European and National Job Opportunities for the Young

Context/background and objectives of the projectAccording to the Europe 2020 strategy, smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth is required to provide young people with the tools to find their way in the job market of the coming years. The qualifications obtained at school often fail to match the needs of the labour market. It is important to equip the young with the right skills for the requirements of the job market of today and tomorrow by pursuing the development of the relevant skills by promoting all forms of work-based learning, especially in secondary education. Schools are expected to provide the young with learning methodologies and contents helping them acquire high skill-levels and qualifications through innovative pedagogical practices, especially in areas with low employement rates and difficult labour market conditions.Number and profile of participating organisations.Five schools joined forces to reach the goals of the project from different EU countries: Italy (coordinating school with vocational and technical syllabi in the ITC, business, and graphics sectors), Spain (ITC, graphics, and arts), Germany (business and general education), Czech Republic (ITC, business). All are state schools with previous experience in joint Comenius projects. Description of undertaken main activities.Description of the work-related learning systems of the different schools. Description of the most relevant qualifications and corresponding main skills and competences required by the local job markets. Description of the local job markets to see if the qualifications, skills, and competences offered by the schools match those required by the market, and proposals to possibly change the school syllabi accordingly.Reports based on questionnaires on the foreign languages the local job markets require most. Meetings and workshops with local companies and businessmen to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the local labour markets. Simulation of job interviews and creation of alternative, innovative CV formats (videos, infographics…).Production of sample lesson plans (e.g. on how to apply work-related learning within the more traditional school syllabus).Results and impact attained and longer-term benefits.From the professional point of view, students have been provided with general knowledge on the local and international job markets, and have been given hints and tools to get ready to face tomorrow’s challenges in the job market. During the meetings with local companies, contacts have been established between enterprises and students that have given rise to short-term cooperation (e.g. the production of promotional material for a local food festival in Italy). Students have become more aware of the requests of the local markets, and have learnt the importance of work-related learning in terms of future employability.Furthermore, students have made friends and many of them have kept in touch both throughout the project and after its conclusion, thus strengthening personal relationships and bonds which the project helped to create.