Dual training for refugees

The Skilled Trade Training Integration Project for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (IHAFA) aims to get around 500 refugees throughout Lower Saxony into a training programme. The project is funded by the state of Lower Saxony, the six Lower Saxony Chambers of Crafts, the Federal Employment Agency and the counties.

The objective is to identify around 500 refugees throughout the whole of Lower Saxony, get them qualified and prepare them for a training course in a skilled trade by the start of 2017. The Lower Saxony Department for Economy, Work and Transport is supporting the pilot scheme with approx. €1.1 million. On top of this there is participant-based investment, which is provided by funds from the public employment agencies and job centres as well as the Chambers of Crafts and the counties.

The project is implemented in several stages: In the first stage, the appropriate advisers in the six Chambers of Crafts screen and select refugees and asylum seekers who have adequate German language skills and an aptitude for skilled work to succeed in a training course for a skilled trade. Following a skills assessment process in the education centres of the chambers and placements in trade businesses, they will be placed on the training courses from summer 2016.

More information in German:
>>>For further information, please visit the Hannover Chamber of Crafts (HWK) website<<<