Specialized academy for social education in Memmingen officially opened

Memmingen / Mindelheim - Last week, the newly founded specialist academy for social pedagogy of the Mindelheim state vocational school was officially opened as a branch in Memmingen. Memmingen's Lord Mayor Manfred Schilder and the Unterallgäu district administrator Alex Eder praised the project as proof of the successful cooperation within the educational region plus Memmingen / Unterallgäu.

After a very short preparation period, 24 students were able to begin their training at the beginning of the current school year.

For Gottfried Göppel, headmaster of the Mindelheim vocational school, this is a complete success.

Shortly after the new specialist academy was announced, a considerable number of applications were received.

The urgently needed skilled workers can now be trained as state-recognized educators (m / f / d) in a five-year full-time qualification.

The specialist course is divided into a two-year training course to become a state-recognized nanny (m / f / d) at the vocational school, two years of study at the specialist academy and a one-year internship.

The need in the educational institutions for the future skilled workers is very great, as Göppel emphasized.

The need is very great

Stella Schmitt, the head of the branch in Memmingen, gave an insight into the extensive training content. The students learn, among other things, how to observe the behavior and well-being of young people, and learn how to care for and promote their physical and mental abilities. The typical work areas for the graduates will later be in kindergartens, day nurseries and after-school care centers, in residential and reform homes, in families or addiction counseling, in work with people with disabilities as well as in recreation and holiday homes.

The Unterallgäu District Administrator Alex Eder was delighted with the unusually quick approval of the application to establish the specialist academy.

The application was submitted at the end of 2020 and approved in March of this year.

The existing rooms at Mindelheimer Straße 6 in Memmingen are currently being used for the training that has started.

The planned renovation work for the branch office there will begin in January of next year and should be completed by the beginning of the school year 22/23.

Eder does not regard the foreseeable construction costs of 630,000 euros for the Unterallgäu district as a cost, but as an investment in the urgently needed education in the region.

More than just a job

For Memmingen's Lord Mayor Manfred Schilder, the training goal is more than just a job.

State-recognized educators need "empathy, passion and closeness to people - just a calling," said Schilder, "in order to be able to practice this demanding and wonderful job."

Anyone who is interested in the training after completing secondary school with relevant vocational training or with a technical diploma can find more information on the Internet at www.bsmn.de.