Published on 18.09.2020 under General
MINT career and study orientation celebrates anniversary: 400.000th participant comes from Gelsenkirchen
zdi.NRW has celebrated a special anniversary: At the zdi-Netzwerk Gelsenkirchen, two schoolchildren were the 400.000th participants in the zdi-BSO-MINT-
Program. Klaus Kaiser, Parliamentary State Secretary of the
Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and Torsten Withake, Managing Director of the Regional Directorate North Rhine-Westphalia of the Federal Employment Agency, congratulated Sina, Ben and Batoul at an official ceremony on Monday in the Science Park Gelsenkirchen, where the zdi network is based. At the same time, those responsible celebrated the fact that these 400.000 young people have now experienced 4 million hours in courses for in-depth career and study orientation in the MINT area and have thus received in-depth knowledge for their personal professional decisions.
Acts together with the Zenit company matrix as the zdi regional office on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and supports the work of the zdi community in the regions.
Partners are convinced of the concept of the zdi-BSO-MINT courses
Claus Kaiser explained: “Supporting young people in their professional orientation is now more important than ever in view of the great professional diversity and countless fields of application. In addition, numerous new professions require MINT knowledge. I am therefore enthusiastic about how successful our program is and how many students we have already been able to reach to show them future prospects in the MINT area. "
The Federal Employment Agency is a strategic partner in the program of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, which in turn is primarily responsible for zdi.NRW. "For us, this program is at the heart of the comprehensive, in-depth MINT career and study orientation in North Rhine-Westphalia," said Torsten Withake. “By practically solving very different tasks in the workshops outside of school, zdi has been motivating young people for eleven years to discover professional opportunities and opportunities in the MINT professions. The MINT disciplines are getting a completely new face: I particularly like the noticeable enthusiasm that young people develop when experimenting and discovering their own talents: MINT is fun! Together with the high quality of the courses and the good network structures of zdi, this is an important contribution to securing skilled workers in the country. "
zdi-BSO-MINT program important pillar for zdi work
The funding program has been a central component of the work of the zdi networks and zdi school laboratories from the very beginning. Wolfgang Jung, Managing Director of the Wissenschaftspark Gelsenkirchen, describes it as follows: “Together with schools, companies and universities, we are developing courses for and with young people from the seventh grade onwards, in which they deal in depth with MINT professions and courses. Professions such as mechatronics, but also plant mechanics and environmental engineers are presented. Thanks to the donation for lecturer costs, we are able to establish a stable offer here and thus strengthen whole cohorts in their professional development. "
For Sina, Ben and Batoul from the Evangelical Comprehensive School in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck, participating in the project course "Explore your environment with the EV3" meant one thing above all: to deal with mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology outside of the curriculum and to become clear whether they want to join the school with a job or a degree in the STEM area. Their conclusion: The project course has strengthened their enthusiasm for STEM and they have discovered new talents. For example, Sina would like to become a computer scientist after graduation, Batoul is aiming for training as a pilot. Ben is still unsure, but the zdi course gave him deeper insights into some MINT professions so that he can now find out more.
zdi stands for "Future through Innovation.NRW" and with over 4.500 partners from business, schools and universities as well as from the public sector is the largest network in Europe for the promotion of young MINT talent. Every year, the 47 zdi networks and more than 70 zdi student laboratories, together with their network partners, reach around 300.000 students. Zdi is coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Science in North Rhine-Westphalia. State-wide partners include the NRW regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Economics.
By the way: zdi.NRW is 15 years old. Read the MINTastic success stories of the MINT community below www.zdi-portal.de.
Factsheet
Structure zdi.NRW
- 47 zdi networks and over 70 zdi school laboratories in NRW
- STEM funding for children and young people along the educational chain
- Commitment of schools, universities, companies, districts and independent cities, other partners in the regions
- Throughout North Rhine-Westphalia, the Ministry of Culture and Science is responsible
- State-wide partners including: the NRW regional directorate of
Federal Employment Agency, the Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Economy
zdi-BSO-MINT program
- The zdi-BSO-MINT program gives students from grade 7 of general education schools a detailed insight into MINT training and study courses as part of the in-depth professional and study orientation.
- Thus, zdi-BSO-MINT makes an effective contribution to the successful MINT career and study orientation of young people and thus serves to secure skilled workers in North Rhine-Westphalia.
zdi Gelsenkirchen
- The zdi network Gelsenkirchen was founded in 2013 and, together with the zdi school laboratory EnergyLab, networks MINT activities in Gelsenkirchen.
- The heart of the network is the zdi School Laboratory EnergyLab, which was launched in 2010 in the Science Park. Under the key topics of the energy transition, renewable energies, climate protection and resource conservation, schoolchildren can experiment in small groups to find out whether they can later enjoy professions in this area. The offers are suitable for school classes in general schools from grade 4.
- Practice-oriented offers include:
- Project days and afternoon groups in the school laboratory
"EnergyLab" - Robotics: project days / work groups in the science park, work groups at schools, Gelsenkirchen robotics competition
- Excursions / courses with companies
- Holiday offers and special events (including Girls'Day, GreenDay)
- Further training events for teachers
