Finding offspring is difficult. The West Vocational College in the city of Essen wants to change that and offers its students various opportunities to gain an insight into the security industry.
The security industry suffers from a shortage of skilled workers and potential young talent and trainees are difficult to find. However, as in all other technical trades, young people usually lack technical insights into safety technology. This gave rise to the idea of integrating the focus on safety technology directly into school training at the West vocational college in the city of Essen. For three years now, the West Vocational College has expanded the range of courses at its two-year secondary vocational school to include a focus on safety technology. “There is a high demand for trainees in the industry and we want to use this focus training to train our students in safety technology in order to increase their chances on the training market,” explains Christiane Plümel, head of the higher vocational school at the West Vocational College.
The West vocational college generally has a technical focus, such as metal and mechanical engineering technology or engineering sciences. A large area is also the field of protection and security. According to Plümel, these specialist areas should be combined in the two-year higher vocational school for engineering technology with a focus on safety technology: “Engineering technology combines the disciplines of civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering technology. These can be optimally combined with security technology, as fire protection and burglar alarm systems as well as video surveillance are central components of construction and operational concepts.” The subject of professional focus is then engineering technology with a security-related orientation.
“The students who come to us are generally interested in technology, but overall have little career orientation. Only when they get to know the specialist areas of responsibility in more detail do they begin to be interested in a direction and enthusiastic about specialist areas of focus. On the one hand, this is certainly due to the number of training offers that are available, but on the other hand, it is also due to the fact that they have little contact with different disciplines in everyday school life,” says Christiane Plümel, describing the trainees’ situation.
The lessons at the higher vocational school combine theory and practice in its training. Laboratory rooms for safety technology will therefore also be completed shortly. In practical exercises, students will also be given the opportunity to acquire certifications, for example in video surveillance or intrusion detection technology. A fire protection assistant course is also part of the training. “It is important for us that we establish and expand contacts with local companies that – for example through internships or day seminars – provide our students with practical qualifications in addition to what is offered at school and open up career prospects for them,” describes Mark Schubert, Head of IT at Vocational College West. The “mini-certifications” are to be carried out on the systems in the new safety technology laboratories. Cooperation partners are still being sought for various security trades who, among other things, will provide technology. For the area of video surveillance, it is already clear that cameras from Axis will be installed, on which training courses can be carried out. Teachers can also familiarize themselves with the technology in advance via the Axis training programs.
“As with all areas of life: I can only be enthusiastic about things that I have already gotten to know personally. That’s why I would advise companies to offer more internships and to seek direct contact with schools in order to give students an insight into everyday working life,” the head of the secondary vocational school appeals to companies in the security industry. The West vocational college shows how this works with its latest project and went on a scavenger hunt across the security industry with its vocational school class at this year’s Security in Essen. A total of 35 students from grades 11 and 12 of the two-year higher vocational school took part. By making students understand what the term “safety technology” means and what career prospects it opens up to them, the vocational college tries to get its students excited about various careers. Contact with local companies also offers opportunities to expand this further and, for example, to apply for a training position here. The result of the project is impressive: “We already have some students who are looking for a training position in the security industry or who have looked for an internship here for their three-week school internship. This applies to both technical training and the area of protection and security,” says Christiane Plümel.
