The transition from school to the workplace for students with learning disabilities

Abstract

This article is concerned with the transition from school to the workplace for pupils with special educational needs in Germany. First, an outline of the standard system of professional training in Germany shall be given. Then, the initial conditions that adolescents are confronted with at the end of their time in school shall be examined. This review will then focus on studies and surveys of students with special educational needs who have graduated from school in Germany. It quickly becomes apparent that, after school, adolescents with Special Educational Needs (SEN) most times visited a one-year school-based pre-vocational programme, and afterwards a state-funded school-based vocational programme; therefore the standard German dual-educational apprenticeship system generally doesn’t apply. Looking at segregated school-based vocational training for students with SEN, it can be observed that the placement rate into the general labour market is not sufficient. Inclusive models play a minor role here, even if the analyses at hand suggest promising perspectives.