Overview

• Roughly one-third of about 700 Vietnamese apprentices at Berlin’s Brillat-Savarin vocational school have stopped attending classes, according to a union representative on the school council.
• Many trainees present B1 German certificates yet struggle to understand lessons, which school representatives say is overwhelming teachers and disrupting normal instruction.
• Private recruiters in Vietnam reportedly charge up to €20,000 for contracts, language tests and visa arrangements, leaving many young people in significant debt.
• Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office says it has isolated indications of potential exploitation of Vietnamese apprentices and confirms ongoing investigations.
• Union and employer leaders urge tighter oversight, including a vetted list of intermediaries or shifting recruitment exclusively to the Federal Employment Agency.