Lehranstalten für Sozialberufe und -dienste#

Social Workers, Training Colleges for. Mainly founded by the Catholic Church, developed slowly until the 1950s: there were no clear job profiles, the social prestige and renumeration of social workers were low. Now widely recognised as a profession in its own right. Side by side with schools for social services (2 years, mostly derived from Caritas schools) and schools for specialised services (for geriatric care, for care of disabled persons, for the education of special-needs children, for marriage guidance and family counselling etc.) the state has also founded 3-year Fachschulen (specialised schools) for social workers (geriatric services, nursing services, family services) and 6-semester academies for social workers. There are also a variety of training courses (e.g. for private nursing, child guidance services and youth counselling services, family and group workers, family therapy, work with disabled persons), partly in the form of evening classes.- Evening classes are also offered by some of the vocational schools and academies.