Baker Markus Staib is someone that looks ahead. And someone who says that he is determined to make the best of the fact that so many refugees are coming to Germany. Since September 1, he has three apprentices - from Somalia, Eritrea and Pakistan. And so far, the master baker from Ulm is very happy: "They've done great, in part, because with the youngest being 25, they are a bit older than most of our trainees. Generally, trainees are between the ages of 16 and 18, so these three have a whole different level of maturity."

For the last several years, Staib, whose large bakery has 400 employees, has had trouble filling all of his apprenticeship positions. His idea of bringing trainees from Mediterranean EU countries with high youth unemployment to Swabia, never worked out - despite close cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce in Ulm. Then they came up with the idea of filling apprenticeships with refugees. Five weeks after the start of the experiment, Staib thinks it was a good idea."It sounds almost too good to be true. But it has been a positive surprise, and it is fun working with them."

However, while one can communicate in the bakery using hand signals and a little English if need be, the challenges presented in vocational school are of a different magnitude - and Staib knows it: "We can see the problems on the horizon. School is about theoretical knowledge, about paying attention and listening, and above all, about understanding. I think that will be more difficult than praxis in the bakery." That is why it has been arranged that the Somalian, Eritrean and Pakistani trainees sit next to German students that can help them in class.

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