BeST - The Bergisch School Technology Centre

Sarah-Lena Debus, coordinator of the zdi centre BeST, on the new course programme for all pupils to promote the next generation of STEM talent in the Bergisch city-triangle

BeST, zdi and MINT - three acronyms that have a lot going for them, as they aim to awaken pupils' interest in careers and study programmes in mathematics, IT, natural sciencesand technology(MINT). Sarah-Lena Debus is the coordinator of the centre 'Zukunft durch Innovation. NRW', or zdi for short, and is responsible for the BergischesSchul-Technikum(BeST), which will once again be offering a comprehensive, free programme of courses for pupils of all school types from year 7 onwards in October.

Foundation of the zdi centre in 2008

In the 2000s, many employers realised that there were far too few skilled workers in the STEM sector. In response to this need, the Wuppertal zdi Centre was founded in 2008 on the initiative of Jörg Bröscher, Director of Studies at the Alexander Coppel Comprehensive School in Solingen. "He was looking for people here at the university who would support the project," explains Debus, "and that's how he met Prof Anton Kummert from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Chair of General Electrical Engineering and Theoretical Communications Engineering. He was immediately enthusiastic about the project and immediately agreed to dock the project to his chair. That's how we were founded as the second zdi centre in NRW." Only Bochum was a few months quicker. The zdi centre BeST is a project supported by the Federal Employment Agency (Regional Directorate of North Rhine-Westphalia), the Joint Initiative Future through Innovation (Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia) and the University of Wuppertal. "At the time, we were one of the initiators in NRW of the 47 zdi centres that now exist throughout the state. We in Wuppertal are still one of the largest zdi centres, also responsible for the neighbouring cities of Remscheid and Solingen."

Differences to the Junior Uni Wuppertal

The zdi centre BeST is part of an NRW-wide education network with over 5,000 partnerships with stakeholders from the fields of science, schools, business, politics and society. There are now zdi centres in all districts and independent cities in NRW.

The regular courses offered by the Bergisches Schul-Technikum are aimed exclusively at pupils in higher grades who are interested in STEM subjects. "We naturally work together with the Junior Uni and other local initiatives as part of the education chain, we also have cooperation courses, but our focus is basically from year 7 upwards, because our courses serve to provide in-depth career and study guidance." All BeST courses are completely free of charge, emphasises Debus, because the aim is to reach all young people, regardless of where they come from. Another difference is the variable locations of the courses on offer: "We don't offer our courses locally in one place, as the Junior Uni does, but instead we have 12 key locations in the Bergisch city-triangle where we regularly offer the courses. Here at the university, for example, the young people can also see all of our laboratories and training workshops. City libraries, training centres and vocational colleges are also part of the focus locations where courses are regularly offered. After each course, participants receive a certificate for their application documents and a positive entry on their school report. Another difference is that the young people register for the courses themselves. In most cases, they find out about the courses on offer and the opportunity to attend a BeST course without obligation directly from BeST staff at their school. They then register with us because we have aroused their interest in the lectures and they have already decided in favour of a particular topic. The parents play more of an advisory role in the afternoon.

Trainees and students become trainers

The course instructors are also close to the target group. Debus explains: "We have different types of courses. Firstly, there are the courses here at the university, which are led by students on Bachelor's or Master's programmes, doctoral students and also permanent BeST employees who have been hired specifically for this purpose. When we go to companies, the courses are run by the training managers or usually with trainees. The trainees also often plan the course content for the BeST students themselves." In this way, the trainees can also pass on the knowledge they have learnt directly and are not too far removed from the pupils in terms of age and interests. Debus cites two examples: "At Zwilling, for example, there was once an LED cube that the trainees planned completely on their own. Or at the Klauke company in Remscheid, where they build an electric car, print the chassis of this car, build and solder the entire motor themselves and also programme it. They then race it afterwards."

Unusual courses on offer ...

The range of courses is enormous. Among other things, an unusual new format complements the overall programme. "For example, the Erfurt wallpaper company will be taking part for the first time. They are still the market leader with their woodchip wallpaper and want to show young people their modern image. They are offering a small group of students the opportunity to produce their own wallpaper, i.e. with their own print designs, which they can take home with them afterwards." Another course is entitled 'Genetic fingerprinting - on the trail of the perpetrator'. BeST also uses one of the university's own student labs for this. "The zdi student labs are something special," explains the coordinator, "because not all centres have access to labs. We have biology, chemistry and geo-IT here as Bergisch Science Labs. Unlike us, these school labs organise courses for entire school classes that any teacher can book at any time, including teachers from outside the Bergisch city-triangle. These course contents are usually thematically adapted to the core curricula of the schools and can be perfectly integrated into the lesson series."
A total of 25 courses will be offered at 12 locations in October. This is a unique, cross-city study and career orientation programme with a unique selling point in the Bergisches Land region, emphasises Debus and continues: "There are of course many initiatives and educational partners that do similar things and cooperate with us excellently, such as CHECK, the school research centre in Solingen. We support the STEM programme there with some of our courses. At the request of school groups, individual parents or teachers, we also offer special formats, such as school clubs, STEM days for entire year groups, individual internships or other special formats. We are very flexible and try to offer everyone a good programme that is tailored to their needs.

... at different locations

Companies in the Bergisch city-triangle are also involved in the BeST courses. This offers many advantages for the students. "It's good for the companies because they can see the people on the course directly, beyond the application documents. If there are six or eight students, then they can already see whether the young people fit into the company at all. However, they don't see the grades that are normally used as a basis for invitations and recruitment. This means that someone can already impress in the course, even if they are not among the best at school. The students often already submit an application for an internship." For the students, in turn, it is simply great to get to know the company and find out what they can already do. The certificates that are then handed out are also helpful for the upcoming application, as are the positive entries on the respective school report.

The course programme is advertised at up to 68 partner schools

The preparations up to the realisation of the courses are all handled by BeST, so that the companies have no work to do, explains Debus. "The entire registration system is handled by us, we check declarations of consent for photo rights, we do all the press work. The companies receive a finalised list of students at the start of the course and don't have to worry about anything else apart from the actual course schedule at the company. We provide safety shoes if necessary and organise lunch in the dining hall when the young people are on campus."

68 partner schools in Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal are visited regularly. "The first advertising phase is currently underway, always at the start of the new school term. During these four to six weeks, we go to the schools with our trolley cases, exhibits and flyers and present BeST either in short presentations from class to class or in the main assembly hall. For example, we show a short video of the robot competition and try to convince the children." The Wuppertal zdi centre has had its own registration tool developed and made available to all other zdi centres. It contains all the course descriptions and locations, you can view the BeST photo gallery and, of course, use it to register. "Now is the right time," concludes Debus, "you can always register until the course is full. We also offer some courses several times at different locations in all three cities in order to shorten the distances for the young people, or if demand is particularly high.

You can find the full range of courses with the option to register at: https://zdi-best.de/kursuebersicht/."

Uwe Blass

Sarah-Lena Debus is a qualified biologist and heads the zdi centre BeST at the university of Wuppertal.