After completing compulsory schooling, many young people who would like to learn a technical trade lack sufficient skills in maths, physics and chemistry. They struggle in their apprenticeships, with some losing motivation and even dropping out. But the situation has improved in recent years, at least in the Canton of Valais, thanks to two projects of the Werner Siemens Foundation created to support vocational training for technical professions.

After completing compulsory schooling, many young people who would like to learn a technical trade lack sufficient skills in maths, physics and chemistry. They struggle in their apprenticeships, with some losing motivation and even dropping out. But the situation has improved in recent years, at least in the Canton of Valais, thanks to two projects of the Werner Siemens Foundation created to support vocational training for technical professions.

The first project initiated by the Werner Siemens Foundation aims to support apprentices in the Canton of Valais who are learning a profession in the fields of automation, auto-mechanics and electricity. Over the past five years, workshops, laboratories and remedial courses have been established for these students at the technical upper-secondary vocational school in Sion. In the labs, the apprentices can deepen their theoretical knowledge and apply it in practice.

Workshops at school

In materials science, for example, the learners discover through experiments that although hardened steel is stronger and can generally withstand more pressure before breaking, it’s less elastic and thus breaks more quickly under sudden high pressure than regular steel. In the mechanics workshop, future auto-mechanics delve into the motors, clutch mechanisms, electronics and other components of cars and motorbikes. And another large workshop is fitted out with practice stations for electrical systems as well as an electrical laboratory where the students learn to assemble an electrical circuit and to repair faults.

Practical knowledge and soft skills

In the training workshops, extra courses are offered to help apprentices from different trades brush up on a variety of practical skills. These courses are also open to students from commercial and university-track schools who would like to pursue a technical career—they can catch up on the practical aspects of a profession at the workshops. And apprentices who are struggling with working methods or self-management receive coaching and individual support.

Measurable success

The success of these efforts is plain to see. “The completion rate for technical apprenticeships in Valais has now reached 93 percent,” confirms Bernard Dayer, director of the technical upper-secondary vocational school in Sion. With a federal certification under their belt, the young professionals—in mediamatics, electronics, automation assembly, multimedia electronics, auto and electronic mechanics, polymechanics, industrial design, plumbing, electricity and cableway systems—are in high demand on the job market. And that’s a boon for Jean-Pierre Tenud from the department of economics and education of the Canton of Valais: “Today there’s almost no unemployment in the technical professions.”

A job is practically guaranteed

With the first project concluding at the end of 2017, the Werner Siemens Foundation was inspired by its success to launch a follow-up project. From 2018 onwards, apprentices and students in Valais will also be able to complete an education in the fields of building cladding, building technology, energy-efficient building renovations and energy-balance optimisation. In the process, they will learn the latest standards in insulation, energy conservation, electronic control systems, heat technology and solar energy. A laboratory is planned where the students can put their theoretical knowledge of planning, cladding, heating, ventilation and sanitary facilities into practice. And when the seed funding from the Werner Siemens Foundation runs out in five years’ time, the Canton of Valais will carry the costs to maintain the follow-up project as well.

Energy efficient building renovations

Thanks to this second Werner Siemens Foundation project, the Canton of Valais can help train the specialists that Switzerland urgently needs to implement its Energy Transition strategy, a plan that was approved by the Swiss electorate in May 2017. The young professionals from Valais will be in high demand: there is a host of old buildings in need of an energy overhaul.

Text: Brigitt Blöchlinger
Photo: Felix Wey