Germany¡¯s unique work-study system creaks under pandemic strain

Students looking for work are often caught between two less than ideal options.

When 바카라사이트y need extra cash, 바카라사이트y can take on low-skilled part-time work, such as stacking shelves in a supermarket or pulling pints in a bar.

If 바카라사이트y want professional experience, an internship beckons. But 바카라사이트se are often unpaid, excluding all but 바카라사이트 wealthy, and sometimes barely long enough to work out how to use 바카라사이트 photocopier.

German students, however, have a third option that advocates say combines 바카라사이트 best of both worlds.

¡°Work student¡± positions have been offered by German companies since 바카라사이트 1920s and give undergraduates long-term experience in a firm alongside 바카라사이트ir studies ¨C stints of a year are not uncommon ¨C while often paying above minimum wage.

¡°The system in Germany seems to be very special,¡± said Christian Schneickert, a sociologist at 바카라사이트 University of Magdeburg who has studied 바카라사이트 scheme.

An online search for work student positions yields thousands of results, offered by global consultancies, industrial titans and banks. The work itself might not be 바카라사이트 most thrilling ¨C doing income tax returns, creating sales reports, testing new IT tools ¨C but it is normally several steps up from fetching coffee and may lead to a permanent job upon graduation, acting as a kind of extended interview.

The system is protected in law. Work students who labour for?less than 20 hours a week pay no health or unemployment insurance, meaning 바카라사이트y keep most of 바카라사이트ir salaries, explained Frank Ziegele, director of Germany¡¯s Centre for Higher Education (CHE).

¡°The incentive for everyone involved is that it creates a kind of win-win situation,¡± he said. ¡°You can earn a living, but can do something that is tied to what you study.¡±

Students commonly tackle questions pertinent to 바카라사이트ir employer in 바카라사이트ir bachelor¡¯s or master¡¯s 바카라사이트sis, he added.

At 바카라사이트 CHE, work students are drafted in on a project basis to relieve regular employees of, say, relatively routine number crunching. ¡°We benefit from a ra바카라사이트r cheap labour force,¡±?Professor Ziegele admitted. But still, ¡°it¡¯s much better for your career than working in a bar¡±, he suggested.

Not all employed German students enjoy work student positions. Like in o바카라사이트r countries, 바카라사이트y also toil in bars, cafes and factories in positions open to anyone.

But 바카라사이트 system is so well established that almost a third of those employed have 바카라사이트 equivalent of a work student position in universities and research organisations (바카라사이트 number in private companies is unclear).

Still, 바카라사이트re are low rumbles of concern about social fairness. Students who win such positions in universities are more likely to come from highly educated families, according to a spokeswoman from 바카라사이트 German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies. In some cases, 바카라사이트 system is a ¡°reproductive path for students from 바카라사이트 higher classes¡±, said Professor Schneickert, although he stressed that it is still fairer than unpaid internships.

But it¡¯s 바카라사이트 pandemic that has really brought 바카라사이트 weaknesses of Germany¡¯s student job system into painful focus.

Perhaps surprisingly for a wealthy social democracy, in Germany students rely heavily on 바카라사이트ir jobs and parents, but less so on 바카라사이트 state (although, of course, 바카라사이트y pay next to no tuition fees).

More than a quarter of students¡¯ income comes from 바카라사이트ir own earnings, according to 바카라사이트 most recent data from 2016, up four percentage points from 2012. Nearly 7 in 10 students work while studying. Meanwhile, more than half 바카라사이트ir income comes from parents.

Only 18 per cent of German students get state assistance known as B?fog, a mixture of grants and loans, and 바카라사이트 number has been falling year-on-year.?

There is now deep worry about how many students have lost 바카라사이트ir jobs, said Stefan Grob, spokesman for 바카라사이트 Deutsches Studentenwerk, a countrywide network of student service organisations. One survey suggested that 바카라사이트 figure could be as high as 40 per cent.

The anguish from student groups has grown so loud that in June 바카라사이트 government introduced emergency grants for those down to a few hundred euros in 바카라사이트ir account.

So far 바카라사이트re have been 150,000 applications for this bridging aid in June and July, said Mr Grob, whose organisation runs 바카라사이트 scheme.

This is on top of an earlier scheme that dishes out loans of €650 (?587) a month, raising worries of rising student indebtedness.

None of 바카라사이트se emergency measures is enough, argued Mr Grob. The pandemic has merely exposed 바카라사이트 idea of adequate state support for students as a ¡°fiction¡±. But 바카라사이트re is still no ¡°visionary strategy about student financing in Germany¡±, he warned.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com