East Frisia honors its best graduates: a ceremony full of the future!

East Frisia honors its best graduates: a ceremony full of the future!

A festive atmosphere filled the Festspielhaus am Wall in Emden when the IHK for East Frisia and Papenburg honored the 103 best graduates of the 2024/2025 winter examination and the 2025 summer examination on October 5, 2025. The event attracted not only the award winners, but also their families, representatives of training companies, vocational schools and numerous guests from politics and business. This honor underlines the importance of dual training for the region and securing skilled workers.

IHK President Theo Eilers took the opportunity to highlight the exceptional achievements of the honorees. He encouraged the graduates to use their acquired knowledge and skills for the development of the region. Doris Kruse, the mayor of Emden, also emphasized the central role of dual training in her speech. It is the most important pillar of vocational training in Germany and prepares young people optimally for the requirements of the labor market. Particularly noteworthy is the “learning by doing” concept, which is implemented in dual training and enables trainees to gain practical experience and at the same time deepen their theoretical knowledge.

The role of dual training

The dual training offers a comprehensive basis for a successful career. Over a period of two to three and a half years, the trainees not only earn a salary, but also gain valuable professional experience in a practical environment. An increasingly important factor is the close cooperation between training companies and vocational schools, which can be improved through innovative approaches to learning location cooperation. In a recent study, scientists at the University of Paderborn pointed out the challenges of this cooperation and showed that the training content is often inadequately coordinated. Improved exchange between institutions could make a decisive contribution to increasing the quality of training and the attractiveness of dual training.

During the award ceremony in Emden, IHK general manager Max-Martin Deinhard also pointed out the high quality of the dual training. The need for companies and vocational schools to work together to keep the training content up to date and modernize is essential for the competitiveness of the regional economy. Companies that invest in training not only secure skilled workers, but also promote the qualifications of their employees in accordance with operational requirements.

Progress through further training

In her contribution, school principal Sabine Noetzel discussed the importance of further training after training. “Learning always continues,” said Noetzel, encouraging the graduates to actively advance their professional development. This attitude is shared by many young people who know that ongoing training is crucial for career prospects.

Dual training not only has positive effects on individual careers, but also on the German labor market as a whole. According to the DIHK, youth unemployment in Germany is among the lowest in the EU. A success factor for this is the dual system, which is internationally considered exemplary. The high level of professional integration of young people is a sign that the system will remain important in the future.

The event was rounded off with musical performances by the singing duo “Hope”. The honoring of the graduates and the associated celebration show that there is great interest in craft and technical training in the East Frisia region and that the skilled workers of tomorrow continue to be highly valued.

Overall, the event illustrates the diversity and opportunities that dual training offers. This was made locally visible through the list of graduates, which was available to those present and listed the training companies and schools. The future of dual training in Germany therefore appears to be on solid footing.

For further information on dual training and the challenges it faces, we refer to the detailed reports from the IHK oz-online, the DIHK [dihk]. [Uni-Paderborn]