the German labour market and educational sys- ior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).
tem. Furthermore, their foreign qualifications are often not
easily recognized in Germany. Many migrants may only Information and Qualification Network (IQ-Network)
have limited knowledge of the German language. People
with a migrant background often have lower qualification A number of projects and non-profit organisations at
levels and work in low-income sectors; for these reasons Federal, Länder and local level address the career guidance
they are more likely to be unemployed. needs of youths and adults with a migrant background.
They are usually located in the larger cities with a size-
In general, people with a migrant background have able migrant population. In the IQ Network, which was initi-
access to all guidance services. But in order to better ated in 2005 by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social
understand their cultural background and meet their Affairs (BMAS), several guidance projects and organizations
specific language and information needs, specialized specializing in guidance for people with a migrant back-
services have been established. ground work together. The nationwide network of six cen-
tres and further transfer projects is funded by the FEA and
co-ordinated by the Central Agency for Advanced Training
in the Skilled Crafts. The IQ Network aims to enhance the
job situation of adult migrants though guidance and coun-
selling, vocational qualification, skills assessment and
business start-up support.

Guidance in the context of “The Recognition Act for
the procedure to assess professional qualifications”

The Federal Government’s Recognition Act was enacted in
April 2012. In its context the existing provisions by the
IQ-Network took over the task as contact and information
centers to support people looking for recognition of their
foreign qualifications. Complementing the face-to-face
counselling services, a multilingual internet information
portal (http://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/
html/en/index.php) and a telephone hotline is provided
by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
It provides information on the recognition process and ac-
cess to further guidance and counselling.