18-07-16 Lifelong learning general secretary holds talks with German Minister Thomas Rachel

Education Ministry General Secretary for Lifelong Learning Pausanias Papageorgiou held talks today with the German Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Thomas Rachel, on the sidelines of the Greek-German Commercial and Industrial Chamber meeting.

 The two officials discussed the continuation of the pilot programme for dual education, MENDI, in Attica and Crete. They also discussed the bilateral cooperation and the contribution of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in implementing the new Greek National Strategy for Vocational Education, Training and Learning.

The German deputy minister expressed his admiration for the volume of work accomplished by the Greek Education, Research and Religious Affairs Ministry in 2016, toward restructuring and developing vocational education and training (EEK), as well as for the positive results of the MENDI programme, in which over 150 youths participated.

Having agreed on the positive results of the cooperation for the first half of 2016, they agreed to meet again in Berlin in September. There, they will sign a renewal of the cooperation agreement between the two ministries, on vocational education and training for the 2017-2020 period,

This cooperation offers to thousands of Greeks who are being educated and trained an expanded capability to acquire contemporary credentials and skills that will facilitate their entry into the work force.