The transition from school into professional life is one of the most challenging moments in life. The actual competitive and unpredictable job market requires young people to be qualified, but also able to adapt to contemporary and future societal problems. Today, nearly 40% of employed people in the European Union are in atypical employment (not working under a full-time, open-ended contract) or self-employed.
The consortium carried out a short investigation among VET providers and employers in their countries, in order to suit the project activities directly to the needs of apprentices/VET students and their future employers. They noticed that
*VET providers need to be more responsive to the expectations of the labour market, including the increasing demand for soft/wider transversal skills.
*general lack of materials dedicated to transversal skills development, that also foster a new vision of work with a lower use of resources in a sustainable way
*VET teachers have no time or competences to teach climate change, sustainability or circular economy approach to students
Vocational and technical education has to provide individuals with the skills, abilities and competencies necessary for their occupations in accordance with the targets of economy and the demands of business world. A distinguished characteristic of the project is the focus on offering VET STUDENTS sufficient knowledge about sustainability, circular economy, and the other essential knowledge connected to entrepreneurship to increase their ability to find solutions to current issues connected to their profession specifically.
Therefore the aims of the project are:
- Create a clear, comprehensive skills framework blending transversal, entrepreneurial and green skills needed by the actual labour market, needed by VET EDUCATORS to boost their student’s preparation.
- Design and test a professional development programme for VET EDUCATORS to upgrade their preparation on foster their ability to support VET students in developing selected competencies.
- Create the CE-E VET library composed of OER and ready-to-use materials VET educators can use to foster employability skills in VET students.
The project offers a grassroots initiative to foster the VET system to innovate and move toward a more sustainable and climate-change-proof workforce. The participation of three VET schools coming from less developed areas of the EU (RO, PL, TR), one HEI from Portugal, one Italian NGO specialised in skills development and employability, and one business association is considered a good start to offer a practical solution to tackle common issues.
Young people still in education or training have not yet acquired the necessary knowledge, experiences or skills needed to decide whether self-employment is suitable for their future careers. Besides the regular entrepreneurial courses focused on the economy, business planning, financial management etc. it is crucial for these young people to develop transversal skills, promoting one’s creativity, innovativeness, ability to work in team or communication skills. Especially students with fragile low backgrounds, as in the Turkish or the very same audiences at the Coordinator organization. By participating in this project, the partners will offer them a new opportunity to improve themselves and become successful.
