The German Gymnasium Kadriorg in Tallinn, Estonia is a secondary education school, where we have intensively taught the German language for more than 50 years. On 1.09.2014 we open, in cooperation with a vocational school BBS Syke Europaschule, a new economic discipline in Tallinn, in order to allow students in the grades 10-12 a practical reference to the German language. The innovative idea was formed in cooperation with the former students, parents and school. The goal of the project is to increase motivation for professional mobility within Europe, to increase the inter-cultural awareness of young people and of course to foster the knowledge of foreign language skills. In Estonia, the project is innovative and new, because there has never been offered a field of study in a foreign language in high school at a general education school. It is the first project, where subject-specific teaching in the area of economic management is taught in cooperation with the native German teachers. The first group, which begins in the fall of 2014, consists of 25 students. We want to bring, within the scope of the project, teachers from the BBS-Syke Europaschule to Tallinn, so that the exchange of experience could work even better. During the school year, each student participates in a multi-week internship, which takes place in a German company either in Estonia or in Germany. The company, in which a student makes the internships should be as the same throughout the program or at least have the same profiles (eg transport companies, tour companies etc ). Each student should at least take out one more week internship during the program in a company of his profile in Germany. After the completion of this economic specialization, the students obtain a certificate ( diploma ) that is issued by the Estonian Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Standing Conference of the German states and the German - Baltic Chamber of Commerce . The introductory economic profile is a focus related profile and the fact that the students always do their internships at the company with the same profile, they gain sufficient experience in their profile area and after completion of the program, which will be coinciding with the final exams, they will have sufficient knowledge and skills to enable them to work as an office assistant or a clerk. Our students often learn German language at school for 11 years and then forget the language, which is a great pity. There are of course graduates who continue their studies in Germany, but most have barely living contact with the language after school. According to this certificate, the young people then have a practical reference to the language and can work in an area that they already know.
On September 1 2014, the school introduced a new profile - specializing in Business management in German - to offer pupils in grades 10 to 12 a greater practical relevance to the German language, thereby increasing their motivation to learn German. It is also important to improve the career prospects of young people, to prepare them for work in German companies in Estonia and in Germany and thus to counter the unemployment of young people in Estonia. The exchange of pupils enhances the willingness of pupils to promote mobility within Europe, deepens intercultural awareness and aids the improvement of foreign language skills. Internships in German companies should also have a positive impact on the career opportunities of the pupils, especially in a time when the European Union is intensively concerned with the problem of youth unemployment. The Kadrioru Saksa Gümnaasium (KSG) intends to provide pupils with practical instruction to prepare them for the expectations of the labor market. In Estonia, the project is innovative and new because no higher education schools have offered a specialized subject in a foreign language. In order to carry out the project and to implement the curriculum, we needed a strong partner with profound experience in business education in Germany. We found this strong partner in the BbS Syke Europaschule. The objectives of the project were: 1.) to introduce the subject with curricula approximating those of the Gymnasium in Lower Saxony to the KSG. 2) Offer 25 pupils from each school an internship in the respective hoist country. 3.) Offer staff training through hospitations as well as accompanying training sessions. The subject was introduced with the help of joint project meetings at KSG and developed along the lines of the curriculum of the Gymnasium in Lower Saxony for the subject BRC (business management, accounting and controlling). Initially the goal was to enable KSG students to take part in the Abitur examination of the State of Lower Saxony. During the course of the second year it turned out that the students of the KSG were somewhat overburdened with these very theoretical subjects in a foreign language. This was also because the students at the KSG had fewer hours available than the students in Lower Saxony. Therefore, at the end of the second year, it was decided to go as soon as possible to the curriculum of the Fachoberschule (FOS) in Lower Saxony and to carry out an FOS examination as a final examination. The first final examination for students at the KSG was then carried out in the spring of 2017 by representatives of the BbS Syke, which 6 pupils passed according to the criteria set out by the BbS Syke. Currently the subject is taught in all three years. 57 students are currently enrolled. The second year will complete its exams in 2018. The FOS curriculum is better suited to the needs of the students and more easily interlinked with German lessons, so that the latter are better able to support the pupils in their business lessons. The Kadrioru Saksa Gümnaasium (abbreviation KSG) in Tallinn is the oldest school with a focus on German in Estonia. The KSG is the examination center of the DSD II examination in Northern Estonia. From the German Gymnasium Kadriorg most of the DSD II graduates come from all over Estonia. The BbS Syke Europaschule serves around 3,000 pupils in various occupations for social care, personal care, housekeeping, food processing, trade and technology, as well as business and public administration. It also offers the general university entrance qualification that can be acquired in one of the school's specializations. The BbS Syke Europaschule has been collecting experience in trans- and multinational projects since 1997.